"Be sad... Be happy"

Lucas loves his guitar.  Like a. lot.  Most evenings we are serenaded for hours.  A mixture of traditional kids' songs, Bible songs he's learned at daycare, and some originals.  My favorite original song has a mixture of two different themes:  "Be sad.... Be happy....  Everybody be sad....  Everybody be happy....." and"1,2 Eyes on Meeeeeeee...  123 Eyes on Meeeeee....."  and somehow at the end is always "Snap that monkey right out of the tree!"  

This week was looong and exhausting, but also great at the same time.  Going back to work/school was tough for all of us (Except Lucas since he'd never switched schedules).  I knew Ethan must be feeling alright when I realized he was using his arm as an excuse to do nothing....

I"Ethan, why is all this work in your backpack blank?  Why isn't it done?"

"Well you know mom, my arm."

"Really?  Your left arm that you don't write with is keeping you from doing schoolwork?"

"Well I did the fun stuff.  Sheesh."

(I made him do it all right there.)  You can't blame him for being upset.  The thing he was most looking forward to in kindergarten was homework.  It had finally come and his expectations were not really meeting with reality.

"Alright Ethan.  Finally, here's your homework.  Tonight you practice writing your name with lowercase letters."

"What?  I don't want to do that."

"Well that's homework.  That and reading."

"WHAT?!!!"

I have no clue what he thought homework was, but it was sad to watch his hopes and dreams for the evenings of his school years to come crashing down.  Actually, as the week went on I was able to add in some tech elements to make him a bit happier -  including a "Letter A Collection" we did with clip art on Word and he presented to the class on Friday.  That he enjoyed.

He did really well going back - was very cautious at recess time (as he should be) and was very tired.  On Tuesday when I went out to recess and came to check on him, he was sound asleep on the couch in the office.  So cute.  Melting the hearts of educators everywhere.  

The boys were especially excited to see their Aunt Angie, Uncle Nick, and cousin Cole who were stopping through on their way to their new house about 3 hours from here.  We are so thrilled to have them close enough for frequent visits!  And we were super excited to see them on Wednesday night.  Cole has grown up so much!

Three boys running around is enough to make chaos, but have them turn it into a music party and the noise level is awesome.  As in I was in awe.  

Lucas was in full show off mode.  Which was really funny.  I think having him alone at this new daycare is helping him a lot socially.  His confidence level has shot through the roof.  He seems truly happy and is reaching out to people all over.  My heart is happy.

The only bad thing is the new way he greets adults.  He turns his head to the side, sticks out his tongue and does "lalalala".  To people that know him this is cute and funny.  To others it is a bit odd.  Like grocery checkers, random people at the store, etc.

The boys (and we) had an absolutely fabulous time and were totally wiped out the next day.  By Friday they'd recovered and they were really excited for "Fort Building Movie Night" at church.  Last year I made them an elaborate fort with a floor and all sorts of stuff.  Then I spent an hour taking it down and putting it all away.  This time they got a pillow, blankie, and one blanket over the top.  

It was great as it was a movie they love and there were plenty of snacks to keep Lucas in one place.  I even got to chat with a friend and enjoy myself.  They're growing up!

Saturday Brian had to work and I was in need of adventure.  I wanted to go someplace new.  We dropped off Brian at the ferry and then searched around for a good long while, driving here and there.  Ethan practiced reading me the Speed Limit signs.  He's great with the numbers from 1-10 and 30-100.  Numbers 11-29 are a bit of a struggle, but he made a lot of progress in the car.

We finally ended up at Pheasant Fields Farm.  The website said they were open at 10 and that we could pay to have a farm tour, but there was no one there.  I was a bit hesitant to go traipsing all over the farm as it's obviously someone's house as well, but the boys know no such hesitation.  Off to the chickens they went.  

They were fascinated.  All the chickens (5,000 according to Ethan) came over to greet us and peck around.  I could not pry Lucas away.  He was mesmerized.

The funniest part was that many of the chickens had found a way out and were hanging out on the outside of the pen, seemingly laughing at their friends.  

There were also sheep, goats, and llamas.  Ethan loved watching the two goats scratching each other's heads by licking.  I tried to explain why they couldn't scratch their own heads like we do.  As I demonstrated, someone that works there finally showed up (at 11) and asked if we needed any help.

Oh I always need help...  We bought some eggs since we'd been using their farm for an hour of entertainment and were on our way.  After Lucas weirded the guy out with his aforementioned greeting.  

