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Showing posts with label day care. Show all posts
Showing posts with label day care. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Wacky Wednesday
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Friday, January 21, 2011
Parent-Teacher Conferences and RUS's 15-month appointment
So we had parent-teacher conferences today with RUS's day care teacher. The low-down is that he is a wonderful, wonderful boy and they love him dearly. We talked a bit about how amazingly well-adjusted he is--one of the things his teacher said that she'd never really seen before was how well he adjusted to life at day care as a 10-month old. He started at the center in August, about 7 weeks before his first birthday, and from day one he has been 100% fine with being dropped off. No tears, no crying for mommy or daddy, no "where am I?", etc. In fact, his teacher said that she kept waiting for the shoe to drop, but it never did. He just seamlessly moved from not-in-daycare to being in daycare, and he is just a really happy, easygoing kid. If he could, he would live on the climber. He loves to go around and around and around and around on that thing.
The bulk of the conference focused on discussing RUS's developmental progress as they observe it at the center. They administer two kinds of assessments and basically present their observations to us. We talked about our reactions and whether we were seeing some of the same things.
There are four main areas of assessment: Personal/Social/Emotional, Motor Skills, Cognition, and Communication. RUS has met or exceeded all the milestones for his age group in Personal/Social/Emotional and Motor Skills, and he had several "emerging" skills in Communication and Cognition.
In Cognition, he is learning to (but does not consistently or always) "retrieve household (or classroom) objects from usual locations on request" nor does he "put away objects in correct places and notice when they are not in the correct place." We talked a bit about how this might be in part due to the relatively busy nature of the infant classroom as it is--the room is fairly small and there is not a lot of dedicated storage for specific items. At home it is a little bit of the same thing, and I'll be honest: we haven't really involved him in clean up a whole lot, other than to motivate him to put things in a basket or to move books back to the general shelf area. So it's something we can try to encourage more of.
In Communication he's a little bit behind as he's still working on a few 12-month skills such as imitating familiar two-syllable words with and without syllable change (e.g., "mama"; "uh-oh")-- he does imitate some things and he says a relatively limited range of sounds, but he does not just try to imitate whatever we are saying or really vary what he says in response to what we say to him. Basically, he's not really talking a whole lot. He signs, as I've posted about recently, and he communicates well. We know he can understand everything we say, and we are not at all concerned about a hearing loss because he can hear noises I can't and identify them. He just doesn't really change up what he says.
As of now, he regularly--and often--says "mamama," usually referring to me but sometimes it is just him babbling mamama; "uh-oh"; "ah-ah-ah-ah"; dada; "at" (we think, referring to the cats). At school they taught him to say "no" but we don't hear this at home. There's more I'm forgetting, too. He can also say "neigh" and "baa" and "eow" (for meow), and we've been working on a few others ("moo", in particular). So we talked about ways we can motivate him to try and talk more, and the thing that was emphasized several times is that it's not something to worry about--YET. It is something to keep an eye on.
Here's an excerpt from some guidelines his teacher provided for us:
"Toddlers 12-18 Months
"Toddlers at this stage should begin to watch others in their environment. They develop the ability to show emotion in their body language and babbling. They will begin to show understanding, or receptive language skills by pointing to objects when asked to do so or by following simple directions.
"During this period, delays may be a concern if the child:
In other news, we had his 15-month pediatrician check up too. He weighs 22 lbs exactly and was almost 31 inches long. This put him at somewhere between the 10th and 25th percentiles in weight and between the 25th and 50th percentiles in height, the same curve he was on at his 12-month appointment, too. He got 2 shots and cried, but calmed down well.
The bulk of the conference focused on discussing RUS's developmental progress as they observe it at the center. They administer two kinds of assessments and basically present their observations to us. We talked about our reactions and whether we were seeing some of the same things.
There are four main areas of assessment: Personal/Social/Emotional, Motor Skills, Cognition, and Communication. RUS has met or exceeded all the milestones for his age group in Personal/Social/Emotional and Motor Skills, and he had several "emerging" skills in Communication and Cognition.
In Cognition, he is learning to (but does not consistently or always) "retrieve household (or classroom) objects from usual locations on request" nor does he "put away objects in correct places and notice when they are not in the correct place." We talked a bit about how this might be in part due to the relatively busy nature of the infant classroom as it is--the room is fairly small and there is not a lot of dedicated storage for specific items. At home it is a little bit of the same thing, and I'll be honest: we haven't really involved him in clean up a whole lot, other than to motivate him to put things in a basket or to move books back to the general shelf area. So it's something we can try to encourage more of.
