Second Grade Has Begun!

Not sure what happened in terms of the color. I must have had my camera on a strange setting.

Eva on the first day of second grade -- August 12, 2010.

Eva at her desk next to her buddy Henry Burch -- lots of curls in that front row!

Wow – how is it possible that Eva has started second grade? Seems like not so long ago that we were coming home from Guatemala.

All summer, I have been thinking that there is a meaningful difference between 1^st and 2^nd grades, something I didn’t feel between kindergarten and first. My thoughts were confirmed at parent orientation. The kids will be getting letter grades this year, which seems more “real” to me for some reason (means nothing to Eva, of course; she didn’t really pay attention to her non-letter grades the last two years). I got a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach when the teacher began talking about the “math facts” they should know within a few weeks. First, I had to ask what “math facts” are and then I had to gulp to think Eva needs to know addition to 20 within a few weeks. Now some of you may be thinking piece of cake, and that’s great for you and your child, but math and Eva (and me!) aren’t such good friends. So, I rushed off to Target to buy some addition flashcards! Now if I can just convince myself that that will do the trick.

Eva’s teacher, Mrs. Green, seems great. The classroom is a great environment. As you can see, they sit at “real” desks in rows. Thankfully, fidgety, social Eva’s desk is in the front row. I don’t know if Mrs. Green read through Eva’s report cards or spoke with her first grade teacher to learn that front row would be helpful or if it was just chance. From my perspective it is great!

Hopefully, I’ll update more regularly as the year proceeds, so you can experience 2^nd grade with us.

Whalen Family Week

Susannah (14), Sarah (16) and Abby (nearly 13)

Sydney (10), Eva (7) and Samuel (5) -- ready for the pool!

All the grandchildren at the zoo.

Front row: Samuel, Eva

Second Row: Sydney, Susannah, Sarah, Abby

Back row: Logan (11), Colin (13), Ryan (9)

Only about a month late on this post. We had a wonderful time in West Virginia in early July. Unfortunately, my parents were not able to be there this year, and we all missed them in our own ways. Eva especially missed them early in the morning, because she is typically the first grandchild to arise, and she would enjoy a little time in the common area with Mimi and Popaw before everyone else got up. So, she missed that. I missed beating my dad at gin! More than that though we missed their contributions to conversations and their laughter and delight in their grandchildren. We’re looking forward to next year, when they will be with us and we’ll all be venturing to North Carolina instead of West Virginia.

We all had a great time together. Now that most of the kids are older, the dynamic is a little different. We adults had the chance to read more and talk with one another more. We even had an adult-siblings/spouses dinner out the last night. We took full advantage of all the activities at Oglebay – miniature golf, pedal boating, zoo, and of course the pool several times. We enjoyed interesting conversation over dinner, sparked a couple times by Family Talk conversation cards, and played a lot of games. All in all a relaxing, fun family vacation.

Rusty Update

Maybe I should change the title of the blog to Eva and Rusty’s World, because it feels like Rusty has absorbed an awful lot of my attention and the spotlight since his arrival.

I am very pleased to report that he has matured greatly and adapted to his world with us. But there were some really touch and go moments there for a while. He began to turn a corner in late June and then when we returned from Whalen Family week in mid-July, he seemed really “at home.” That’s not to say he doesn’t still have accidents in the house (argh), but he is so much more comfortable with other people. He likes our babysitter now, and I have been able to line up a dog-sitter/walker. He still doesn’t like the cleaning people, and I am going to stay home the next couple times they come, so he can hopefully acclimate himself a bit more. In early June, I tried to enroll him in doggie daycare, but it was clearly too early and he “flunked” the admission screening. I am hoping he’ll get to a place where he can do that. It will allow for a lot more flexibility.

Our biggest challenges at this point are the occasional accidents (especially in Eva’s and my rooms; I am convinced a dog lived in the house previously and the carpets still have the dog’s scent) and his tendency to nip at people clothes (which sometimes means skin). He mostly does that with new people and particularly those with dogs! We’re working on it, but it is hard. I think that once he came into his own in terms of socializing with humans, he started really living into his puppy-hood!

The photos are of Rusty after his first grooming. I hadn’t realized just how shaggy and scruffy he was until I saw him without so much hair. His coat had gotten matted, so they had to go pretty short, but I think the shorter cut has helped him weather this ridiculously hot summer.