Aaaah! Routine!

I am one of those people who really needs a little structure but can't stand to be tied to it. But there is just nothing like the lazy days of summer to make you appreciate the routine that school brings! We have a 2nd grader now! SweetBoy just stepped back into school and never missed a beat. I am amazed at how the world opens up as they begin to read efficiently.

I can't believe this is SweetDolls last year at home before school starts! It is really hitting me this week how big she is getting. This week we will go back to storytime at the library, and she is starting a dance class offered through our community center. And let me tell you, she is so excited!

SweetTate is potty training--not my favorite phase of childhood, but we are surviving. And we had the end of an era at the Sweet house this week...for some reason, SweetBoy decided it was time for SweetTate to get a big boy bed and take the crib/converted toddler bed out of their room. That meant fruit-basket-turn over with furniture over the weekend. I wasn't particularly ready for the switch. I hadn't purchased coordinating bedding or pshyched myself up for my baby to make that next step or to move the crib out. For the past 8 years we have had the baby bed up with a child in it or anticipating one to be on the horizon. I am satisfied with our family of five; it is just feels odd.

So here we are with the familiarity of school, storytime, football games, and the change of growing children. It feels good for a time, but you can bet that by next May we will be ready to bust out of the routine!

Speaking of May, here is a funny story I'll try to relate in print, but I'm sure it will loose something--just use your imaginations. SweetDoll's birthday is coming up, so she will often ask how long until her birthday. Well, SweetTate has to do everything Sister does, so he asks in that cute toddler-speak, "When my birday is?" I tell him the date of his birthday to which he replies with a big smiling, "Oh!" "What do you know about birthdays," I ask. And he says loudly with big hands (I wonder where he gets that), "COOL!" Already he has figured out that birthdays are cool!