In Communication he's a little bit behind as he's still working on a few 12-month skills such as imitating familiar two-syllable words with and without syllable change (e.g., "mama"; "uh-oh")-- he does imitate some things and he says a relatively limited range of sounds, but he does not just try to imitate whatever we are saying or really vary what he says in response to what we say to him. Basically, he's not really talking a whole lot. He signs, as I've posted about recently, and he communicates well. We know he can understand everything we say, and we are not at all concerned about a hearing loss because he can hear noises I can't and identify them. He just doesn't really change up what he says.
As of now, he regularly--and often--says "mamama," usually referring to me but sometimes it is just him babbling mamama; "uh-oh"; "ah-ah-ah-ah"; dada; "at" (we think, referring to the cats). At school they taught him to say "no" but we don't hear this at home. There's more I'm forgetting, too. He can also say "neigh" and "baa" and "eow" (for meow), and we've been working on a few others ("moo", in particular). So we talked about ways we can motivate him to try and talk more, and the thing that was emphasized several times is that it's not something to worry about--YET. It is something to keep an eye on.
Here's an excerpt from some guidelines his teacher provided for us:
"Toddlers 12-18 Months
"Toddlers at this stage should begin to watch others in their environment. They develop the ability to show emotion in their body language and babbling. They will begin to show understanding, or receptive language skills by pointing to objects when asked to do so or by following simple directions.
"During this period, delays may be a concern if the child:
- continues to show little eye contact with caregivers and other children;
- appears to show a limited range of emotions;
- has not begun to say simple words for common people and objects;
- cannot point to two or three major body parts such as his head, arms, feet, or legs;
- does not point to familiar objects or people when asked or cannot point to pictures of common objects when asked;
- seems uninterested in his environment; and
- does not try to get others' attention or interaction."
In other news, we had his 15-month pediatrician check up too. He weighs 22 lbs exactly and was almost 31 inches long. This put him at somewhere between the 10th and 25th percentiles in weight and between the 25th and 50th percentiles in height, the same curve he was on at his 12-month appointment, too. He got 2 shots and cried, but calmed down well.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
School Thanksgiving Feast
The kids' day care had a Thanksgiving feast for all the parents today so J and I had a rare glimpse of mealtime at both schools. The infant and toddler classrooms went first, so we started by hanging out with RUS, who had actually already eaten. That didn't stop him from enjoying some of my mashed potatoes and green beans though! He also wore shoes for the first time. They seemed to work out okay although one of them kept falling off. I'm not sure how often we'll keep taking him in shoes. Maybe I'll just get slippers for him to have at school.
After about half an hour in RUS's room, we headed down to R's preschool room, which was just sitting down to eat as we walked in. The room was JAM-packed with kids and adults crowding around the kids' meal table. Here's R enjoying her feast: turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy, cranberry sauce (added later) and a pumpkin scone, with milk to drink. YUM.
It really is special to get to spend time at her school and see her friends and watch her interact with them as well as to meet some of the other parents, most of whom we only ever see in passing on the way in and out.
After about half an hour in RUS's room, we headed down to R's preschool room, which was just sitting down to eat as we walked in. The room was JAM-packed with kids and adults crowding around the kids' meal table. Here's R enjoying her feast: turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy, cranberry sauce (added later) and a pumpkin scone, with milk to drink. YUM.
It really is special to get to spend time at her school and see her friends and watch her interact with them as well as to meet some of the other parents, most of whom we only ever see in passing on the way in and out.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Of course.
So day care has been going really well. RUS didn't cry during drop off today, either. He's napping well, and eating well. Overall, he's a happy baby.
And he has pinkeye, so he has to stay home tomorrow.
Sigh. It's always something, isn't it?
And he has pinkeye, so he has to stay home tomorrow.
Sigh. It's always something, isn't it?
Monday, August 30, 2010
First Day of Day Care
Today has been a pretty emotional day. I feel like I've been strung really taut and as I write this, sitting in bed with my laptop and loads of work to do, I'm starting to let go of some of the tension a bit. I was pretty stressed about RUS's first day of day care, for reasons that I can't quite pinpoint. Maybe a bit of guilt at paying a lot of money for other people to take care of my baby even though I know I have to work. There is also a certain amount of anxiety that I haven't thought through all the details and that I don't have everything I need lined up. Somehow, with RUS, maybe because he's not my "only" baby, I have a hard time feeling like I'm focused and that I really know what I'm getting myself into.
