(The Boring) Leftovers

Before I get to a few leftover vacation pictures of Samantha from last month, I just wanted to warn you that this post is boring.  Like, really boring.  No wit, no profound realizations or epiphanies, there are no big behavior or health issues to tell about, we haven't done anything too terribly exciting lately, and Down syndrome is barely thought of.  I've realized that I don't have massive quantities of things to say these days.  To be perfectly honest (and not painting any kind of rainbows and unicorns), our lives really are pretty darn ordinary.  For those of you with younger children who may not believe me, this actually can be a reality!  I think this may be the point when a lot of people put their blogs on haitus, popping back in from time to time with a brief update.  I'm not really interested in doing that, and want to keep things moving as usual, but think I may become a bit more attentive to following blog prompts or hops to spark a discussion, something I didn't have much time to do this summer.  I'd like to not lose my readers to ennui, if at all possible... (I think I can feel my husband rolling his eyes at my use of that word...sorry!)   

By way of brief (and thoroughly boring) update, though, we're nearing the end of the second week of 1st Grade.  A daily chart comes home, color coded blue for a good-behavior day, yellow for issues.  The children (all of them) in the class get to choose a prize from a treasure chest if they can get blue days for a certain period of time (monthly?).  Samantha had been doing well until yesterday, when she got her first yellow for not listening, not getting up when it was time to transition (including a fire drill...yikes...), not participating, etc.  Both Steve and I have had discussions with her about this since then, and she has told us that she knows she needs to have a "blue" day and needs to listen to the teachers.  Usually drilling it in like that, getting her to repeat it back and fill in the blanks as we tell it to her (Sammi, today you have to remember to...  listen!) ensures compliance, at least for a few days, and it instills an astronomical amount of pride in her accomplishments as she nearly bursts at the seams to tell us at the end of the day that she listened to her teachers.  Praise is quite the motivator. 

Other than school, daily life is pretty ordinary and boring weekends have been spent traveling and staying busy, the kittens have made themselves completely at home, following us around the house like lost puppy dogs and sleeping on the beds at night, and I've been struggling with pulling together the 2013 DSANV calendar.  I find myself having more and more difficulty keeping it together and organized and on time each year, and think it's time for a break.  If any local people are reading this now and are interested in picking it up going forward into the 2014 edition, please let me know and I'd be happy to pass the torch for a while, or, perhaps, permanently.  I love the project, but after 5 years I'd like to be able to not think about it for a while.

Okay, now for a few photos left over from St. Simons Island.

A vintage clothing store was just the place to entertain Samantha while we looked around.  Hooray for mirrors!

 

 

Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance

Don't let the gray photo fool you into thinking it was cold.  My lens was fogged up from the humidity and it was still only about 9:30am.  The water was surprisingly warm.

Can someone please tell me why Dairy Queen on SSI doesn't have chocolate ice cream?????  We've asked about it both times we've been there, and they say that the chocolate isn't as popular.  I don't know about you, but that seems mighty strange to me.  Samantha, fortunately, was flexible enough to have plain vanilla instead of her usual vanilla-chocolate swirl.

I took this photo just to show how loooooong her legs are!  I couldn't believe that she was nearly touching the floor!  We had her well-child visit last week and she's 44 1/2" (20th percentile on the typical chart) and 54 lbs. (uh, about 80th percentile on the typical chart, LOL).  Wow, 44 1/2" - that's a mere 3 1/2" away from 4' tall!!  Growing like a weed, she is...