Jack-o-Lantern

Last week, Bennett and I carved a pumpkin together. Really, I carved and he watched. He helped design the face AND he even put his hands inside. I was taken back to my sophomore suite on Main Hall when Amber and I carved pumpkins for our seniors together.

Here's what we created!

Helping cut the gooey strings

Scooping goo

Boys love goo!

Digging for more goo

Before carving - a fairly perfect punkin!

Weekend Update

(Apologies ahead of time for the length of this one! Trying to keep Brian abreast of the happenings at home while he's away in New Orleans (tough life) for a conference.)

Saturday:
Bennett remembered when he woke up that he was now THREE years old. Yay! In the morning, we went to music class, called Music Menagerie. It's very fun to listen to Bennett try to say 'menagerie'. The last two weeks, I've had to sit in the class with him even though it's a kids only affair. His "teachers" have been very gracious and patient with him as he works through the separation thing. Yesterday, though, he walked in like a champ and joined the group. It seemed as if he didn't even notice I was gone. The teacher gave me a thumbs up as I slipped out the door. I enjoyed a little quiet time to read my book club book.

After class, we watched the big kids play hockey for a while (class is at a large community center with two ice rinks). Then, we came home and had lunch before trying for a nap. It didn't happen, but I enforced the two hours of quiet time rule - much to Bennett's chagrin. He was very unhappy and kept asking me (every five minutes), "Is Quiet Time over yet, mom?" No. Finally, at 2:45, he was let out of his prison of toys and we had a little snack before heading to Adventures on Wonderland. This place is awesome! It's just a huge indoor playground with lots and lots of climbers and a couple of ball pits, a small arcade and even an area with bounce houses that Bennett didn't even find. In addition, there's laser tag, but he doesn't know what that is yet. We were there for at least two hours before we had to leave to run a couple of errands. Thanks to no nap, he fell asleep in the car about five minutes from home. Great! And it was not even 6pm yet. I was terrified that he'd stay asleep and wake up ready for the day at 4:30am. Thank goodness he woke up after being at home for a little bit. He went down at his usual 9:15. Then, around 1:30, he joined me as he usually does and slept in my bed until 6:30. He wanted milk and fell asleep again until NINE!!! Holy cow. That hasn't happened in a very long time. I certainly enjoyed my sleep in.

Sunday: After sleeping in a bit, we had breakfast together and went for a little hike at the Sifton Bog. I had not been to a bog before and this was really neat. It's really just a wetland that has a wooden walk way through it. We saw lots of evidence of wildlife, but didn't see any actual animals. When we got to the "bog" pond/lake thing, Bennett just wanted to fish with Daddy-o and jump off the dock into the water. Thank goodness it wasn't all that cold - but still, it wouldn't have been good fishing.

After we left the bog - it was off to Wal-mart (I know, I know) to look for a couple of things. We went down the Halloween aisle to look for decorations and I made the mistake of turning into the costume aisle. He chose a devil costume. Not a bad choice at all considering that the ghost costume (which was his original choice) had a full face mask and I'm not so into those for little guys. We were able to "return" the costume at check out because it was "defective". It didn't have a cape and everyone knows that a proper devil has a cape. We decided to go to the fabric store to look for patterns and then buy fabric to make our own devil costume. I'm very excited to get to work on this and share the results with you all soon!

Then, it was off the the apple farm. We went to Appleland (which normally has u-pick apples, but had to import the apples from Quebec this year due to a weird weather thing in the spring) and had a good time riding the train and picking pumpkins and digging in their sand mountain. Then, we went to Oma and Grandpa's for dinner. Yummy lasagne with apple pie for dessert. After a quick dip in the hot tub, Bennett and I said our goodbyes and headed home. Since there was no nap again today (he woke at 9, no way I was going to get him down at noon for a nap!) he fell asleep on the way home. Again, about five to ten minutes away. I was able to get him transferred into his bed but he woke up when I tried to undress him and put on a diaper. UGH! We were up for another hour before he finally zonked out at 8:30.

Now it's time for me to pass out. Two long days in a row. I'm quite thankful he has school tomorrow morning as I have two major errands to take care of: a chest x-ray for my immigration physical and registering the Volvo with Ontario plates. I'll be so glad when the "business" part of this move is completed!

Red Pajamas!!

Last night, Bennett was very sad because I had given his old, small red footed pjs away. I told him that I would find some more today. Seeing as it is his birthday, I decided to take him shopping with me so that he could only blame himself if he didn't love them. This is what he selected:

Spiderman!!!

 

He only knows about Spiderman in an idea way . . . he has heard other kids talking about Spiderman on the playground. So he's "played" Spiderman, but he doesn't really know what Spiderman does. I don't mind . . . he is wearing these pajamas which is more than we can say for any other set that he has! He's been sleeping in just a diaper lately, which is part of the reason we think he's waking a night. When he comes to our bed, his little feet are FREEZING!