This whole time, in fact, I've felt somewhat blindsided by a lot of things that I was 100% totally and completely prepared for with R. For example, feeding solids. J actually had to persuade me that it was okay to start feeding RUS things other than breastmilk, and at every stage of the game I remember going, "wait, he's not ready for that yet, is he?" In contrast, with R, I was reading ahead in the baby books and anticipating everything before it even happened.
With RUS I feel like I'm always running from behind, trying to catch up to a train that's leaving the station.
Anyway. Today was his first day of day care. As far as I know, we didn't forget anything, other than that we can bring his tiger lovey in tomorrow (I cannot rave enough about these--many thanks to J's brother and sister-in-law for giving R her "giraffey" as she calls it--she's so attached to it I had to get one for RUS to have as well).
He did great! We haven't experienced one iota of separation anxiety with him, and he was happy as a clam when we left him this morning. The day care teacher was holding him and he was pointing every which way, and having a great time crawling around and exploring the toys in the room. He fell asleep rocking but woke up when laying down (J explained that we have no luck laying RUS down after he falls asleep--you've got to let him fall asleep on his own in his bed) but took a more successful afternoon nap. Ate great. Took his bottle great.
We had intended to pick him up "early" but he ended up spending pretty much a full day there.
This whole time, in fact, I've felt somewhat blindsided by a lot of things that I was 100% totally and completely prepared for with R. For example, feeding solids. J actually had to persuade me that it was okay to start feeding RUS things other than breastmilk, and at every stage of the game I remember going, "wait, he's not ready for that yet, is he?" In contrast, with R, I was reading ahead in the baby books and anticipating everything before it even happened.
With RUS I feel like I'm always running from behind, trying to catch up to a train that's leaving the station.
Anyway. Today was his first day of day care. As far as I know, we didn't forget anything, other than that we can bring his tiger lovey in tomorrow (I cannot rave enough about these--many thanks to J's brother and sister-in-law for giving R her "giraffey" as she calls it--she's so attached to it I had to get one for RUS to have as well).
He did great! We haven't experienced one iota of separation anxiety with him, and he was happy as a clam when we left him this morning. The day care teacher was holding him and he was pointing every which way, and having a great time crawling around and exploring the toys in the room. He fell asleep rocking but woke up when laying down (J explained that we have no luck laying RUS down after he falls asleep--you've got to let him fall asleep on his own in his bed) but took a more successful afternoon nap. Ate great. Took his bottle great.
We had intended to pick him up "early" but he ended up spending pretty much a full day there.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
I Think I Won the "Bad Mom Award" on Monday
As I've mentioned on here, R transitioned to her new preschool class last week. The new classroom is all kinds of awesome. One of the more awesome things about it is that there is a window (her last classroom didn't have one). Having a window is HUGE. When we leave day care after dropping her off, we walk past the window and can see into her classroom. On Friday, when we dropped her off, J and I made a point of waving at her and blowing kisses as we walked away.
On Monday, I had a small card and gift for her previous teacher, so after dropping R off (she was upset, but I knew she'd calm down and be happy within a few minutes--at least that is what the teachers always say happens!) I headed down to her old classroom and chatted with Ms. W for a bit. I didn't even think to look at the window on my way out, partly because this is such a new thing for us, and partly because it didn't even occur to me that R would be standing at the window.
Well, when I came back in the afternoon to pick R up, I found out that she had waited at the window for more than an HOUR waiting and waiting and waiting to blow me a kiss through the window. Her new teacher, Ms. N, even called the front desk to ask if I had left yet, and reassured R that I would be there eventually to blow a kiss. Apparently she was crying and saying over and over again that she wanted to blow me a kiss.
Of course she eventually cheered up, but she remembered how upset she had been in the morning. I heard about it several times.
I was all set to redeem myself this morning and make sure I didn't forget to look out the window, but J took her to day care this morning. He made sure not to forget. She was VERY excited to blow kisses and-- as Ms. N told us when she got picked up-- blow BIG hugs as well.
This window is going to be a great thing, I just know it. But it breaks my heart that she waited so long on Monday for me to blow a kiss to her and I missed my opportunity.
On Monday, I had a small card and gift for her previous teacher, so after dropping R off (she was upset, but I knew she'd calm down and be happy within a few minutes--at least that is what the teachers always say happens!) I headed down to her old classroom and chatted with Ms. W for a bit. I didn't even think to look at the window on my way out, partly because this is such a new thing for us, and partly because it didn't even occur to me that R would be standing at the window.