My parents had agreed to take the boys for the afternoon so I could get some grocery shopping/chores/school work done.  THANK YOU!  I got lots done and then met Brian at the ferry.  I parked and walked down so we could get Starbucks and walk back to the car for an impromptu 10 minute date.  Take it where you can get it, right?! 

We arrived back at my parents' house to find Lucas in full on performance mode for Nana.  He was a riot, though exhausting!  Ethan was immersed in the land of Uma's IPad.  Apparently earlier he had brought it to her and said "Uma, I can't buy this new game without your help."  It was at the screen where he had already bought it, but needed her password to make it go through.  And he'd already tried to guess the password once.  Great.  Lucas did it later too.  Sheesh.  

Bedtime was rough after the fun evening, but we finally got them into bed and started our movie.  It was a movie we most certainly could not watch with the boys and we were laughing and enjoying ourselves when we heard a rustle.  Lucas was sitting around the corner of the couch watching with us.  We shepherded him upstairs and sternly lectured about coming down, yada yada yada.  About an hour later the same thing happened.  Who knows how long he was sitting there.  It was so hard not to laugh.  I couldn't do it, but Brian got him up and into bed.  Again.  He's so sneaky and quiet now - this could be a problem.

Oh these boys.  They drive me crazy but I love every minute.  Well almost every minute....

Improvement

First - 2 questions from the comments -
"How long 'till the pins come out?"  I believe they come out when the cast comes off, which is in approximately 6 weeks.  I cannot really remember what the doc said though, because I was trying to forget the detail in which he explained the surgery.  *Shudder*  Brian takes Ethan in to get the plaster cast on the 28th and I'm sure they'll firm up the further details there.
"How exactly did he do it?"  He was climbing a structure in our playground - kind of like a tree made out of tires.  He must have just slipped.  He was doing nothing wrong, it's not an unsafe piece of equipment, it was just purely an ugly accident.  The doc said that at his age their bodies don't automatically brace a fall correctly, so this kind of break is fairly common in the ortho world - though not to this extreme necessarily.
Did I leave anything else out?  I'm not sure my brain is even yet functioning correctly.  The adrenaline and exhaustion messed with me....
Friday was pretty much a "stay on the couch and do nothing" day.  For both Ethan and I.  My mom came over and cleaned and grocery shopped and E and I rested.  Much. Needed.  Although, because we did nothing, I was nervous about how quickly we were going to be able to get Ethan up and moving.  He was still screaming every time I tried to move him.  Add to that the car not starting and the stove sparking and then not working and I was feeling pretty overwhelmed.  Luckily, Brian came home early and miraculously got both things to work.  Ethan realized that if he didn't want to take the big meds, he'd have to be more honest about where the pain levels were and not panic and freak out.  Separate pain from panic.  That was enough motivation to get him a little more perky.
In fact, Saturday morning he was ready to show us his stuff.  He was up and moving around, finding his new center of balance, remembering to not bump into things, sitting and getting up by himself!

Lucas and I practiced making monster marshmallows and pretty quickly Ethan was over to investigate.

I've never loved video games so much as I do now.  They were the motivation and distraction needed to get my boy feeling more like himself.  In the morning and in the evening he played for long periods of time - standing up and moving around!

Throughout the day we had a few friends pop in to say hi.  So great to see them and I think it's comforting for all to get to see him looking a bit more normal.  Lucas especially loved seeing his friends.  He is seriously missing his chief playmate, though is actually learning how to use the wii so he can play too.  

I think most of all I am feeling pretty darn lucky.  We have a boy who was seriously hurt, but will heal quickly and fairly easily.  We have family that take care of us and give us constant prayers, smiles and support.  We have friends that care so much.  It's easy to become frustrated at all this will entail for us - going from a pretty independent kid to one that needs a whole lot of help with basic day to day functions.  But, we are lucky.  He's off the heavy meds, at a pain level 0 (unless I try to move his arm at all), and laughing again.  We're lucky.

