A little freedom!

Cole was able to take a real shower for the first time in a month! He was so excited-he got his cast off last week and is loving his newfound freedom. Last Tuesday the doctor took off Cole's cast and replaced it with a splint. He is still pretty confined in the splint but at least now he can move his elbow and take it off for showers. He was disappointed when the doctor told him he still couldn't go swimming or take baths. He had been associating getting his cast off with going swimming and it was a big let down. He will have the splint for two weeks total-as long as the finger is healing well. It has been one week since the cast came off and we are already seeing lots of improvement. He can now almost straighten the finger which he had surgery on. It is still too soon to tell if the surgery was completely successful because it is too swollen to bend or make a fist-and the doctor doesn't want to strain it that much. In order to hold the tendon in place the doctor had to attach it to a wire, drill a hole through his fingernail into the tip of his finger, and pull the wire through the hole-he then tied a knot in the wire and tendon on the outside of his finger to hold it in place.

Gross-I know but if it works we won't care how he did it. Cole is a little bit freaked out by the fact that his fingernail is gone, but is also very intrigued by it. He loves checking it out and trying to figure out exactly what happened to his finger.

Kindergarten update: Cole loves kindergarten. It has been pretty slow moving and lots of review but he is still enjoying it. We hope it will start to pick up soon. He's also pretty proud of himself because he has no problems reading the books-no words-no letters-in class. They haven't gotten into books yet, so I think we will just start supplementing a little bit more at home. I told him that this time of year is for the teacher to figure out what the kids really know and to review all the letters and things he learned in preschool. Luke has also adjusted to Cole going to school, no more crying. Ellee and Luke go down for naps right after Cole gets dropped off so that helps the time go a little bit faster for them without Cole here. Ellee and Luke have also been coming to volleyball with me whenever possible. They absolutely love it! Thank goodness-last year was a struggle the whole time-they did not like volleyball. Ellee just copies the girls jumping and running around and Luke follows me around with a stop watch around his neck and yells at the girls when I do. I remember when Cole used to do that. It makes me sad that he is in kindergarten and is not my little shadow anymore. Everyone at West has been asking for Cole, it seems he has stolen all their hearts and they don't know what to do without him there. I guess Luke and Ellee have a lot to live up to-but the two little flirts should have everyone wrapped around their finger in no time.

Well-I am back to work full time now. It is so hard for me. I love coaching and teaching but it is so hard leaving the kids at home and watching Damon adjust to the no-sleep thing again. On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays he gets about 2 hours of undisturbed sleep-and that's only if the twins take a good nap. We tried looking into daycare for just Mondays and Tuesdays, but most of the daycare places by our house are either full time 5 days a week or full time 3 days a week. They won't add any kids who are just part-time because they want to fill it with full time kids. Plus, daycare is expensive-especially when there are two kids to pay for. I feel so bad for Damon-I've been looking for solutions, but don't know what to do. Volleyball season is even harder because I can't come home at 2:30 because there is practice after school. I would love any suggestions!!!