Well, when I came back in the afternoon to pick R up, I found out that she had waited at the window for more than an HOUR waiting and waiting and waiting to blow me a kiss through the window. Her new teacher, Ms. N, even called the front desk to ask if I had left yet, and reassured R that I would be there eventually to blow a kiss. Apparently she was crying and saying over and over again that she wanted to blow me a kiss.
Of course she eventually cheered up, but she remembered how upset she had been in the morning. I heard about it several times.
I was all set to redeem myself this morning and make sure I didn't forget to look out the window, but J took her to day care this morning. He made sure not to forget. She was VERY excited to blow kisses and-- as Ms. N told us when she got picked up-- blow BIG hugs as well.
This window is going to be a great thing, I just know it. But it breaks my heart that she waited so long on Monday for me to blow a kiss to her and I missed my opportunity.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
I Cried at Day Care on Friday
Yes, you read that right. I cried at day care on Friday. R has been gradually transitioning into her new preschool classroom at day care, with a new teacher and a new set of classmates, although some of the children in her new preschool class were previously in her toddler room with her. She started on Wednesday, and both Wednesday and Thursday she was in her toddler room at the end of the day. So when I went in Friday, I was surprised to see that she wasn't in the room. And all her stuff was gone. Everything got moved over--she's now fully and officially in the preschool room. I burst into tears. I didn't know I was going to be so emotional.
But it kind of snuck up on me-- I was expecting the transition to take longer. Like a week, or maybe two weeks, or something. Especially because Ms. W and I had had a couple of conversations about how R is a very cautious child and tends to be slow to warm up to new things, even when a familiar person is with her. So I figured a few days of afternoons, gradually stretching things out.
But she ended up staying there most of the day on Thursday. And Friday J and I were late taking R to day care because we took her cherry picking with us (more on that in an upcoming blog post!) and her toddler class was on a trail walk, so we went straight to preschool. She never ended up going to her toddler class on Friday.
I still feel a little bit in shock about the whole thing. I'm sad to say goodbye to the toddler room, even as I'm really excited about the new preschool room. R had been in that room since she started at this day care last February, so 16 months. She's pretty attached to Ms. W and Ms. S and to her friends in that room. I know she'll adjust just fine, but it's still a little sad to think we won't be seeing Ms. W and Ms. S every day.
I've been reminiscing a bit about the last 16 months at day care and remembered this story that I never wrote about on here.
Ms. W shares a name with a very well-known fast food restaurant. One day when I was pregnant with RUS, I had a sudden and inexplicable craving for a spicy chicken sandwich, and so J and R and I all got into the car and headed out for an adventure. We told R we were going to Wendy's to get dinner for Mommy. She was SO excited! She often gets excited about going places or having little adventures with us.
We got there, got our food (in the drive-thru), and headed home.
When we got home, R burst out crying. She was SO sad! She kept saying, "I want to go to Wendy's!" and J and I explained we'd already gone to Wendy's, and showed her the bag of food we'd brought home. But then we figured it out: she thought she was going to see Ms. W at Wendy's. We laughed and laughed, and then we comforted R and explained that Ms. W doesn't actually live at Wendy's.
But it kind of snuck up on me-- I was expecting the transition to take longer. Like a week, or maybe two weeks, or something. Especially because Ms. W and I had had a couple of conversations about how R is a very cautious child and tends to be slow to warm up to new things, even when a familiar person is with her. So I figured a few days of afternoons, gradually stretching things out.
But she ended up staying there most of the day on Thursday. And Friday J and I were late taking R to day care because we took her cherry picking with us (more on that in an upcoming blog post!) and her toddler class was on a trail walk, so we went straight to preschool. She never ended up going to her toddler class on Friday.
I still feel a little bit in shock about the whole thing. I'm sad to say goodbye to the toddler room, even as I'm really excited about the new preschool room. R had been in that room since she started at this day care last February, so 16 months. She's pretty attached to Ms. W and Ms. S and to her friends in that room. I know she'll adjust just fine, but it's still a little sad to think we won't be seeing Ms. W and Ms. S every day.
I've been reminiscing a bit about the last 16 months at day care and remembered this story that I never wrote about on here.
Ms. W shares a name with a very well-known fast food restaurant. One day when I was pregnant with RUS, I had a sudden and inexplicable craving for a spicy chicken sandwich, and so J and R and I all got into the car and headed out for an adventure. We told R we were going to Wendy's to get dinner for Mommy. She was SO excited! She often gets excited about going places or having little adventures with us.
