Milestone week

This has been a milestone week at our house. Aside from Jack's first visit to the ER (a milestone I really could have done without hitting), he also had his first official day of preschool. I don't know if it's because we're both used to dropping him off for his speech and occupational therapy sessions, but it was almost a non-event. There were no tears from either of us.

I think it really helps that the preschool is at our church. He is very familiar with the building and the room, so it wasn't like he was going anywhere new for him. I love that I already know the staff. It makes me feel much more comfortable about leaving him in their care.

The teachers are great. They too have already noticed that he has a little crush. When we went today, the main teacher told me, "Jack is going to be upset that his girlfriend won't be here today." I looked in the classroom and saw that she had even planned to have them sit together during circle time.

"The funniest thing," the teacher said, "is that the little girl has no idea. Jack has hearts shooting out his eyes at her, and she is totally oblivious."

That made me laugh.

When I picked him up today, the teacher told me that he did fine without his little friend and that he latched onto another little girl in her place. Girl #2 is still clearly a poor substitute for Girl #1 in Jack's affections, though, because all afternoon he has been asking me why Girl #1 wasn't there today.

We also started a new semester of speech and occupational therapy for Jack. I loved his old therapists, but getting to their school was a bit of a logistical nightmare for me. So we've switched to a new set of therapists, who both seem very nice.

I'm still waiting for the schedule to settle for Violet. The first day we dropped Jack off, we ended up having coffee with our friend who also sends her son to the same preschool. The second day, we went to a prescheduled playdate. So poor Violet didn't get a morning nap either day. And it's tough after we pick him up, because then it's straight to his speech and OT sessions. It's a lot of getting in and out of the car for her, and she doesn't like it.

But she is otherwise doing really well. The one milestone that I want for her is to be able to sit up on her own. All the rolling, crawling, and other mobility milestones can wait a while, but I really would like her to be able to hang out without me having to constantly hold her. She's getting really close. She's able to sit up for a couple of minutes at a time, before she kind of just falls over.

A couple of days ago, we had to say goodbye to our Woombie. The Woombie is this fantastic invention I discovered that wraps a baby up all snug and keeps her from whapping herself in the face but without the all the constriction of a traditional swaddler. Both my kids always fought the swaddle, but the Woombie is flexible enough that they can move a little but still not get their face in their hands. And it's really easy, because you just zip it up, instead of having to all the wrapping. But a couple of days ago, the zipper finally broke. I think Violet was getting too big for it, or it just wore out with use. So now she is in a sleep sack with the arms sewn shut. I'm also looking forward to the day when she doesn't startle herself awake. The doctor tells me that goes away around six months. I can't believe that that is only a few weeks away!