A few random happenings

Zac started high school last month, so far it's been going good. He decided to go to the technical institute for half the day in the hopes of figuring out what path he'd like to go on, he is in a rotation of 3 courses and at the end of this month he will decide what he likes best and hopefully he did well enough to be selected. His first rotation was CAD/Drafting, he loved it and the teacher, right now he is in his second rotation which is web design, he likes it and likes the teacher, but there are a few things that ruffle his feathers, so right now drafting is at the top of the list. In a week or so he will switch to engineering.

Back at the high school things are going extremely well, but it's the first marking period and Zac has a tendency to be very excited at the beginning of school and as the rest of the year progresses, the "I forgot" bug manages to nest in his brain. BUT, the best thing about the high school (and I think the middle schools instituted this year too) is that they have a website, I can log on to see attendance, which includes when he's tardy, when he leaves for an appt, etc. It posts all his grades ... including homework assignments, which is where he usually tends to falter. The only change has been he was doing too well in Language Arts (English for us old-timers), which is a HUGE shock, it is the subject he likes the least and struggles with. His teacher last year suggested he be put in an APPLIED class, which covers much of the same material as a regular College Prep class, but there's an extra teacher in the classroom to help, they read easier novels, vocab is easier, and they spend lots of times on parts of speech. Well, Zac did extremely well the first few weeks, so much so that he spent half the class reading a book because he finished his classwork so fast, so his teacher suggested bumping him up to a regular CP class, so we shall see. So far, so good. He brought ADVERB homework home one night this week for me to help with, yuck.

On to the little ones, I swear Cassidy has a switch in her head that as soon as Jaxon falls asleep it's time to make as much noise as possible. Whether it's tripping over thin air and falling into her toys or deciding to have the dogs chase her, which entails her screeching and the dogs barking, which then usually results with her crashing into something and then crying. Her vocabulary is growing every day and she's starting to ask questions, what doing? who dat? etc. Unless she wakes up earlier than her normal 7 a.m. she has dropped her morning nap and now just takes a long afternoon nap. Today I put her down at 1 and it's after 4. So this is when I get most things done, including LUNCH!

Sleeping Beauty

Jaxon, is getting more interactive, he is a very smiley boy. Loves when Daddy tickles his feet with his goatee. He's starting with the breathy coos and aahs and throaty giggles. He still is all over the map sleep wise, although his crankly/miserable nights are becoming less and less. If he's miserable it's because he is tired and doesn't relax enough to doze off.
He is an awful sleeper, compared to Zac and Cassidy. Even tho Cassidy hated to be swaddled, once she was swaddled, she'd fall asleep almost instantly. Not this little bugger. He fights being swaddled and doesn't sleep any better swaddled than not, he fights and grunts and cries til he is free, we were lucky to get a 3 hr stretch. So against, the recommendations he is now sleeping on his belly. Because we were so paranoid with all the studies about SIDS we went out and bought an Angel Care Monitor. It is amazing how that monitor can detect him breathing . . . but sure enough, when we forget to turn the monitor off when we pick him up it's a resounding, LOUD reminder of just how well it works. We had two false alarms, but those were when the little wiggle worm had scooched his way up into a corner and the monitor couldn't detect him. Stomach sleeping has led to 5-6 1/2 hr stretches of sleep at night. He is still a noisy/restless sleeper and we hear him pretty often throughout the night, but he can get himself back to sleep on his belly. He is a catnapper during the day some days and other days he takes longer naps. Another blessing is that he is finally starting to doze off in the swing and he loves to be in the bouncer, sometimes dozing off, other times just watching the fan or whatever is going on.

I have to admit that even tho I was the parent of two children before Jaxon was born, having two so close in age is ten times HARDER. The hardest thing right now is trying to spend some time with Cassidy, but it's getting better, and I know it is just a matter of time til Jax is on somewhat of a schedule and I can sit and color and read and play with her like she's used to. But I must admit she does pretty good at keeping herself busy without the TV, I only let her watch an hour or two of children's programs a day. And it's amazing how fast my living room turns into a disaster zone. Zac doesn't understand why every nite Chuck and I pick up every single book, little people, block, etc. and put them away .... because it's just gonna get messed up tomorrow . . . . I guess that's why the family room (his now bedroom) is always a mess and is something we hound him about constantly.

OK I'll shut up now . . . . but I had to take advantage of sleeping babies!