We got there, got our food (in the drive-thru), and headed home.
When we got home, R burst out crying. She was SO sad! She kept saying, "I want to go to Wendy's!" and J and I explained we'd already gone to Wendy's, and showed her the bag of food we'd brought home. But then we figured it out: she thought she was going to see Ms. W at Wendy's. We laughed and laughed, and then we comforted R and explained that Ms. W doesn't actually live at Wendy's.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
R's Party: Part 4--Aftermath
After gorging on pizza, cupcakes, and these delicious ice cream cups (two layers of vanilla ice cream with orange sherbet in the middle) that Grammie made for the party, the kids ran back outside to play some more. We turned the sprinkler back on and let them loose.
Here's a picture of what the cardboard house looked like after the party--didn't they do a great job with it? Seriously, this was a HUGE hit. And I know R will continue to enjoy this for a long time-- it'll take awhile to get everything colored in! (I know Grammie and I will help, though).
All the kids left with their favors and decorated bags--we put together bags with two pieces of sidewalk chalk shaped like a dragonfly and a butterfly, a small thing of play-doh, a sheet of stickers, and a squirty ball for more poolside fun later in the summer.
After all that, R was plumb tuckered. She wouldn't nap right away (it took awhile for the excitement to wear off) but eventually just passed out on the couch around 4 p.m.
Here's a picture of what the cardboard house looked like after the party--didn't they do a great job with it? Seriously, this was a HUGE hit. And I know R will continue to enjoy this for a long time-- it'll take awhile to get everything colored in! (I know Grammie and I will help, though).
All the kids left with their favors and decorated bags--we put together bags with two pieces of sidewalk chalk shaped like a dragonfly and a butterfly, a small thing of play-doh, a sheet of stickers, and a squirty ball for more poolside fun later in the summer.
After all that, R was plumb tuckered. She wouldn't nap right away (it took awhile for the excitement to wear off) but eventually just passed out on the couch around 4 p.m.
R's Party: Part 3--Pizza and Presents
After distributing some watermelon, Grampie went to pick up the pizza and brought it back. We rounded up the kids and brought them in for some lunch-- pizza, watermelon, lemonade, water, and soda. There weren't enough seats for everybody so some people stood, but it all worked out really well. I had to run in and change R out of her bathing suit since she was covered in sand and because I wanted her to wear her party dress (that my mom actually bought at the Goodwill!) and special pink hair bows that she'd received just the day before from one of my mom's friends-- she sent a package full of all different colors. R was so tickled!
Anyway, here's a shot of the tables with people eating.
R and one of her friends eating their pizza.
After pizza got cleared up, we pulled out the cupcakes. I made a dozen Elmo cupcakes and then two dozen regular chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting. Mmmm, homemade chocolate frosting. Y-U-M.
Here's R blowing out her candles. This was seriously the highlight of the party for me. She was so happy to have everyone singing to HER-- she kept turning around and beaming at J, who was sitting right behind her, with an expression on her face like, "really? for ME? REALLY?" and the whole group sang really loud and cheered uproariously when she got all the candles blown out. 
Amazingly, she only got one small tiny spot of frosting on her dress, and Grammie was able to get it off with just a little bit of water.
Then it was time for presents. She got some wonderful gifts, and they've all gotten great use since the party ended--several princess dolls, clothing, a terrific puzzle, a book, a dvd, and beach gear. It was a lot of fun to see her friends crowding around her to see what she was opening.
Anyway, here's a shot of the tables with people eating.
R and one of her friends eating their pizza.
After pizza got cleared up, we pulled out the cupcakes. I made a dozen Elmo cupcakes and then two dozen regular chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting. Mmmm, homemade chocolate frosting. Y-U-M.
Here's R blowing out her candles. This was seriously the highlight of the party for me. She was so happy to have everyone singing to HER-- she kept turning around and beaming at J, who was sitting right behind her, with an expression on her face like, "really? for ME? REALLY?" and the whole group sang really loud and cheered uproariously when she got all the candles blown out. 
Amazingly, she only got one small tiny spot of frosting on her dress, and Grammie was able to get it off with just a little bit of water.
Then it was time for presents. She got some wonderful gifts, and they've all gotten great use since the party ended--several princess dolls, clothing, a terrific puzzle, a book, a dvd, and beach gear. It was a lot of fun to see her friends crowding around her to see what she was opening.
