School is Out for the Summer!

I can vividly remember walking down the hall towards Little Man's classroom on his first day of school. We were both equally nervous. He was so little to me and even though I knew that 2 days of school a week would be beneficial, part of me felt like I was abandoning him. I remember leaving him crying in his classroom and walking down the hall where total strangers hugged me while I cried and then went and peeked in at him giving me updates on his progress. Those total strangers are now my friends and both Little Man and I are better for the experience.

I remember his second week of school where I bribed him with the promise of M&M's and Curious George if he didn't cry when I dropped him off. I will forever have the image of his little lip quivering as he tried his best to keep it together and how he repeated over and over "Mama's always come back, Mama's always come back". And he did it! By his second week he was good to go and by the end of the year I had to beg for a kiss goodbye.

On our way to his last day of school today he proudly said to me, "Don't worry Mama, I won't cry. Mama's always come back". I realized that even as far as he had come in adjusting and totally loving school, he remembered those early days too. Maybe not as clearly as I do or in the same way, but the coping mechanisms that we put in place are still there. He still gets his little treat waiting for him in his car seat and we still say "Mama always comes back" right before he walks into the school. He has grown up so much through this year and has been exposed to so many things I wouldn't have been able to or even thought to do with him at home. Now how am I going to keep him entertained all summer??!!

Here are the pictures from the first day of school and the last day of school. What a difference 9 months can make, both in growth and maturity. He is such a big boy now and he is so proud of himself. He really takes pride in the big boy tasks we give him. So while I shed a few tears on his first day of school, I have to say I am a bit teary on his last day of school too. My Little Man is growing up.

September 2009

May 2010

Friends

Growing up I moved frequently in my pre-teen and teenage years so I didn't under those forever friends. You know the ones that said "We have been friends since we were 3". I couldn't imagine what kind of friendship developed at the ripe old age of 3 and I certainly couldn't imagine staying friends for the next 15 years. But Little Man has truly developed friends and it is amazing to watch. Yesterday we went to a house warming party for some friends of ours. Their oldest daughter is the same age as Little Man and they have played together for the last year or so. When we got there, Little Man and K went straight up to her room and play for the next hour up there (totally by themselves with the occasional check in by an adult). They had conversations about vacations and favorite colors. They had a dance party and generally had fun. After a while another friend of our arrived and their oldest son E (who has also played with Little Man and K for the past year or so) joined right in. The 3 of them played with each other and when it was time to go Little Man lamented having to stop playing with his friends. He calls them his friends, they act like friends, calling out to each other, playing the same games and asking them to come over. We even had an opportunity to skype with his friend H who recently moved to Japan. They asked each other questions and sang their abc's together. And for the first time I can understand being friends with the same person since they were 3. I envision that for my children and hope that they will have one or two or maybe even three friends that at their high school graduation party I see them upstairs together hanging out in their room the same way that they did when they were 3. These are real bonds they are forming and I am so impressed with Little Man that he has made such good friendships already!

Beach Vacation Pictures!

Is Blue a Flavor?

"Little Man, what flavor ice cream do you want to eat?"

"Blue."

"Blue isn't a flavor, it is a color. Would you like vanilla or chocolate?"

"Blue!"

"They don't have blue ice cream. Colors aren't types of ice creams, but I think you would like the chocolate. It is brown. Or how about strawberry, it is pink!"

"You said colors aren't ice cream, I see pink and green."

"Yes, I see pink and green too, they are called strawberry and mint chocolate chip. Would you like one of those?"

"No, I want blue ice cream."

"Ok, I understand that you want blue ice cream and I know it is disappointing. Let's look and see a different color that you want to eat."

"Mama, colors aren't flavors."

"You don't say! Ok, pick an ice cream."

"Black"

"There isn't any black ice cream."

"Yes there is, right there. The black with the black in it."

"The chocolate with the chocolate chips and brownies?"

"Yes, Black!"

"Ok!"

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So, I had this very round about conversation while on a field trip with his class. We went to an ice cream shop and the children were able to pick out their own ice cream, pay for it themselves (which was a huge hit, I am going to have to let Little Man pay for his own items more often) and even had a demonstration on how ice cream was made a long time ago. Little Man's logic on his ice cream choice was a bit frustrating but also had me laughing. It was my first field trip with his class and it was so much fun to watch him truly enjoy himself. He played at a park, walked a rope walk, spun on spinny things and ate ALL of his chocolate brownie ice cream even if it wasn't blue.

Beach Week!

