Jack's Take on Graham's Motivations

As I was reading Jack his bedtime story tonight, Graham developed a serious case of the "wiggles." (Calling them wiggles seems a bit disingenuous, and even "kicks" is fairly tame; this little boy, just like his big brother, is a dynamo in utero! It's more like double back flips with a jab to the ribs as a chaser.) Jack, who was leaning back on me started feeling Graham's movements, so I asked if he wanted to feel Graham moving with his hands. Jack's hands reached my belly just in time for a big leap, and he burst out laughing, saying, "He's trying to jump out! Graham is trying to give me a kiss, but he's still in your belly!" His joy was adorably contagious.

Preschool is going very well. Jack seems to love it, both of us are meeting lots of new friends, and I'm finding out just how much I can get done in 2 1/2 hours without having to pull Jack in and out of his carseat at every stop. It's amazing to me that he comes home singing songs I've never heard and having read books I didn't read to him.

Also amazing me last week was when we were driving back from a downtown visit to Ben and Jack pointed to a road saying, "That's where Miss Kelly and Uncle Stephen's school is!" And he was right! Let me also specify that not only was the law school not visible from the turnoff, not only had even I forgotten exactly which turnoff it was, not only was there no sign to tip him off, but Jack had only been there once! When I asked how on earth he remembered that, Jack matter-of-factly told me that he had gone there with Miss Kelly and they threw pennies in the fountain but that the bookstore had been closed.

In other news, potty training seems to be pretty well finished. Hip, hip, hooray! Jack has not worn diapers or pullups since Christmas, not even at night! Though he's still having about two accidents a week at home, he's only had one at school. I cannot describe how incredibly nice it is to have even a few months' break from changing diapers! Now I just have to get geared up to go back to the 8-12 a day pace of a newborn... I'm so glad Ben has six weeks paternity leave!

School Days, Snow Days, and Sick Days

Today was Jack's first day of preschool! It was only a visit day, so I spent the whole time with him in class, and we were only there for about half the normal time, but I think Jack's really going to enjoy school. He was very excited to don his penguin backpack and was thrilled to learn that they have a train table at school. Due in large part to the massive number of train-related Christmas gifts Jack received, trains have once again taken center stage in his daily routine; he spent the entire school visit time playing at the train table.

Actually the first day of school was supposed to be last Thursday, but St. Louis got a few inches of snow Wednesday night, which resulted in every school in the county closing for two days. So Jack's first school day was a snow day.

Fortunately, this week worked out better for us anyway, because if it hadn't been a snow day, last Thursday probably would have been a sick day. The three of us have spent at least two of the past four weeks suffering from several rounds of colds. Jack was only a little sniffly, having mostly recovered from a sinus infection, but I was coughing every 2 minutes, barely able to talk from a sinus infection that moved into my ears and throat. I don't think I would have been a very welcome fixture at visiting day.

Jack will be going to school two days a week for 2 1/2 hours, which should be just the right amount of time for him to have some independence and meet some new friends. Jack separates so easily from me (being so nonchalant about it that it occasionally hurts my feelings, though intellectually I know that it's a very good developmental milestone) that I think preschool should be a ton of fun for him without the trauma that can sometimes accompany spending time away from home alone for the first time. At least I don't expect him to be the clingy kid crying and saying, "No, Momma, don't go!" at drop off time, though I am wondering if he'll have some tension that will show up in other ways in the next few weeks.

On the baby front, we think we've settled on Graham as a first name, though we're still looking for a middle name that fits well with it. I'm 25 weeks and up about that many pounds, and Graham's about the size of an eggplant. He's wiggling away (we've started saying "wiggling" instead of the more traditional "kicking" because Jack seemed very upset at the idea that his little brother would kick me), sometimes waking me up a few times a night, usually strong enough for Ben to feel, and occasionally contorting himself enough to making my stomach look lopsided. Oh, and thanks to his classmates, if Jack doesn't quite get the little brother thing yet, he should understand a little better by the time Graham is born; of the 13 kids in his class, at least 5 have mothers who are pregnant! Four of us are due in April, with Graham coming in at the last expected arrival date.