First day of School! Here is Hammie ready for his very first toddler group at early intervention on Friday. Hammie had a great time at group and had no trouble at all warming up to the idea. Normally when we take Fraser to school on Tuesdays Hammie gets to play in the school room for a few minutes while we wait for everyone to arrive but then Hammie and I have to go into the lounge area with the other mommies while Fraser has school. Recently Hammie has become progressively more dissatisfied with this arrangement, as Fraser gets to stay in the room with all the kids and cool toys and Hammie is relegated to the room with only adults and the toys I bring in the diaper bag. So, when Hammie realized that he was actually going to get to stay with the kids and the toys, he was very happy and, as he always is, very social with everyone in the room. Fraser, on the other hand, seemed pretty confused at first as to (1) why Hammie and I weren't leaving and (2) who all these unknown children and parents were and where is regular school friends were. Luckily the teacher is the same on both days and Diane gave Fraser a little extra attention to make sure he was comfortable.



On Sunday, for the first time, Hammie helped Andy and Fraser make the weekend pancake breakfast. Fraser was less than thrilled about having to share his step stool with Hammie, but he was good about letting Hammie have a turn pouring the water into the batter. Of course this appears to have opened up an entire new world of climbing for Hammie. Now he will climb up the step stool any chance he gets. This is, of course, a whole new challenge for me since Hammie can climb up but not down, and when he is up there he doesn't seem to have much concept that he could fall off either. He also figured out this weekend that he can climb onto Fraser's bed using the trunk at the end of the bed as a platform. He thinks this is fabulous, and is excited beyond all reason once he gets up on the bed. Again, however, although he understands the concept of turning around to slide off the bed backwards, he doesn't seem to realize (1) that it is a further drop if he tries to get off the side of the bed or (2) that he has to climb off the trunk too if he goes off the foot of the bed, and can't simply start walking once he gets to the trunk.

Hammie's first day of school and this new climbing phase strongly illustrate a difference between Fraser and Hammie that seems to become more pronounced the older they get. Fraser seems to be far more cautious, observing any new situation fully before participating and ensuring he is comfortable before really undertaking any new challenge. Hammie, on the other hand, seems to have no fear of anything and goes barrelling headfirst into the unkown with a big smile and a scream of joy. On one hand it is nice to see Hammie embracing life so enthusiastically, on the other hand I don't think I have to worry about looking out the window and finding Fraser on the roof of the garage anytime soon.