After-school adjustment

Our  family has entered a wonderful, new, exhausting phase of life - school days. Timo has had 5 days of school so far, at Heritage Christian Academy, a small (pretty young) K-8 school 3 miles away that meets at a local Baptist church. After the adrenaline of the first few days wore off, he woke up and announced, "I'm not going to school today. I just want to stay home and read." (Ah, the irony, because we are all so eager for him to actually learn to read on his own! Just think how many more hours he will spend with books then!) But he continues to go, of course, and gradually will adjust and learn the new rhythms, and will make friends and be more eager to go. And he has done really well so far - he gets up and ready by 8 AM, and seems to be properly respectful of the teacher and classroom rules.

We are also all adjusting to a different schedule to our days...getting up and ready to leave the house earlier, having quieter moments (with just 2 boys at home) throughout the day, leaving mid-afternoon to get Timo from school, Hawk taking one nap instead of two, and wondering how to spend the two hours after-school and before supper. I've had my daily routine with preschool/toddler kids for so many years, and it is strange to have to adjust my mentality away from "morning activity to lunch to nap/make dinner to play until Daddy comes home". But one small adjustment at a time - we don't have to have it "all down" the first week. And so far the changes have gone well.

Throw in there the changes brought on by Jim quitting his job at Western so we can raise support for South Africa full-time! He is also in disequilibrium as he gets a rhythm to his days and a sense for what he can accomplish each day and what location is best for various tasks: our basement; the library; church; campus library (he got a "campus minister" parking pass); coffee shop; or a combination.

Yesterday after school Timo requested the sprinkler, so why not?! The hot days of summer seem to have passed already, so we may only have a few more chances for this. Plus, he needs to be outside and running around after spending the day at school! Hawk happily watched from the [very long] grass, and tried to get Timo to roll the giant ball his way.

"I like eggs"

"I like eggs," Mattias commented as he cradled an egg in his hands. "They are very crackable."

Mattias and I have been having fun 're-connecting' one-on-one with each other this week (it feels rare to have that time with three boys in the house), while Timo is at school and Hawk is having his midday nap. Mattias really enjoys participating in the kitchen, and without the bustle of other people around, we've been able to do a few more things together. Tuesday we made blueberry muffins and yesterday was cornbread. Today he cracked the eggs for egg-in-a-hole, and practiced flipping with the spatula.

(please excuse the mess on the counter; I was simultaneously cleaning up our snack from the morning walk, getting out lunch food, and prepping for dinner)

Sick Day

Oh, you gross coxsackie virus! Please go away soon! (*hand, foot and mouth virus. Causes red blisters all over in babies, and sore throats/fever in older children) I hope the two boys recover quickly so Timo doesn't miss any school days, and Mattias can get started on time with his new 2 mornings a week preschool.

I didn't take any close-ups of Hawk because the blisters are really bad on his hands and feet.

Papa Bear is never far away when Mattias is not feeling well.

Timo spent all morning lying in bed, listening to an audiobook. When I went to snap a photo he looked up and smiled, surprisingly. On the wall you can see his "morning routine" poster that he made.

Meanwhile Jim has decided to go baking crazy this weekend with the extra time spent at home (since we couldn't go to church this morning). Saturday was rusks and pumpkin muffins, and Sunday was gingerbread biscotti and granola. Wait a sec, this is actually a normal baking weekend for him... No one is complaining!

Greenway walk

How amazing is this - after dropping Timo at school, we met Sadie (and Guthrie) and Lindsay (and Sunny) for a 2 mile walk on the Greenway! I could get used to this schedule! The mornings are cool in the mountains, so it was perfect for a walk. (And I brought my porridge and banana to eat in the parking lot since I hadn't eaten my breakfast yet...)

the boys

But beware! A copperhead!

Thankfully there were a lot of others on the trail this morning, and we were forewarned about this copperhead right next to the pavement. Mattias had been "off roading" with his bike so he quickly got back onto the sidewalk. Yikes!! We stopped for a few seconds and then wisely continued on. Apparently it's been such a rainy summer and the river level is high, so many of the snakes have had to venture up higher to find new burrows - and there are been a lot of snake sightings. I think I need to go read up on snake bike first-aid.

