Last Day of Summer & Week In Review

Today is the last day of summer! It's hard to believe it, since it has honestly felt like fall for a few weeks now. But whatever! Today was mostly overcast (it even sprinkled at times) but still pretty warm outside. We decided to go for a bike ride (kids)/walk (us) on the Rail Trail. It was amazing to see how many leaves have started to turn, just a few miles from us! The trees at our house haven't given too much thought to this "fall" thing yet, though I am sure they will get the memo soon! Anyway, here are a few pics from our ride/walk.

In other news... I just want to say how happy I am with Maya's preschool experience so far. Last year, there was a major "regime change" at the school, and I went into this year feeling very unsure. I always loved the nurturing environment they provided, but there was talk of a complete reorganization. The old director and head teacher (who we adored!) was gone. And with Maya having two new (to the school) teachers, I really didn't know what to expect. I just trusted that it would be okay.

But you know what? It's been fantastic. Really! I was also worried about how our girl would do without her brother with her, but she's done great! After a little bit of hesitation the first day, she now zips into the school, happy as can be. Her teachers tell me that she is talking and participating-- a huge improvement from last year, where she barely said a word! And there are two little boys in her class that she was already very good buddies with, and a few other kiddos that she is becoming friends with (including a little girl who happens to be half Greek! What are the odds?). So, the girl is loving school. And I've been really impressed by what they've been doing, as well as their communication with me. I am just so happy it worked out this way.

Niko, for his part, continues to enjoy kindergarten. I just got a paper home yesterday-- I guess they assessed all the kiddos to see if they knew their basic information-- first and last name, address (street #, street, city, state), phone number with area code, and birthday. It's one of their goals for the year to have the kids know all of these things by heart. The form was to let parents know which areas their kids need to work on. But Niko already knows all of it! He got a big "AWESOME!" written across the top. So proud!

So, what I haven't blogged about is our boy's behavior at home. Well, I've alluded to it, but haven't gone into much detail. He's been an angel at school and a devil at home. I was at such a loss. The only common thread in all his (multiple-times-daily) outbursts was that he was tired. Yet he was going to bed by 7:30 every night, and we really couldn't get much earlier than that! He did say, though, that he wasn't really sleeping. I didn't know what to do about it.

Now, go back in time almost a year. Niko had a nightmare, and suddenly began refusing to sleep with the lights off. We tried to convince him otherwise (or turn them off after he fell asleep), but he would wake up and get VERY upset with us. So we stopped fighting that battle, and let him sleep with the lights on. I didn't think much of it, until his recent behavior kept driving something home: the kid was TIRED.

Long story short, I was determined to get the boy to sleep with the lights off again. We talked about how his body needed darkness to fully recharge. I let him pick out a "monster-killing" flashlight at the Dollar Store. And that was all it took! He slept with the lights off, and has continued to do so all week. And we saw improvement almost instantly. He sleeps a little later in the morning, and doesn't wake up in the middle of the night. And he even said, "How come the nights seem so short when I sleep with the lights out??" Ha!! He doesn't fight us at bedtime, either, since the night doesn't seem so long (I guess). I don't know. But his behavior has been so much better, and I can't help but see the relationship there. Poor kid was sleep-deprived. I'm just glad we figured it out!