Wednesday, September 01, 2010

whirlwind

Life is chaotic but good at the moment. Roan had a rough start to her second week of school but caught her stride by the end of last week. She is doing GREAT. We are so happy, and feel like we've found a new second home for her.

We closed on the house last Thursday!!! And since that time we've hardly been able to tear ourselves away from this place. Initially the plan was just to move our basement stuff to the new house, and stay put at our old house until all the repairs we need to do are done. But instead we've found ourselves camping out over here sleeping on mattresses, eating take-out, and soaking in the new scene. I'm astonished that Roan could care less about her old room with all her toys and the bed she's slept in her whole life. She's so excited about her new room and the sparkly turquoise paint on the walls. And so are we... we'd rather sleep on a 3 inch foam mattress on the floor of our dining room and wake up to the birds and the frogs and the dew on the flowers than stick with the comfort and routine of our old house. How... illogical!

Arwen had a birthday over the weekend. We spent last saturday doing house fix up/ moving type stuff, and then that night had a small gathering here with birthday cake, before he and a friend headed down to a neighborhood pub crawl. The birthday boy had a great time and didn't come stumbling home till the wee hours. I figure he deserves a chance to cut loose a bit with all the hard work he's got ahead of him.

Roan had a traumatic 2nd swim lesson and since then has not really wanted to go back to class. But we're making improvements every couple of days. She's back to having fun in the water now, and tonight she even joined in with her classmates a little (with me right next to her). Apparently a purple noodle was all it took for her teacher to lure her back.

Logan is apparently crawling! What a big boy! His Aunt Heather is sure proud of him. Hope I'm not stealing your thunder Jen.

And - incredibly - Roan is starting to read. I wish I hadn't left the camera at the old house, so I could've gotten it on video tonight. But she actually read a bonafide book to us tonight, sounding out each word carefully. On her 3rd day of school her teacher had exclaimed enthusiastically that Roan already knows all the shapes and sounds of all her letters (duh, I was thinking) and that she was ready to start the reading program. This involves a series of dozens of "reading boxes" which contain little cards with pictures and words the kids sound out. After completing 7 reading boxes then they start them in on little phonics reader type books. It's quite a structured system. And Roan has blazed through the first 7 reading boxes. Monday Ms. Bridget told us "I just can't hold her back. She's going to be ready for reading homework soon! This is highly unusual." And today when I picked her up from school her teacher was practically aglow, as she explained how the books work and what we are to have her do.

We had such a big day today - friends in from Breckenridge, a short trip to the zoo, a swim lesson - that I wasn't expecting much with the book. I figured there was a good chance she'd just not be in the mood. But instead she wanted to read it over and over. First to Arwen and then to me. I could see she was sleepy, but still she wanted to keep going. It was so incredible to hear her sound out each word. "Jan is a fat cat... Jan has a pan of ham... Pam is a pal of Jan's." Amazing!!!

Oh and I am unbelievably enormous. Even close friends can't help but gape in wonder. I have had to resort to buying a 3-part maternity belt with straps and vecro and support in all sorts of places. It bears a slight resemblance to a medieval torture device, but it has helped with back & round ligament pain. I am LITERALLY the same size around as the beach ball I tote each week to swimming class with Roan. I have my 24 week doctor's visit tomorrow. Looking forward to posting another belly photo as soon as I can be bothered to bring the camera over to the new house.

That is all... reporting from a whirlwind of happy chaos, yours truly.

1 comment:

Elisa and Adam said...

And, I thought you had a lot going on your last post! LOL. You guys know how to keep busy! Glad to hear that Roan is doing so well in school - we always knew she was a "smarty pants"! Nice work, Roan! Keep up that reading. And, YOU - Oh, I can't wait to see your beautiful belly in a couple of weeks! :)