Boop! I'm a first grader!

This post about the last day of school is long overdue. I wish I'd had the time to blog in the midst of the events of the last week of school, because as time has passed the emotions have dulled a little. But completing kindergarten was a big deal.

As the last day of school approached, Luke was full of questions about the exact moment he would become a first grader. We determined it would be the moment he got his report card saying he had successfully completed kindergarten and was now moving to first grade. He said, "So, I get my report card and BOOP! I'm a first grader?"


Here's the boop! moment.

But the days leading up to this "graduation" were action packed. Thursday (I think) was Bubble Day (meaning the kids spent the entire morning on the playground playing with bubbles and such.)



Luke was pretty good at spraying and pooping bubbles with a squirt bottle.

But he decided to join his girlfriends catching bubbles. To successfully catch bubbles, your hands need to be "really bubbly." I'm surprised he tolerated the wet, slimy hands. But he'll pretty much endure anything to hang with his girlfriends.

Friday was game day, and I spent the morning hanging out with him and his friends playing Twister, Candyland, Go Fish!, and the like. Big fun.

Monday, the last full day of school, was pajama day. Perfect since it was also a rainy day.

Luke making the trek into school one last time as a kindergartner.

Mrs. W gave me this precious candy bar bouquet as a thank you for being her room mom. Boy has she got me all figured out. Chocolate!!!!!

Monday night Luke and I went to celebrate a milestone of our precious friend Neely. We had a super time at her graduation ice cream party. Luke did great, even though he was afraid of the dog. He stayed really calm and we played outside on the swings and trampoline with the dog within sight the entire time. Progress! Luke had been asking for a pet dog for several weeks. But seeing that he's still afraid, I think I've successfully bought a little time before considering that request.

Tuesday was the last day of school. It was technically a half day for the kids, but most just stopped by, said good-bye, and got their report cards. We also presented Mrs. W with her end of the year gift.

I love the interaction of Mrs. W and Luke in this photo. I think she asked them to guess what the gift was and Luke's whole body is showing his enthusiasm for this guessing game. I wonder how many such interactions these two have shared this year. Oh, I'm gonna miss her something awful!

Posing for a pic with the hand print and money bouquet gift behind them. Mrs. W was less than happy I caught her teary eyes in this photo. But I love that the picture shows how wonderful and loving she is, and how much we're going to miss each other.

After school we headed to the park for a little celebration for the kids. A super mom got this cookie cake for the kids to enjoy:

Apparently the cake decorator wasn't familiar with the possessive case.

The celebratory kids (about half the class). Luke wedged himself between his two favorite girls, of course.

Luke fell apart before the party was over. He was tired, and the day was emotional and overstimulating. He got mad at a friend for not sharing and was an emotional mess. We left without too much drama thankfully. I'm still glad we did the picnic and he had a little closure to his kindergarten year, tears and all.

I'm surprised that I was pretty sad this last week of kindergarten. Luke's done really well. His handwriting is not age appropriate, but in every other area is at least at grade level, and reading well above grade level. What an amazing answered prayer! The social issues have been a challenge. But the issue is that he is overly interested in his peers, at times obsessed with following their every move. But I know teaching social skills is a fine art and I fully expect with time and maturity he will learn proper balance. And really, to have a child on the spectrum that is so concerned with having friends really is a blessing I guess.

So I was confused as to why I was feeling blue. I really think I'm kind of mourning the fact I couldn't make it perfect for him. I couldn't give him the tools to succeed at everything he tried every day. I prayed daily that God would guide every step he took, but he still got his feelings hurt sometimes. And while logically I know he must begin now to learn life lessons, I wish I could make the path easy for him, at least for a little while longer.

My thinking now is that every school year will have blessings and challenges. So I will try to savor the good and press on the through the challenges.

