First - I got LASIK! I can now see without the aid of contacts or glasses, and it is quite simply one of the most amazing things I've ever done. The procedure itself was a piece of cake. I was a little nervous, but the Valium they gave me helped tremendously with that : ) And it was all done in a matter of minutes - literally. I slept for a good portion of the afternoon, am strictly adhering to my regimen of eyedrops, I go for a followup appt. next week, and all is well so far.
I feel great, and my vision is wonderful. I expect the novelty will wear off eventually, but for now, I still get kind of excited to just look up and read a street sign, or glance at the tv, and read something, knowing that it's my eyes reading it all by themselves. And not having to deal with the maintenance of contacts is a treat, too - not to mention how dry and irritated the contacts had been making my eyes. When I was considering getting it done, everyone I talked to who had had it said the same thing - "best thing I ever did." And now, I would say exactly the same. I still find myself reaching for my glasses when I wake up every morning. And then I smile, because I don't need them anymore!!!
Gabe and Dante got their report cards, and all was just as we expected. They're both doing fine. Dante is exactly where he should be academically, and aside from getting a little too goofy and silly sometimes, he's a great student and has lots of friends and has adjusted very well to Kindergarten.
Gabe is excelling academically, and as we knew, still struggling with maintaining focus and not speaking out of turn. These are the ongoing challenges for him, and that will probably remain true for some time to come. We're fortunate in that it isn't affecting his academics, and I'm hopeful that we can help him get these issues under control before it starts to affect his ability to learn. And at this point, it isn't causing a major distraction for the rest of the class, although his teacher did point out that he's noticed that some students have expressed that they don't want to sit next to Gabe because he is a bit of a distraction for them - and they're also worried that his behavior is going to end up getting them in trouble.
This makes me a little sad, but in a way, I also think it might be a good thing. I don't ever want him to feel like he has to change who he is to make people like him, but this isn't about changing who he is - it's about adapting to the classroom rules and being a respectful member of the community. And I'm kind of hoping that a little taste of peer pressure might give him some more incentive to work harder at controlling his impulses. That being said, I don't want it to get to the point that he feels excluded or ostracized. I'm counting on his teacher to alert us if things seem to be headed in that direction.
On a more positive note, his teacher mentioned how impressed he was with Gabe's creative writing, which was not surprising to hear, but still nice to hear. He is quite the writer, and I love to read his stories, and that's something I think we need to encourage him to do more - as long as he's not doing it at 10:00 at night!
Carmine is our little monster, growling and yelling and generally acting very much like a two-year-old. When we walk into the karate studio for Dante's lesson every week, Carmine throws a punch and yells 'aaiiyahh!'
He's picking up on everything now, and is getting smarter by the day. We have a new tradition now, too. When it's naptime, he likes to wimper and say 'no, no, no,' even though he loves to nap, and usually sleeps for a good two hours. So when he starts to protest, I tell him that we need to go upstairs and find Mickey. So he puts his hands up to his mouth and yells "Where are you, Mickey?" and we head upstairs and peek around the corner of his room, and he grins and says "boo!" Then we scoop up Mickey, he gives him big hugs, I give Carmine big hugs, then he gets all snuggled in his crib and talks himself to sleep.
I'm fairly certain he's going to be another night owl like Gabe, too, seeing as how he often stays up until 9pm (and a few times, even later!), just talking and singing and playing in his crib. It's all perfectly fine now that he's in his crib and can't get out, but once he moves to a big-boy bed and can get up, I fear that we're really going to be in for it. This is why we will not be moving him to a big-boy bed until he figures out how to get out of the crib, which will hopefully not happen for a long, long time.
The upcoming holiday has everyone in quite a tizzy. Gabe and Dante are off the wall - so much more rambunctious than usual, and that's saying something, because they're pretty rambunctious even on their quietest days. I'm at the point now where I just want Christmas to get here, so that all the anticipation and craziness can be over!
We're bringing them to see Santa this weekend, and they also have the Christmas pageant at church on Sunday - Gabe is an angel, and Dante is a shepherd - sure to be a very cute performance.
The gifts are wrapped, and cookie baking is underway, and as much as they boys are driving me crazy, I do enjoy sharing the holiday excitement with them. I didn't buy them a ton of presents this year, since we got them a Wii. We've been holding out for a while, but decided we'd finally cave and get them one this year. I cannot wait to see the look on their faces when they open it. They're going to be blown away, since we keep telling them that they won't be getting video games for a long, long time. I love surprises : )