R's Party: Part 2--Fun in the Sun
This little girl was the first of R's friends to arrive and they immediately went for the pool with the built-in sprinkler. That was a HUGE hit!
When her next friend arrived it took a little bit of enticing before he jumped in. R kept trying to get him to lay down in the pool with them and he wasn't having any of it!
Then they moved on to the alligator pool, which was by far the kids' favorite. Unfortunately we learned the hard way that you need to tie down inflatable slides to the bottom of the pool BEFORE filling it up, otherwise they float and make it difficult to slide down and impossible to really tie down tightly. Ah well! We ended up taking away one slide and leaving the other out. The kids still had a blast even when the slide fell over half the time. In fact, falling over might've been half the fun.
One of her friends came with her older brother, who was 5.
The arts and craft table was a surprising hit! I was nervous it would be too messy or too boring, but everyone decorated at least one bag and seemed to really enjoy it.
The sand table in all its glory. Of course most of the fun of the sand table consisted of dumping sand in the water. R got so much sand on her that we had to make her change her clothes!
RUS spent most of the party on Grandma's lap. I fed him once and ended up being able to lay him down midway through, so that worked out beautifully.
Just before the pizza came the kids started chowing down on the watermelon. Here's R eating in her cardboard house-- she and a few other friends had already started coloring it in.
When her next friend arrived it took a little bit of enticing before he jumped in. R kept trying to get him to lay down in the pool with them and he wasn't having any of it!
Then they moved on to the alligator pool, which was by far the kids' favorite. Unfortunately we learned the hard way that you need to tie down inflatable slides to the bottom of the pool BEFORE filling it up, otherwise they float and make it difficult to slide down and impossible to really tie down tightly. Ah well! We ended up taking away one slide and leaving the other out. The kids still had a blast even when the slide fell over half the time. In fact, falling over might've been half the fun.
One of her friends came with her older brother, who was 5.
The arts and craft table was a surprising hit! I was nervous it would be too messy or too boring, but everyone decorated at least one bag and seemed to really enjoy it.
The sand table in all its glory. Of course most of the fun of the sand table consisted of dumping sand in the water. R got so much sand on her that we had to make her change her clothes!
RUS spent most of the party on Grandma's lap. I fed him once and ended up being able to lay him down midway through, so that worked out beautifully.
Just before the pizza came the kids started chowing down on the watermelon. Here's R eating in her cardboard house-- she and a few other friends had already started coloring it in.
R's Party: Part 1--Getting Started
Welcome! Come on back!
Follow the arrows. Keep coming!
Almost there . . .
The family's on the porch, getting the party started.
Pool and sand table set up.
Looking at the porch
Art area with chalkboard and easel, paint your own fabric bags, and a color-it-yourself cardboard house that was R's birthday gift from her uncle JW and aunt C and cousin Little Frog.
Here R is opening her gifts from Grammie and Grampie before the party really got started.
Follow the arrows. Keep coming!
Almost there . . .
The family's on the porch, getting the party started.
Pool and sand table set up.
Looking at the porch
Art area with chalkboard and easel, paint your own fabric bags, and a color-it-yourself cardboard house that was R's birthday gift from her uncle JW and aunt C and cousin Little Frog.
Here R is opening her gifts from Grammie and Grampie before the party really got started.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
"I'll Tell You a Secret Later"
R says this to us all the time.
When I'm dropping her off at day care, she pulls me close and whispers very conspiratorially, "Mommy, mommy, mommy . . . I'll tell you a secret. Later. Kay."
When I'm putting her to sleep and saying goodnight, she'll say, "I want Daddy to tell me a secret later." I always tell her he will. She's never once asked for the secret, though.
Sometimes when she's playing, she'll run up to me and say, "I'll be right back. I'm gonna tell you a secret later."
What do you think it all means??
When I'm dropping her off at day care, she pulls me close and whispers very conspiratorially, "Mommy, mommy, mommy . . . I'll tell you a secret. Later. Kay."
When I'm putting her to sleep and saying goodnight, she'll say, "I want Daddy to tell me a secret later." I always tell her he will. She's never once asked for the secret, though.
Sometimes when she's playing, she'll run up to me and say, "I'll be right back. I'm gonna tell you a secret later."
What do you think it all means??
Friday, June 4, 2010
We Got a Letter From Day Care Today
"It's always fun to be able to inform a family on the positive progress of their child's development. R has done a wonderful job in her classroom of building relationships with teachers and friends.
