Update plus more #26actsofkindness

I'll start by updating on Ryan.  He's still doing great, gaining weight, trying to stay healthy in the midst of flu season.  The past few days he has woken up sounding just a little bit more congested than usual, so we are being extra careful to keep him healthy.  Right now he is sleeping away in one of those glorious moments when both of our kids are napping at the same time!  We are starting to get the hang of the contacts.  We try to get them in first thing in the morning while he's still sleeping so we can take advantage of the element of surprise.  Once he figures out what's going on, which doesn't take but a few seconds after we yank his eyelid open, he definitely fights them.  You have never seen a child clamp and eye shut SO tightly as Ryan does, no joke.  Once they are in, though, he is totally fine.  We started him at 4 hours and built him up one extra hour each day, and now he can have them in from morning until bedtime.  A day or two ago when he had them in around 10 hours and had to get them out a few hours before bedtime, he actually got a little fussy when he realized they were gone.  I definitely think that he notices when they are in and that they are making a difference!  He is focusing more on toys and things we hold in front of him, so that's a great sign!

We've been working on our #26acts of kindness over the last few days.  In honor of one of the teachers who lost her life, my class made snowflakes and wrote letters to the student survivors for when they go back to Sandy Hook.  I read that there is an address to send these so that they can decorate the school when it reopens, so we will send these out to CT.  I didn't go into detail about what happened other than to say that there was some damage to a school and they would need to fix/rebuild it.  A few of my students knew what had happened from older siblings, but we were able to talk about it very respectfully and in a way that wouldn't upset anyone who didn't really know all the details.  I'm not sure if you can read the letters in the picture, but they were all very sweet.  If you are interested in having your own kids or students do this, I will include the address at the end of this post.

Snowflakes for Sandy Hook in memory of Lauren Rousseau

LAUREN GABRIELLE ROUSSEAU, 30, teacher
Lauren Rousseau had spent years working as a substitute teacher and doing other jobs. So she was thrilled when she finally realized her goal this fall to become a full-time teacher at Sandy Hook.
Her mother, Teresa Rousseau, a copy editor at the Danbury News-Times, released a statement Saturday that said state police told them just after midnight that she was among the victims.
"Lauren wanted to be a teacher from before she even went to kindergarten," she said. "We will miss her terribly and will take comfort knowing that she had achieved that dream."
Her mother said she was thrilled to get the job.
"It was the best year of her life," she told the newspaper.

Here is the information on the snowflake project:
There is a grass-roots project under way to decorate their new school with homemade snowflakes to create a winter wonderland. If you and your little one would like to contribute, please send your snowflakes by 1/12/13 to Connecticut PTSA, 60 Connolly Parkway, Building 12, Suite 130, Hamden, CT 06514.