The Last 48

 So....  4th day of kdgtn.  I'm in my room with about 10 minutes left before recess starts and E's teacher runs in to tell me Ethan is in the office and got hurt.  "He's crying hard Katie.  In my experience kids don't cry like that unless it's real."  He was in there with his caregiver who happened to still be around.  He was holding his elbow and screaming.  I later found out that he was screaming, "I don't want to die!"   I ran out of there and got my purse, told them to do whatever they needed to do with my class but I had to leave.  My colleagues stepped up and took care of everything.
I called the triage nurse at our pediatrician's office who told me to come right away.  At this point, this is what the elbow looked like.  He couldn't move his arm at all and refused to let go of it.  The screaming was still happening, though he was exhausting himself so it wasn't quite as ear-piercing.

They got us in after about a 1 minute wait just to tell us that he definitely needed to go to the ortho down the street.  There we waited about 2 minutes, got an x-ray and then a consult with the ortho PA.

"This is not good Katie.  Do you have someone that can drive you to Mary Bridge in Tacoma?"

"Can't they take care of it here?"

"No one near here is going to touch this break.  Who can drive you?"

"I'll call my mom.  So we just take him to the ER there?"

"Yep.  and DO NOT let him eat or drink."

"What?  Ok...  Wait, are you saying surgery is possible?"

"More than possible.  Definite.  Go home and pack a bag quickly while you wait for your ride."

"Wait, overnight?  Are you serious."

"Here's a copy of the x-rays.  Show them to everyone so they don't try to unwrap it or move him until absolutely necessary."

The hardest part was not being able to freak out at all.  Ethan was already so scared.  I excused myself to the bathroom.  Said a few choice words, let out a few giant tears, pulled myself together and we were on our way.  My mom's school was as great as mine and she was out waiting for us.  She got to be the strong one while Ethan slept and I went along for the ride.

We got to the ER and they got us inside in less than a minute.  They also had (free) valet parking - amazing place.  Right away they started setting up for putting him in a cast.  I was confused as the ortho had told me surgery was a necessity.  One of the ER nurses told the others to wait and showed them the x-ray.  Everyone sucked in a big breath and then left.  Ethan was thrilled to get to watch TV and was sucked in.  He was feeling okay between the meds they'd given him at the doc and the distraction of Nickelodeon.

 The ER doc came in and explained that he was waiting to talk to the orthopedic surgeon.  He made the following drawing on E's sheet.  The left diagram shows where Ethan broke his humerus (right above the joint, straight across).  The diagram on the right show how it was currently aligned in his arm.

 Basically, they would have to line it up before they could set it in a cast or a splint.  They still thought there was a possibility they could do it right there, though they would need Ethan to be pretty much out to do it.
Regardless, he'd need an IV, so they set upon doing it.  This was rough.  Even for me.  I don't do real well with needles and they chose to make me the test case to show Ethan how it's done.  They never actually put in a needle, just taped the tube on top, but it was enough to almost get me.  Ethan still had to have someone hold him down to get it in.  He was freaking out.  Once it was in, he refused to move that arm either (this continued until the next day.
There were a few plans made until finally the surgeon showed up to tell me they had an OR available at 3:00 and let's just do it then.  He way over-explained the process, making me weak in the knees, but confident in his ability to take care of my baby.  They would put him fully out and then move everything back into place (I'll spare you the step-by-step).  Then they would insert 3 pins into his arm to hold the bones in place while it heals.  The pins will come out after the cast comes off.  Because there was so much tissue damage, he'd have to have the pins.
They loaded him up on morphine and I ran to eat while my mom stayed with him.  I hadn't eaten since breakfast and didn't want to pass out (as there were oh so many reasons to pass out at this point).
I got lost trying to find them afterward and had a bit of a panic attack that I wouldn't make it back before they took him (though rationally I knew they wouldn't take him into surgery until I signed some more forms). I found them and saw that the arm had gotten a bit nastier over the last few hours.

 When the morphine kicked in, he was a pretty happy guy.  He was snuggled up with the penguin they'd given him down in the ER.  I didn't know how to explain what was happening, but I tried my best:  "E.  Stop watching TV and listen babe.  Hey you.  Look at me.  They are going to give you some medicine in another room.  The medicine is going to make you fall asleep.  While you are asleep they are going to fix your arm.  Remember Dr. Will?  He is going to put your arm back together."
I'm not sure why I fretted.  He was so drugged up at this point.....

