Big Boy? Bed

Well, we knew this day was coming.  We are now transitioning Adam to a big boy bed at 20ish months because he won't stay in his crib.  I used to hear about people putting their toddlers in a toddler bed and I thought they were nuts. Owen would have stayed in his crib until he was 18 if we would have let him.  He barely even tried to climb out and when he did, we convinced him that the crib was way too high for that type of daredevil move.  And he bought it.  Adam on the other hand...The crib is now officially just a large hurdle that he can leap over any time he chooses.

So because of this:

We have moved to this:

And actually, he is doing great!  We did our first "bootcamp" session on the same night as the new crib set up.  He was mad, but at least he wasn't leaping over a 4 foot high wall.  And at least when he was ready to go to sleep, he could climb back in his own bed!  Success!

Budding Artist

Adam has really developed a love for drawing.  He fought with his brother so much over the Magnadoodle (is that what it's called?) that Nana bought Owen a new one for his birthday this year.  Now Adam has taken it over as well.  He is actually very good at drawing little circles and mimics some of our easier drawings -- I draw a very rudimentary bottle with milk in it and he came very close to drawing the same one!  If he's not drawing, he's asking us to draw for him.  Not too shocking, but he asks for the same pictures every time.  Big Bird, Ernie and Bert.  Then he erases them.  Then we draw them.  Then he erases them.  Then we draw them.  Then he says "bye bye!" and erases them again.  I'm predicting Adam will have some artistry skills when he gets older!  (And maybe move beyond the Sesame Street characters?)

O's First Day of Pre-K

My little boy is in PRE-KINDERGARTEN.  Do you know what that means?  That means it's the year before Kindergarten.  I can't grasp it yet.

So Owen was in the "2's" program at his preschool last year and was the oldest in his class.  This year, he skipped the "3's" program and started in Pre-K.  Only one of his friends from last year is in his class again this year.  He is also now the youngest in his class.  Pre-K is definitely much more structured, it's 4 days a week vs 2, it's 30 minutes longer and it's in the afternoons vs the morning.  All reasons I wondered if I was making the right choice for him.  As usual, he made it extremely easy for me.

We have been talking about school all week and he's been very excited about it.  Last year, anytime I mentioned school he usually responded with, "I don't want to go to school."  So I took that as a good sign.  A couple days ago we worked on his first homework together!  Teacher Marion sent it in the mail...Half a heart that she told him to decorate (and she would have the other half waiting for him at school) and an "About Me" page that he would dictate the answers to and I would write them down.  I told him we were playing a game called Kindergarten and he got really into it.  Last night I told him that today would be school and he smiled.  Today, we all went out to lunch as sort of a celebratory meal before school.  Owen told me he'd rather just go to school and skip lunch.  I took that as another good sign.  Once we said goodbye to Steve and Adam and started driving to school, Owen finally asked the question I was waiting for and trying to avoid.  Here is how the conversation went.

Mom, are you going to leave me at school?

Yes, Bubba...remember last year?  I stay for 5 minutes and then I come and pick you up after school.

Well, I don't want you to leave me.  When you say you are going to leave, I'm going to say Don't Leave!

Hmmmm...Well, what am I going to say after that?

You are going to say, "But Bubba, I have to leave."

You're right!

Ok Mom.

Then we had a long discussion about how some kids might be sad and that it was his job to help them not feel sad.  He actually led most of the conversation telling me how these kids get sad because they don't know their moms are coming back later.  I couldn't believe how matter-of-fact he was talking about it.

We get to school and he walked by himself, wasn't nervous, let me take his picture, put his backpack in the right place, picked up his name tag (no photos on either this year -- he found by written name only) went potty, etc...Then when it was time to go into the actual classroom he bolted in never really looking back.  The kids there this year were HUGE!  I've never seen Owen as the youngest kid in a class before.  All the parents were talking about how much each of the kids had grown over the summer and I was like, HELLO??? Owen was in a group of kids a whole year younger - so these kids look like GIANTS!  Also, there are 16 kids in his class (vs 12 last year) and 3 teachers vs 2.  So the room just seemed very full!  I hope he stays as tall as he is now.  My mom wasn't joking when she said everyone looks way bigger than her August birthday son!

