The World According to Alisa: The "Firsts" of August

August has been interesting. It started well with our trip to Holiday World for a few last days of vacation before school started again (you saw the pictures in the last post). Then Gavin headed to Michigan for a week with Grandpa and Grandma and I think they all had a great time. There wasn't a day that Gavin wasn't doing something fun or going somewhere fun - I have to admit, I was jealous! My Mom and Dad have friends Cheryl and Jimmy who also have a 5 year old grandson, Joe. Gavin and Joe played together and went to car shows, air shows and the zoo together... and ate lots of snacks and treats together from what I hear! Back here, it was just Jon, Harper and I... and it was quiet! Jon commented at one time that he forgot how easy it was to go places with just one child. It was nice for Harper to have a week by herself without an older brother taking her toys and getting half of the attention. All in all it was a good week for everybody.

So then it was the first day of school - times 2. This year Gavin is going to St. John pre-school for 3 full days and he's going to public pre-school (ECC) two 1/2 days a week. He's getting some more help with his social/emotional development but in a "team taught" classroom. Last year he was in a special school district class with a wide range of development needs (all boys, go figure) and I always wondered if he was able to work on the things he needed to - basically learning to communicate, recognize emotions and transitions - with peers that were younger or had more severe disabilities. So, luckily his teacher last year offered to submit him for the team taught class that fit with his St. John schedule. His class is taught by 2 teachers - one special ed and one typical and his classmates are a mix as well. He seems to like it thus far (although I still can't get him to tell me one name of a classmate), so we hope that this one extra year of focus will help him acclimate to kindergarten that much better next year. I've mentioned that we've seen him grow in leaps and bounds this summer so hopefully this will just add to that growth! The really nice thing about his class at St. John this year is he knows many of the kids - including Abby and Ally the twin girls Gavin's known since he was months old and quite a few classmates from last year. The teacher tells me that Ally and Gavin have become quite good friends playing well together in class... which is good because the most I get from Gavin is school was "fun".

First day at ECC

First day at St. John

Gavin and his friend Conrad (Abby and Ally are in the background)

We also have a new nanny, Jessica, coming to watch the kids. Ella took a fall last March and hasn't been the same since. Recently her pain has become worse and when she went to get it checked out they found out she has a mass near her ovary (which they don't think is cancerous) and a fractured hip/pelvis and torn ligament. She is supposed to rest as much as possible to heal the hip and has to have surgery to have the mass removed. Both things were going to require significant healing time and rest and taking care of 2 small kids doesn't allow for either. Luckily, one of our friends knew Jessica was looking for a job on the days she is not attending classes at the local college. We originally thought we had until after Labor Day to find Ella's replacement but her condition took a turn for the worse so Jessica joined us about 2 weeks ago. Hopefully all will work out and Ella will be able to get the rest she needs to heal quickly. Jessica seems to be adjusting to us and the kids to her and will hopefully be with us until further notice! Unfortunately, this all came at a time of great change. I warned Gavin's teachers about the change at home since that seems to trigger him a bit and I wanted to make sure they were aware that his little world was being turned upside down. Seems to be the same for Harper as she is going through her attachment phase and separation anxiety so we usually have to distract her with a little Baby Signing Time when I leave for work in the morning. I'll try to get a picture of Jessica with the kids to post on the blog. Keep Ella in your prayers that she is healed quickly!

Harper is such a busy little girl and is growing so quickly! We took her to the pediatricians and she is off the charts in height and weight again - I guess everybody in my family is going to tower over me! When I answered the questions about the developmental milestones she has reached, he said that she is really accomplishing what an average 21 month old can do - she's one smart cookie! She can say a lot of words and is starting to repeat any word you ask her to. She's on the go constantly and that would help explain this first...

Her first black eye and first trip to Urgent Care. She was pushing a baby carriage at Cracker Barrel after lunch on Sunday and she fell onto a corner of the candle display. It wasn't pretty but this picture doesn't make it seem too bad. Urgent Care put some glue on it (mostly for my benefit) and she's been fine ever since. This picture is also the before....

For her very first haircut....

This is the after picture of her new cute little bob...

Thanks to our neighbor Nedra for making her hair look presentable. Gavin kept telling me how much he didn't like the "waterfall" in Harper's hair, but it was the only thing that kept it out of her eyes!

Gavin uses a power drill for the first time to help Grandpa put benches on the sandbox

First picture of Nana, Papa and Gavin in a long time

First trip to Purina Farms this year (well for me anyway)

First time meeting Ronald McDonald (they weren't scared, they just thought it was odd that a guy with red hair and a white face was coming to visit)

Harper's first time going down slides all by herself (she is climbing up the clubhouse at our house all by herself and going down the slide too)

I forgot to add this picture last time - this is from the campground at Holiday World and I just thought it was a sweet picture of Harper and Grandpa taking a walk.