School Daze

Ok, I'm completely overhwhelmed with all the choices for K next year. We have 2 private religious (read: expensive) schools, the 4 public schools & 2 charter schools. I really wasn't thinking about the charter schools because I'd heard some pretty bad stuff about them. But, I've also read that each one is different and can be great or horrible. I've talked to a few moms (including Emma's preschool ) teacher, who speak very highly of one particular charter school. It's out of town, about a 10 minute drive, and it's technology-based. They utilize computers a lot, even in Kindergarden. I'm going to go view their class on Monday. They have the longest school day & the longest school year (about 10 days more than other schools). They also have one of the smallest class sizes. They have gym, art, music every week, with occasional foreign language (I think she said Spanish & Japanese). So, it'll be interesting.
Sarah had her first in-home PT session this morning. Although it was early (8:30), it was nice not to have to leave the house. And, since it's with a Pediatric PT, I know Sarah will be in good hands. Her other PT was very nice, but he acknowledged not working with little kids for about 18 years, so I didn't think she was getting the best out of it. He agreed and pushed to have the pedi PT fit Sarah into her schedule. She gave me some practial tips to help Sarah feel more comfortable in the crawling position and getting into & out of different positions. I'm sure once she gets her glasses, she'll feel more comfortable moving around, too.
Speaking of which, grrr. It's taking forever to get some frames in that will fit her little face. It's ridiculous. They fit her eyes just fine, but the temples (the part that goes behind her ears) are WAY too long. They can heat them up & bend them, but the ends will end up right by the front of her face. Not exactly comfortable.
On a good note, I bought Sarah's new car seat this morning. Babycenter is having a sale, and the Britax convertible car seat was $20 off, plus I got an additional 10% off. So, even with shipping (yikes), it was practically $20 cheaper than the original price. This is the mondo-expensive, but very highly regarded car seat. It better be good. All the other ones I looked at that were cheaper just didn't look cushy enough. Sarah's still so small, I want her to be comfortable in this thing. She's still going to be rear-facing, at least until she's a year, maybe longer, depending on how comfortable I am. Because she's still so small, I don't think she'd be safe forward facing just yet. When she gets closer to 20 lbs. maybe. That might take awhile, as she's barely 15 lbs. now. She's mon petite fille. Plus, she'll probably still fit in this for many years to come (Emma was in her convertible car seat for 2 1/2 years).
I can't believe Easter is so early this year. I remember last year, Easter was a week before I had Sarah. We'll probably have to hide eggs in the snow this year. CMU is having their annual easter egg hunt tomorrow. We're taking the girls. They have different hunts for different age groups. It should be fun. They don't have one for Sarah, but I know she'll probably just end up licking the eggs anyway.
The Mt. Pleasant Parks & Rec schedule is out. We're probably going to put Emma in Summer Soccer. The preschool has a summer session from the middle of May until the end of June, so that'll help occupy her until soccer starts. We might even do swim. I'm thinking about getting Sarah into it for at least a session. I know Emma needs to learn how to swim. She doesn't like big pools and we're going on a cruise sometime within the next 2 years, so she needs to get over her fear of "big water". They also have T-Ball, but it's around the same time as preschool, and I think that might be too much. Next year she'll be able to do the PEAK program.