"The Wheels on the Bus...

...go round and round, round and round, round and round.  The wheels on the bus go round and round, all through the town!"
A couple years ago, Brycen quit doing the actions to songs.  We have him on video when he was about 1 1/2 doing "Itsy, Bitsy Spider" and "I'm a Little Teapot" and he loved it!  Shortly after his second birthday, he lost interest in and the ability to do the actions, as well as the attention span for even a one minute song.  He would scream at us when we wanted to sing a song to Aubree who was a baby at the time.  Slowly over these last couple years, he has started to tolerate us and her singing and doing the actions.  Occasionally, he will smile and attempt an action as well.  About a year ago at his old school, he would clap to a song during circle time.  His teacher at this school informed us a couple months ago that he was actually wanting to do some actions to "Wheels on the bus" especially the verse about the baby.  Ironically, he not only has been scared of buses for the past year and half, but he also had two new baby cousins on the way when she told us about this (see below).  Not sure if it was a sign that he chose "Wheels on the bus" and the baby verse to start participating in then. 

To tie this all together, the teacher and associates re-introduced the bus to Brycen recently.  If you recall, about 1 1/2 years ago, the old school participated in an evacuation drill and left the backdoor of the bus open which resulted in Brycen afraid of buses more than likely due to the loud buzzing noise that comes from the backdoor being left open.  Earlier this school year, Brycen's school had a bomb threat and the entire school was bussed out to local churches including Brycen and his class.  It was a scary moment for him, not only having to ride on a bus that he was deathly scared of, but the change in routine...and for me, not knowing where he was at first when he didn't show up on the school van as scheduled.  A few weeks ago, the school practiced an evacuation drill again and Brycen was able to participate with some stress.  Recently, the teacher and associates decided to work on riding the bus with a few of the preschoolers including Brycen to help him overcome his fear.  Earlier this week, he sat on the bus and rode around for a few minutes with some stress again.  Just yesterday, they took him for a longer ride to get ice cream with the other kids and the report was that he did great, no problems and even sat in a seat by himself! 

Brycen & baby Jocelyn

Brycen & baby Abigail

Babies...we were so nervous to introduce Brycen to his new baby cousins when they were born.  He really has not been around babies since Aubree was born and when he regressed.  We were nervous on if he would become upset when they cried, if he would be aggressive with them, etc.  We were so ecstatic to see that he was thrilled about them!  He wanted to hold them (and he did so appropriately with both arms!), look at them, touch them nicely, kiss them, and hug them.  He also requested "baby" quite clearly and pointed to his lap on the couch when he wanted to hold Abigail one time!  It was a great sight to see and I wanted to share these pictures with all of you...aren't they adorable!!  I'm sure their parents were also nervous about having him around their newborns, and I appreciate them stepping back and letting him be involved by holding and touching them.  It's experiences like this that really show how affectionate and loving Brycen can really be!