Shane's First Day of Day Care

Carrie dropped Shane off for his "discovery day" today. He's going to be starting daycare soon, since Carrie's new job starts on the 13th.

He loved it.

Carrie said he was excited to see her when she arrived. He ran over, grabbed her hand, and then dragged her around to show her different toys he liked. The day care people said he ate, napped, and got along fine!

A part of me was hoping he'd be a little more attached to Mommy and Daddy! Not likely, ha! The boy is an explorer at heart.

I think this will be good for Shane. I hope he makes a lot of new friends at Day Care and enjoys the new toys, sights, and people a couple of days each week.

I'd like to scope out the center myself one day, but (shock) Shane will normally be there when I'm working! Maybe I'll take a "mental health" day after SOLs...

Busy, Busy

Work doesn't get much busier than this time of year.

There are IEP meetings, addendums, progress reports, goal reports, and teaching all crammed in. On top of that, I have my homebound job and my tutor family asked me to start coming again.

Speaking of my homebound job, it's definitely been interesting. If I had known how much work it was going to be then, I wouldn't have volunteered. It is an experience. Since I signed up, I plan on seeing it through. I should have some stories by the time it's done.

This Picture Begs To Be Captioned.

You're happy I cleaned my plate, but wait until you see the surprise I'm cooking up for you.

Igor's Wedding: You Call That a Door?

No, I'm not really that thick. The door makes me look fat!

Igor and Casey chose to get married at a church where only the thin Christians can go to the bathroom!

Igor's Wedding: Finally

Last weekend was Igor and Casey's wedding. It was a great time of support and reunion.

Igor was visibly nervous throughout the service. He held his whole body rigid, but his left hand fidgeted with his suit jacket hem. When it was time to put the ring on his finger, both Igor and Casey blanked on which hand was his left! There was an extra spring in his step as he leaped up to light the unity candle at the end, too!

I consider this a good thing. Wedding vows are not to be taken idly and a little nerve jangling seemed appropriate. Igor has always been a man of his word, and he knew what he was getting in to!

After the wedding, everyone gathered at a country club for the reception. I had not seen many of my friends for months, and even then I normally only see them several times a year. John and I had our first real conversation in years!

It was a great day and a great night. There were fancy restrooms, well-wishes to write, and a few of us made a kick-line on the dance floor! Carrie was enamored with the music selection on the piano. She named every song played until the dinner started (there was "Making Whoopie," "Dance With Me Tonight," and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" to name the few I remember her mentioning!).

Through it all, Shane loved his time at Nana's. Kathleen and Baby Cole were visiting! They actually came out  to the church to congratulate Igor and Casey after the service. Unfortunately, they missed the limo as it rolled away!

Carrie and I wish Igor and Casey a long-life and a healthy marriage!

*Update - What's with all the bathroom humor?

DNAPWWO (Does Not Always Play Well With Others)

When our family visited Carrie's parent over Spring Break, we took Shane to the local playground. There was another family there with a little girl.

Shane yelled and screamed whenever she came near him. He'd also rage and whine if she tried to touch the same piece of equipment he wanted to use.

Now, I've seen Shane be very kind to Baby Cole. He still asks Nana and Pa about the foster kids, too. I have videos of Shane playing with other kids at the tot lot near our old townhouse.

In isolation, the current pissy-ness would alert the county evaluators who are assessing Shane for pre-school services. When you look at the whole picture, I personally think Shane is acting out and doesn't want to share at all.

The boy is going to have to learn!

Shane will start day care soon, because of Carrie's new job. It should only be part time at first (with help split between Genevieve and Nana and Pop), but I think it will be good for him. We're attending a young families small group to help him get acquainted with more children from our church, as well.

I really want to find some new friends for Shane. I was only a year or so older that Shane is now when I met Bill and Dan's family. My prayer is that Shane will be able to connect with some lifelong friends at some point, but he's going to have to learn to share and play nice for that to happen.

The boy is going to have to learn! What better time than the present to start?

Small Group

My butt is bruised from small group.

I tried to jump over a fence. 

Replace "over" with "landed on" and you'll know why.

I swear it was partly the shoes, but my wife says I'm making excuses! 

Thursday, my wife and I went to a small group meeting a wee ways west of us. The goal was to meet some more people from our church. Preferably married ones around our age with kids Shane's age. Carrie emailed the leader on Wednesday, heard back Thursday, and after I got home from work we hit up Harris Teeter for chips and dip.

An hour later, I was standing in someone's back yard. Shane was mesmerized by the sand table. He never left it's side willingly once he discovered it. Another dad was throwing a football around with a young boy, and a cast of others were standing around talking and playing. 

Toward the end, everyone went inside except Shane, a couple kids, and yours truly. The football sailed over the fence and Carrie came out just in time to watch my failed acrobatics! I'm not as young (or as in shape) as I used to be.

Plus, the shoes were slick and the Dr. Scholl's gel inserts robbed me of some verticality (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!).

It was an interesting night and Carrie and I are planning on going again this week. What I really want is Shane to have more opportunities interacting with kids his age. He doesn't tend to show much interest in them. He will play with (and be kind to) younger kids like Baby Cole. Shane will also shadow larger kids (if he's not afraid of them), but kids his age are either annoying or to be ignored. I'd like him to get more exposure to them.

If Carrie and I make some friends out of this, it'll be a bonus. Most of our friends aren't within an easy Shane-commute, and only one other couple has a child. 

It'll be interesting to see how this develops. We jumped right in, because you can't get wet without getting in the pool!

Date Mornings with Carrie

Carrie and I went to the scrap yard for our "date" this morning. We offloaded our old A/C unit and we made out rather well!

I never knew scrap could be this profitable. Our trash paid for breakfast at Wegmans, lunch, gas, dinner, and a small gift (with a joke inside) that Carrie wanted to buy for her mom.

How's that for a productive date?

Mush for Brains

Today's one of those days where I had ideas for blogs all day and then my brain goes to mush when I try to type something.

Cop out post!

Google Earth

Carrie is on Google Earth!

The Google Earth camera car rolled by our townhouse a year ago. Carrie went out to wave "Hello," and now she's online.

Spiffy!