This was Reed’s first full (3-day) week of preschool. I already see him becoming a bit more independent, seeming a bit older. He says “hi” to EVERYONE at preschool. He has been incredibly shy in the past, and while I’ve always felt that was very healthy, saying “hi” to people at this new, safe place is a very good thing for him. He loves to tell us about his day and what he did.

I was still sort of wondering if this was the right decision, sending him… until today. One of his teachers introduced me to her daughter, who was very obviously not her biological daughter. She has adopted internationally and has a heart for it and for Reed. How awesome is that? And, I had absolutely no idea, until today, four days into the school year!

Lena and I have been enjoying our time together. She does not seem to be sad that he is gone at all and she gets more freedom without him around. She doesn’t having any of her crying tantrums when he is at preschool, which seems really odd. She still bursts into tears frequently. My latest approach is to just tell her to stop what is is doing, calm down, and then go back to it. It happens a lot when she is washing her hands, so I just have her step aside and wash her hands when she can do it without crying. This seems to work and keep me from getting too frustrated with her.

We had a nice weekend– did some geocaches and some hikes. We went to Leavenworth on Saturday, where Aaron had to pick some stuff up, so they paid him for gas and miles (making it a free trip!) And on Monday, we drove to Manhattan, Kansas, which was a nice place to spend a beautiful day. They allow dogs off-leash at any park in their county outside the city limits.

Reed was practically running up this hill (it’s steeper than it looks in this photo). He got pretty far up until he wanted me to help him a bit. It’s nice that he asked for my help!

Reed LOVES this headband. He traded for it in a geocache. It is too cute, but I did have to tell him not to wear it into preschool the other day… that’s not what he’s crying about though (he’s crying because he wasn’t allowed to put the geocache back after not listening). I call him “Baby Gaga” when he wears it.

And then someone stole it while he was at preschool. I love how she even has some faux teased hair going.

I was a little bit offended that he has me eating cookies in his song! I have been very careful and don’t remember the last time I touched a cookie!

Reed colored a bunch of pictures at preschool about how God made the universe. Then, he did a little lesson for us. Here he is quizzing Lena after the lesson. I love seeing him reflect my actions, like “think about it” and how he “whispers” the answers to her. It makes me really happy to see him copying what I do right, not the bad moments.

Here is Reed’s mugshot. Can you guess his crime?