My Huckleberries: November

I don't mean for this to become a once a month thing. In fact, I really don't know how nearly a month passed without a post. But I do know it has been a great month. A really great month. Aaron and I are both so excited about how well the boys are adjusting to their new school that it has been hard not to be really happy this month.

They are enthusiastic about getting dressed for the day (the boys prefer to wear only their underwear so this is a big thing) and they walk into school- no tantrums, no whining, no needing to be dragged. (This is HUGE. Although they seemed to enjoy their previous schools, they would put up a serious fight. Drop offs were usually difficult and most of the time left me feeling defeated and sweaty.) But now they give me kisses goodbye and when I pick them up, they are BEAMING. A school psychologist who was a part of their evaluation team sent me an email last week after she spent a day at the school. She said they did a great job following routines and participated so much more than her previous evaluation. She was pleased to see them interacting with other students and said they were very engaged in the activities. She said William was "so sweet and silly" and Mason "was smiling non stop." I cannot even tell you how validating and reassuring her email was! I was very anxious about putting them in separate classes and even nervous about switching their school but it was DEFINITELY the right decision. It has been about a month and we are already seeing changes. William is talking WAY more- like an explosion of words and sentences and communication. We still have a very long way to go, but I feel like it is really happening and it is so exciting. And Mason is far less timid around new people and new environments so we know the social aspect of an all day public school is already paying off. Aaron and I are so proud of their progress. So very proud.

Ginny had a sleepover with Grandma and PapPap so that Aaron and I could get up early and go to meeting with the school. There we went over our education plan for the boys and got to meet the different therapists who would be working with them each week.

Ginny making cornbread for Daddy

Mason has been swiping my phone and I love hearing him say "cheese!" and then finding dozens of selfies like this one

I took the kids to a play gym and they all had a good time but Ginny LOVED it

Family dinner,
cousin dessert time

I love moments like this. I picked up the boys from school and when we returned we found Ginny and Daddy cooking. William rolled up his sleeves and got to work and Mason and I made cookies for dessert. I started freaking out about the mess (because it was a serious mess) but it made me remember a regret I have. I used to feed the boys instead of giving them the spoon to feed themselves until they were more than a year old. We gave Ginny the spoon when she first started eating, at four months. I justified spoon feeding them because it made such a mess otherwise...now I can look at messes and smile because I know it's more than a mess. It's an opportunity to learn dependence. A time to strengthen fine motor skills. And it's fun.
(I'm not perfect, I still freak out about messes, but I don't mind them as much as I once did.) :)

Ginny loves cars and trains and plays dinosaurs with the boys but she's a girly girl. Almost every night she looks at her shoes and puts on bracelets from my jewelry box. When I get ready, she's right there in the bathroom, pretending to rub stuff in her hair and on her hands. It's so cute.

W,M,G
Pancake breakfast at the boys' school

Ginny's first ponytail. My mom used to absolutely torture me when she combed my hair. I remember it hurting like crazy but I LOVED the styles she came up with. I always had ribbons and braids in my hair. I am going to have to learn how to do hair because this BamBam ponytail is about all Gin can expect from me at this point.