Ending our summer

Well, I think our summer is finally over - officially. Last week we had a couple of days during the week to play and enjoy a flexible and relaxing schedule. We took our time during breakfast, played at home, and enjoyed each other's company. One of the ways that we did that was playing in Colin's room and making a "parade" out of both children's stuffed animals. I found it hilarious that they both put themselves in the parade. Guess who was at the very front leading it all...Colin, of course. We even brought Cammy (who is basically blind now) upstairs to have some human contact. I don't think she was very happy about it, though.

The two days Colin and Audrey went to school this week were pretty good. I had a terrible time leaving Audrey at the nursery. I really wasn't prepared for that. Last year, she was just a baby and just accepted going. She loves Evelyn and the children there. But, the first day she was fine and then Colin and I had to leave. She was across the room and when I looked over at her she just gave me a look. It seemed to say, what is going on? Why are you both leaving me? So, I did what I shouldn't have done and couldn't help but do. I went over and decided to tell her good-bye. She had been wisked away before by her darling Evelyn, but I wanted to get in a habit of kissing her good-bye so she could expect that. I should have just let it go. When I went over, she clung to me and didn't want me to put her down. She didn't fuss or cry. She didn't even look hurt at me, just surprised. It killed me inside. That isn't the worst part. I missed her all day (and Colin, too, but I got to have lunch with him and he is in the same building with me now). When we went to pick Audrey up, she didn't grab on to me like I wanted her to deep down. Instead, she seemed in a daze. She had only slept have of her regular nap time and I think she was just mentally exhausted - it takes a lot out of anyone to adjust to a different environment and schedule. She wasn't herself for a couple of hours. And then, I just stopped everything and sat down with both of them and we just read books for a while. I think this is what I will do from now on. Come home and just play with them for at least half an hour. Forget dinner, homework, the house, even Clayton (when he is home) unless he wants to play with us. I don't think that will be to hard to do. After reading, Audrey seemed to snap out of whatever fog she was in and came back to herself. She wanted me to hold her most of the evening and wanted me as much as I wanted her. Colin was much more mellow, but I had expected that. He had some time through the summer to adjust to his new environment and his memory can stretch farther than a day or two. The rest of the week went better. I LOVE Audrey's teachers. Her newest teacher has a masters degree in Early Childhood and introduced herself to Audrey before me (I liked that right away). Her other teacher is a friend of mine from The Soulard School. Eleanor has a son, Emmett, three days younger than Audrey. I think they will be great friends! I know it will get easier for me, but I envy those of you who get to stay home with your children. It is one thing to CHOOSE to go to work, but when you know you HAVE to and don't have the option when you would love to, it really hurts your heart often. I keep telling myself that I'm doing this for them and I'll get to be with them often when they go to school, but those early years are so precious...

I will post more photos of these first days at school soon. Until then, enjoy a few from last week and today at Lafayett Park.

Purina Farms and the Brewery

As the school year quickly approaches, I have found myself wanting to do as much with my last few days of freedom as I can. So we have been taking advantage of this nice weather and getting out to be tourists in our own city (and outlying area).

I told Clayton that living in the city is growing on me. As a country girl, I never thought I would live so deeply in the city. But, now I can't imagine living anywhere else. Don't get me wrong, I would still love to retire there. I often long for the peace and quiet, or a long walk along the gravel road. I am happy to be enjoying the place I call home, now. Right now, right here, we can give our children lots of interesting experiences and show them things I only read about in books as a child. I love still being able to go home to the country and take them there to see the cows at my dad's farm and let them roam around bare foot.

Colin has been interested in factories after watching a DVD about machines and how they are made. Clayton and I hadn't been to the brewery for a long time, so we went on the tour to show Colin a factory. We were very disappointed that the packaging part was closed because of escalator problems, but he did enjoy seeing how things worked to make beer. I know, not the best thing to show him, but he doesn't think much of beer (I don't drink except for social gatherings and Clayton rarely drinks anything at home.) Anyway, at the end you get your free beers and we let Colin have his first soda ever! It was a rootbeer. Catch the photos below of him drinking it and then his face afterwards. I think he liked it, but the carbonation made his mouth feel funny. Poor guy, I guess I deprive him. I only let him drink milk and water at home - not even juice!