When we went shopping for these, we went to a small specialty kids store first, Mexx Kids. He walked up to the saleslady and said, "We're looking for red footed pajamas." She walked him to the area where they had the boys pjs and showed him all his options. They each had some red in them, but he kept saying, "That won't work." WHAT?!?! When we left that store, he looked up at me and said, "Mom, that disappointed me."

We found exactly what he wanted when we looked at Sears. Yay! We're still taking bets on whether he'll stay in them for sleep time.

Happy Birthday, Beanie!

The Band

Many nights after dinner, Brian and Bennett have a dance party in our living room while I work on the dishes and trying to clean a little. Tonight, as I was washing dishes and Elton John was playing in the background, the littlest member of our family comes dancing into the kitchen with his guitar strapped to his chest. He holds up his right hand in the universal "STOP!" sign and says, "Mommies aren't allowed in our band. They aren't allowed. Only kids." And then he returned to his stage. All serious and stuff. When I came out to retrieve my computer, he reminded me that mommies weren't allowed, but changed his mind as I was walking away. "It's okay mommy. Mommies are allowed now. You can watch."

A Nature Walk

This story was relayed to me at dinner tonight. It happened at school, but the teachers didn't mention it when I picked Bennett up. Brian knew about it because he was there. The first part of the school day is called, "Message Board." The teacher, Ms. Heather, talks with the children about what's going to happen that day. They discuss the teachers and other adults who will be present, as well as who brought snack and if there are any special activities or stations for the day. This conversation happened:

Ms. Heather: Children, we are going to go on a Nature Walk today!
Bennett: I bring a net! (said with enthusiasm, as is most of what he says)
Ms. Heather and other teachers: Oh? You want to bring a net on our Nature Walk, Bennett?
Bennett: To catch BUTTERFLIES!
Teachers: Ohhhh . . . what a good idea.
Bennett: I don't like them. (deadpan)
Teachers: ***crickets*** (and apparently they quickly changed the subject)

I do not know if Bennett was allowed to take a net on the nature walk or not. My guess is no.

It WORKED!!!

Bennett began Quiet Time well today - he played by himself for about half an hour before he began the slow creep down the stairs to be with me. At the hour mark, he was back upstairs (thanks to the gate placed at the top of the stairs) and crying because I'm so cruel to enforce a rest time. Not ten minutes later, I heard silence. A little worried - I went up to check on things and found this:

He doesn't like wearing pants to sleep. And he's learning to dress and undress himself - so I consider this a success! Also - he was sound asleep, on his own accord. YAY! I suppose our trip to the grocery store this morning wore him out. Strangely, the overhead light was on and shining brightly. So, mom - he can sleep in the light now. Double YAY!

Quiet Time Boxes

It would appear that the little guy has given up his nap. ACK! You can imagine my surprise when, on Thursday, at our usual slowing down time, he turns to me after snuggling on his bed for a while and says, "I'm not so sleepy any more, mom." WHAT!?!? This kid who is known for his two and a half hour, sometimes three hour naps? Just cold turkey quits? Doesn't even bother to hit the snooze button just one. more. time. Nopes. He's done.

Yesterday, I implemented Quiet Time. We tried to go down for a nap again - this attempt only lasted half an hour. I simply couldn't abide any more wiggling in that close proximity. When he told me he wasn't sleepy, I told him all about the awesomeness of Quiet Time. Mama gets to do some work and Bennett gets to play all by himself with whatever he wants. Unless Mama hears blood curdling screams, she won't even check on you. How's that for an awesome deal? The caveat was that Quiet Time has to last at least two hours. And hey, if he happens to fall asleep in that time - no problemo.

He played by himself for about thirty minutes yesterday. Then, he pooped. In his pants. I don't understand. We took a little Quiet Time break to clean out his unders and learn about the process involved (in cleaning, not pooping - he's got that down, y'all!). Then, he was on his own again for another twenty minutes or so before he started popping out of his playroom and asking, every five minutes, "Is Quiet Time over yet, mom? Did you hear the alarm go BRING?" That's right - I set an alarm. This kid does well with auditory reminders. Anyway - the point is this:

I had seen some ideas on Pinterest for how to keep your kid occupied during Quiet Time and today, I decided to try them out. After Bennett woke up at FIVE FREAKING THIRTY this morning (bring as sunshine, I might add - mom and dad, not so sun-shiney), I was certain that he would need a nap and that I'd get a chance to put the Quiet Time Boxes together while he snoozed. We went shopping in the morning to get the few supplies I didn't have on hand. I decided to raid his playroom for the majority of the innards. I just needed medium sized plastic bins with easy-open tops.

