I got to work this morning and started a pot of decaf, then sat down at my computer to read my email.
As I was reading, Outlook popped up a reminder window for me: Alex's 9-month checkup is at 9:30.
Crap. I had completely forgotten about this, even though I remember noticing it when I was going over my calendar Monday morning. Crap crap crap.
But I'd set the reminder to pop up a full hour before the appointment, so I was able to call Matt and he said he'd pick Alex up and take him to the appointment, so all is well.
Good thing I set up that pop-up, though.
I'm slowly trying to push Penny toward a certain level of independence when it comes to school. Her first couple of weeks, I took her to class, prompted her through the morning routine, and gave her hugs and kisses just before she sat at her desk. Then I started standing by the door while she went through the routine, prompting her only if she forgot something, but still waiting to give her hugs and kisses.
This week, I'm doing hugs and kisses at the door as soon as we arrive, without waiting for her to do the routine. It didn't go so well Monday, and I wound up waiting through about half the routine, but yesterday and today she's accepted it without question.
Next week or the week after, I'll wait with her in the lobby until it's time for her to go back to her room, then give her hugs and kisses before she walks down the hall.
Once she's comfortable with that, I'll bring her into the lobby and give her hugs and kisses and let her wait the few minutes for the bell to ring with her friends.
Beyond that... I'm not sure. We usually arrive before the crosswalk monitors are out, so I don't know if I'm comfortable letting her out in the parking lot to walk up to the school by herself. That might be the limit of her independence for this year. We'll see, I guess.
Matt and Penny went to a birthday party for Braz and Emma last night, so it was just Alex and me for the evening. After he ate dinner, I gave him his bath, and since there was no one else waiting to eat, I got to sit back and let him play in the water for a while.
Oh my lord, did he have fun. He smacked the water with a cup, and he splashed with his hands, and he flirted with his reflection in the plumbing cap. He tried to rub his face on the water (this is something he does with blankets and especially soft toys) and was confused but not upset when this turned out to be a bad idea. When he leaned over to put his face in the water, I nearly panicked and picked him up, but I decided he needed to experience it himself. I was ready to pick him up if he didn't sit back up on his own, of course, but he did. A minute later, he tried it again, but much more tentatively, and this time instead of dunking his whole face in the water, he pulled back and sat up after only getting his chin and the tip of his nose wet. Learning in action! It made me glad I'd restrained myself and let him experiment.
I only got him out of the tub when he got insistent about trying to stand up. It was fun, and I wished I'd had my camera with me. He was so excited about getting to play in the bath that he was even happy to play on the kitchen floor for most of the time it took me to make lunches (though I did take the precaution of putting a large box over the cat's food and water to keep him out of that). When I put him to bed, he stayed awake for longer than usual -- not fussing, but cheerfully talking to his toys and his blanket.
Learning: It does a baby good.
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