At the zoo again

It's our favorite weekend time-killer. Today we got close to the snow leopard. And the Mandrill. Also, Bennett rode the train by himself!!

Teacher's Pet, Teacher's Pet, Bennett is the Teacher's Pet

There are two main teachers in Bennett's class - Ms. Vivian is the lead teacher, Ms. Stephanie is the other teacher. There are also anywhere from three to five other adults in the class on a given day. These "ladies" as Bennett likes to call them, are all undergraduate students majoring in early childhood education who do a work study at ECRC.

Today, at the end of semester party, Ms. Stephanie sat down to chat with Brian and me for a few minutes. She relayed the following story. I'm going to use quotes since she's the one talking, but I'm totally paraphrasing for brevity.

"Each of the 'interns' is responsible for creating and leading a lesson every couple of weeks. Part of that lesson is circle time, when the kids all sit in a circle to talk about the new information or read a book and discuss. Mr. and Mrs. Allman - all of the interns ask to do their lesson on a day when Bennett is here. He is one of the few kids who engages with them when we're at circle time. It's so much fun and they all want it to be part of their lesson!"

Atta boy - jump on in there, kid!

Whizzer

Today was the last day of the spring semester at ECRC. We went to a lunch party to celebrate with all of Bennett's classmates, as well as the ones who come on days that Bennett does not! It is a really nice way to cap off the semester. Each family brings a dish to share, the bigger kids sing a couple of songs and then we all eat and chat with the teachers.

I learned that yesterday, Bennett "watered" the rocks on the playground. That's right - he dropped trou out there in front of all his friends and foes. When he was finished, he just pulled his pants and unders right off. Ms. Vivian, his lead teacher, kindly reminded him that pants stay on when out on the playground.

I guess we'll need to cut back on the "watering" of the trees in the back yard.

April 2010

I wanted to go back in time a bit for today's Pic O The Day - I found a file of shots from April 2010 and had serious trouble picking my favorite. So, I'll give you two options and let you pick your favorite . . . First - the Blueberry Incident

Need.More.Blue.Berrrrriiiieeeeeeesssssss!!!

And second - this one which was taken right after a bath. I'm not normally fond of posting naked baby shots on the interwebs, but this one is super cute and it doesn't show any skin you would normally see if he were wearing a diaper . . .

Who me?

I ready to apologize, mama.

Bennett had to spend quite a few minutes behind the gate on our stairs this afternoon. We had friends over and he was going nuts! He took toys out of hands, he hit on heads, yelled and kicked. ARGH! Each time he needed a breather, I'd pop him up over the gate, have him sit and tell him why he was there. I explained that he could join us when he was calm and ready to apologize to whomever he had most recently offended.

Unfortunately, his little friend wanted to be with Bennett so badly that he just hung out at the bottom of the stairs trying to get over the gate. Negated the "alone" point a bit, but oh well. What can I do? A couple of minutes would go by and I'd see a foot start to inch its way over the gate.When I went to see what was happening, he sat down quickly, looked up at me sweetly and said with a smile, " I ready apologize to Miss Sherri, mama."

Couldn't argue with that.

Working in the garage

No toy is quite as fun as a cardboard box.

The Snowy Day

Today's photo is brought to you by that freak of a woman Mother Nature. Although it is April 23rd, I am watching snow flakes pile up outside my office. I believe that a friend in AZ posted that their temps may reach the triple digit mark today. Freak.

Big boy tie up shoes

He has been asking for tie up shoes for weeks.

It's raining today, blech

I took this photo a few weeks ago when the temp reached 80+ and we went to make the most of it at a park with friends. I had no idea how awesome this shot was until we got home.

Working Mom

We flew through our first week as a dual-income family. Whoo hoo!!! I'm so thankful that Oma was able to be here to help us keep Bennett on his "normal" schedule. I think that having the support of our families is making all the difference. We had zero tears today when I left, which made me so happy.

Bennett wore unders all day today - even at naptime! He watered several trees this afternoon, pulling his clothes down and back up all by himself. I was worried that he would have a lot of difficulty with the potty training since there were other big changes going on, but he's a champ!