"We feel at this time R is ready to move to the preschool program. She will be enrolled in Preschool Class X with Ms. N. . . .
"We are confident that R will have a smooth transition and thank you for your cooperation and patience as we go through this process. [R's current teacher] Ms. W will be available to arrange an opportunity for you to meet Ms. N and to answer any questions that you may have during this transition process."
This letter almost makes me feel faint. I'm at once giddy with excitement and freaked out that R is growing up so quickly.
"We feel at this time R is ready to move to the preschool program. She will be enrolled in Preschool Class X with Ms. N. . . .
"We are confident that R will have a smooth transition and thank you for your cooperation and patience as we go through this process. [R's current teacher] Ms. W will be available to arrange an opportunity for you to meet Ms. N and to answer any questions that you may have during this transition process."
This letter almost makes me feel faint. I'm at once giddy with excitement and freaked out that R is growing up so quickly.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Princess Playdate
R has been at her current day care for about 16 months. She started that day care with a small cohort of (almost all) girls--none of whom are still in the room with her. This is because at the time R was by far the youngest girl in the room and most of the others have moved on to the preschool room (her room is for older toddlers, 21 months and up, and R was only 19 months when she started). She instantly--and I do mean instantly--became enamored with one girl in particular, Red Monkey.*
Within her first week at day care she was telling us about Red Monkey, which was all the more surprising because she wasn't really that verbal at only 19-20 months, so anything she said was kind of remarkable. As time went on, R and Red Monkey became even closer. They were just about inseparable and very clearly best friends at day care. It was very cute.
Red Monkey's mother got pregnant around the same time we did, and we were both expecting babies last fall. As it turned out, Red Monkey left day care when her sister was born in October because her mom quit her job. So R and Red Monkey haven't been able to see much of one another except for one day when Red Monkey came to school to visit with her mom and baby sister. According to reports from R's day care teacher and Red Monkey's mother, R and Red Monkey spent quite a bit of time just hanging out together sitting on a rocking chair, not even talking, just so happy to see one another.
So of course we had to set up a play date for the two girls. After a few months we finally got around to working out details and the girls FINALLY played together this afternoon. Oh. My. Goodness. R had so much fun. The two girls are so crazy about one another, and they played super-well together. Red Monkey has lots of girl cousins who all live nearby and her place is stacked with princess toys. STACKED. R was in love. They spent a good part of the afternoon wearing their princess dresses and switching out various princess shoes and carrying princess dolls and princess purses and wearing princess jewelry.
*I call her Red Monkey because she always played with this red stuffed monkey at day care.
Within her first week at day care she was telling us about Red Monkey, which was all the more surprising because she wasn't really that verbal at only 19-20 months, so anything she said was kind of remarkable. As time went on, R and Red Monkey became even closer. They were just about inseparable and very clearly best friends at day care. It was very cute.
Red Monkey's mother got pregnant around the same time we did, and we were both expecting babies last fall. As it turned out, Red Monkey left day care when her sister was born in October because her mom quit her job. So R and Red Monkey haven't been able to see much of one another except for one day when Red Monkey came to school to visit with her mom and baby sister. According to reports from R's day care teacher and Red Monkey's mother, R and Red Monkey spent quite a bit of time just hanging out together sitting on a rocking chair, not even talking, just so happy to see one another.
So of course we had to set up a play date for the two girls. After a few months we finally got around to working out details and the girls FINALLY played together this afternoon. Oh. My. Goodness. R had so much fun. The two girls are so crazy about one another, and they played super-well together. Red Monkey has lots of girl cousins who all live nearby and her place is stacked with princess toys. STACKED. R was in love. They spent a good part of the afternoon wearing their princess dresses and switching out various princess shoes and carrying princess dolls and princess purses and wearing princess jewelry.
*I call her Red Monkey because she always played with this red stuffed monkey at day care.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Chugga Chugga Choo Choo!
R's cousins G and Li'l T (and presumably Trucker, too!) LOVE trains. Actually, they love things with wheels that roll. R hasn't been all that enchanted with trains, trucks, cars, etc. although she does have her share of those toys too.
R still loves trains, though. A month or so ago we borrowed a Thomas video from the library, and it was a huge hit. She talked about all the trains endlessly, and recreated several of the events that occurred in the videos (for example, in one video, Rusty has to rescue a train--Henry? someone else?--who gets trapped on a bridge that breaks down; for that rescue he earns the name "Trusty Rusty." For days after she saw that, she wanted me to draw pictures of Trusty Rusty or just to tell her the story of Trusty Rusty).