We just got back from a week long trip to Myrtle Beach. I am exhausted so I will keep this short and write more later when I get pictures off of the camera. It was an amazing week. We had no agenda, no plan and no pressure to do anything other than have a good time. We couldn't even get the computer to work so there was no checking email or even spending any time on the computer, which was truly a blessing even if it meant that I couldn't blog on the trip. Our days were split between the beach and the pool. The pool had a great baby pool, lazy river and water park that delighted Little Man. Peanut was not as fond of the pool but LOVED the beach. He would crawl straight toward the ocean and would have kept going if we didn't stop him. He loved the water, the sand (eating and playing with it) and beach toys and even took naps on the beach to help us extend our play time. Little Man was remarkably independent in both his beach and pool play. We made memories, refreshed our minds and ate a lot of junk. The boys had lots of late bedtimes and ice cream treats much later than is recommended and more hotdogs and french fries than I can count. There isn't a moment that we weren't enjoying ourselves, taking long family naps (where each person napped but not all in the same bed, thank goodness). We ended the week with a few days with Mee-Mom and on the last day had friends come and visit and play all day at the pool. I couldn't have asked for a better vacation with my boys. It was our last vacation as a family of 4 and I am already looking forward to our next vacation (not that we have one planned) when we will be a family of 5!

Keeping Me Going...

Peanut didn't sleep Tuesday night. I mean, really. didn't. sleep. Which means either did I. I got about 45 minutes around 5:00 am and other than that I was holding, rocking, soothing a very sick and upset baby. It was heartbreaking and exhausting. The next morning I took him to the doctor and it turns out that he has a virus and one of the symptoms is awful, painfully huge ulcers in his throat. No wonder he cried for 12 hours. So Wednesday I had a energetic 3 year old that I had to drag with me to the doctors office, the pharmacy, the store for supplies, flowers for teacher appreciation week...well you get the drift. Not a super fun day after no sleep the night before, but what kept me going was Little Man's sense of humor and fun play.

It started at the pharmacy. We had to wait a while to get Peanut's medicine and Little Man was happily entertaining himself. There was a gentleman in line in front of us and Little Man kept saying hello. The gentleman either didn't hear him or was ignoring him so Little Man decided to keep up both sides of the conversation. I hear him say, "Hi Guy!"

"Hi Little Man" says the guy

Finally the gentleman either hears him or is embarressed by Little Man's one way conversation to turn around and say hi and Little Man exuberiently yells Hi Guy!

Then a little later in the day we were picking out flowers for his teacher. I had put the flower on the table to buy and another woman had put her flowers at the other end of the table. Little Man yells "Hey Lady, don't take my flowers!" She very kindly tells him that she won't take them because she has her own. This was not enough of a reassurance because he yells again (he isn't really yelling but he only has two volumes, loud and louder) "Lady don't touch my flowers they are for Mrs. F and Mrs. H!" Even as she walked away, he was guarding his flowers.

That same evening I was laying on the couch and he asked to come up and hug and snug with me. He gives a deep sigh and I asked him what that was all about and he said "I am just having a rough time Mama. Laying on the couch, playing with my toys, huggin' and snuggin'. Rough time." I couldn't stop laughing. Oh how he sounds like me!

Really, he is such a joy and keeps me going on some of the more difficult days. And even better, I got to sleep through the night Wednesday night and woke up to a much happier baby!

Not My Kid!

I learned early on as a mother that judging the choices of other mothers' or saying "Oh, as a mom I would NEVER do that" mostly guaranteed that I would end up doing exactly that or have to make that same choice that I judged. I have managed to mostly turn off my judgy attitude about mothering over the last 3 years. But what I hadn't learned, until today, is to turn off my "My kid would never..." thoughts. I would see a child hit or throw something and think, oh my Little Man is such an angel he would never do that. Not my kid. Until today.

I was working up in my room and Papa Bear was on duty. He comes walking into our room holding an open marker and I knew I wasn't going to like what he had to say. Little Man had taken it upon himself to draw on the back of our very nice, very expensive couch. After an extended time in his room thinking while I worked diligently at washing out the marker stain (which I actually got out) he explained that he couldn't find any paper. The dramatic explanation that ensued was good enough for the stage. Oh the drama of having no paper and wanting to be a big boy and get paper all by himself and not being able to find any and having a marker and really really wanting to color and seeing the couch. Really? Really? Well I guess I can't say "not my kid" anymore. Because taking markers and scribbling on totally inappropriate surfaces...that is SO my kid!