I didn't feel much "mommy guilt" this week either. Sure, I missed him, but I wasn't constantly worried about whether or not we were doing the right thing for him. It will feel even more right when that first pay check arrives in two weeks, but for now, I'm just loving being surrounded by other professionals. I was asked for my opinion several times this week, and not just about kid related things. Don't get me wrong, I love it when my friends ask me how I feel about some behavior or milestone or whatnot that their kid is experiencing that Bennett went through . . . but being asked whether or not I would choose one particular assessment over another based on curricular criteria got my heart all aflutter.

One thing I've got to remind myself is that this is a temp job. I'm a sub and will be a sub for the entirety of this work experience. I can not allow myself to get too attached to these people or this building or the process. I will be leaving it at the end of June. As sad as that it, it's the truth.

But Bennett will be waiting for me with open arms, open heart and slobbery kisses. :)

Fun With Friends

We had a play date today and Bennett pulled his friend in a wagon.

Warm days

Equal bare feet

Morning photo

Most mornings, Brian and Bennett read together.

Nearly Tear-Free

Today was nearly tear-free!! Oma said that Bennett was awesome all day and didn't cry at all - not even when it was time for nap. Brian said that Bennett cried a little when it was time for him to go to work. I guess it wasn't for very long since Oma didn't comment on it!

I'm so happy that he's doing well with this big change. Work is going just great for me. I'm pretty solitary right now, which is fine. I'm getting plenty of time to read and learn all that fancy "lingo" that's so different up in these parts. (Did I tell you that the reason I haven't gotten a job up here yet is because I was trained in Virginia and the "lingo" is different in New York? I guess it doesn't matter that I'm Nationally Certified in a position that is federally mandated and all that . . . ) Good times.

Today's Photo

I didn't take this today, but I love the way he's lounging with his snack in the back yard!

Ice Cream

Last October, Bennett traveled with Brian and me to Fredricksburg, VA to see my friend, Susan get married to Chef Matt. Also coming up for the weekend were my parents, to help take care of Bennett while Brian and I got to celebrate the nuptials with the grown ups. We had a great weekend! Bennett also had a good time, primarily because he got to have his first real ice cream! My dad got a hankering for some ice cream one night so the three of them walked to a 7Eleven near our hotel. The only non-chocolate ice cream they could find at that fine establishment was the old school argyle covered cardboard tubes of orange sherbert Push Up Pop! Bennett has not been able to forget the awesomeness of that evening.

Fast forward to two weeks ago - The Easter Bunny brought Bennett two reusable push up pops. HUZZAH!!! The world is now greener and bluer thanks to that mysterious bunny. Thanks to a creative mommy, Bennett can have "ice cream" whenever he wants. I blend up some fruit - strawberry and raspberry have been popular this week- mix it with some organic yogurt and plop the concoction in the push up pop. If we're lucky, they go into the freezer. If we're not - he eats a yummily messy treat right away. The way he visibly enjoys that push up pop filled with yogurt looks like I imagine I do when I allow myself to devour an ice cream sundae with chocolate AND caramel sauce. Hmmmmmm - I'm getting hungry!

Today's photo

I'm going to try to post a photo a day for a while. Today I caught Bennett and Oma working on their computers side by side.

We survived!!

We all survived my first day at work as a mother. (We're not counting those bizarre six weeks when I worked at the day care.) I'm so excited to report that there were very few tears from the little guy. He was sad when I left, sure, but Brian got him calmed down pretty quickly.

The more remarkable fact is that Bennett DID. NOT. CRY. when Brian left him at school this morning. WTH??? I'm so proud of him.

Oma picked him up from school today and he said to her as she came in, "Oma! I was looking for you!" Then, he showed her all around the room and left holding her hand. Again, with no tears. They came home, he ate a big lunch and then went down for his nap with little fuss. When I came home, finally around 5:20 (there was a very unfortunate required faculty meeting, ugh.) I honked the horn and he was banging on the glass door for me to come in. We chatted at super high speed for a long time and then went outside to play.