Timo starts kindergarten

Today was Timo's first day of Kindergarten! He was so enthusiastic, calm and ready to go this morning. What a smooth experience from start to finish the entire day. School is about 3 miles away, and we take the South River Road (winding alongside the Tuckaseegee River) the whole way. I drop him at 8:15 AM and pick him up at 3 PM. The principal, Mr. John, stands outside and ushers the students in/out of the building. This afternoon at pick-up, there was all of 1 car in front of me in line. I think we're going to like this small school!

Earlier in the week he and I cut out pictures from magazines and made a big poster of the steps for his school morning routine. He arranged all the pictures into a timeline and taped it up next to his bed (wake up; reading/quiet time; breakfast; make bed, get dressed, brush teeth; get backpack and lunch box; go to school). This seemed to help me get an idea of the morning and able to do all of those tasks by himself. The real challenge is going to be getting the rest of us ready in time along with him!

We even had 5 minutes to take a few photos this morning. Timo and Mattias decided to say "Gemma!" while they smiled for the photos, and Timo remarked, "Let's send this photo to Gemma to show her." Then he paused and smiled, "Can she see us right now? Can God see us? Well she's not really on earth anymore... she's getting ready for the New Earth!" We miss her a lot on days like these... she would be starting 2nd grade, and I'm sure would be enthusiastic for school and protective of Timo!

Hawk's head looks bigger because of the angle...

Another reason this morning went so smoothly is because of Kindergarten Camp last week, when all the K students spent a half-day at school for orientation. So on the first day, Timo walked right in, hung up his backpack and sat down at his spot to start coloring.

Mrs Abby is the teacher in the flowered dress on the left

Midway through the morning Mrs Aby texted all the parents this photo from recess! She also sent a text at the end of the day to say "today went great!"

Beautiful morning for a first day, and the sun is just coming out through those clouds!

Good exercise for Hawk's hands

It's hard to keep up with all the new things that Hawk is learning these days! He is 2 months post-spica cast, and really start to get more comfortable moving around and exploring, and slowly gaining more range of motion in his left hip. Meanwhile of course we continue to try to encourage him to use his hands in all kinds of ways so that his fingers can open up and gain more 'grip strength'.

Here are a couple of photos from last week - the therapist gave me lots of ideas for helpful activities, like ripping paper, hiding toys in socks and making him pull them out, lifting plastic containers out of the drawer, manipulating Duplos, squeezing balls, smushing play-doh, lifting and pouring cups of water... you get the idea! All sorts of fun for a little boy!

I had to record this moment (below) when all three boys were happily playing together in the upstairs playroom one morning. I think it was one of the first times that Hawk had joined the older two for playtime for an extended period, and I didn't have to monitor him every second. He carefully explored his way around (no easy task with Legos and cars everywhere), crawling or pulling up to stand. I even went back downstairs to do breakfast dishes and make another cup of coffee!

He loves his rusks!

Amazing week... Recovering today

We had an AMAZING week of family reunion time here in Sylva with our Hawkins family - 12 adults and 14 children! Today most of the family packed up and headed home, Jim went back to work, and the three boys and I sat around the house feeling wiped out and talking together about all the things we had enjoyed, like tubing and picnicking at the river, racing up and down the driveway with cousins, Timo learning the "Guess Who?" boardgame, family talent show... I look forward to loading all the photos and sharing them!

Timo spent three hours this afternoon listening to an audiobook and reading books on our bed. I couldn't even get him to budge at suppertime. "I'm going to keep having my quiet time," he explained.

the Moving Truck game

"We're going to go upstairs and play the moving truck game," Timo announced this morning after breakfast. Hmm... I thought. And I let them go up on their own while I put Hawk down for a nap. I could hear banging and footsteps for 20-30 minutes, and then I carefully went upstairs to investigate.

Here's what our playroom looked like:

And here are the two very proud boys, standing in their "truck"/rug, all carefully laid out in their bedroom.

"Okay, time to drive the truck! Mattias, get in your bed! And Mommy, you pretend you are Gemma and you can sit in the truck with the stuff. We're going to our new house!"

After a few minutes of driving and chatting, we had arrived at our New House! Timo led the way as we unloaded the truck, carted it all back to the playroom, and re-arranged.

