School

Friday, 19 October 2007

I went to work the past three days, to help proctor statewide testing for Grades 4, 5, and 6. Everyone asked if I was back. No, not yet. Just helping out for testing. The students did writing and science tests. It was good practice to see what life will be like when I have to get myself ready, get baby ready, eat breakfast, and getting us, and the diaper bag, my school bag, and my pump up 85 stairs and out the door by 7:30 am. And actually, I'll have to get out earlier when I really go back to work in January. The Halsalls watched Chase the past few mornings, and although we were concerned about him not eating as much and being fussy yesterday, he seems to be in a good mood and not sick at all. They have had fun playing with him, and he's been super smiley today.

The funniest thing is that I've been proctoring the test, and at about 9 am each day, I have had to pump. So, I just put my nursing cover on, sit at the teacher's desk, and pump away, unbeknownst to any of the kids. I even reminded kids to "Try your best," and to "Stay focused", and then 15 minutes later, walked off to the sink with two bottles of milk. They had absolutely no idea.

Yesterday my principal asked me if I had time at home to do stuff, asked me if I'm bored at home. Today, my principal gave me some work to do at home, as if I have so much free time. But, it's just computer stuff. Not too bad. Perhaps it will keep me from searching for deals on Craigslist. Ha!

The past few days, I've been taking Chase to Kahala Mall in the afternoons just so we can cool off in the air condition. It's nice to walk around with him. He looks around, and I nurse him when I need to, exchanging smiles and hellos with all the other moms and babies with the same idea as us (getting out of the heat!).

The Christmas decorations are starting to go up in stores, and I tried to see if Chase liked the lights and ornaments, but he is usually more interested in ceiling fans, lines on the ceiling, patterns on people's shirts, and faces of course.

This afternoon, we went to visit Miya and Taiga who recently returned from their trip to San Francisco. We exchanged gifts (Miya celebrated her birthday while she was gone.) and tried to get the boys to visit with each other. Chase stared at Taiga, and Taiga waved at Chase and pointed out his nose and elbow and toes, and then, all of a sudden, he bonked Chase on the head with his head! Chase started crying, but stopped after a few seconds after I carried him. Apparently, Pastor Steve had taught Taiga this friendly tap to be playful. But, Taiga didn't realize that you shouldn't head butt little babies. Chase was fine. We're going to get all together next weekend to celebrate the babies when Miya hosts the baby shower that didn't happen way back when. We have lots to be thankful for, as Taiga is better, Pua gave birth to baby Max in August, and Chase is growing bigger.

We're also thankful for health insurance, as Miya got their hospital bill for Taiga's month and a half stay in the ICU. Let's just say you could buy a sizeable house for the amount, but thank goodness they only have to put out a little over a hundred bucks.