School Update

Before spring break, the boys were having somewhat of a tough time at school. They were having separation anxiety. Not from Mom and Dad, but from each other. The teachers communicated this to us, delicately, trying not to destroy my soul. However, they did share a sad story about how the boys would sometimes go to a shared door/window in their respective classrooms and call out to each other. Pretty sad stuff for a Mommy to hear. BUT, I still think it is good for them to be independent, at least for a few hours a day.

To help with the separation anxiety, the teachers recommended reading the book A Kissing Hand for Chester Raccoon with the boys. Have you heard of this book? It is awesome. Go buy it now. Such a darling story. The best part about this book is that is makes my little boys suuuper lovey-dovey. Doug and I snuggle in bed with them to read. Julian will rub our faces, look at us, and say, "Mom, gimme a hug! Dad, gimme a hug! I love my family!" Most precious thing ever. 

They returned to school this week, and have had a wonderful transition. Here are some action shots and a few words from their teachers.

Jonas had another wonderful day. He is making many new friends and adapting well to our classroom rules and procedures.He enters the classroom with a smile, eagerly greeting his friends and transitions nicely into his morning work cycle. Today he chose to start his day with the necklace making activity. He will be attending music tomorrow, he enjoys singing with Ms. Lissa! 

Julian has had another nice few days.  He comes into the classroom happily and is able to complete his tasks with independence.  Julian participated in more lessons today and chose independent work. Today, he seemed surprised when I told him it was time to go home. This is a good sign! He seems to be building that endurance we talked about. Here he is refining his fine motor skills and one to one correspondence with bean transfer.

Jonas has had a wonderful week. As you can see he has busily worked on many different works throughout the week. He is also building his social skills by collaborating with friends to complete puzzles and other activities.

Here is a great sequence where Julian prepared himself a snack. He is so eager to be independent :)

Boys Don't Cry

As a payback for not sending me emails, I dressed the boys alike.
You're welcome, Teachers!

Boys don't cry...unless you tell them they cannot eat a Swiss Roll until after dinner. But that's another story for another time.

Tonight, I am here to report that my boys don't cry anymore when their Dad drops them off for school. In fact, they are dang near jubilant in the mornings! Ready and raring to go! I'm not sure what switch was flipped to make it this way, but I am certainly grateful this day has come.

Unfortunately, the notes and pictures from the teachers only came for the first week. I think that is cruel, but I guess it doesn't matter what I think. At any rate, I have to rely on those boys to tell me about their days. Which, as you can imagine, does not get me far.

Me: Julian, what did you do at school today?

The Bear named Joe enjoying a Krispy Kreme.

Jules: A frog puzzle!

He tells me that every single day. He's got to being doing something other than that dadgum frog puzzle.

Me: Jonas, what did you do at school today?
Jonas: Played on the playground!

In addition to playing on the playground, Jonas informed Rachel today that he also, "Made a huge mess with cheerios."

Last week, both Doug and I got to go to school to join the boys for Donuts with Dad (or Mom). Doug had donuts with Jonas, and I had donuts with Jules.

The parents walked into the classroom to find the children all sitting politely in a circle. When Jonas spotted Doug, he hollered, "Dad! You're home!" He crawled into Doug's lap and a kindergarten student gave them each a donut. Jonas wolfed his down in record time (his first donut [excluding the "chocolate meatball" aka chocolate donut hole he lapped up a few weeks prior]) and wanted more. While the kids and Dads were eating donuts, the teacher read a nice book, "What Daddies do Best." Jonas waited until a pause in the story to scream, "I WANT MORE DONUTS!" My kid.

My crazy critters.

The following day, it was my turn to join Jules in his classroom for donuts. I was in the back of the line of parents entering the class, so I got to watch his little face search the crowd, trying to see if his Mommy or Daddy was among the group. When he spotted me, I tell you what, I wouldn't give anything for that feeling of seeing his little face light up with love and excitement! He rushed right over to me, and I had to usher him back to the circle. He gave me kisses and sat in my lap. Unlike Jonas, he wanted nothing to do with the donut. He wanted nothing to do with the story. He wanted nothing to do with school. Two or three times the boy got up from my lap and went over to his cubby and got his coat, backpack, and hat. "Time to go home, Mom. Let's go to Woolmart." "No, you have to stay here at school." "Let's go to Target!" "No. Not today." "Let's go to the aquarium." "No, you gotta stay here." "Where's my brother, Jonas?" Sigh...and then story time was over, and I had to leave him, and he cried. It was terrible in that moment. BUT. He doesn't cry anymore!

And through it all, one thing remains constant. Kate keeps chillin out maxin relaxin all cool.

Monster.

Another School Update

Geometry Jules.

On Friday, the boys completed their first full week of preschool. Sadly, the morning started off much like it had the previous days: the boys cried at drop-off. I don't know how Doug does it. I would be a heart-broken mess.

