Is he a Double-Agent?

So, we all know Kaleb, right? Scrawny little rambunctious and totally wild guy. My best word to describe him is "EXTREME." It's his most frustrating yet endearing quality about him. He is either extremely loud, silly and obnoxious, throwing tantrum after tantrum, unable to go 10 minutes without using a "yucky word," and I'm on the verge of killing him... or... he is the cutest, sweetest, and most lovable thing on the planet. Also he can be the happiest, most excited little kid ever... or extremely angry and frustrated.


There is hardly any room for in between. He is most often one or the other. Mellow would be his antonym... his nemesis even. He is my wild child.


Getting a moment's peace with him is a treasure. He wares me to the bone. He pushes those boundaries as far as possible and then some--not to mention always at a much-too-high decibel. (Alli has even commented that she wonders if he has a hearing problem because of how loud he can be.) Maybe.


I just gotta say, thank goodness for those extremely sweet moments.


He is lucky he as cute as he is... or who knows what might happen to him!


So this is the Kaleb I know and love.





Apparently there is another.





When Kaleb turned 18 months old, he started going to Nursery every Sunday. At first he showed the common signs of being shy and not wanting to be left alone... but after few weeks, he was fine. He could walk right in, start playing with toys, and there was never a complaint.

This year he started preschool. When we first started taking him, he again showed those signs of being bashful and unsure of being left alone... but now he seems to be fine. Last week his teacher asked me if he is as quiet at home as he is in school. She said she hasn't heard him speak a word. Not even during Show-and-Tell. For him it is all "show" and no "tell." Well, I figured he was just still adjusting, after all it had only been about 5 weeks. (9 school days.) Here he is on his field trip to the Fire Station, obviously not being himself.



And then the next day I ran into his Nursery teacher. He said "hi" to Kaleb, and Kaleb just turned towards me and pretended as if he hadn't heard or seen anyone. I greeted his teacher and after a few failed attempts at getting Kaleb to even look at him, his teacher asked me... "Does he know how to talk?"


WHAT?!

He will be turning 3 in like a week. He will have been in Nursery for a YEAR and a HALF... and has never spoken a word? Who IS this kid? What has he done with my Kaleb? Or... out of curiosity... can he teach MY Kaleb a few tricks of the trade? Is there hope for having him mellow out just a bit? This is just preposterous! I don't even know what to think. It just baffles my mind that after a year and a half, he has not transitioned back to his comfortable self. Kind of makes me sad! I wonder if it will ever happen in Preschool. I mean, I guess at least he won't be a "problem child." But... still. Should I be worried that he's not being himself? Will it ever happen?

Or... maybe I should just add "shy" to his list of extremities. Now he's either super-shy... or in desperate need of a chill pill. One or the other.

It's Finally Time :)

The day after Labor Day. A day I have been dreaming about for months and months. This was the day that... Kaleb started Preschool. (*sigh*) The deadline for starting school in Utah is September, and Kaleb was born in October. So technically, he shouldn't start preschool until next year. But... if you know Kaleb, than you KNOW that I would be scouring the city for a place who would bend the rules. I love him to death, but a short break every once in a while would be quite welcome. Well, I was looking for a place in early January. Yes... I was searching that early. And low and behold, I found one. Little Learner's Academy. "Laaaaa!" He goes 2 days a week for 2 hours each day.

Here's Kaleb all dressed up in his "First Day of School" outfit that Charles bought for him that morning on his way home from the night shift. A little last minute... but we're trying to hold off the "need" for an entire new wardrobe at the beginning of each school year. One outfit is all they get for now!


Kaleb was so confused when he saw the new clothes. He's so used to hand-me-downs from Jaden that when he saw that they still had tags on them, he said,

"These Jadna's?"
I said, "No, they're for you!"
He said, "Oh. It's my birthday?"

Here's Kaleb walking from the car to his school...


Walking IN to school...


Not sure about going into his classroom...


We met his 2 teachers: They are the 2 on the left, Miss Starr and Miss Jazzy...


He found where to hang his bag...


At this point the room was filled with about 20 kids and their parents and siblings. Most of them were clinging to their parents. I was so proud of Kaleb as he timidly, began to play with toys. Every once in a while, when he would hear another child scream and yell that they didn't want to stay, he would look at me as if he were about to start clinging and crying, but then he would go back to playing. I was so proud of him! So here he is (with Bradley) playing with the trains.



And here he is after another kid pushed him aside and took the trains. He just looked down, found this freaky looking doll and just held it. I was so mad at that kid. I mean here was Kaleb trying to be so brave, and actually playing with toys instead of bawling his eyes out, and this kid just comes over and pushes him and takes his toys! I started looking around for a parent, but I guess since THAT kid seemed perfectly comfortable being there, his mom or dad had already left.


After a few minutes when Kaleb seemed to be okay, even though no parents had seemed to have left, I told him I was going to leave and that I would be back to pick him up when school was over. He told me he didn't want me to leave. I told him that parents aren't aloud at school. School was for kids. He told me he still didn't want me to go. So I may have told him a small little, white lie. I told him that I would stay, but that I would need to hide so that the teachers didn't kick me out. He seemed satisfied by that compromise, so I gave him a hug, told him I loved him and was proud of him for being so brave, and then I picked up Bradley and left.

I went out and watched him through the one way mirror/window.


After a few minutes the teachers started asking parents to leave. That's when the crap hit the fan. It was CRAZY. All of a sudden it wasn't just kids crying it was parents too! I mean SOBBING! I stayed the next 15 minutes or so till all the parents were out so I could see how Kaleb was handling everything and he was just sitting there quietly watching. One of the teachers started a clapping song, and Kaleb got brave enough to tap his fingers along. After that I left, did some grocery shopping, but made sure I was back a few minutes before Kaleb got out.

Kaleb was a little nervous, but did VERY well. And I think he associates "being good" with not talking. Sad. Like whenever we pick him up from nursery, one of the things we ask him is if he was good for his teachers, and he always says, "I didn't talk." And he doesn't. He is a completely different child in nursery. For me he is wild and loud, but for other teachers he is quiet and... obedient! Well, we told Kaleb that it's okay to talk, but he said he didn't want to. We asked him if he could try and talk "just a little" and he said he would. Here is his report after school:



Kaleb did awesome and we were extremely proud of him. :) Way to go Kiddo!