The room this year was different in that there were lots more activities out for the kids.  Manipulations that were not available to them last year for whatever reason (choking? too difficult?) and Owen really liked that. He was bouncing around the room checking everything out.  I really think he missed school.  Home can be so boring sometimes and especially in the afternoons when Adam is napping -- he's just bored!

After about 5 minutes, I left.  He protested a bit but only in a "watch me do this rubber band trick one more time...no one more time...no one more time."  I'm not sure if he didn't want me to leave or if he just wanted me to stay in order to watch him.  But I left, and there were no tears.  There actually wasn't really any crying except for the little girl who was in his class last year.  That was another change.  Last year, it was a symphony of crying.  This year, only one.

When I picked him up, I came early and watched him a bit in on the playground (Um, those kids are HUGE!) and tried to peek in the class during their last activity, show and tell.  Owen was sitting in a very difficult spot for me to spy on but I did see him sitting and paying attention.

When class was over, he came out beaming.  I snuck in to ask his teacher how he did.  She said he did great and that he was age appropriately adjusting to the beginning of a more structured class.  She said he was very verbal and that helps him be more appropriate when he's having a hard time.  She said the two examples were when he didn't want to transition right away from one activity to another and she gave him a choice of 5 minutes or 6 minutes and then he did fine...And at circle, he got a little wiggly and told her, "Teacher Marion, can you hurry circle time because I want to get up and play!"  She said she appreciated how he calmly told her what he wanted and she was able to talk to him about what was going to happen next.  I also met a parent of one of his classmates who told me she had noticed me at Parent Orientation last week when I said my child was skipping the 3's class.  She said she "could never have imagined" her child skipping over the 3's class but when she met Owen today and he introduced himself and chatted with her a bit she realized why it made sense.  Phew.  Mommy anxiety was calmed a little bit after hearing all that!

Logically though, hello...we're talking about 3 hours of preschool here.  There is no part of me that thinks Owen isn't ready for that - regardless of structure.  The kid loves being around his "friends" he loves having a ton of different activities to do and he loves learning AND he did great last year!  So it's not like I skipped grade school and started him directly in Harvard.  But still, when it's outside the norm even a little bit - I have to worry!

After school, we went to the store to buy yogurt covered raisins and tic tacs as a reward for a successful first day.  He told me a little bit about his day (he was not a fan last year of telling me anything about his day at school - I always had to trick him with weird questions to get any info out of him.)  This time, he was a little more forthcoming.  He told me that they did art, he liked Teacher Marion and Teacher Gretchen (he had a hard time pronouncing Gretchen until we practiced at the store -- "green...Gretchen...green...Gretchen.") He said he wanted Logan's toy but Logan didn't want to give it to him so Teacher Gretchen said that he could play with it and when he was done, he could give it to Owen.  He also told me that Ellie was crying at the beginning, "But Mom, I didn't go over and make her feel better because Teacher Gretchen was already helping her."

And the most telling thing...the rest of the day he was happy as a clam.  Happy, happy, happy, happy.  The day must have been pretty fun!

This year should be an interesting and fun one.  I can't wait to see what comes of it.  I know they are doing a festival of lights presentation, I know they are making volcanoes with baking soda and vinegar and I know there will be a real deal preschool graduation at the end of the year.  Get ready to watch Laura cry pretty much all year long.  This is all happening WAY too fast.

Namaste?

Owen's First Signature

First Trip To The Library?

