The Month Of September

It is already the end of the month, and I have hardly blogged at all. I'll admit....it was because I was mad.

I was so mad at my experience of Joey's first day of school, I didn't want to blog about it for the longest time. Then, as time went by, I kept putting off getting back on the blog because I knew I would have to talk about his first day of school before continuing on to anything else.

Joey was SO excited to be starting school. I was excited for him, but afraid of how I would handle it if he came home crying. When it was time to pick Bubba up from school, I squealed like a school girl all the way there, so happy was I that I could go pick him up and find out how awesome his day was.

When Joey saw the boys and I waiting for him, he looked at me and started crying. I was worried about what had happened, and my Momma's heart was aching for him. I asked him what was wrong. He wailed, "I want to ride the bus!" I was hurt. After looking forward to seeing him after school, anticipating long conversations with him about every little thing that he did, he was upset to see me. Every question I asked him about his day got me a negative, pouty, Eeyore-ish answer. Now, I know that he had a great day; but he refused to share it with me. My memory of his very first day of school will forever be marred.

Joey has come to grips with the fact that I pick him up from school everyday. He is more willing to share the fun things he does in class, and his teacher has already told me that she feels spoiled with Joey, and that when she is with another child, she wishes that child can be more like Joey. (I know that she likes all her kids, but it makes me feel great to hear my son is special to her.)
Joey has gotten to ride the bus home twice now. A couple weeks ago, Nick needed the car, so we had to walk Joey to school. It took us 45 minutes! And then, I still had to walk Nick and Ethan back home. I decided, after arriving at the school, that there was no way that I would be able to make that walk again in just an hour, so I stopped in the office to let them know that Joey would be on the bus that afternoon. Joey's only comment about the bus ride he so anticipated, "It was a little long." He also got to ride the bus home again today and had the same reaction.

Little Nick is doing well. He is so expressive! He is talking so much more, and even if he is still difficult to understand, he is still communicating. His imagination is really taking off, fueled, of course, by his older brother. We go to the library after dropping Joey off at school at least once a week, where he can sit and color, do puzzles, or watch the lizard while I "shop" for books. The library in town is quite small, but it gives him an opportunity to do a "big boy" activity without his big brother. Joey can sometimes make Nick feel that he only gets to do "big boy" things because he is tagging along with the "real" big boy. (Older brothers will do that sometimes; I should know!)

When we came home in mid-September for Lisa and Brian's wedding, my cousin Kathy came over to take pictures of Nick and Ethan for their 3yr and 1yr portraits, respectively. She took some amazing pictures of both boys. Nick is very photogenic, even when he is pouting. I had a couple different outfits for each of them, and Nick did not want to change out of his first outfit, so he pouted most of the rest of the time. Only after Kathy allowed him to help take some pictures did he cheer up enough to give a couple more smiles. I can't wait to be able to get the pictures printed up. What I'm going to do is, pick a few out of the lot and let people pick their own favorites of each boy that I will have printed up for them.

Ethan....boy, what an adorable kid he is. He took his first "official" step (by accident) on Aug 15. After that, Nick and I would have him practice walking between the two of us. For the first week or so, we could get him to take one or two steps. Then, the next week, he would take three or four. When we came home in Sept., he was up to six steps. But that weekend, he started venturing out on his own a bit. That next week after we got back, he just started walking ALL over the place. I have even seen him stand up on his own (without pulling himself up) once or twice.

Ethan loves to jam. When he hears some up beat music, he is dancing and head-banging to the beat. He will also fake sneeze. I have tried to get a video of him doing it, but he is usually so interested in the camera, he won't "perform." But he is so cute when he does! He tips his head back as far as it will go for the "aaahh, aaahh" part, and then throw his head forward, making some semblance of a "choo" sound. It usually comes out on a laugh, because he is so tickled with himself. And of course, Mommy is tickled, too. I always say "God bless you", and that gets him going again.

Nick and his Dad will be flying up to Alaska on Oct 13 to get our stuff out of storage and make the 2500 mile drive back home. We should have our stuff by the 17th, if all goes as planned. Please pray for good weather and safe driving conditions. It is a little worrisome that there is talk of snow already. It's not necessarily the roads, as those are usually well plowed. It's more concerning that they might be driving through a snow storm. In a big U-Haul, that is a little more scary than in a smaller, personal vehicle. I think the thing I am looking forward to having back the most is the boys' bunk beds. They are so sick of sleeping on the floor in sleeping bags! I don't blame them. I'm also looking forward to Mom and Dad, and Grandma and Grandpa Dooley coming to help us unpack and find a spot for everything. Well, us girls will unpack....the boys will go golfing!

Well, I had to get the month of September chronicled before starting a new month. It's hard to believe that it is October already! Have a blessed week.