Audrey just loved the pretzels that came with the free drinks. It was a hit with the entire family!

This is a little video of Audrey with lots of pretzels in her hands while she drinks.



The rest of these photos are of Purina Farms. Audrey loved the sheep and cows, but was afraid of them if they got too close! We went with my friend Eleanor and her son, Emmett. Emmett is four days younger than Audrey. We're so excited that Eleanor will be Audrey's teacher in the afternoon this year! Yay! She and Emmett will be great friends.

The real hit of the whole morning was the dog diving show. Here is an arial shot of a dog catching a frizbee on his way into the pool. It was a great morning and lovely weather!

Nap War

For the past two weeks, Colin and I have been in the middle of a nap war. I've been trying to get him to take a nap for over an hour and then we are both frustrated. I started letting him stay up and just read books in his bed for some quiet time, but that fizzled out after a while. He still does that, but for shorter periods of time. Now, he usually ends up just playing with his cars or following me EVERYWHERE!

Yesterday, I won a battle in the nap war. Colin agreed to lay down in his tunnell that he got for his birthday and slept there. Here are some pictures of him all snuggled up in there right before I woke him up.

I had to include a picture of Audrey, too, to be fair. This is after her nap. She looks all comfortable in her chair with her bowl of yogurt raisins and whole wheat puffs and her soy milk.

All set for school soon

Yesterday, I had a doctor's appointment to go to and Colin stayed with our fabulously generous and kind neighbors (the Fricks) next door. Before going over, I put his things in his backpack. I showed him how to wear it and he loved it! He thought he was going to preschool right them! You could just see in his eyes how big he felt just wearing it. He wore it over to their house, but not before I took these pictures. I'll add more in a couple of weeks of his very first day back. He had to have at least one silly face!

Such a big, proud boy! I love him so!

Stories for Colin

Tonight, something wonderful happened! Over the course of Colin's life, I have slowly made bedtime a time for learning. We read tons of picture books and learn new vocabulary words the way they were meant to be learned - through interest and authenticity. Gradually, I introduced books that were longer and more complicated. Until, a few months ago, I began reading him chapter books. Granted, they are over his head in many spots, but he is learning so much from them. I also began ending these readings with an oral story. At first, they were my versions of fairytales, tall tales, etc. Eventually, they centered around his interest (Cars movie characters, Thomas the Tank Engine, favorite friends, girls). He still asks me to tell specific stories, but I've begun to have him create the story by asking him the setting, characters, problem, and ending. I haven't used the word solution, but that is really what happens when he tells me the ending. The teacher in me just can't help herself sometimes!

So, that brings us to tonight. Clayton is working afternoons/evenings now so I am alone with my two each night. Getting dinner ready is a challenge at times because I can't be two places at once (in the kitchen and wherever they are playing). They are both safe (Audrey can go up and down stairs perfectly now), but don't always make good choices. Tonight was one of those bad choices nights. I was quickly trying to put dinner together when I heard some crashing and banging upstairs. It didn't sound harmful, just unsettling. When I didn't hear crying, I finished my chore and went upstairs to find every book from Colin's book shelf in a large messy pile on the floor (and scattered across the floor).

The short story is that I put the books away for a while. This is the second time they had done this with the books and I wanted to make a point. I told Colin that because he threw the books down on the floor like trash, I was going to take them away until he showed me he could be responsible for them and treat them respectfully. That meant no book reading at bedtime.

So, I offered to tell him stories. And that, finally, lead us to the wonderful thing. I told him family stories. I told him about my mother and father as children, my brother, a friend, and myself. I told him about the rat in the toilet, my Grandma Wages, the way my brother would eat the butter and brown sugar in the pan when my Grandma Wages made cinnamon roles, the 40th birthday cake my mother's family gave her that was made out of cow poop, and how my friend Chad had an old man sit on him in a movie theater. He begged for more and, though I usually covet my time to myself after they are asleep, I felt myself wanting to spend all night telling him these things. It is beginning! I get to begin to give him heritage! There are many things we can give our children, but stories about our lives and the lives of our loved ones before us are treasures that cost nothing. He is old enough to begin to feel a part of us, to take these stories and grow into his own personality - taking pieces of the stories with him. It is also a great time for me to remember and reflect on the good times I've had in my life. Because, of course, I'll only be telling him pleasant memories for a very long time. He's too young and innocent for others. I just had to share my excitement.

