Compass, Conventions, and Kindergarten!

There is a song called Compass that we listen to sometimes. One lyric says, "so let your heart, sweet heart, be your compass when you're lost and you should follow it wherever it may go." Recently Andrew told me, "mommy, I want to be your compass."   He melts my heart when he expresses the love and compassion I know is in there.

Thursday, July 31st, we headed off to Kentucky to stay in a hotel for the District Convention held in Evansville.  He's been very excited to add two more states to his list of 'visited'. We all used backpacks as our bookbags to make it easier and be able to stuff them under seats. Andrew loved getting to use his lime green backpack we bought especially for Kindergarten. It's his favorite color.

Andrew was almost perfect on Friday. Mostly still and quiet. There was just one point that he was frustrating me and in sign language I begged him to please stop. He finally pulled out his notebook and wrote, "I'm sorry mom" on the paper. I drew a heart on it to let him know I appreciated what he wrote and he started drawing hearts too.
He made friends with everyone around us. He kept asking, "Mom, can I go talk to her?" and would strike up a conversation.  There were two girls probably a little younger than me that really took to him. They are apparently Nannies in Brentwood (Rena is one of them, I can't remember the other.) They sat in front of us on Friday and were very impressed with his good behavior and conversation skills. Andrew noticed she had a pen that had 4 different colors on it to write with and wanted to know what happened to the one he used to have. He told her he really liked her pen.   Those girls called out to him each day to say hi whenever they saw him, and on Sunday Rena went back to her seat and found the pen and gave it to him to keep. It made his weekend! Especially because half the pen was lime green, and one of the ink colors were green... his favorite color.
He was really excited that Lauren would be getting baptized on Saturday. He ran up to Gail Wetzel and told her that Lauren Chumley was getting baptized Saturday. She asked if he meant Lauren Milke and he said no, Chumley.  Then he came back to me and asked. I told him it was Lauren Milke.  He asked, "is it Lauren Chumley Milke? or Lauren Milke Chumley?" I told him there was no Chumley in her name, that Barry wasn't her daddy. It was just Lauren Milke. He looked distressed and said he needed to go find sister Wetzel again to "correct it because she won't know who it is!"  I told him I was certain Gail would figure it out.
Saturday I was not well and he asked a lot of questions about things he was hearing or telling me about things he saw. I tried to show him how to listen for certain words like Jehovah, Jesus, Brother, Sister, etc and draw a tally mark. He tried, but pretty much told me to tell him whenever I heard one and he'd record it.  Eventually he was making a mark and handing the notebook back to me because he didn't want to hold it, but then wanted it back when he heard a word. That got tiring too. Daddy's security shift started during lunch and went for a couple of hours. Andrew got to see Lauren get baptized and then we followed them outside. He ran around and played with a couple of other young kids.

I finally had to leave early. I had to take the elevator because I couldn't walk to the escalator without having to rest somewhere. We slowly made our way outside and across a parking lot. I couldn't get to the garage though, I had to sit on the sidewalk and rest. A cheerful friendly man started to ride by on his bicycle while telling himself to be careful not to cause a traffic accident. Andrew called out to him, "hey, would you like to come hang out with us?" And the guy turned around and stayed as Andrew told him how mommy wasn't feeling well and that we were in Evansville for the convention and staying at a hotel, etc etc etc.  The stranger started telling us false stories about needing a plastic piece for some engine part (that doesn't have plastic), and that he's borrowing his daughters bike and he needs new this and new that for all these things. He finally came out and asked Ted for money too which Ted nicely replied that he didn't carry any to give. I prayed to Jehovah during this and soon a brother came out to see if we need help. He had seen us from a window and saw us trying to cross the parking lot and me resting. He came out to offer assistance - and his timing was great. It got the stranger to leave, gave Andrew someone safer to talk to, and daddy a chance to go get the car. Joe Ramey from Glasgow, KY. 
We had to get onto Andrew and explain to him how that situation was potentially dangerous and that
he really needs to stop being so forward and free with strangers. I know he doesn't fully understand.

Monday we went to pick up our raw milk. I tried to get him thinking about if one gallon of milk costs $5, and I want two gallons, how much money do I need to give the lady. He needed help with that concept. So then I held up two $5 bills and said, "I want two gallons of milk. One piece of paper will get me one milk - how many papers do I need to give her."  He got that one. I gave him the money and let him pay the lady for the milk.
Then it was off to pick up the puppies from boarding. Boy were they excited to see us!

