Daily routine

Well, I have not been very good about posting lately! We've been busy, but just with daily routine type stuff. I haven't taken many pictures lately either. Here's a catch-up post (probably not very interesting to read).

Rhett:

Today is R's half-birthday, 5 1/2! He is still liking school. He has received a sticker on his chart every day since the first full week of school (I was a little worried that first half-week because he kept getting in trouble for talking and once for screaming in the bathroom because of the automatic faucets, but I think he's figured out the rules now and is good to follow them.) In fact, he told me about a week ago, "Mom, I might make a mistake again once or twice, but I think I've got the hang of this". He seems to love his teacher, and he doesn't complain about going to school. Every morning on the 8 minute drive to school we say a prayer for the day and then go over "our rules":

(He fills in the blanks and Alexee knows them now, too, so sometimes they fight over who gets to say them.)

1) Obey your _______ (teacher).

2) Be kind and sweet to _______ (everybody).

3) Do good in __________ (school).

4) Make your papers ________ (neat).

5) Make good _________ (decisions).

6) Work ________ (hard).

After the rules, they both want me to "try to stump them". For Alexee, I say animal sounds and get her to guess the animal or ask things like "What is green and grows on trees?" Rhett's are more like "What state is directly above Arkansas on the map?", "What planet has rings?" or "What is the landmark called with the faces of the presidents carved in the mountain?" Drop-off line doesn't take too long anymore. He looks so cute walking in wearing his backpack every morning--I watch in the rear view mirror for as long as I can before the car behind me gets too close. :)

Alexee:

She is doing great at MDO (two days). She hasn't been crying at drop-off, and she's now old enough to go to pick-up line in the afternoons, which is SO nice for me (I don't have to get everyone else out of the car!). She has only napped there once, and that one time shocked me. I thought maybe the teacher put the wrong child's note in her bag. She must have been exhausted that day. Her teachers say that she's sweet to just rest on her mat with her blankie though, no fuss. On her non-MDO days, we're working hard on potty-training. She's done great this week. She's had two accident-free days where she only wore a pull-up at nap time. We're adjusting to the new school-days schedule and she's actually taking better naps now than she was before we had to move the timing around a little bit. (I shouldn't even type that because I will surely mess it up by saying that!) She's getting a little better about not being quite so grumpy when awakened from her beauty rest. :) While there is always laundry, ironing, etc. waiting for me around the house, I try to leave those chores until her naptime and read books, play with her, color, etc. in the mornings. All too soon she will be in kindergarten! Rhett has always loved using glue, so today I decided to let her try glueing shapes on a piece of paper. She worked very hard and told me to "put it up on the counter to dry" when she was finished with it.

She also arranged all of her animal cards on the table and said the name of each one. About some of them (such as the lion and the alligator) she would say, "They're not scary, they're friendly." She also saw a snake in a book today and told me that it wasn't scary, that it was non-venomous. She definitely listens to everything Rhett says, both good and bad!
Crosby:

He's approaching the SIX month mark! :( Slow down time! He's enjoying his cereal, but still not sleeping through the night. I think I'll start carrots next week. He's sleeping on his tummy some now. It's so cute to go in his room and see him asleep on his tummy with his head turned to the side and sucking his thumb. He's sitting up a little better, but he's still not very stable. He can sit for several seconds if he's focused on a toy. He likes the Bumbo seat and the exersaucer and the swing...but his first choice is to ride around on my hip and look at things. So I hold him a lot. He was on a quilt in the living room floor on Tuesday and I went to the kitchen to do something. When I came back around the corner Alexee was changing his diaper by herself and he thought it was funny--he was all smiles!

Lane:

L is on surgery rotation this month and next, so he has a difficult schedule. His days start way too early! He's doing great and seeing and learning interesting things though. We were thrilled when he called at 4:30 today to say that he was on his way home. That hasn't happened much at all lately, so we celebrated by going out to eat pizza. Crosby slept through most of dinner and the older two played in the arcade and carried their pizza around with them (germs, I know!), so Lane and I got to sit and talk and eat--what a treat! :)