I'm only slightly embarrassed that my kids have never seen the inside of a library.  And when I think about it, it's only because some parents talk about taking their kids to the library the same way they talk about organic baby food or dual language preschools.  Well, this is what my kids do at the library.  Proof they haven't been missing much (because they do the same thing at home.) Well, Owen does anyway.  Sommer told me that Adam was loving this so much that he would scream bloody murder every time she tried to take his headphones off.  SHHHHHHH.  You are at the LIBRARY.

This was actually a day they had planned to go to story hour, but we didn't realize that story hour was on summer break.  So we'll try again another day!

Adam, You're Such A Punk (Rocker)

Little Bam Strikes Again

Turn Down Your Volume...This Is My All Day, Every Day

First Shiner (Self Inflicted)

Owen gave himself his first official black eye.  It was the old "step on the bottom of the rake and the handle smashes your face" trick but instead of a rake, it was Adam's ball popper push toy.  Ouch.

Two Peas

First Grass Stained Knee (Of Many More, I'm Sure.)

Owen Found Lego Train Crash Videos on YouTube

Riverdancing?

Bubs Loves Mama

Owen Adam and I were on the way down to Tacoma to meet a friend for a play date at a water (spray) park.  Owen was doing his usual chattering about anything and everything and then I heard this:

“Mama, did you know that when you got married to Dada, you were a ballerina?”

I was confused at first and then I realized he was talking about our wedding pictures we have in our living room…He thinks my dress made me look like a ballerina.  I thought that was so cute.  Here was the rest of the conversation:

“Oh, Bubs…did you think I looked like a ballerina when I got married?”

“Yes.  But, uh, I didn’t see you then.  I didn’t come.”

“You didn’t come to the wedding?  You’re right, you weren’t there.”

“Do you know where I was?”
“Where?”

“At Nana’s.”

Later that evening, Steve was reading Owen his bedtime stories and I came in to listen after I put Adam down.  They were reading the Big Red Barn book and Owen has been very interested in birds lately.  He pretended he was a peacock at the zoo after he saw one walking around.  Did a great job too with putting his hands behind his back and bobbing his head when he walked.  He points out seagulls at the park, he likes pigeons because Burt likes pigeons.  So this book was about chickens and Owen likes chickens.

“I wish I were a chicken.”

“You do?  That would be cool.”

“I wish Mama were a chicken.”

“That would be funny.”

“No, wait…I wish Dada were a chicken.  I want Mama to stay like that.”

Awwwwwww

Another Santoki Holiday

It's Not A Tear...Just Playing In The Water

Afternoon At The Dog Park

As much as Charlie drives us crazy...she is a great dog and Owen loves her probably more than all of us.

First Year of Preschool...Done!

Owen's First Massage

So I'm trying to figure out a way to word this post without it sounding creepy.  I'm not sure I can, so I'm just going to tell you what happened tonight.

Owen has really dry skin.  I should take him to the doctor to find out if it's dry skin or eczema or what, but instead I just put lotion on it occasionally.  He has always liked getting his chest rubbed.  Even when he was a baby, we'd put Vicks Baby Rub on his chest when he was sick and he loved it.  He'd even ask for it before he could talk by handing us the jar and laying down in the "ready" position.

So the last few nights I've been putting lotion on his chest and it seems to be helping a little bit.  Tonight, I had him turn over on his tummy so I could put some on his back.  I sort of jokingly starting giving him a Swedish style massage.  His eyes rolled back in his head and THIRTY MINUTES LATER I called it off.  He let me rub his back, his head, his neck, his legs and his feet.  He was nearly falling asleep but he kept looking over his shoulder to see what I was doing.

Once I realized he actually liked it, I told him, "You know what this is called, Bubs?  A massage."  He replied, "Mommy?  Where do you GET a masssssssssaaagggggge?"  I couldn't really figure out what to say, so I said "Where Mommy gets her hair cut."

He would have seriously been game for a 60 to 90 minute massage.  Since it was 9pm, I had to cut it short...but next time I'm home when Adam is napping, I have big plans for another massage party!

Creepy, maybe.  Cute and noteworthy, nonetheless.