That Didn't Take Long

It only took three days in the presence of germy kids for Evan to be sent home with a fever.  I picked up an extremely snotty, congested boy on Thursday who never led on for a second that he wasn't feeling well.  He had a fever of 102 degrees and was apparently breathing heavy and slobbering during nap time which prompted his teacher to take his temperature.  He was not allowed to return to school on Friday.

It's been a couple of days and it seems Evan is beginning to feel better.  No more fever, reduction of snot, but still congested and coughing.  I'm assuming he'll be okay to return to school on Tuesday.  I was so happy to have my mom visiting on Thursday because I was a complete newbie to dealing with a sick child.  This was the first fever Evan has ever had and he did not handle it well on Thursday night and Friday.  Nothing seemed to make him happy and he fought me tooth and nail on every little thing.  Mom helped me keep my cool which I appreciated very much.

I have a feeling these early dismissals from school will be more frequent than not.  Evan's immune system better be ready for a beating because that's exactly what it's gonna get these next few months.  It's a good thing I have a few months before I go back to work.  Evan may be spending more time at home with me after all.

First Day of School

Evan starts "school" on Monday.  Yes, you read that right.  Our little two year old was accepted into the Belin Methodist Learning Center today - just a couple of days shy of the first day of school.  We are pumped!

We decided we wanted to get Evan into a program for several reasons.  (1) He desperately needs to be socialized with other children.  He needs to be aware that this is not Evan's world.  (2)  With Mattie due to arrive in a just a few weeks we felt it necessary that she gets my full attention for a few hours a day since she will only be at home with me for 3 months.  (3)  Let's face it - it's just gonna make it a hell of a lot easier on me. In order to get any of my writing done I need to be sure I can get at least two hours of silence per day - that probably isn't very likely with a newborn and a two year old fighting for attention.

I was so ecstatic to get the phone call today that Evan was accepted into the two year old program.  We've been on the waiting list since April and things were not looking too favorable.  Evidently families from Georgetown all the way up to Myrtle Beach are trying to get into this school - we got lucky!  I actually spent the better part of my day today researching more programs because I was reaching the point of desperation.  Most programs in the area begin on Monday so if you were not contacted by August 1st that meant they were full and more than likely would not have an opening until the following May.  I had basically given up on the idea that Evan would possibly get into Belin so I was putting him on waiting lists for other programs I wasn't nearly as fond of...I wasn't sure what we were going to do because we received no phone calls by August 1st and I will be going back to work in January (I will talk more about that later).

This morning, in my desperate state, I sent Robert to what would be better described as a day care and he literally walked in, got one glimpse of the place and walked out.  He called me and said, "Absolutely not.  Our son is not stepping foot in that place.  It smelled like a dog kennel in there."  This pretty much sums up what many of the local day cares were like - dirty and chaotic - two qualities that just aren't gonna work for me.  We wanted Evan in a structured environment where activities were carefully thought out and planned.  We wanted him to be surrounded by kids his own age and be in a classroom where every child gets the proper attention they deserve.  Our hope was that the program we found would be focused on reading and literacy, but also incorporate physical activities and fun.  We found all of this and more at Belin.  Thanks to a family dropping out at the last minute, we were called to attend Open House tonight and were so excited with everything we saw and heard.  Evan's two teachers are fabulous and he only has 6 other kids in his class.  You can't get a much better teacher/child ratio than that.

This is not only a big step for Evan, but a huge step for me too.  I already started crying during our meeting at Open House.  I'm sure I'll be a blubbering mess on Monday morning.  But I know this will be such a great experience for Evan.  We also felt by starting him now rather than after the baby is born we can prevent Evan from feeling like he's being pushed out because of the baby.  We wanted him to feel like this new experience is solely for him and for no other reason.  Of course we also had no choice but to start him now unless we wanted to give up his spot and that was definitely not gonna happen.

I actually feel like I'm the one starting school on Monday.  I'm excited, but nervous and feel completely unprepared.  I'm praying my follow-up posting to this will be a sane one - I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Say Hello to My Little Friends

Just like the doctor ordered - we totally socialized today.  I made the commitment to take Evan to "Toddler Time" at the public library on Thursdays.  Our first day proved to be necessary.

While the other kids waited for the class to start, either in their moms' laps or remaining close by, Evan chose to hang out on the outside of the circle running back and forth between the exit doors.  It didn't bother me necessarily considering this was probably equivalent to Disney Land to him, but I did feel that slight hint of embarassment - the one that Dr. Sahai warned me about, remember?  I glanced around to see if any other mothers were giving me "the look."  Turns out, I was just being paranoid.  Once the music started Evan cheerfully made his way back to the group.

The kids danced to the music while the mothers sang nursery rhymes and made silly gestures.  Evan roamed around checking every one out.  Occasionally he would try stealing another kid's snack or sippy cup - but other than that he was acting appropriately (YES! double fist pumps).  He really began having a lot of fun.  He played peek-a-boo with the little girl sitting beside us.  Very funny.

Boxes were brought out full of homemade moroccas, sidewalk chalk, rubber toys and plastic DINOSAURS.  Oh, great.  Here we go.  I was about to go ahead and tell the other mothers to keep their kids away from the dinosaur box unless they wanted to see a complete meltdown.  Amazingly, Evan handled it just fine.  Not to say he didn't monopolize that particular box, but he didn't use any vocal or physical force to keep others away.  I was proud.

Of course instruments were brought out for the kids to shake and bang as they were encouraged to walk around in a circle.  Evan again chose to do his own thing.  He refused the instrument and instead began picking up the pieces of carpet the mothers use to sit on and piled them on top of each other in the middle of the floor.  He's used to playing alone - what can I say?

I was beginning to think that it wasn't going to take much to get Evan used to the world around him - that is, with other people in it.  But when it was time to put all the toys away that thought was completely erased from my mind.  Putting the dinosaurs away brought on the most ridiculous display of screaming and crying that I always fear - and of course he was acting alone which made it that much worse.  I had to pull him away and get all things dinosaur out of his sight.  All the other mothers gave me that sympathetic smile - the one where you know they're thinking thank god that's not my child.

Nonetheless, I was proud of Evan today.  He may not have great social skills, but one thing he's certainly not lacking is personality - and you gotta love that.  I know I do!