But for now . . . it's SUMMER VACATION!!!!!

field trip

Last Thursday Luke's class enjoyed their third and final field trip of the year. Luke certainly was not feeling his best. He went to the doctor 4 times in the past 2 weeks. I hoping for a three-copays-and-your-fourth-is-free deal, but no such luck. But I'm glad Luke was well enough to make the trip.



The kids loaded the buses Thursday morning and a bunch of us moms followed in a mini van. We had a fun ride to the Discovery Center.



A lot the activities were outside and it was a warm, sunny spring day.




Luke and friends touched a snake, a turtle, and another animal I don't remember.

We spent some time waiting for our turn and got pretty warm in the sun.

Here the kids are getting instructions on fishing for crawdads, or crayfish, or salamanders--some sort of small swimming creature. The instructor had just said, "Now you guys are fifth graders, right?" Luke thought that was hilarious.

Luke fishing. His only catch was a leaf, but he announced it proudly.


When we arrived at the Discovery Center, I found Luke standing in line crying. He wouldn't look at me. Suspicious. He was crying because he could not stand by the girls he loves in the line. This struggle has irritated me all year. I'm so tired of encouraging him to find a friend who wants to be with him, only to have him say, "NO! I don't want to!" And it really frustrated me on Thursday. But I reminded myself that he wasn't feeling just super, a field trip is very over stimulating, and sticking with his "favorite friends" is a comforting behavior for him, even if those friends don't want his company at the time. And just moments before I was talking to a mini van full of moms who've seen Luke quite a bit this year, and did not know he had "issues." I know he's doing remarkably well. But I so want him to have good, healthy friendships.

So I coped, encouraged good behavior, and tried not to let this struggle annoy me too badly. And Luke calmed down quickly, as you can see in the photos.

But Luke persisted in being close to his favorite girls. And by the end of the field trip, they were grabbing him by the hand to hurry him up the stairs so they could go down the huge tunnel slide again (a slide I'm pretty sure Luke would have been too scared to try if not trying to impress the girls).

And they wrote notes to each other in the crafty area, declaring their friendship and love. I guess sometimes persistence pays off.

His social skills will improve with time, by the grace of God. And it's not like his classmates are exactly socially mature. Luke's behavior is perhaps just a bit more intense at times. And he gets a little more emotional when things don't go his way.

After a fun day, the kids loaded into the hot bus for the drive back to school. And the exhausted moms collapsed into the minivan. We made it about 2 miles before stopping for diet cokes and chocolate.

Friday I started feeling pretty lousy myself. Perhaps I get a little cranky too when I'm sick. I went to the walk-in clinic on Friday evening because my ear felt like it might explode. I had no idea that 35 year olds got ear infections! And I sure do have sympathy for little ones with infected ears. It hurts! And I've been dizzy for days. Probably a complication of having an ear infection when you're old.

Despite challenges, kindergarten has been a wonderful year. I know every single year will have it's obstacles. But I'm so thankful for his wonderful teacher, his friends, and all he's learned. One week left. Keeping the tissues handy.

crazy couple of weeks

Once again I'm behind. The last couple of weeks have been crazy busy. I want to soak up these final days of kindergarten (augh!) but I'm feeling ready for a break from the craziness.

Last Thursday Luke woke up with a red eye. Oh, you've fooled me before red eyes. I put some allergy drops in his eyes, gave him allegra, and sent him to school. A couple hours later I got a call from the school nurse that Luke had an itchy, gooey eye.

I quickly hurried to school to accept my mom of the year award for sending my contagious child to school. En route, I made an appointment with pediatrician. We headed straight there and got our expected pink eye diagnosis and prescription. We finished up at lunch time, and Sonic just happens to be next door to our pediatrician's office. So we savored a little lunch, and our respective Sonic favs: a large diet coke and a chocolate shake.

The pink eye cleared up quickly, but Friday night Luke started complaining of a sore throat and ear pain. We headed back to the doctor Saturday morning and after much drama over his strep test (which was negative), we learned Luke had developed an ear infection since Thursday. So we left with a new script for augmentin.