Of course, as is my luck, Bennett fell asleep in the car on our way home from Dollarama (Canadians really know how to name a store, eh?). He had a total of fifteen minutes nap today. Yay! Because he was awake, I chose to have him help me put the Quiet Time Boxes together. There are four in total and he was able to choose one to go up to his playroom with for Quiet Time. Luckily, because I had most of the supplies on hand for filling the boxes, it only took about fifteen minutes to assemble them. They still aren't labeled - but look: a compact way to hold four days worth of fun!

Quiet Time Boxes - plan to have 7 total

What is traditionally done with this sort of idea is to have one box for each day of the week. The child gets to pull down the box for Monday and play with the contents during Monday's Quiet Time only. After Quiet Time, the box and its contents go back in the closet or on the shelf or wherever they are stored. I haven't designated each box to a day yet, but will once I have all seven created. (There were only four boxes of this size at the store today!)

Box 1

Contents of Box 1 - Polar Bear Polar Bear by Eric Carle, one match box car (will add one more and a track of some sort), three keys and two locks (need to find the third lock!), a calculator (bought new today), Sesame Street coloring and activity book, crayons and white paper. There are also two neat books that are like reusable coloring books - they work with a "water" pen.

Box 2

Box 2 - Four puzzle set by Melissa & Doug, theme Transportation, I Love You Stinky Face book (so cute!), Noise Putty (by far his favorite Christmas Gift from 2011), Dinosaur flash cards, a bag of Legos, a pack of stickers and some note paper from my days at Darlington School. All of these things we had on hand. The new part of this Quiet Box is a set of four small square "bowls" for sorting the Legos. This is the box he pulled for today. He only played with the legos and not for very long. I think he was just too tired to get the idea - he started being very silly with the sorting. I gave up. We'll try again tomorrow!

Box 3

Box 3 - His LeapPad, Who Sees You At Night pop up book, color wonder markers and paper, pipe cleaners, paper strips and two pairs of scissors. All of this, we had on hand. I just had to cut the paper strips and color wonder paper to fit the box.

Box 4

Box 4 - Two I Spy board books, magnifying glass (new today), Melissa & Doug lacing cards, bag of various sized pom poms (new today), four small square bowls for sorting, shoelace for stringing, jar of plastic beads.

Like I said, I have visions of putting together three more boxes, I would like to put in some dominoes, dice, a deck of cards, some tanagrams, more books, a felt board or book . . . you name it. What are some ideas you'd like to share?

I go in by myself, Mama.

Bennett had his first day of school at UWO Lab School today! Talk about first day jitters - for me! He seemed cool as a cucumber, which was a total surprise. He didn't eat much breakfast, which is a sure sign he's worried about something - but when it was time to load up the cars and get moving, he hopped right into Brian's car and said, "Bye, mom." as if I weren't going to the same place!

We got to campus, parked and started to head into the building. The little rascal was ready to run down the ramp into the front door all on his own! We reminded him we were in a parking lot and all walked in together.

Now, when we got inside the front door, I could sense a little cooling off on his part. However, he walked right into his classroom holding Brian's hand and found his cubby quickly. He hung up his vest and then followed his teacher to the carpet where they do the morning meeting called Meeting Board. I had elected to stay for the whole time today, simply because I had no idea what was in store.

After Meeting Board, Bennett took off to play without a backward glance. I found a quiet unobtrusive place to plant myself and did just that. I watched for about ten minutes, then got busy doing other things. Thank goodness I'd brought my calendar! I was able to get a little organizing done.

He looked for me twice, but otherwise, was fine on his own. After snack and circle time it was outside play time and he sent me packing. HUZZAH! I  do not think I can adequately express how thrilled I was to see him thriving without me. The last month has been such a struggle with separation anxiety, poor eating, rocky sleeping, general unease, that I was very worried about how this change might affect him. I guess he was just looking for some "normalcy". He must have really missed going to school!

When the morning was over, I went back to the playground to pick him up and he was grinning and asked me if he could please stay for a few minutes. I let him do so and then swooped him up for a hug. As we were saying good bye to the teachers, I told him that he could come back tomorrow - I haven't seen him smile that big in a very long time. Yay!

Keep your fingers crossed that tomorrow goes as smoothly as he tells me it will.

School days

We had planned to send Bennett to a lab school at Western which is much like the one he attended at UB. We were one day too late submitting our paperwork and he got put on the waiting list.

We learned that he was first on the list and there was going to be an opening in February when a current student returned to Japan with his family.

Monday, the director called to let us know that there was an immediate opening and it was there for Bennett if we wanted.

We wanted!

His teacher came by yesterday afternoon for the home visit. We drove by to see the outside of the building this morning after we dropped Brian at work.

He has his first morning at school tomorrow! I'll go with him and stay as long as he wants me too.

This morning when he woke up, his first words were, "Do I go to my new school today??"

I think that is a good thing.