Later, downstairs I had a few quiet minutes for a cup of tea and some work on the computer (a rare thing during the day!) before Hawk woke up. And yes, that is a HUGE pile of bananas on the table. Reduced bananas that Jim bought at the grocery store, and now they are ripening further before we put them in the freezer for banana bread and smoothies.

Phew.

"I'm a teenager"

"I'm a teenager", he says. "I'm going to do a workout." ..."No, umm, this is my phone. I'm calling Daddy."

Well ,wherever he picked this up, and whatever he thinks he is doing - ! It's nice though that he has just recently started listening to music on the headphones, because it is a helpful way for him to get quiet space to himself and learn some independence (and coping skills for when he gets stressed). Just following in the Welty footsteps...

Note: name tag courtesy of VBS

Cast off!

Hurray! The day arrived! Eleven weeks of his spica cast, and now finally Hawk has gotten it off! It was quite a day to look back and realize that this part of Hawk's physical journey has ended. Now he is ready to get stronger, regain flexibility - which he has never even had due to the fact that his hip was dislocated since birth! - learn to sit again, crawl properly, and then up and onwards from there. Meanwhile I am also very relieved to finish this stage because it has been physically tiring and emotionally challenging for me to care for him in the cast. On the whole there, the weeks went smoothly and he stayed healthy and amazingly did not get a stinky cast, as we had been warned!

Here we go! Ready to get it off!

Jim took the day off work to come, and we brought Timo and Mattias. It was their first time to visit Shriner's Hospital. They were very helpful and caring while Hawkins was getting his cast off; very inquisitive during the x-ray, and then very excited to run upstairs to the play room and explore the books, pool table, trucks, snacks and all other kinds of toys.

He cried because of the noise but was fine and happy the rest of the visit.

Yoda statue in the lobby

Bare legs again! Briefly outside at the playground before we headed home.

After we left the hospital we stopped to get late afternoon donuts (decorate your own) to celebrate, along with some falafel sandwiches and fruit salad to eat in the car on the way home. It's always fun to do something special and different from what we are able to do in small-town Sylva.

Hawk really has done amazingly well since getting his cast off. That very afternoon/evening he got down on the floor and crawled a little bit, and the next day he was off again, even though his legs are stiff and have to re-learn how to move again. He's been tender and winces when his leg gets knocked or tries to bare weight; the doctor said that could last up to 6 months. But for now he is free to learn and explore and do as he pleases! (With some gentle massage on his leg and hip muscles.) Isn't that a joy! Two days after the cast got off I saw him pull up to standing on the edge of a stair, and today he pulled up to standing on my legs while I was seated, and then crawled into my lap. This is BIG, people. You should see his proud grin. It's hard to capture on photo because the photos turn out blurry...but here are two from the day after his cast removal.

He's also rediscovering the joy of his toes!! Only on the right side so far. What a fun stage to see him learning something new every day.

the sore on his left knee is rug burn from crawling...

Here he is just before bedtime in his new rhino brace, which he will wear (for a long time yet) while sleeping. It has a molded plastic seat and foam straps over the legs and waist that secure with velcro. The point of it is to keep his hip bone at a more direct angle to the socket, which will help maintain the proper position while he grows and hopefully prevent regression. It's very lightweight and he hasn't complained about it at all. Isn't he the sweetest, most cheerful little guy?

Mother's day and some summer planting

I'm taking a break from all of these rainy days to load pictures from the camera, including these from Mother's Day. Mattias helped with the scones, Timo made the fruit salad (all by himself), and Hawk gave his charming smile.

Later we worked on potting tomatoes, squash, and some herbs, and trimming some bushes. I have since filled up our raised planters. This week we've seen the bush pickles (small cucumbers) take OFF and they are dominating the planters, along with the onion (which were easy and fun for the boys to plant but now they are taking up a lot of room!) so I need to move the other herbs and flowers out of there. I've really enjoyed tending this small area, and in the midst of crazy days with the boys, it's always a nice break to go outside, walk with the boys doing inspections and pinching tomato suckers and munching on mint leaves. It's pretty great to live in this house with such a huge sunny yard.