The Cutest Monkey in the Jungle

Today was Tucker's first day of preschool. The anticipation was much worse than the actual first day, thank goodness! Chris went into work late so that he could watch Tucker get on the bus. Altogether there were 7 people waiting with him: me, Chris, Mom, Sarah, Mrs. Mia, Mr. Ricky, and Maw Maw Mimi! A neighbor passed by while walking his dog, and he asked us if we were all going to ride the bus to school:) Tucker climbed on the bus and didn't even look back! All the women had tears in their eyes, but not Tucker. The bus driver later told me that he whimpered when the bus pulled into the school...well of course he did, he probably wanted a longer ride. Mrs. Amy (his teacher) said that he walked into the lobby, which was swarming with kids and parents, and he cried a little then as well. Once he got into this classroom he was fine, though. There are 4 kids in the class right now, these are the kids with special needs. After a few weeks about 6 typical kids will join the class, which makes this an integrated classroom. I had to go to school at 10am and I will go back at 2pm to feed Tucker. The nurses and teachers can't feed him until Dr B's nurse faxes over orders for it, so I am going to feed him today. At 10am he was sitting at snacktime, he ran over and hugged me, but then went back for his snack. Mrs. Amy said he is listening to what they say, but he is having a hard time staying away from their purses and Mrs. Amy's desk! I told them yesterday on our visit that Tucker will just have to learn that classroom rules are different from the rules at his grandparents' houses! Mr. Tucker is used to everything going his way, so school will teach him otherwise. Mrs. Amy told me yesterday that it's hard for every mom to bring their kid to school and leave them with the teacher. She said someone told her when her son was born: "every mommy monkey in the jungle thinks her baby monkey is the cutest one in the jungle. It's very hard when you send them to school or daycare and realize that every other mommy feels that way, too, and they are in the hands of other people." I thought to myself, "well that makes sense, but MY baby really IS the cutest monkey in the jungle!" :) I just like them all to know that Tucker has a lot of love at home, and we will be there to support the school as well as hold them accountable for meeting his needs. God bless his teacher, and all of the teachers who have to deal with parents like me! Most of my friends are teachers, and I have heard some real horror stories of parents who would NOT let go, so I am definitely not the worst that's out there! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ On another note, Dr B (Tucker's pediatrician) called me today, they finally received his lab results. His blood glucose was 95, which is normal. The problem is that glucose was present in his urine, which is not good. Also, his A1C level was elevated, at 49.4 (normal ranges from 1-31). The A1C checks his level of insulin over time, meaning that even though his current blood sugar is good, it doesn't mean that he doesn't have insulin problems. His body seems to be putting out too much insulin, and is not able to absorb it back. So the Endo said that we need to test it 3 times a day for 4 weeks, then we will take in all of those results to our appointment with him. I am going to see the nurse and get a meter along with education about all this. My mom took care of a little boy with diabetes (don't you all remember Zane? :) ), so she knows all about this stuff, but the dr said she would still like me to come by for education on it. We will hopefully get a free meter out of the deal, so that's fine. So the suspicion is that he may have Type 2 diabetes, but hopefully that is not the case....just add the Endo to the list of specialists and checking blood sugar to the super long To-Do list, I guess! We are hoping to monitor this and not let it turn into a big problem. We are also on the list for an Echo/EEG in Houston to check out Tucker's heart. If it comes back abnormal, we will be followed by a cardiologist here at home. If it is normal, then Tucker will wait 2-3 years to have another one, and that will be that. So another trip to Houston is in the near future, but hopefully it will yield good results.