 Brian was on his way and my mom needed to leave so she could get Lucas and keep him overnight.  We had no idea how long all this would take.  Brian got there about 30 seconds before we left for the OR.  He got to kiss E and tell him he loved him and then they took him to the OR and sent us to the surgery waiting room.  There were screens with color coded numbers telling us where our patient was in the process.  I tried to scratch out some sub plans while we waited, though I couldn't really think of anything.  I didn't want to leave, but was starving.  We had no cash for vending machines, so ended up eating some stale cookies that were sitting out and a mini-butterfinger bar.
When we finally got to go to recovery, he was moaning and crying.  They told us it would be tough coming off the anesthesia, as kids are so disoriented, but it still was disturbing.  The doctor showed us the "after" xrays and told us about the procedure.  The break was not lateral (as those normally are), so he had to do the pins differently than is standard.  I didn't care.  I just wanted to be with Ethan.  It took him a long while to seem himself.  He was so thirsty and we were only allowed to give him minimal sips of water, as they were afraid he'd throw it all back up.  He just cried and begged.  One great distraction was the nurse took the oxygen mask from his surgery and turned it into a jetpack for the penguin.  After we finally got out of there, we settled in our room upstairs.  It was a really nice place with a playroom, kitchen, computer room, all sorts of comforts for the families there.  I went to go send off some (dismal) sub plans and was surprised by my principal.  She showed up with a teddy bear for Ethan and a big hug for me.  Her husband was also there, whom Ethan had met when his babysitter (their daughter) took the boys to VBS at their church.  A great surprise and so thoughtful!

 The night was rough.  He slept really well from about 9:45 until about 1:00 am.  From then on he really didn't sleep.  He zoned on the TV or fussed when it was time for more meds.  We finally gave up at about 6.  At this point we were all concerned that he wasn't feeling much better.  He still had no feeling in his pinky and was in a lot of pain when the morphine wasn't going.  He also spiked a little fever and then was soaking with sweat.

At that point I was pretty discouraged (and exhausted).  The doc came in and checked him out and decided to try a different med.  We also suspected at that point that he might have a bruised nerve, causing the numbness.  The doc would come back and check later that day, but we needed to see a lot of progress before he could come home.
Once the new drug kicked in, he was feeling a lot better.  He even regained feeling in his pinky.  He was still terrified to move at all though.  We finally (after much screaming and trying) decided to bribe him with the use of the video games.  You have to sit up to play video games, right?!  That did the trick.  He still screamed a bit, but was willing to let his nurse, Stephanie, get his arm in the sling and sit him up.
Once he was there and got to play games - he was thrilled!  Our boy was back and feeling good.

 The rest of the day was tough on me.  I had to make him get up, get dressed, walk, etc.  He did not want to do any of this and didn't really want to go home, so wasn't interested in trying.  Finally Stephanie and I decided we were just going to have to make it non-optional.  We finally got him up and over to their really cool car/wheelchair so I could drive him around a bit.

He liked that - such a great place - but then did not want to get out.  We let him sit in the car in his room while we started the process of discharging him.

In the meantime, Bob and Stacey- friends from church - showed up to visit!  My dad was there to drive us home and chatted for a bit while I grabbed our take-home meds.
The process of checking out was a bit rough.  Ethan really made it tough on the nursing student (her first day in clinicals) taking off the IV tape.  He screamed like a banshee and fought it all the way.  Poor girl.  He also fussed quite a bit getting into the car and having the seatbelt on.  Luckily, he feel asleep pretty quickly.  Not sure we would have made it home otherwise.
Getting him into bed was tough, but we did it and then I knew the decision to come home was right.  He slept from about 9:45 last night 'til 7:30 this morning, only half-awakening for meds.  We had him sleep with Brian in our bed and I slept in his bed upstairs.  He can't do those steep stairs until the cast comes on.  And maybe not even then, we'll see.  Plus, I got some great sleep.  Needed.
Now he's curled up on the couch, just watching TV and relaxing.  The drugs make him pretty sleepy and out of it, but he definitely seems better today.
Let the healing begin.

Deception Pass

Today brought us out to Whidbey Island for a favor for Brian's sister and family.  A long drive, but what a gorgeous place!  We had lunch at a fabulous place called "Flyers".  Great mac and cheese and alfredo.  Yum.  The boys were pretty tired by that time and Lucas had to go to the bathroom 3 times.  Exhausting.

After lunch (and a short nap in the car), we headed to the state park for a little hiking.  When we started at West Beach the bridge was in sight!  We were determined to hike there - only .9 miles to go.

 Ethan led the way (and refused to let anyone else go first because "There's lots of rocks mom.  You have to be careful."  Lucas face-planted pretty quickly, getting a mouthful of dirt.  No tears though - impressive!

