2 years

Two years ago today we were moving to Manhattan. I'm not sure if it feels like we've been here a day or 10 years. A little of both. Either way, it feels more like home than it did then. And there are people here who I can rely on and people here who count on me. I had a hard time imagining I'd have that two years ago. The geographical distance between us and our families hasn't lost its sting, but we're making it work. A day at a time.

Andrew is now the age that Jackson was when we moved here. That blows my mind. Jackson seemed bigger to me. Physically, he was. And while Andrew is very verbal, Jackson was even more so and very clever at that age. I am happy to say that I am getting much more sleep now than I was two years ago and am in better shape physically. I ran 4 miles last night. Two years ago I couldn't have run 4 blocks.
And our Disney trip countdown is at 39 days! We've been planning this trip with the Sutherlands since we first moved to Kansas as something to look forward to. I'm not sure who's more excited - me or the kids!

The past couple months have been challenging with Andrew. He's really challenging us - doesn't want to be told what to do, wants to do everything himself, doesn't want to share, loves the word MINE. But in the past week, we've turned a corner and we have sweet little Andrew back. He still loves to say MINE but he's less aggressive and dramatic and more sweet and emotionally level. Jackson is his usual good-boy/first-born self but he has suddenly developed some separation anxiety issues. They started on Friday and may be linked to the death of our good friends' dog on Wednesday. When I told him about Bogey he had a lot of questions about death and heaven that I tried to answer simply and honestly. He seemed satisfied and his sadness about Bogey didn't seem to last too long. However, when I brought him to this friend's house on Friday so she could watch them while I got a haircut, he became almost hysterical when I went to leave. Sobbing and screaming, clawing at me and hanging on to my waist. I had to leave and Kari said he wasn't upset for too long. He was fine when I got back. Naptime and bedtime has been a little different for him too. A few times he has gotten just as upset when he has to go down for a nap or bed. He's never objected to either before, let alone crying and begging to stay up. I thought he was just feeling jealous of Andrew again so I arranged for us to have time together on Sunday for a few hours. On Sunday night he was sobbing at bedtime again and very upset when I told him I was going to go for a run. Then today I brought him to school. He walked into the room just fine but then saw his regular teacher was gone and that there was a sub. The teacher assistant he is used to (and loves) was there but the head teacher wasn't there. He ran out of the room crying and yelling and it took about 5 minutes to get him settled down. The teacher assistant picked him up and walked him into the room. When I picked Jackson up, she said that it took him a little while to calm down but then he was fine until the sub. teacher had to take him in for lunch. Then he started crying for me again. The sub. was very sweet and told me that Jackson asked to sit on her lap for lunch which she of course let him do. After school he told me he was just a little bit sad that I had to leave him at school. I tried to talk to him a little about Bogey and see if that had anything to do with it but I didn't get anywhere. The babysitter will be here in about 90 minutes to watch the boys while I teach lessons. We'll see how that goes.

Boys are up. Will have to finish this later.