I wanted to include at least a couple of photos taken Wed at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Yesterday, I didn't go anywhere because Audrey vomited all morning and recovered for the rest of the day. She never had a fever and was fine after a second nap in the afternoon, but she was almost immobile for several morning hours. She is her regular bubbly self now. I've never met a smilier girl.

Train Museum

I just love Saint Louis. How many cities have so many free or inexpensive things for families to do? It just amazes me the number of places we can go to have a nice family outing together. What was our venue of choice today? The Museum of Transportation Clayton had taken Colin there when he was nearly two, but at that time he just enjoyed playing in the rocks. I think he got much more out of it this time around. I had fun putting the following pictures together to contrast. It is amazing how much a year can change a child, but not his interests!

Colin - Age 22 months

Colin - 3 years old
Colin - 22 months
These are some photos of the rest of us from this morning's visit. Yes, Audrey does have a puffy upper lip. I swear her face didn't even touch the ground when she tripped this morning! Danger Girl strikes again!

Two weeks in review

Ahhh. I made it! I survived preschoolers for five days, with my own children. The last five days were the toughest I have faced in a long time (while working). My Colin takes lots of energy by himself. But, multiply him by fourteen and divide that number by two teachers, add a 14 month old Audrey, and you have lots of trouble. No, really, it wasn't all bad. I really appreciated my time working with the preschoolers at my school, The Soulard School, for a couple of reasons. It was staying the extra two hours the last three days for aftercare that were hard on us (Colin, Audrey, and I).

First, I know first hand what it will be like for Colin this year as he enters preschool. I now know one of his teachers well and really like her. I've also met most all of his peers and their parents on a more personal level than most parents get to. And, I was able to see how Colin interacted with his teacher, peers, and classroom environment. I'd love to be at home with my children, but working at the school they attend seems to be the better choice more and more. I see how much Colin NEEDS interactions with his peers at school. I enjoy being able to be the bridge between home life and school life in a way that many parents can't. I take the language we use at school and make it part of our family life so that when Colin goes to school he feels more comfortable and can communicate better with his teacher and peers. The school environment is so small that I know most of the parents of ALL students in the school and feel part of their family. I never knew how important that would be. It is like a real community - raising our children together. I know that, as a teacher in the school, parents treat me a little different from other parents, but I feel that they appreciate the fact that I AM one of them. I think that makes a difference, and I have their respect because of it.

The second reason my preschool experience was important was that it instilled an appreciation for prek teachers everywhere. I must admit, I was one of those teachers who was jealous of the nap time they got to enjoy. Not that the teachers napped, themselves (though it could happen IF everyone falls asleep). No, I thought they had it made for two hours out of every day enjoying quiet time while the children slept peacefully in the room. Wrong! It is WORK to get everyone down. There were three of us most days and we spent the majority of two hours sitting and rubbing children's backs or reminding them to be still. That doesn't sound too bad, and I might wish I could go back there on a particularly crazy day in elementary school, but it isn't the serene scene I had imagined. And, if prek teachers do get to take turns dozing off while children sleep, they DESERVE it! It is mentally draining to watch out for these little beings. The picture below shows you what can happen if you aren't watching all the time. I knew Colin was in the digging area and that he was getting dirty, but when I did finally walk over away from Audrey, I saw this face...

You might not be able to see it well, but he was EATING dirt. Shortly after these pictures were taken, I literally hosed him down and changed his clothes.

Colin playing with is new buddies.

Audrey enjoyed playing with the little coup cars, though it was hot and sunny outside.We kept cool in the gym inside the school. Audrey loved the mats, and I did, too. It was easier to let her play knowing that there were softer landings.

I also wanted to post some pictures of Colin attending a Cardinals game with Clayton and my dad. They had a great time, though they missed Grandpa Steve. He was in the hospital with pneumonia. My dad won the tickets at our school auction in April, and an on field visit was included. So, they got to watch the Cardinals' practice before the game.

Is it just me, or does it look like my dad is trying to hand Colin a beer? Way too young for that, Dad! We don't want to get that started. The look on Colin's face seems to say that he is not interested. I hope that is true until he's out of college!