 Ethan scolded him, "You have to be careful Lucas.  This is a long journey.  Like 3,000 miles."

 He also informed us he'd been there before (false!).  "I came with Uma and Upa when I was little.  We walked like 600 miles.  It was a hard journey."

 .9 miles later we made it to the bridge - and with almost no whining!  It was impressive up close and even more so since we'd hiked about a mile to get there.

 We climbed the stairs to get to the top - so many!

 But for the view it was so worth it.  Beautiful.

 And then we hiked down because mama's anxiety level was growing by the minute.  We were oh so high and that traffic was oh so close.  Ethan thought this was a picture-worthy view.  Wouldn't budge until I took the picture.

 Brian was a master at getting Lucas back without giving in and picking him up.  He just told him that he (Brian) was old like Grandpa and Lucas had to help him.  Then they told stories to each other about dragons, dinosaurs, and two little boys going on adventures.

I bet you can guess the names of the two little boys!
I'm happy to say both boys walked the entire 1.8  miles and even with smiles.  (Well, Ethan did end with a fake sprained ankle.  But I think he just didn't want to get back in the car.  I understood.)
A gorgeous day for an adventure!

First Day

He woke up ready to go....  Insisted on wearing his new school outfit, though it was going to be 86 degrees today....  I convinced him that big kids wear flannels over t-shirts.  That worked.

There were many poses - Here's the "I'm going to take over the world" pose...

 The "I'm a cool guy" pose...

 The big cheesy smile....

 And the "check out my backpack" pose....

 And one more in case you weren't sure if he was really excited...

He insisted on eating breakfast in the cafeteria (we have free breakfast at our school) even though he'd eaten a big breakfast at home.  He ate every last cocoa puff and most of the bagel with strawberry cream cheese.  Longest 15 minutes of my life.

 Once we got outside it was "See ya Mom!" and off he went with his buddies.  

Trouble....

 In the big long line he looked so small....  I got choked up.  

How did the time go so fast?

 He knew right where to sit and was so quiet.

 I tore myself away and headed to the "Boo-Hoo Breakfast" where they gather up all the kindergarten parents to cry together....

According to my spies he did great.  He was very quiet at their first recess, just standing by himself.  A couple different teachers talked to him and realized he was content - just watching.  I asked him at dinner and he said he was kind of nervous with all those kids there.  I think overwhelmed might be a good word.  That's a lot of craziness!  By lunch recess he was over it and of course reports that recess is his favorite part of the day.

I went to pick him up after all my kids had been picked up and he was hanging out with his teacher's son (an older boy who Ethan adores).

He would not even turn around to say hi!  

I chatted with his teacher and found out that they had decorated apples, practiced adding zero to other numbers, and all sorts of other things.  Ethan had counted to 100 for her and then gotten frustrated in Media because she was telling them all about the mouse.  "I already know how to use it Mom.  I didn't even get to play."  

When I finally dragged him away, he was so quiet and tired.  It wasn't until a bit later (right after he ate a cupcake from Miss Nancy) that he started babbling away....

And then he announced that he never even went to the bathroom.  

I guess he'll save that first for another day...  No time when you're having fun!

I told him he could pick where we went for dinner.  I was expecting McD's - or something to that effect...

Nope.  The airport diner.  Which I explained was kind of far away.

"No problem.  I'm not that hungry yet.

Plus, they have the good mac and cheese!"

It's generic Kraft...  We need to work on his palate.

Next time I give choices...

Dinner was nice - lots of planes to watch.

Lucas got a bit jealous of all of Ethan's stories and started telling us about his school.

He showed us how to pat and then clap our hands.  

It was a good day.  Proud of my boys.

A Multitude of Last Minute Fun

A new backpack calls for new adventures....   As does a knight costume....

 After a Saturday of swimming at the Y and football on the TV, we were ready to get outside!  I packed up the boys after church on Sunday and we picked up a friend and colleague of mine, Sarah.  We buckled in the boys and off we went to the zoo.  Sarah took some awesome pictures!
Ethan tried to take over as tour guide - starting at the sharks and the aquarium.  He was thrilled to have someone new to show around.

 The outhouse in the "Scoop on Poop" exhibit was a big hit, as always.  Lucas is getting better at the posing.

 I was pleased that the boys did not spend 20 minutes flushing the toilet or playing with the dung beetles.  I was excited to go see the clouded leopards cubs!  They are getting so big!  Someday we'll get to see them awake - that's a new goal of mine.