But, at least they cheer up pretty quickly.

A note from Julian's teacher:

We wanted to share what a great day Julian had. While he was upset getting out of the car, he stopped shortly after entering the classroom. Julian participated in more lessons today and is beginning to learn how to choose his own work independently. He showed off his geometry skills this morning telling us all about triangles, squares and circles :)

And one from Jonas's teacher:

It looks like these are the same pictures but, they are not.  This is just a work Jonas enjoys daily.  Look at his concentration when squeezing the sponge. Also he is learning the sequence of the activity.  He cleaned the table without any direction.

He may cry some when he comes to school but settles in shortly after school starts.

Very focused.

It's been a treat talking to them all week about their days at school. Friday, though, was the best. I asked Julian what he did, and he said, "I made new friends." So sweet. And when I looked in their backpacks, Jonas had a picture in his that he drew with a friend. Whoever his friend was, he/she drew AT-ATs for him; that's a good buddy.


While the boys were hard at work at school, Kate was playing King of the Castle on her puppy dog throne.

She went along with Rachel to pick up the boys and scored a free donut hole at Dunkin Donuts. Working that charm!

Next week, Doug gets to go to an event at school with the boys, "Donuts with Dad." I can't express enough how jealous I am.

School Day 3

The studs getting ready for school. Look at those muscles!

Remember yesterday when I proudly posted that Julian, although not super thrilled about school, had yet refused to go? Well, scratch that.

This morning, the poor little feller wanted Doug to take him anywhere but school. He wanted to stay home. When that didn't work, he asked to go to Target. The dude was so desperate, he even asked to go to the hospital. To make matters worse, when he arrived at school and got out of the van, he tried to take his Possum with him, only to be denied.

Luckily, according to his teacher, he did eventually perk up.

"Although he did cry initially getting out of the car, Julian settled down quickly and had a nice work morning.  He participated in more lessons and is beginning to learn the classroom procedures and routines.

We will update you on Friday with how the next few days go.

Thank you for sharing Julian with us!"

Jonas working with sand scooping
at school.

I also received an update on the Bear named Joe.

"Jonas has transitioned well, with only a few tears at the start of his day. He will ask for Julian but once we explain that Julian is next door working he seems to calm and begin engaging in activities. His peers are excited to have him as part of our classroom community and eagerly ask to give him lessons. We will update you again on Friday as to how he is progressing."

I still can't believe my baby boys go to school.

In Case You Were Wondering: School Day 2

Day 2 of school is in the books.

Doug said Julian had another tough morning; he cried when he was dropped off, wanting Doug to carry him and not leave. I'm glad he did not do that yesterday. I'm not sure I would have survived that. The teacher sent an email later in the afternoon that cheered me up a little: 

Julian ended up having a better morning than yesterday. He chose some independent work, worked with a friend, and he seemed to enjoy going to music class.

Julian working on a frog puzzle at school.

At least he doesn't hate it, and he has yet refused to go. Quite the opposite really. He's very positive when he comes home.

According to the boys, they really love school and had a good time today. What did they do today? "Went to the playground. Ate crackers. Washed hands. Went to the playground. Did a frog puzzle. Went to the playground. Read books. Played with friends. Went to the playground." Thus far, I gather their favorite subject is recess!

Since she arrived a few minutes early, Rachel had the opportunity to spy on our boys while they were playing outside. She observed that Julian had a new friend. She also saw how happy the boys were to be reunited, as they repeatedly hugged one another, and waited for each other at the bottom of the slide.

I love those guys.

The Dudes Go to School

My little dudes started school today. This is very hard for me to comprehend. They are so tiny! But it's happening. They're growing up.

How I'll always see them.

Hanging out with Poss before school.

The scene that almost killed my heart.

Enjoying her time as an only child.

 Jonas at school messing with shaving cream.

Enjoying "breakstaff" for lunch at Frisch's. Jonas had pancakes
and sausage, and Julian had fries and goetta.

After school, we went to the aquarium. Here's Jonas
and Rachel petting a starfish.

Here's Julian guffawing at a shark.

Rounding out the afternoon with some ice cream topped
with strawberries and sprinkles!

I just received an update from the boys' teachers. It seems that Jonas had a pretty great morning and separated easily from his brother. His teacher said he asked to go home toward the end of the morning, but got over it once he heard he was going to play on the playground outside. Julian had a tougher morning and missed his brother. However, at recess, he was reunited with his bro at the playground and that cheered him up. Hopefully, tomorrow will be easier for my little love bugs and they'll become more independent each day.

It was so awesome to hear them talk to each other after I picked them up from school. I think I've heard, "Did you love school, Julian/Jonas? I loved school, too." at least a hundred times.

Off to play outside.