Tuesday evening we went to the school for Open House and met his teacher, Andrea Hobbs. I think she'll be good for him. She likes to talk in sign language and sometimes in Spanish too. She loves math and reading and looks forward to trying to find things to challenge him with.

Wednesday morning I knew Andrew was outside playing but I couldn't see him. I called and he didn't answer. I finally step farther out on the deck and see him at the fence talking to Mr. Brown who had stopped working to talk. He came running then and said, "I was about to tell him about Paradise and you interrupted!"  I said, I'm sorry and asked him what he did get to say.  He said, "Paradise is coming!" I told him that was great and next time Mr. Brown will be interested to hear all about Paradise and what he wants to do there.

Thursday morning Andrew wanted to be with Lauren. I told him that wasn't an option but we could go in service to be with friends, or he can stay home and play. He chose service. That didn't work out because the only ones who showed up were wearing fragrances. So I let him get a donut (and hand the cash to the cashier) and eat it at the park.  A few minutes before we left, Andrew was telling another parent that her kids were being mean to him and that mean kids don't make it to Paradise.  I didn't bother saying anything.

Friday morning, August 8th, was the first day of Kindergarten. I printed off two "First day" posters to take photos with. Daddy stayed home longer to get to be a part of taking him to class and help him get ready. Pictures are always hard. He forgets to stay looking at the camera, he doesn't know if he's really smiling or not, or what his attempt looks like. He buckles his knees or locks his knees. He hides his face behind the paper or holds it so far out in front of him he'd be out of focus. When he gives his natural and best smile - his eyes are closed or he's looking somewhere else, or I catch him with his eyes halfway closed during a blink.If he doesn't smile, it looks depressed.  It gets frustrating for all of us. I dont really know how to change it either, but he's always a trooper. This Friday was no exception.. and to make it worse he has a dress code to follow that requires polo shirts and belts which coupled with his wet, perfectly neatly combed hair - made him kind of look nerdish sometimes. I tried to get him to hold the sign to hide the belt since that did help a bit. Eventually I tried to mess up his hair a little too. But then I get mad at myself that I pay attention to these little details when I know they shouldn't matter... and they do not matter to him now and may not later either. He is a beautiful, healthy, happy child - and that is all that should matter. Not what he is wearing or where he is looking or how he is holding a sign. 
Sensing my frustration wasn't hard, and he did try to do whatever we asked. I finally gave up, thinking surely we got at least one in there!  When I got in the car he said, "Mommy, I love you."  It's so humbling. I imagine Jehovah is like that. He can see us frustrated or sick or at our worst version of ourselves - and still say, 'I love you' to us. I hope Andrew never loses that quality.  Even recently when his best child friend told him she didn't want to be friends that day - he still held her in high esteem, knowing it'd probably blow over. 
We walked him to class together, and ended up being there in time to respectfully stand for the pledge. He looked up at me and smiled when it was done - I guess because it was the first time he got to be with someone else who doesn't say it either (us) and was proud of himself for not participating. So we had to briefly tell the teacher that he knows to be respectful but he won't participate. She was cool with it. He will be her first JW student, but she's had friends who are JWs so she was at least familiar.

Friday afternoon I eagerly sat in the pick up line waiting for the students to be let out. He got in the car, all smiles. I asked him how his first day of Kindergarten was and he said, "it was awesome!"  But the only other thing I got out of him was that he got to read a lot of books at rest time or something.  In his backpack, the teacher wrote a note saying he had an excellent first day, and he got to be the line leader for the day and did an exceptional job.  There was a little toy he got from the treasure chest (I asked what he had to do to get to pick a prize and he said, 'nothing' so I dont know what the reward was for) and some stickers. 

After being home for a bit, he slipped in the bathroom and hit his nose on the cabinet. There was a tiny bloody line at the base of his nose, and then his nose ran a little bit with blood. It freaked him out a bit, so I explained that bleeding is good because it keeps germs out. I ended up just letting him sit and watch the Magic Schoolbus so I could make some immune-boosting soup for dinner.
After dinner he enjoyed practicing basketball with the inflatable pool set and then playing in a bath.