Carter Update:
3 1/2 years old

Hard to believe we've already been thinking about school for Carter, it seems like yesterday we were worried about what daycare to pick.  In late January we took a look at a bunch of preschools in the area and decided that the Forest Hills Public School Preschool program was the best option.  He will be going 3 days a week for about 2.5 hours per morning starting in the fall.  They also provide after school daycare called the "Kids Care Program" for kids in preschool through kindergarten.  After his Wednesday morning class he will go to lunch with the other children in the Kids Care Program and then outside recess and more playtime in the child care room until we pick him up after 5pm.  Luckily we only have to do this on Wednesdays because on Monday and Friday Dave or I will be picking him up after the regular class.  I think he's somewhat excited but a little apprehensive, hopefully by the fall he will be ready.

Carter is doing really well with his big brother role.  He LOVES Mia and is always keeping an eye on her and making sure she's having fun and staying out of trouble.  He does a good job of alerting us when Mia puts something small in her mouth or is crawling toward the dog dishes or anything else he deems not safe for her.  Our daycare lady tells me he is a very protective brother at daycare as well.  Making sure other kids aren't taking away her toys (somewhat funny since he often takes her toys away himself).  He also loves to make Mia laugh.  He will do anything to get her to laugh and once he finds something that entertains her, he will do it forever.  They are a fun little duo. 

 

The one area we're struggling with right now is sleeping.  For the past month or so, Carter has been waking up 2, 3, even 4 times a night.  He wakes up crying and scared, either yelling for us to come upstairs or he sprints downstairs to find us.  We're not sure if he's having bad dreams or wakes up to sounds in the house, but he is extremely afraid that "bad woofs" (wolves) are going to get him.  He tells us they come from the guest bedroom and nothing seems to ease his mind.  We've tried to be reasonable, we tell him that wolves can't work door knobs (we remind him that we always have to let Shady and Maisy in and out of the house because they can't open doors, hoping this makes it easier to picture in his head), we also tell him that Shady and Maisy bark like crazy if any animal comes close to our house, or that Daddy and Mommy will always protect him.  We've tried other approaches, telling him wolves are nice or that they only live in woods, or they are scared of people.  Nothing really eases his mind.  Ever since he told us the wolves come from the guest bedroom, we've been closing that door AND putting the baby gate up.  Seems in his mind wolves can't jump over baby gates and this makes him feel a little better.  We also brought up his big cardboard box and put it right next to his bed.  We told him if he's scared, he could hide in his box (he loves hiding in it even when he's not scared).  Those things have been helping, but he still gets up about 1-2 times a night.  We're hoping this phase is done very soon.  Someday we'll look back on this blog post and laugh about the scary wolves...we hope.