15 shirts and a black eye

We are getting ready for our first hectic week of all 3 of us going somewhere full time. Its Bills first day at work, and Jacks first week on a 5 day a week school program. We decided to eliminate some of the chaos and iron all of our shirts ahead of time. Bill sectioned off some snacks ahead of time too.

This isn't a very good picture, but Jack has his first shiner. When we were dog sitting, Jackson got a little rough with the Puggle. Needless to say "eye hurt", "eye hurt" turned into a black eye the next day.

Tomorrow Jack has a 9am eye appointment (a follow up from the Strabismus surgery, not anything to do with the black eye). I have been spoiled because normally Bill would take him and I could just go to work. I will have to miss a couple meetings but I am also looking forward to spending more time than usual with the little guy.
The adjustments just keep on coming!

"You're doing worse than Jack is"

That is what I was told today by one of Jack's teachers when I dropped him off at school. Each day I have dropped him off, I have asked his teachers how he did the previous day. According to them he does better every day he is there. He has some trouble transitioning from one activity to the next (he has always had an issue with transitions), but he is interacting well and doing great for his first month at pre-school. He hasn't quite figured out naps at school yet, so when he gets home from school he is EXHAUSTED to say the least. Yesterday he was sitting on my lap after school and I was asking him about his day when all of the sudden he stopped answering me. He had fallen asleep in my lap, which is a big deal because he NEVER falls asleep in our laps. That's how tired he was. Anyway, today when I asked his teacher how he did yesterday, she told me, then I proceeded to remind her about his blanket for nap, his hat and gloves for the playground, etc. That's when she told me I had to go because I wasn't handling the morning dropoff as well as Jack was. Apparently I am supposed to drop and dash. I'm not ready to let Jack go that easily yet!

So, I start my new job on Monday. Lately I have been antsy to get back to a "real" job because I find myself getting frustrated with the grind of being a Stay-at-home-Dad. Don't get me wrong, I loved the stay at home gig, but for anyone who has done it, you know how tough it is to have a toddler as your boss. So, Michelle did a great job at finding Jack a great pre-school (aside from the fact that they scolded me today), and I went out and found a job. I am looking forward to us being a 2-income family again, though most of the 2nd income will get eaten up by school costs.

Having said that, I know I am going to miss my days with Jack. Obviously we will have mornings, nights and weekends together, but I know I will miss the days we spent together over the last year+. I get teary eyed now just thinking about him out in the big boy world at school rather than hanging out here with me. I will always cherish the walks we took, playing basketball at the playground, our trips to watch hockey practices, the time we spent at the Aquarium, stumbling across snakes at the beach park, our afternoon drives to see the horses, meeting Mommy for lunch on a whim, raking leaves all afternoon, our epic games of hide and seek, bike rides, playing hockey in the dining room, vacuuming, baking (yeah, I said it, we baked sometimes), etc.

Jack, you're the toughest boss I've ever had, but I've never loved a boss more. You probably wanted to fire me a few times over the last year or so, but I would work for you again any day. I love you buddy, do well in school. I only hope and pray you have benefited as much from our time together as I have.

Valentine's Day 2011

Below is a picture Bill took of Jackson one year ago today. This was my 2010 Valentine's Day present.

This is a picture of Jackson today, the very gift that I wanted! Look at how much he has changed (it isn't just the pancake that is bigger this year)!

Mommy and Jackson making Sponge Bob Valentines for his friends at school.
Jackson helping me make Daddy a Valentine's Day treat.
Jackson and Daddy doing their favorite past time (well, Jackson's favorite past time).

We just colored a fish for Daddy and now it is proudly displayed on the refrigerator door. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Curran Household In Transition

We are all finally almost over our colds. Jack and Mommy are on antibiotics and Daddy toughed it out. Jackson had an ear infection but is obviously feeling better because he has been CRAZY with energy the last few days. I guess he had some pent up energy from being sick and now it's all coming out at once :)

Bill was offered the job last week, so he will join the ranks of the employed and transition out of his stay at home role. He starts the new job on Feb 28th and he is looking forward to it.

Jackson had a full time opening come available at his school, so he will also start full time on Monday the 28th.

Lots of change is about to happen for our little guy and we pray it won't be too tough on him. We will keep you posted!

Quickie Post

All the Curran's are sick these days. I brought it home from work, then it moved to Bill and Jackson. Poor Jackson is so snotty and he just can't figure out how to blow his nose! If he doesn't feel better tomorrow Bill is going to take him to the doctor. We had to cancel Speech Therapy today, and tomorrow we are canceling his school as well. Bill has a second job interview on Thursday at 10am, and I have a mandatory appointment out of town at 9am on that day, so hopefully Jackson will feel better and can go to school that day....otherwise we may be in trouble.

We have noticed a HUGE increase in his words since he went to school last week. How on earth can 2 partial days of school increase his vocab by so much?? He is just jibber jabbering ALL the time now. Its awesome. Little things that we have been saying forever, or even things we have only said one time - just come right out of his mouth! Of course, they aren't perfect but it's a great start (and super cute). His favorite word right now is "no". Everything is "no mama" or "no daddy". We are waiting for the "why" word to start - anyone wanna guess?

My boys...

Today was Jackson's second day of school! As you can see, he was excited to go. But when Bill dropped him off, it was a different story. A meltdown would be an understatement, and when Bill called me I could hear his voice crack as he was explaining Jacks little hands reaching out for him. Breaks my heart for both my boys. I called a couple hours later and the Teacher said he was doing very well and was sitting there working on shapes with his peers. It will all work out, just a little tough right now.

Bill started applying for jobs and already had an interview today. He was there from 8:30am - 12:30pm (4 hour interview!). It went well and he has a second round interview at the same company next week. If it worked out, he would start full time the first of March. Jack's school doesn't have a full time opening available right now, but we are 1st on the wait list. I hope it all works out, but if it doesn't, then we will figure out something. During April and May I will be working up anywhere from 12-18 hr days, so if he doesn't get the job it may be a blessing in disguise.

Oh, we asked Jack all about his day and what he worked on. He has computer lab, and when we asked about how computer lab was, he responded "broke" (uh oh!). When we asked about what the Teacher said at lunch, he said "sit down". Also, they had beach themed photos taken, when we asked him how that went, he said "I throw fish". That pretty much sums up my little guy!

First Day Of School

Another big "first" for Jack today as he had his first day of school. He will be going to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays for awhile until a full time spot opens up for him. As you can see, he enjoyed the day. He had no problems when I dropped him off, though we didn't really expect any. We figure if there is kicking and screaming when we leave him there it will happen on Thursday as today he didn't know what was going on. Thursday he will probably know I am leaving when I drop him off.

Michelle and I both went to pick him up, and we walked in during lunch time. He looked like a good ole little boy sitting there eating his lunch at a table with a couple of other kids. We later asked him what the boys name was that he was eating by and he said "Milk". He then told us that the little girls name was "Duck". Either there are some weird kid names at his school or he threw out a couple of words that were on his mind at the time we asked him.

His teacher said that he did really well for his first day. He got upset at something during "computer time" and the teacher walked him around in the hall to calm him down. He did really well at story time and listened to the stories that were read.

All in all, Jack's teachers, Mommy and Daddy, and most importantly Jack seemed happy with how things went today. We all survived Jack's first day of school!