Ice and then The Freeze - Brrrr!

It rained ice last night.  Everything was coated when we woke up this morning.  The trees looked like they were decorated with Christmas lights the way the sun was glimmering on their ice coated branches.  It would have been really pretty, except that the skies were an ugly grey and it was cold and wet.  When Bill came by with Abby, he said that he really had to pull on his truck door to get it to open – it was sealed shut.  News reports warned of dangerously slippery driving conditions, too.  Hmmm… not exactly motivating to haul the kids out to Open Gym today! 

Instead, we played in the basement while I got some laundry done.  The tunnel was a popular toy today, though some days it’s completely ignored.  Aside from chasing each other through it a dozen or two times, Abby and Shawn also played on it like the do the air-log at Gymboree.  In class, there’s a song called The Freeze to which the kids tap on the air log and dance until the lyrics say, “Freeze!” and we put our hands on our heads until the music starts again.  We don’t have an air-log at home, but the top of the tunnel was just as fun to tap on – and I didn’t even have music on this time!  (Shawn also discovered that it’s fun to lean on the tunnel and “melt” to the floor as it collapses under his weight.  He even started giggling, “I’m meeeellllllting!”)

After lunch and naptime, it warmed up to a balmy 33 F!  Practically t-shirt weather!  Well, maybe not, but the sky cleared to a beautiful and cloudless blue and the sun was deceivingly warm as it streamed in the windows.  For a moment, it looked a little like it was raining - but only under the trees!  In reality, it was the ice melting from the branches and dripping down, sometimes with ice chunks still intact.  It was nice to see that the roads weren’t coated anymore and, even more so,  I won’t have to scrape my windshield (or de-ice my doors) when Shawn and I deliver the business / referral cards I made to Raj’s office later this afternoon.  (I like it when Mother Nature does that kind of work for me!)

After Abby went home, Shawn and I delivered the cards to the Artistic Smiles team.  Shawn’s starting to feel much more at home there.  He knows that the front window and door are the perfect viewing stations to watch the trains at the station across the parking lot.  He also knows exactly where to find an assortment of teeth on display, which are apparently fun to play with.  He talked freely with Ms. Jeanne and Ms. Debbie, but still no luck with Mr. Tony.  Even when he did Donald Duck impressions, Mr. Tony couldn’t convince Shawn to crack a smile or anything.  Instead, Shawn would scurry over to me and shy away.  Luckily, Mr. Tony understands kids pretty well and will just keep trying whenever we come over.  One of these days, Shawn will realize he’s a really nice guy! 

We had one more exciting point of the day, just before going to bed.  I was getting Shawn changed out of his clothes from the day and had him sit on the toilet before getting into his pajamas.  He peed!  I think he got just as excited as I was!  I’m not sure if it was just good timing or if he’s starting to understand what the whole toilet-concept is all about.  Either way, YEAH!

Mullet Be Gone!

Back in September, Raj talked me into having Shawn's first hair trim done where he gets his cut, at Great Clips. I was really unhappy with the results. You could tell that the stylist didn't like having a child in her chair. She rushed through it, ending with a really choppy cut and saying that it was as good as it could be because Shawn was "difficult".  Meanwhile, Shawn was terrified of her and sat on Raj’s lap in an almost bear-hug. It was not a good experience for a first timer!

This time, I took Shawn to KidSnips in South Barrington today. It's only his second trim, though it's way over-due!  He had a super curly mullet that was getting out-of-con-trol!  (Raj was calling it his "Kane-r," after one of the Chicago Blackhawks hockey players.)

(I had to have a little fun with it one last time!)

Anyway, the KidSnips stylist, Ms. Julie, did an amazing job.  Shawn sat in a chair that looked like a little car, got to watch a Thomas the Train DVD (which was a big treat, since we don't watch TV, unless Raj’s home), and played with toys while Ms. Julie worked her magic. Not only did we NOT need a bear hug to hold him still, but Shawn was perfectly happy while scissors and clippers went zipping around his head. When she was finished, Ms. Julie gave us a "First Haircut Certificate" with a lock of his hair and a picture of the new "do," since his real first haircut wasn't exactly one to put in the baby book! She made Shawn feel very comfortable and relaxed (even pretty excited when he saw the trains, trucks, buses, and other toys she offered him). For a child who normally has stranger anxiety, Shawn was far from being "difficult" during this haircut. He was happy and his hair looks great. He even got to leave with a new toy of his choice (a red double-decker bus) and a balloon.

