Caleb's Preschool Performance

Yesterday was Caleb's preschool performance.  He and eleven other classmates were lead by their teacher and aides in a nice little round of songs.  They'd been practicing for months! 

The morning started off a little rough.  Caleb was already tired from a fun little night at Downtown Disney to see the Idaho Gresches (hi guys!), and he woke up with a wet bed and needed a tub before heading out the door.  He's been really anxious about going to school lately; he knows it's almost summer vacation and he's been having a very hard time coping when other kids are upset/noisy.  It was an uphill battle getting out the door, but he made it...and really didn't know that we'd be back to watch him sing (to tell him that would've been far too overwhelming).

My parents and I caravanned over to his school, and as we walked into the front office we heard a big "Hi MOM!  Hi Grammy!  Hi Grandpa!!"  Of course he just happened to be up in the office using the nurse's restroom as we walked in.  He was a little upset and confused when we had to leave to take our seats in the perfomance room (you could see it in his red face). 

We sat and waited for the show to start while I tried to hold Lilly on my lap...she's two and a half, you figure it out.  She's pretty finicky these days; she wants to show off, but she pretty much hates anyone who looks at her (even grandparents) and she'll cry at the tiniest thing...which sets off Caleb (it's a seriously vicious cycle, people) and I just wanted him to feel comfortable enough to do his best.
Grandma and Uncle Luke showed up behind us, and Auntie Erin came too.

The kids took the stage and I was beaming with pride...Caleb's chair was front and center!  A few kids waved to the small crowd of parents and a few slowly took it all in (*reminder* half the class has special needs while the other half are neuro-typical).  And when Caleb took the stage he made a point to LOUDLY call out to each and every one of us.  And it didn't end there...as you'll see throughout almost every song he had to make some kind of contact with me! 

During one of the songs, the class sang so loudly that it scared Lilly and she was unable to calm down.  I tried to take her to the back of the room and she wouldn't stop crying : ( Grandma came to the rescue {as she always does} and took her outside to play so I could enjoy the rest of the show.  And in the middle of a song he cried out "My Mom is GONNNE!" until I took my seat again and we locked eyes.  And then he cried for a brief moment because he heard Lilly crying...

They all did such a wonderful job sitting in their seats and singing.  They were up there for a long time, I was so proud of them!  And just after the last song had been sung, one of his classmates fell out of his chair and let out a big wail...which sent Caleb over the edge into crocodile tears and plugged ears.  But it was okay because I was allowed to rescue him.  I hugged him and kissed him and told him how proud I was.  Even through his tears he was so happy to see everyone that came to watch him sing, and he really did have such a fun time.  He even said "Daddy's doing Navy work" as we walked out (he was remembering when Tj was there for his Christmas performance). 

We went nextdoor to the park where we met a frantic Lilly Belle and let Caleb roam and run.  It was nearing naptime for everyone {crying seems to make naptime come quicker} so we packed up, said our goodbyes, our thankyous, and headed home. 

It was then that I really really really missed Tj.  I was so exhausted from trying to keep Lilly from crying, trying to help Caleb stop crying, trying to help him understand his mixed-up-day, trying to direct him and tell him what was coming next, and making sure I had spoken to everyone I needed to...that I just had a bummer moment that he wasn't there.  But it won't be like this forever, and somehow God's making us stronger though it. 

And as I leave you on this fine Saturday evening, please enjoy these videos of Caleb singing with his peers.
I sincerely hope they bring you an ounce of the joy they bring me. 

This Little Light

B-I-N-G-O

Mahalo

*miss you Tj