 We also hit the budgie buddies where the boys proved they could share.  Ethan held the bird while it ate of Lucas' stick.  I can't believe how still they are.

 We saw an aardvark going for a walk.  May be one of the weirdest things I've ever seen.  Seriously.

 The boys loved the underwater exhibits this time - and I loved the puffins.  This little guy would chase my nose everywhere I went.  He would try to take a bite, but of course there was glass in the way.  I loved it.  I kept going and going and going - back and forth.  Ethan got to do it too.  Cracked me up.

 About midway through the afternoon Lucas started to lose it.  Full whiny meltdown mode.  Sarah saved the day by letting him take pictures while we waited in line for food.  He did not want ice cream.  The boy chose waffle fries.  I have to say I approved of the choice since I knew it was so hot that the ice cream would melt everywhere.

 Ethan did not take the advice and got the giant ice cream on a cone.  Which promptly started to melt all over him.  Which promptly started his meltdown.  He refused to lick all the way up the cone.  We both tried to help him to see how to do it, but he just wouldn't.  I finally scraped it off down to the cone and all was well again.  Except I had sticky ice cream all over me.

 I think it's great that the boys love the big stage show there.  Somehow it just doesn't get old, though I can tell most of the jokes myself now.  Harold is such a star.

 There was a little more underwater sightseeing...  Lucas and Sarah spent a long time looking at the walruses.  Lucas was transfixed.  They are definitely massive creatures.

 Finally it was off to the playground.  The boys were hot and tired, but still managed to climb all around the place.

 That tongue sticking out cracks me up.  It comes out every time he is concentrating.  I think we're about to see a whole lot of that tongue hanging out in kindergarten!

The boys were exhausted.  But still hams...  On the way home Lucas randomly announced, "I weally do wike you Sawa."  He'd obviously been thinking it over for a while.  Cracked me up.

 Monday led us out to Hansville to hang out with our friends at Point No Point beach.  We got there a bit early, so decided to get some coffee from "Cup o' Joy".

 And you know what?  It really was!  The owners (I assume) were hanging out and just as chatty as can be with the boys who soaked it up.  Especially Lucas.  Weirdly enough.

 There's a house there that Lucas and I fell in love with.  It's made from the hull of a boat.  How cool!

 Ethan once again led the way and showed us that there was danger on the beach.  "Watch out or you'll turn into bones!"

 We had some fun playing with the camera.  I was trying to get low enough so that more than just waist down would be in the picture.  Little did I know I'd look like a frog.

 My boys looked handsome out there.

 It was so mesmerizing.  The right mix of sun and wind and waves.

 Once Nadia and fam showed up it was time to go in the water.  Now please note that the last time we went to a beach, the boys refused to get more than a toe in.  Lucas wouldn't even go near.  So I didn't bring swimsuits or even an extra change of clothes.  Oops.  Once they saw Nadia in they were all for it.
It did take Lucas a bit.  He was cautious and made Ethan hold his hand.

 They got a little closer...

 And then look who's dragging who away from the water!

 The kids built a great "nest" and found lots of dinosaur bones to put in.

 They even found one dinosaur tooth.  Impressive.

We had an extremely relaxing morning chatting, enjoying the sun, laughing at the kids, and picnicking.  I miss it already!  After that we headed to my parents for a BBQ.  The boys were pretty tired but managed to hold it together as we ate yummy food and caught up.
And that my friends was the official end of summer.
Back to school and all the craziness that entails...  Luckily Ethan didn't start with me.  Kindergarten starts a couple of days later so that the teachers can do family visits.  Brian and Ethan went to his yesterday and filled out all sorts of paperwork.  On one form that the kids were supposed to give answers for it asked "What is the best way to get reach your parents?"  Ethan answered "Stretch."  
Tomorrow he starts this brand new adventure called school.  Part of me is shocked he's that old and a little bit sad.  But another, bigger part of me is so excited.  This is the closest he's ever been to me while I'm working.  I'll get to peek in on him at lunch and see him right after school.  We'll get to do homework together (which he claims to be super excited about - maybe because he gets to take it to and from school in his Cars2 folder?) and experience all that school-aged stuff that I love.  A coworker is taking my kids for the first 15 minutes tomorrow so I get to go do the mom thing and take a million pictures.  I can't wait.