It all happened so fast...I met with the team of educators and psychologists who are working with her and we were discussing when might be a good time to get her into pre-k, then literally six days later she and I are at the school for her pre-attendance visit.

That was an interesting experience. Zoe got tired of screeching and whining with no result (as in, no one gave in and took her back home, though it was all I could do not to), so she did her patented backwards bend. That's when she lays on the floor and bends her body backwards until her feet touch her head. She can put the soles of her feet flat against her scalp - it's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. I don't know why she feels that this is an acceptable form of protest. It rarely *if ever* gets her what she wants. It sure is fascinating to watch, though. I've told her on several occasions she ought to be teaching yoga. Better start now before her body matures and her joints go all hard.

The worst of it was her first time on the bus. The pre-k program is not available at the school Trent attends so we have to send Zoe to the next town over for her classes. This presents a bit of a challenge for me, however, as pre-k is only a half day class and school lets out the exact same time for both children. Larry didn't want either of the children to take the bus, but short of creating a machine that effectively bends time I couldn't think of any way to avoid it. I can't be in two places at once. Sorry, that kind of witch only exists in pop culture. We had to work out a compromise so that neither of the babies is taken too far out of their comfort zone and Trent is already used to me driving him to/from school, so the logical choice was the put Zoe on going one way then eventually allow her to transition to riding the bus both ways once she's acclimatised. That first time, though...gawd. The bus pulled up and the brakes made that unavoidable screechy noise, which sent Zoe into paroxysms. She shook, screamed and held onto my neck so tightly she temporarily cut off all blood circulation to my head. Once I got her on board she calmed down, but after seeing how terrified she was intially I didn't want to leave her on the bus. It took all I had to not take her off, send the bus away and drive her to school myself. The second day was better and by the third she catually smiled as she got on the bus, though, so I'm guessing she'll be okay. I think the separation is harder for me than it is for her.

Her whining and screeching during class has tapered down too. Both the teacher and her aids have assured me that all the children do that their first few days, and they get better by degrees. They have discovered the way to Zoe's heart already; music. One of the parents came to the school and played the bagpipes last Friday, which delighted baby girl to no end. She even got up and danced. I wish I had been there to see her dancing, but Trent's class was having a party for his birthday which conveniently happened to coincide with my volunteer day with his class. We had cupcakes, computer lab and free play time, in that order. My formerly extremely shy son actually beamed as the class sang 'happy birthday' to him and we all had a great time. There was one curious moment, though, when I looked across the room and saw this sea of happy little kindergarteners already vibrating pre-suar rush, realized I was about to get them buzzed on a massive amount of the stuff and paused to wonder what the consequences were for what I was about to do. Yeesh. It's amazing that their parents didn't come by to say hello and kick my butt.

So things are going well for both of the babies. More later. Gotta go get Zoe ready for school.