Luke then had 3 difficult, grumpy days. I'm now pretty sure he wasn't feeling well, but oh how he tried my patience those days. But I now know it definitely gets Luke's attention if I cry in frustration.

Tuesday night was Specials Night as school. Mimi and Papa joined us for dinner and visiting the special classes at school (Art, Library, Music, P.E.) We began our tour in art, but Luke was not interested in completing any crafts. Shocker. So we headed to gym for, in Luke's words, "dance lines." (a.k.a. line dancing). This definitely interested Luke.

Luke and friends cutting a rug to Cotton Eyed Joe.

We also stopped by the music room and Luke rocked it on the instruments. Before we left we also visited the library for a story, and then ultimately back to the art room for a craft, because we couldn't leave without completing every activity. After a few difficult days, Luke did well in the busy, over stimulating evening.

Luke and Daddy had a great time on the playground that evening. Shortly after arriving home, Luke broke out in a rash, kind of like hives. It happened shortly after his evening dose of augmentin, so we worried it was drug related. And so Wednesday we went back to the doctor for the third time in a week.

The rash of course was completely gone when we arrived at the doctor's office. Neither the doctor or I were ready to commit to a penicillin allergy. Luke's ear and eye were totally clear. I asked if we should try another dose of the augmentin as a test. The doctor was all for it, if I was comfortable with it.

That evening, more than 24 hours after his last dose, Luke broke out in a rash again.

The photo really doesn't capture the drama of the whelps. But at least he was still happy.

Benedryl cleared up the rash again (and boy did he sleep well), so I went ahead with my test in the morning. I kept him home a full hour after giving him the medicine and no rash. He was very glad we still made it to school before sharing time was over. He shared the details of his rash with the class.

So no more mystery rashes, and Luke seems to generally be feeling better. And he is much more agreeable and pleasant too. Funny how those seem to go hand-in-hand.

Friday was field day. I had no idea what to expect.



He was excited and full of school spirit.

My assignment was supervising the giant slide. Lamar was off on Friday, so he came along. We took turns as the inflatable police.

Luke heading up the slide. Lots of years (and $$$) of OT and a whole lot of prayer have him climbing on such an apparatus. He's still cautious and kind of slow, but he's not afraid to try.

The field day I remember from my child was lots of organized races and events, with winners and ribbons in each event. But Luke and his partner were free to wander among all the activities and choose what they wanted to do. And the point of all the activities was to have fun. Luke's buddy reported to me Luke did not want want to play any of the water games (which was most of them) so I took a walk with them to try and help.

Luke and C decided to try this one first.

The entire point of this game was to spray each other with water bottles. I anticipated this not going well.

Right after this friend sprayed Luke in the face, Luke began to cry and attempted to seek revenge. It did not go as he planned and he was a little worked up by the end of the game.


We moved on to other activities. Luke wanted desperately to win, even though all the games emphasized they were simply fun and no winners were declared.

In this event, the object was to crab crawl with a bowl of water on your belly. Luke found this position more effective.


Lamar then took a turn hanging with the boys. He convinced Luke it would be okay to get wet.

He did a really good job convincing him.

Before this game began, they let the kids soak each other. Big fun.

And here is the actual game. I doubt Luke was supposed to use his hand to hold the sponge between his knees, but no one was really enforcing that rule.

We stayed for a tasty school pizza lunch. And then I enjoyed watching Luke and his friends toss the 80 something water balloons my fingers were raw from filling and tying the night before. I have no pictures because I was busy guarding my precious balloons from getting stepped on or swiped by a kindergartner from another class. The squeals of delight when a water balloon burst on the ground were worth my aching back and sore fingers. Almost.

Luke and I rested this weekend. He now has what I guess is an allergy-induced cough. I am so ready for him to be well and fully enjoy his last few days of kindergarten.

More pics to come. Luke got a much needed haircut this weekend. He finally agreed to try the clippers and he did super. What a great mother's day gift!