I couldn't stop hugging him and telling him how proud I was for him. He was then awesome at dinner. We went to Red Robin and he ordered his very own dinner. "This burger right here and those apples." And juice. Precious. I want to chew his cheeks.

Putting him to bed tonight was a little tougher than normal, but better than last night. Yay! Thanks for all your good wishes . . . they worked!

The zoo has more than just animals

We went to the zoo yesterday morning.

Climbing the wagon

Going to the market!

Mama, I feedin' it!!

First Day Jitters

So tomorrow I have my first day of this school year. Historically, I've had a really hard time sleeping the night before a first day of school. I imagine that tonight will be no different. Not only am I excited about working and starting a new year (for me, at least!), I'm also nervous about what kind of reaction Bennett will have.

Tonight, he had a REALLY hard time going to bed. We followed our very normal routine and read books and kissed and hugged Daddy before settling down for some snuggle time with mommy. I read him one more book and then turned off the light. The second that light turned off, the water works began. I think that he was totally aware that something was changing.

I was able to get him calmed down by reciting the Adventures of the Adventuresome Boy a couple of times and then whispering nursery rhymes in his ear. We sat on the bean bag quietly and then he started to cry again and told me repeatedly that he didn't want to go to sleep yet. "I go in my big boy bed later, mama. LATER." We decided to set an alarm for five minutes and then he'd go in his bed. He was fine with that until the "alarm" sounded. I sat with him at his bed for a few minutes and talked him through the process and reminded him, as I do every night, that I loved him, I was so proud of him and I would see him in the morning. I kissed Douglas, Alberta and Bennett (several times) and then I left the room.

Once I left his room, he was sobbing and hanging at the door begging me to come back. Luckily, that only lasted about five minutes before he found his way back to his bed and covered himself up to fall quickly asleep. That only served to ratchet my anxiety about leaving him up a few notches. After coming downstairs and getting a couple of jobs completed in preparation for the morning, I was able to rationalize that he probably thinks I'm going to be g.o.n.e. like I was the last time I went to work. He's likely anticipating that experience, despite my repeated explanation that I'm just working at a school (which he has seen) and that I'll be home shortly after he wakes up from his nap every day. Either Oma or Granna will pick him up from school and play with him and they will have a LOT of fun together.

I'm certain that it will all be just fine, it's just those first day jitters grabbing hold of my nerves. Gotta go sharpen my pencils! :)

Work

I got a new job! WHEEEEE! I will be a long term substitute for a school psychologist in Amherst Central Schools. I get to work with a middle school and start April 16. I'll be there until the last day of the school year. I am finally starting to get excited about the prospect of working, but am still having trouble wrapping my brain around the fact that I'll only be at one school - full time. How luxurious!

Anyway - we've been trying to figure out what to do with Bennett while I'm working. We had such a disastrous experience with day care last time we tried that we were quite gun shy to attempt that again. Thank goodness we have such loving and available family! Granna and Oma are going to take turns coming to our house for two- to three-week shifts to help take care of Bennett! We'll keep Bean in preschool two or three mornings per week, then I'll be home from work shortly after his nap ends. I am so excited about this arrangement!

Another tough part of this was trying to figure out when and what to tell Bennett about the changes. Today, I had the perfect opportunity to let him know that I'd be working again. Brian had built a tent/fort in our living room before he left for work. Bennett was climbing in it after his nap and invited me to join him. "You come in too, mama! Come sit wiff me, please!" How could I resist? I sat on the floor near him and told him that I had something very important to tell him. Could he listen to me? He looked me right in the eyes and said, "Yes, mama. I listenin'." I told him that I was very happy because I had gotten a job and would get to go to work very soon. His initial reaction was a bit disappointed, but them I explained that it would just mean that someone else would pick him up from school and that I'd be home by the time he woke up from his nap most times.

Then, he wanted to know about what my job was and why I worked in a "very big school" and could he come to work with me sometimes. Sure, buddy. Maybe you can come to see where I work sometime. Shortly - his attention switched to something totally different - drumming I think.

We'll let him know that Oma and Granna are coming right before they show up. I don't want to rock his world too hard today!