Feb 12, 10

Obviously, now that I am working, I don't write as often as I should. On the days I am off I race around trying to get as many errands completed as I can. Here is what is going on with us:
Sasha-Moved to preschool in the beginning of January. They told me they wanted to move her from her two year old class to preschool and that her teacher said she was ready. Well, I wasn't ready. I wanted her to stay in there for many more months. No rational reason why, but I was reluctant to move her. I worried about it for several weeks. I knew she would be fine, but I worried anyway. One day I came back to my desk after a busy morning and found a note that read, "Sasha is IN Nancy's class today." I ran over to the preschool area and peeked at her from the bathroom." She was choosing work from a shelf and was fine. But she looked so tiny in the classroom! Her old teacher had brought her up to visit her new classroom in the morning and when she asked her if she wanted to stay in the new classroom or go back to her old classroom, Sasha said she wanted to stay.
She actually wasn't thrilled about school for a couple of weeks after that. Every day when she woke up she would say, "What are we going to do today, Mama?" When I would say school she would try to convince me there was no school and it was a park day. I would say how much I love her teacher and she would say, "I no love her, Mama. She's not my Mama." She even started asking to go back to her old classroom. Finally, about two weeks ago, she looked at me and out of the blue said, Mama, I like my teacher now!" I was really happy. She still wasn't thrilled to go to school, but she didn't talk about it as often. Then a few days ago she looked at me and said, "Mama, I like my teacher A LOT now!" She still asks me in the morning what we are doing that day, but she doesn't try to talk me out of going to school. I know she is doing well and fits in great. Her teachers both tell me that she is very confident and social and loves to do all of the work. Everyone is always surprised at how strong-willed such a tiny, sweet looking little girl could be. She is pretty easy going, luckily, and is happy most of the time. She gets herself dressed in the morning, can brush her own teeth, carries her lunchbox out to the car, gets in her carseat and puts on her own seatbelt, gets lost in watching whatever movie we have on it the car the entire way to school, carries her lunchbox into her classroom, and then demands I carry her the last few feet into the classroom. Luckily, she goes right to one of her teachers, though reluctantly. I know she will be fine because I talk to her teachers often enough throughout the day. Sasha knows that sometimes I am in the preschool office, so when she uses the bathroom next to the office, she often peeks into the office to see if I am there. So cute!
She and Brookelyn took turns waking up throughout the night. Five through 14 times a night. I still managed to function during the day, but clearly blogging suffered. I think it lasted about ten weeks after we moved them into the same room. Now, Sasha wakes up once a night and some nights she doesn't wake up at all. The first few days she slept through the night I was exhausted. I don't have any idea why, it doesn't make sense. I looked like hell, like I should have looked all of the other weeks. Anyway, now I have to get up once a night and I think I am functioning better than I was before. Sleep is good.
Brookelyn is so fun. She talks in this curly, sweet voice and it is fun to just listen to her sing or talk. She is learning her letters and sounds now at school. She is almost always happy, but she has been having a lot of crying times. No real reason, I think it is just four-year-old-girl-stuff. Sasha and Bradyen will have eaten, gotten dressed and be ready to get in the car and Brookelyn will be in her pajamas playing with a toy on the steps. Unless I am constantly following her around in the morning, directing her about what to do, she will forget. I think I have to remind her to put on her shoes about five to ten times. Finally, I have to sit down and put her shoes in front of her and ask her to put them on. Some mornings she cries because the clothes she picked out the night before are wrong, sometimes she cannot stand on her own and needs help, sometimes she needs me to dress her, sometimes one of the other kids is bothering her...What we have found is that she is perfectly capable of everything the others are capable of doing, but she is in no hurry and very much lives in the moment. Great quality, not helpful in getting to work and school on time.
Brayden will be turning six next Saturday! He had a hard time transitioning into kindergarten. We had to take him to some sport six days a week so he could burn his extra energy. He has matured a lot in the last couple of months. He is in a gymnastics class after school once a week, a hip hop class after school once a week, and just started Little League and has two practices a week. He is doing much better at listening and following rules in his class now. His teachers say that he is very smart and is good at math and language, but is more interested in history and religion. What!? They said he teaches the other children history lessons and about different religions. That would be his older sister, Dakota's, influence. She tells him stories about history at night before bed and he loves it. Bradyen is able to read, but really isn't very into it. We require him to read a book to us at night before we read to him. I can't wait until he is more excited about reading.