Happy first week of preschool to Alice! She had her first day of school this week and did great. She was extremely nervous about me leaving and there were quite a few tears on that first drop off, but when I came to pick her up she was all smiles and said, "Mom, I had a great time at preschool!" She told me that she cried for a minute, then she wiped her tears away and had a fun time. They painted, danced, played, and had a snack. The two hours of preschool went by astonishingly fast. Unfortunately it isn't really time gained for me because she is starting to drop her nap. The amount of hours spent at preschool (4 hours a week) is less than the nap hours we are losing. But I'm still glad she can spend that time learning and making friends.
What brought me the most joy last week was mine and Jared's Harry Potter evenings, with a fall candle lit and treats to go with it. In Washington school didn't start until the end of September, at which point autumn really was starting. So my brain thinks it should be fall right now, even though we're still definitely in the heat of the summer. My heart is torn between sadness at leaving pool/splash pad season behind for another year, and joy at fall around the corner. You know, basic stuff.
I'm sure there is more to report from last week, but it is eclipsed by the sadness of Savvy's freak haircut incident on Saturday. Jared cuts Savvy's hair and has gotten pretty good at it over the years. But on Saturday, Savvy shook her head in the middle of the haircut and her ear got caught in the shears. It's every bit as awful as it sounds. I didn't realize how bad it was until Jared left with the kids to run an errand afterward and I was home alone with Savvy--there was a jagged tear going an inch up her ear. Jared really downplayed the ordeal at the time (either he didn't want me to panic or he felt bad since it was at his hands and he wanted to just take care of it himself . . . probably both).
If it had been me doing the haircut and this had happened, I would have immediately run her to the emergency vet. Unfortunately, a negative of Jared having gone to med school is he thinks dog stitches are a cute lil' DIY project. Like, dude, dog ears are not people ears. And dogs are not peoples. But he insisted on stitching her up himself. I asked my mom to come because she's a nurse and I wanted some peace of mind that someone would be there to hold Savvy's paw and look out for her while Jared stitched her up. I was a wreck about the ordeal and I'm not good around blood, so my job was to stay inside and keep the kids from interrupting the procedure. My dad ended up coming too and playing with the kids, so I paced around and made some lemonade instead. In the end Jared was able to get Savvy's ear fixed up, and so far her recovery is going fine, but woof. I'm so sad she had to go through that, all for a haircut she didn't want in the first place because she's a dog. I told Jared that from here on out Savvy will be getting her haircuts at the groomer, and/or if there are any future doggy lacerations for any reason, then I will be rushing her to a vet so she can be as comfortable and well taken care of as possible, with access to only the best of doggie anesthesias. Give your doggie dogs a hug. They are too pure, the goodest doggos.
I am feeling a shift in the air. A good one. A settled one. I don't know if it is because school started, or because fall is around the corner, or because we are coming up on the one-year mark of moving to Utah, or because we have solved so many family health questions over the summer and are making strides in a healthier direction. It could very well be because we have successfully (knock on wood) walked our children's bedtimes up to a more reasonable hour and Jack, while still requiring check ins, isn't sneaking out of bed all evening anymore, and so Jared and I are finally getting to spend our evenings together. We have started our Harry Potter marathon early this year. It isn't even like they're our favorite movies in the world, but we watch them every fall and so that feels very familiar and grounding, comforting. I am breathing a contented sigh.
Don't get it twisted though, back to school has been BuMpY. I could cry from relief that Jack is happy to bumble down to school in the mornings without any of the panic that plagued our first several months here after the move. Three cheers for anxiety medicine and settling in. But when Jack is home, the sibling conflicts are raging. I'm sure it's from Jack holding it together so long and so well at school, and from past experience I do think this will get better with time, but that part of back-to-school has been dreadful. I tried to take them to Thanksgiving Point after school one day, but we only lasted 7 minutes before both kids had collapsed in an emotional heap at my feet, and after I got them back into the car I turned around and let out a silent scream while shaking my fists in the air as I walked around to the driver's side. Looked up and saw a concerned-looking man watching me from his car. Hey there, it's fine.
But despite the after-school hours stretching into what feels like several days on their own, I do feel settled and happier than I have in a while. Alice will be starting her first day of preschool this coming week. That may also be bumpy. She has an extremely difficult time separating from me. I'm anticipating a rocky few weeks, and then gradually less and less rocky as her teacher and classmates become more familiar to her. Then again, I expected the same from Jack when he started preschool but it was never an issue. We'll see. Send prayers.
Jared took the kids to run several errands with him (he loves an errand) while I cleaned the house for several hours on Saturday morning. It was life-giving to get the house reset after a hectic summer and to think my own thoughts for longer than an hour. Jack will be starting flag football soon, but I'm hoping for a smattering more Saturday mornings like that throughout the fall.
I got to go thrifting at the newly re-opened Provo D.I. with my mom this week. It was extremely crowded with other shoppers hoping to stumble on treasures that had been piling up in the store during the weeks it was closed. It was extremely well stocked and I snagged some fun fall clothes and decor for our next house. And now for some pictures from our happy, bumpy week:
We're just getting off of a wonderful weekend in Bear Lake with Jared's parents. Jack spent a couple days up there just him and his grandparents. He got used to a very cushy life of phone games/movies on demand, an endless stream of treats on the house, and late night card games ending at 10:30 pm. Tough for me and Jared to walk into that and try to taper him back without being public enemies #1 and 2. But he had great bonding time with grandma and grandpa and we had so much fun all together so it's over all a win. Hopefully this can be a yearly tradition now that we're living in Utah. And now for some pictures:
Alice kept yelling, "Hey! Owice (Alice)!"
We are about to finish off our last full week of summer with a trip to Bear Lake with Jared's parents. I'm glad we have this to look forward to--we've reached the point in the summer when the kids have been getting grumpier and crustier at home. We had a glorious one-month period where Alice was finally old enough that she and Jack would just run off and play together for hours at a park. But now, either Jack is aging out of parks or just getting antsy with school around the corner. I'm lucky if he'll stay happy for 15 minutes at a park anymore before he comes back to me wanting to go back home, and then he and Alice will snip at each other the entire car ride.
In other news, Jack taught Alice to climb out of her crib, and now she is coming into our bedroom every two hours all night long. Thanks for that, Jack.
Here are some pictures from our week though. Making the most of the summer time we have left:
Another summer week under our belts. I can't believe we're down to our last 2-3 weeks of summer before Jack starts school. I mean, I can, but you know. It's the thing you say haha. This week feels like a bit of a blur, so hopefully these pictures will jog some memories. Oh, I'm giving up the treasure hunt. At least for now. The driving and hiking just got to be too much. It was a fun lil summer fixation while it lasted.
Alice is officially cleared to eat peanuts again! Have I mentioned that already? It happened a couple weeks ago, and we're all enjoying the ease of pbj's in our lives again. We'll take all the health wins we can get. Ok, pictures:
