Wow. No postings since early September! I guess we've been busy with the start of school (three full days for E) and me doing a lot of volunteer stuff for the school and a friend's symposium on birth practices and with HMN, in addition to starting back up tutoring and trying to find (and find time for) some more writing and editing.
Elliott had two acts of inappropriate conduct at school (that involved his teeth), but I think they were in response to the energy of the morning with 11
other boys (& 2 girls) in his class and some rough transitions as the class figured out its new rhythm. He is doing really well with the afternoon program, which is super small (2-3 other kids, mostly from the older 5-day class). He even slept for 20 minutes once this week. That was his first nap since Labor Day Sunday. Egads.
But at least he's been resting consistently at school. Not so much at home, though we do make sure to be home and relatively quiet for a good while or (on a long drive) after lunch. The world just about ends if we don't have dinner on the table at 5:30. Sometimes if I know John is going to be home not too long after that, I'll push it a little so we can all eat as a family. But I tend to regret it! The boy is taking a while to get to sleep lately but is down by 7:30, sometimes closer to 7:00. With this long daylight savings time, we are all sleeping until 7:00 most days, which seems crazy late! Especially with school starting at 8:30 and that being John's preferred time to arrive at work, too. I'm looking forward to the shift next week.
Elliott is still full of drama and expression that cracks us up. He also has learned how to whine pretty well, and we're back to a "why" questioning phase, which had disappeared for a while.
After the Fall Festival at his school, he played with the big kids while the adults cleaned up. John came away amazed at how the older kids have taken to him and how well they all seem to know one another. Elliott's 3-day class and the 5-day class are on the playground together in the morning, and apparently that has been really nice.
Yesterday Elliott and I went on a short trip to the zoo and then met John for lunch before heading to a craniosacral appointment. With this practitioner, I usually share the appt with E, but this time I took a larger chunk of it myself since I ran full-on into a glass door earlier this week, thinking it was open. Ouch. He played so great on the floor while I got treated. My glasses cut into my nose (might scar) and I'm just now starting to show a bit of a black eye (the pumpkin photo was today, at the host church for our HMN chapter and their fall festival).
Over a month ago (the last nap day, I think!), we bought a drawer unit at IKEA that I had second thoughts about. But Elliott succeeded in opening the box with a screwdriver and then was pretty psyched about putting it together with John. Then he filled it with his own books. Someday my office will be functioning.
h lots of time with friends and folks in our community. After some fun at the Nature Center on Wednesday learning about bones and at the pumpkin patch on Thursday (with slides and a hay ride), Elliott and I enjoyed making his frog costume together (that's a photo he took of me, no joke) and carving a pumpkin together (thanks to the grandparents for the pumpkin, and its yummy seeds!) Elliott did go trick-or-treating and became aware of the concept of candy, but it all went into a bowl that the switch witch will empty tonight and replace with a toy. After finishing his dinner, Elliott got one organic lollipop leftover from a friend's birthday party last month. None of the neighborhood stuff was edible. We gave away (recycled) mood pencils and tattoos purchased from a vendor profiled on GreenHalloween.Org. M
any kids were super excited. When Elliott was here, he ran to the door with each knock or bell and handed out the loot. He should probably be on full-time duty doing that rather than out panhandling, but it's also nice to be with the peeps in the 'hood, especially on a balmy night like tonight (before it started to rain).
