Bus Update

First of all, thank you to everyone who left a comment on our previous post about Michael riding the bus! It was nice to feel validated in our feelings and to know that our plans of talking to the teacher were the right thing to do.

The next day Michael went to preschool Nathan took him and was able to talk to the teacher. The teacher said she hadn't noticed anything about Michael disliking the bus (although, she did say he avoids her sometimes so he doesn't have to talk! Silly boy! That's the whole reason he's going, so he can learn to talk better. Anyway). The teacher said she would mention it to the bus driver. So Michael rode the bus home and Nathan spoke with the driver. She said that a lot of kids Michael's age don't like sitting on the bus for a long period of time. We're thinking this might have been what the problem was. Michael would get picked up and then ride the bus for 30 minutes until he was able to be dropped off.

But we haven't heard a complaint from him since! And a few days ago when Michael was dropped off the bus driver commented that Michael had serenaded them all the way home. Hopefully this all behind us and Michael just needed to get used to this new change.

What Should We Do?

Okay, so we have a question and would LOVE to get some feedback and advice on it! Here's the deal:

Michael is going to a preschool at a near by elementary school. He absolutely LOVES it there and gets very excited about going. The problem is his class is right smack dab in the middle of when I work. He goes from 8:30 to 10:30 each Tuesday and Thursday. I work from 8:00 to 12:30, and my job requires me to have the car (we only have 1) and I'm in homes all through out the community during that time. It works out fine because Michael can take the bus. This is where the problem lies.

When Michael first found out he could ride the bus, he was ECSTATIC!!! His whole face lit up and it was all he could talk about! The first day came and he did just fine. He didn't talk about it at all after that. Not a word. Now, this is kind of normal, for him, I think. After he's done something once it's not a big deal anymore. But the last few mornings of preschool he's been a bit hesitant.

About a week ago (after riding the bus maybe 2 times) he asked if I could go on it with him. I explained that I couldn't and he seemed fine. Today when we were getting ready to leave the house, he started whining a bit and said he didn't want to go on the bus. We told him he had to and, again, he seemed fine. He maybe mentioned it a few times after that, but it wasn't a big deal. But Nathan said that when he got home today, he was a bit upset. He said he wanted to ride in the car to school. Nathan asked him if he liked going on the bus and Michael said No. This really surprised Nathan and he asked Michael why. It sounds like Michael is trying to say they're mean to him. Now, this gets kind of tricky because with Michael's speech delay, it's tough to know for sure what Michael is really saying a lot of the time. But he kept saying this over and over again. It really does sound like he's trying to say they're mean to him. We try asking him how they're mean, what they do, all the follow-up type questions, but he doesn't answer. He might not understand the question or not know how to answer it, but he doesn't tell us anything. We do ask him if he likes the bus and he answers, every time, with a resounding no.

So now we're wondering, What do we do??? I hope they're not mean to him on the bus. I know that the assistants really seem to be in a bit of a hurry to get him on. Nathan walks him to the bus and up a few stairs and then the assistant just picks him up and the doors close and the bus leaves. That is a bit concerning to us, just becuase I don't know how they treat him after the doors close and the bus is on its way. How quickly do they put him in the restraints, do they jar him a bit, does he not like it, etc. We've thought about putting an audio recorder in his back pack or something and leaving it on to see if we can hear anything, but I don't know if that's a good idea. I would hate to have the assistants find it or the preschool see it. That could get kinda awkward. I have thought about asking the preschool teachers how Michael appears when he gets into the classroom and how he acts when they line up for the bus. But Michael is such an easy going child that I'm not sure they would notice anything abnormal about him or his behavior. I imagine Michael is pretty quiet about it. He only talks to us in a small whisper and just once. I'm not sure if he'd be comfortable expressing himself to the teachers.

Or do we just ignore it and hope that Michael gets more excited about it or something. My worry there is that he would feel like we didn't care or take the time or consider it a big deal. I don't want him to get a negative idea of buses or to get scared of going on a bus in the future.

So, what would you do??? We would LOVE feedback!!! Please, even if you don't have children of your own, or if they're not school aged children, give us your ideas!

Also, a little note about comments. I know there are a good amount of people who read this blog and never comment. Please, feel free to comment!!!!! Even if we've never met before and/or you live in a completely different country than we do, I would still love to hear from you and get your feedback! This goes for all our posts on this blog! :)

The Best Feeling In The World!!!!

So, today I finished my second to last semester for my Bachelors degree!!!!!!!!! It's such a great feeling, and a bit scary, to know that only 1 more semester and I'm done!!!!! I'm very grateful and relieved for this! It has been such a busy and fast semester and full of stress, but lots of learning.

I'm so grateful for Nathan and all he did to help me through this semester, even if it meant he couldn't always do what he needed or wanted to do. I'm also so grateful for Michael and for him being so forgiving! There have been many days when I would only see him in the morning for 30 minutes and then again just before bed. But he was always happy to see me! (sometimes a little too glad I was home and he had someone to whine to about Dad not letting him do what he wanted)

I'm also really learning that I'm enjoying having a two year old! Yeah, there are tantrums and defiance every now and then, but I love him! I love explaining to him how something works. He loves to watch balloons being filled with Hellium at the store and listens intently when I explain to him what's happening. I love that he gives me hugs when I seem to really need them, or for no reason at all. I love the little gasps he makes when he discovers something new, kind of like the video of the easter egg hunt. I love watching him play and when he enjoys getting a new book and how he will sit on the floor (right where he's standing at the time, sometimes just in the middle of the kitchen) and he will look at his new book for about 15 minutes! It's so fun watching him learn something new, and even if he's doing something he's been for a while! I love putting him to bed because it's soo easy!! It's hard to believe, but just 7 months ago we were still putting him to bed by either nursing him or swinging him in the little carseat (yeah, the infant carrier). We would never have thought that he could go to bed soo easy! I love it!! I love babies and babies are fun, but toddlers are also a joy. I really look forward to the rest of his childhood and am eager to see what that brings us!

Mommy and Daddy love you Michael!!!!

Pregnancy...UH!!!!!!!

So today I am about 5 weeks and 5 days. On Monday I will be 6 weeks along and I have realized that I must not remember much about being pregnant with Michael. Everyday I think to myself, I was NOT this tired with Michael or I was not this SORE with Michael!!! Nathan insists that I was, but I don't know!!! We're getting more and more excited and nervous as each day goes by that I am still pregnant and still feelings symptoms. Nathan always says Yea!!! when I complain about something (which happens a lot) because he's just as nervous as I am and worried about losing the baby. We hav our first ultrasound scheduled for March 7th. It seems so far away but it was the closest date that would fit with my crazy schedule and the doctors crazy schedules. I noticed last night that the baby on the right on our blog has a beating heart! This got me really excited becuase I now know that if we were able to get an ultrasound soon, it should show a beating heart. I also read that the "baby" is about the size of a lentil bean!!! I can't believe it can be SOO small!!

Somehow this is not messing up my semester too bad. I'm taking 17 credits this semester and I might actually be able to pull off good grades. I took two tests this past week and they were both killer tests!! But I ended up doing really well on both! In one class I have two people telling me they want to study with me for the next test because I did so well. This is shocking to me since I do not consider myself a very good student at all (why else would it take me 7 years to graduate?). I know that I am really being blessed to be able to do this well and be pregnant and working and trying to spend time with family all at the same time!!!!

It's amazing what prayer and crying over a test will do!!!!!