She has one Thomas train, but she doesn't really play with it too much. Her favorite train-related activity is actually "taking a ride on the train." This involves sitting on the couch and calling it a train, or lining up our kitchen chairs and insisting that people sit on them as if they are riding a train. She learned to do this at day care, when they would line up all the chairs in the room, give the kids slips of paper for "tickets" and they'd all sit and ride the train together. When R does it at home, she puts a different stuffed animal on each chair, sometimes giving the stuffed animals their own stuffed animal or blanket, and then announces where the train is going: perhaps to the museum, or to the restaurant or the aquarium.
Here's a recent picture of R riding the train. She likes to sit there and say "chugga chugga choo choo!" while the train is going.
At random points, she'll push buttons on the train to make it stop and get off, only to get right back on and go somewhere else.
R still loves trains, though. A month or so ago we borrowed a Thomas video from the library, and it was a huge hit. She talked about all the trains endlessly, and recreated several of the events that occurred in the videos (for example, in one video, Rusty has to rescue a train--Henry? someone else?--who gets trapped on a bridge that breaks down; for that rescue he earns the name "Trusty Rusty." For days after she saw that, she wanted me to draw pictures of Trusty Rusty or just to tell her the story of Trusty Rusty).
She has one Thomas train, but she doesn't really play with it too much. Her favorite train-related activity is actually "taking a ride on the train." This involves sitting on the couch and calling it a train, or lining up our kitchen chairs and insisting that people sit on them as if they are riding a train. She learned to do this at day care, when they would line up all the chairs in the room, give the kids slips of paper for "tickets" and they'd all sit and ride the train together. When R does it at home, she puts a different stuffed animal on each chair, sometimes giving the stuffed animals their own stuffed animal or blanket, and then announces where the train is going: perhaps to the museum, or to the restaurant or the aquarium.
Here's a recent picture of R riding the train. She likes to sit there and say "chugga chugga choo choo!" while the train is going.
At random points, she'll push buttons on the train to make it stop and get off, only to get right back on and go somewhere else.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Happy Valentine's Day!
I'll add pictures when I get them loaded, but for now-- Happy Valentine's Day!
R made a ton of valentine's cards this year. First, she made 10 valentines for each of her friends at school--I cut sheets of purple paper into quarters and a bunch of hearts out of red paper and she glued the hearts on the purple paper and colored wherever she felt like it. I wrote the kids' names and "Heart" R on the cards.
She also made cards for all of her cousins--Little Frog, Little T, Trucker, and G. We'd gotten some adorable foam stick on letters from Grammie and Grampie, so I picked out all the letters we'd need to spell each cousin's name and she helped me color sheets of purple stationery and stick on each letter for the name.
Then she made cards for her grandparents and great-grandparents, gluing hearts to purple paper again and coloring where appropriate. She also enjoyed picking out stickers to stick on each card.
Then, J helped R make me a card!
And I helped R make J a card.
And R made a card for J and I at day care.
I'm frankly kind of impressed the girl isn't sick of making Valentine's crafts by now!
She had a little party at day care on Friday and several friends sent her home with some candy. She's eaten two suckers and a wrapped up Asian candy of some sort. There're still a few treats left, and she's looking forward to having another one after dinner tonight. After that they might be "all gone," if you know what I mean. Wink, wink.
R made a ton of valentine's cards this year. First, she made 10 valentines for each of her friends at school--I cut sheets of purple paper into quarters and a bunch of hearts out of red paper and she glued the hearts on the purple paper and colored wherever she felt like it. I wrote the kids' names and "Heart" R on the cards.
She also made cards for all of her cousins--Little Frog, Little T, Trucker, and G. We'd gotten some adorable foam stick on letters from Grammie and Grampie, so I picked out all the letters we'd need to spell each cousin's name and she helped me color sheets of purple stationery and stick on each letter for the name.
Then she made cards for her grandparents and great-grandparents, gluing hearts to purple paper again and coloring where appropriate. She also enjoyed picking out stickers to stick on each card.
Then, J helped R make me a card!
And I helped R make J a card.
And R made a card for J and I at day care.
I'm frankly kind of impressed the girl isn't sick of making Valentine's crafts by now!She had a little party at day care on Friday and several friends sent her home with some candy. She's eaten two suckers and a wrapped up Asian candy of some sort. There're still a few treats left, and she's looking forward to having another one after dinner tonight. After that they might be "all gone," if you know what I mean. Wink, wink.
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