First day of Kindergarten....Last day of Kindergarten...

As with the others...I know the next time I blink she'll be graduating high school...it all goes so very fast...I can remember when I was in the hospital waiting to have her...unsure if she'd have Downs Syndrome....then she was born and we had to face 2 surgeries and 7 weeks of her at the hospital....I was sure that she would *never* leave and get better....and now here she is....graduating kindergarten ready to officially enter the world of being a big kid!

Toothless!

Anne is officially toothless. At nearly 4 and 3/4 she has lost a tooth. Surely, the first of her friends. It was a rough road, with it's fair share of tears-Anne was scared of loosing it in her sleep or swallowing it-but she made it through. The tooth got loose by biting into a banana of all things and was finally lost by licking an ice cream cone. Go figure. The dentist took an x-ray when it was initially loose just to make sure it was a true loose tooth rather than loosing it prematurely and sure enough, her two front teeth are huge underneath her gums, just waiting to break through. So I expect in the next few weeks to see her old tooth's friend get loose too. Wow, my daughter is actually old enough to loose a tooth. How did this happen??

Preschool...or...revisiting "Then and Now"

Today was Anne's first day of 4 year old preschool. If I let myself, I can picture next year her going to kindergarten-everyday-then the year after first grade-all day, everyday-and then Jr. High, then High School and before you know it, she's moved out of the house and only comes home for home-baked chocolate chip cookies and to wash her laundry! Argh! Okay, focus. Reality check, she's just in 4 year old preschool...her last year of preschool. Today was a "half day" (translation since she's already in half day preschool-half an hour). She got to play a little, meet her classmates and teachers, and the parents got the necessary info about dropping off, picking up, sicknesses, etc. Tomorrow is her first full day and then begins the loooong school year of 3 days a week of school, meaning hardly anytime for me...I mean Anne...to have play dates. Yikes!

Just to bring a little blast from the past of those who have followed the blog for a few years-here are 2 "Then and Now" pictures.

Anne on her first day of 3 year old preschool.

Anne, today, on her first day of 4 year old preschool.

What Jamie did last year during the parent/sibling/student visit on the first day. (6 months old)

What Jamie did this year during the parent/sibling/student visit (18 months old).

Wow, I love seeing my kids grow and change right before my very eyes. Here's to a great school year Anne!

Happy 18 Months Buddy!

Jamie turned 18 months old the other day. He is now officially closer to 2 years old than to 1 year old. How did this happen? The past 18 months have literally flown by. I am in shock that he is a walking, talking, throwing tantrums, charming, hugging, kissing, biting, loving little boy. I can hardly remember the months before when he was an adorable, drooling, spitting up-ing, nursing, smiling, cooing baby. How I love this little guy. How his life has blessed mine. I am truly grateful. And in very true April fashion, here is his 18 month picture (at the end) along with his 12 month and 15 month picture. Can you believe what a little boy he has turned into? And he hasn't even come close to stopping yet!

12 month old baby

15 month old toddler

18 month old turning into a little boy

Rollin' Over!

My job title is "Family Support Worker" (FSW). What this means is that I visit families who have babies or children and we talk about the children and their development as well as any problems or frustrations the families may be having with their children. As an FSW I am hyper sensative to Anne's development. John keeps telling me she's fine, but I can't help but worry that she isn't laughing soon enough, she only screeches occassionally and it took her 3 months to lift her head higher than 45 degrees when on her tummy. Yesterday Anne had a milestone...she rolled over! Now, this was not quite as exciting as I thought it would be. For weeks if we have propped Anne up on her arms while she's on her tummy and one little move and her balance gets thrown off and she can roll over. (We call this a "cheating rolling over"). So yesterday she was propped up on her arms (I propped them up), and she was like this for several minutes. Then, slowly, so not thrown off by balance, she rolled over! Tummy to back. She did it again 2 more times and today she has done it 2x already. I think the reason this is not exciting to me is because she has been doing this "cheating rolling over" for several weeks now. Plus, her rolling over still doesn't seem deliberate. Yes, she's slow and her movements seem deliberate, but I'm not sure in her head she thinks "Hey, this tummy time crap sucks, I'm rolling over." Hmm...Maybe when she goes from back to tummy that will be very exciting...I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Ugh...

Who knew getting up 2x a night could be so tiring? We have been very fortunate that Anne has only woken up once a night since she started sleeping in her crib at 6 weeks old. This past week she has been gettin gup twice...once around 1 am, once around 4 am. And when I have to work, I wind up staying awake after the 4 am feeding. I am so tired this morning I am considering not even going to work. But I will. People have said that she is probably going through a growth spurt. I say "Hurry up and finish it!" John summed it up best the other day though...."Babe, We have a great baby. She's just...well...acting like a normal baby lately."