Bringing Something That Starts With "A" For Show & Tell

And I didn't even tell him to do it!

Art Direction

I mentioned in a previous post how much Adam has been enjoying drawing and how he only wants us to draw Big Bird, Ernie and Bert.  I thought I'd post an example of our work as an illustration of what every piece of paper and every magnadoodle drawing ends up looking like.  This is Steve's rendition of the ensemble cast of Sesame Street.  We have the chosen 3, but he managed to add Elmo, Cookie and Oscar to the mix.  If you want to know what Adam is "in to" these days...You're looking at it.

Little Bam Discovers Inflatable Slides

Poor Adam,

He's always sort of having to do whatever Owen wants to do.  He's taking soccer lessons right now along side Owen and really doesn't seem to enjoy it...but since we have nothing better to do while Owen runs around at practice for an hour...we are doing it.

Today, Owen wanted to go to "The Jump Place" as our family outing.  Adam has hated the jump place in the past.  Too much trying to jump and walk on uneven and bouncy surfaces when he's just barely learned how to walk himself.  Add a bunch of older kids who are literally bouncing off the walls, and it's just not his jam.  Today we tried it again and he lasted about 20 minutes before he was completely done with the place.  As a last ditch effort, I let him try the big slides.  It's a little nerve wracking because adults aren't really supposed to accompany these kids on the structures.  I could have gone in to rescue him (of course), but I couldn't make it any more fun for him...that was up to him.  So, we put him in the bounce house and Owen directed him to the ladder.  After figuring out how to climb up an inflatable ladder that is moving and shaking because of other bouncing kids, he slid down.  Up and down all by himself.  Then he went again.  And again.  And again.  This was about the 6th or 7th out of 19 or 20 times.

Dang Cute

Silly Brothers

Sometimes having two kids is tough...Double the mess.  Double the noise.  Double the nail clippings.  Double the tantrums.  Double the fighting.  Double the early mornings.  Double the picky eaters.

But sometimes, it's double the cute.

Bronco Season!

My life revolves around my kids.  There is really nothing (except work) that I prioritize over my boys and the days are filled with their interest, toys, television shows and music.  My interests are reserved for working hours or after the kids' bedtimes.  I'm not claiming to be perfect...I can sneak in a few Facebook checks here and there, but nothing that requires any significant time or attention.

Last football season, I remember wanting to watch a few Bronco games but the kids would never let me watch for longer than 2 minutes.  This season, I have managed to watch the majority of a couple games and I'm LOVING IT. 

Then today, Owen took it to another level when he actually got into watching the game with me!  The day I get to sit down on the couch with my boys with a big pan of nachos and loud couch refereeing will be my nirvana.  But today, Owen got one step closer to that ultimate goal by getting fairly interested in the game.  He reminded me that he would prefer if I don't scream too loud and scare him.  He pretended to tackle his stuffed animals and ran around the room like a football player.  Then at one point, he disappeared into the garage and came back wearing his "football helmet" and carrying his football.  It made me so happy!  He's staring to "get it" but more importantly, like it!  He tossed the football around with Nana for awhile and then Nana tagged him in the face with the ball.  He looked a little dazed and then as any sport minded kid would do, he problem solved.  He decided to use Bunny as a face mask.  The obvious choice in this situation, right?  He had a helmet...but not a face mask.  He had a bunny...problem solved!

Showing & Telling Something Red, Blue or Yellow

Train Art

Owen made a little sculpture out of train set pieces the other day.  He actually had something a little different and I wasn't paying attention until he said..."Look, Mom.  I made a man."  Before I looked at it, I saw that he moved a couple pieces around and then said, "Ok, now it's you, Mom."

I'm not sure what he changed in order to make it "me" but I loved it!

I Love His Face In Glasses

My Best Staycation.

I can say without hesitation that I admire a woman who can stay at home with her kids full time.  I find it to be one of the hardest jobs in the world.  I also admire single moms who do it all without regular help because I imagine that to be nearly impossible.  I also admire full time working moms who have (in my opinion) a MUCH harder job than full time working dads.  So basically, being a mom is hard work regardless of what your situation is and I respect all of them.  Well, I respect all good moms.  :)

I feel incredibly lucky to have the job situation I have right now.  I work full time for a company that has been nothing but flexible with me over my almost 13 year career there.  They understand that telecommuting is a normal and viable way for employees to work in the day and age of WiFi, webinars and email on your phone.  So I work in the office 3 days a week and home 2 days.  This schedule allows me a massive amount of flexibility that some working moms do not have and I feel VERY lucky.  I can go grocery shopping during the week in the middle of the day and cut my time there in half because I'm not fighting the weekend crowds.  I can take my son and pick him up from preschool a couple days a week and more importantly, I can be there for his show and tell day with all the other parents who are invited to attend those days.  I gain 4 hours back with my kids because I don't have to make that 60 minute commute to and from Bellevue twice a week.  

Those are some of the benefits of my stay at home days.  Some of the benefits of my in office days are being able to interact with my co-workers on a regular basis face to face.  I get to dress up and put makeup on and wear high heels.  I get to go to board room meetings and hear adults argue back and forth instead of toddlers.  Sometimes, I even get to solve those adult fights and that makes me feel important.  I get to drink Starbucks while dorking out on Excel.  It's a whole different world and the combination of my work life and my home life makes me feel very fulfilled.

Since we have chosen to use a nanny as a childcare provider, we are at the whim of her availability.  I should probably find a few back-up childcare options but between Sommer, Steve and my mom -- we haven't ever really been in too much of a bind.  Probably the fact that Steve and I never go on vacation helps since I always have enough vacation to stay home with the kids if Sommer is unavailable.  I should work on taking more vacations too...

So, Sommer took a long vacation last week.  Timing wise, it was the same week that Steve was taking his ATP test which required his full attention and lots of time to study.  As we were planning the week, I started feeling frustrated that we couldn't use the week to take a family trip.  The thought of 10 days at home doing the same old thing over and over seemed like a big waste of an opportunity.  But I couldn't figure out where I could take the kids that made any sense traveling by myself and it was Owen's first week of preschool (I liked the idea of getting to be able to take him and pick him up all week.)  So I accepted the fact that I would be taking a 10 day "staycation" with my kiddos at home.  However, I'm not going to lie...I really expected the week to be hard.  

The 10 days were the most fun I've had with my kids in a long time.  We had so many "new" activities the days went by much quicker than some of the long summer days.  They went to their first soccer practice which was adorable.  Owen started preschool so we found our new morning routine eating waffles and getting our playtime in before school started.  Adam and I got some quality 1:1 time every afternoon which we've never regularly had.  I got to experience "nap time productivity" again which I haven't had since Owen dropped his naps over a year ago.  Preschool really agreed with Owen and he came home everyday in a great mood which led into happy and calm evenings.  The kids woke up happy, went to bed happy and were happy in between.  Which made me very happy.  Tomorrow, I go back to work again and I'm actually very sad about that.  I would like one or two more weeks - just like this one!

So I apologize to my kids for thinking the worst because you are the reason my staycation was the best vacation I've had in a long time.  I love you guys!!!

Just Your Average Mom n' Bubba Grocery Run

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