I'm not a morning person.

Yesterday was the start of a whole new world for us. A world where I have to get up at a certain time every morning instead of rolling out of bed when I feel good and ready. For the past four and a half years, I've had two alarm clocks named Aaric and Mikayla. Aaric usually wasn't terribly effective in this role, it was typically Mikayla. At least for her first three years, she was equipped with a snooze option. She'd wake up, I'd wake up, we'd nurse and go back to sleep.
Now, I'm waking up to the very annoying beeping of an alarm clock. It has the audacity to beep at me at 7AM, too. Mikayla has the decency to let me stay in bed until at least 8 if not 9.

Two mornings down, and so far, so good. Aaric, who is the deepest sleeper on Earth, has done great in the mornings. I think he's still too excited to be lazy in the mornings. He likes his teachers. Yesterday he learned how to do an Irish folk dance. He won't say much about his day, but he says he had fun. We learned that if you buy a lunch, you MUST get a milk, even though there is no rule in the handbook stating this. He didn't want to buy milk with his lunch, so I sent Mango Tea, and it got sent back home with the bottle still full and a note letting me know why. I can send a drink with a packed lunch, or he can buy a milk if I pack a lunch, but you can NOT buy a lunch but bring your own drink. Weird. He wanted to buy his lunch yesterday because they were serving corn on the cob.

Yesterday was also Mikayla's first trip to the doctor in around 4 years. Her last checkup was at 6 months old and I keep thinking she MUST have been to the doctor some time since then, but I can't think of any times. We've been to the ER a few times - she had a sudden ear infection once that hit hard right after office hours, a couple cases of nursemaid's elbow, and most recently the jumping off the counter leg injury that got better the moment we got to the hospital. But there have been no actual office visits for Mikayla in 4 years. Aaric's only had 2 visits in that time - a bad bad cold and this past winter when he had what the doctor diagnosed as pneumonia even though his lungs were perfectly clear. This doctor was recommended by some friends who also don't vaccinate their children. The pediatrician in town who everyone just LOVES is not a fan of the non-vaccinating population. He's the one who said Aaric had pneumonia. So we switched to this other guy. Even though I'd heard great things, I was skeptical. Surely he'd at least look at me funny, right? Plus its a family practice and the waiting room is a drab gray with no toys or kids' books.
It couldn't have gone better. There were rooms that were designed for kids hidden back in there, and they had pretty walls and books. He didn't look at me funny at all and seemed totally comfortable with our lack of shots and birthing babies at home. He was even fine with the whole skipping of well-child visits, because the appointment schedule only exists because of the vaccination schedule. So I'm very very happy with him. And very very relieved.
What was NOT a relief was the afternoon walk to and from the school. I shall not be doing that again until it cools off. Today's predicted heat index is 100-105. After I got home yesterday, I had a headache and felt sick for the rest of the evening. Heat is bad.