We'll definitely be going back to Ms. Julie for our future haircuts!

On the way to the Chicagoland Kids’ Expo, we stopped at Culver’s for lunch.  While we were eating our burgers and fries, Shawn squealed at the sight of two firetrucks zipping by with sirens blazing and lights flashing.  Talk about the right place at the right time!

Finally, we made it to the Chicagoland Kids’ Expo.  There were aisles and aisles of vendors and activities.  We had lots of fun at the petting zoo and even got to ride on a mini-train. 

There were magicians and musicians.  We even saw Craig, the director of Language Stars.  Shawn didn’t get to experience all there was to offer though, he fell asleep on my shoulder.  Okay.  That’s my cue that it’s time to go home. 

As luck would have it, Shawn woke up for the entire ride home!  How is that possible?!?

Not Quite a Fish to Water (but we did see some later)

This morning was Shawn’s first day in swimming lessons.  We’re taking them through the Campenelli YMCA, though we’re not full-fledged members.  It’s nice that they have an indoor pool to allow for swimming year round, otherwise we’d probably have to wait until this summer to go through the Roselle Park District.  At the rate that we went today, we may need more time than just a few summer months! 

Shawn loves playing in the tub with Raj and he had a blast at the pool in Hawaii last summer, so I had hoped that he’d have a lot of fun in swimming lessons.  Nevertheless, it did not go as well as I had hoped.  He was extremely nervous.  His body was more rigid and tense than I think I’ve ever seen him.  He clung to my arms, neck, and shoulders for dear life.  He cried a LOT and even screamed a few times.  I think it was the crowd of new people that made him uneasy, more than the water or the pool itself.  There were about ten children (Shawn was actually one of the oldest in the group and some of other babies had already been through a session!), plus at least one adult (some brought their own entourage of family members to document the 30 minute class paparazzi style), in addition to the two teachers.  So, there was quite a large group of strangers that Shawn was not comfortable around.  The combination of so many new people, the new place, and trying new things was more than he could handle.  On the other hand, if it really was the people that scared him, then maybe each week will get a little better as we get to know everyone.  …Here’s to hoping!

Target sponsored a national Dr. Suess celebration, including story time and other specials today.  I wanted to stop by after swimming class to see what it was all about, but rather than rush from the stressful morning to Target, and then off to my dermatology appointment this afternoon, I figured we’d need a little breather instead.  Shawn and I took our time in the locker room after class, had a snack, and then calmly headed to my appointment.  About two blocks before pulling into the doctor’s parking lot, I could see Shawn in my rear-view mirror – falling asleep.  I guess we were a little too calm! 

Since he had barely closed his eyes before I got him out of his car seat, he wasn’t hard to convince that the toys in the doctor’s waiting room were a lot of fun and waiting for him.  I felt bad about waking him after such a rough morning, but he didn’t seem to mind once he found the fully stocked play kitchen and a cement truck with moving parts! 

On the way home, we stopped at PetSmart.  It was adoption day and the place was teaming with animals!  We visited with lots of dogs and cats that were brought in from various shelters and foster programs.  Shawn made friends with a few dogs that gave him plenty of kisses.  We also saw birds, mice, hamsters, rats, birds, fish…  However, we only brought home crickets for our frog – but they’re not quite as much fun to play with!

When we got home and Shawn was able to take a real nap without being disturbed, I made business cards and referral cards for Raj’s team at Artistic Smiles Dental.  (Raj and I figured out that I could make them for lower cost than what his regular printer was quoting.)  The doctors’ business cards have their names, the office contact info, and logo on the front and appointment reminders on the back.  The referral cards look just like the doctors’ cards on the front, but offer a discount on the back for the girls to help bring in more business.  I gave the finished decks of cards to Raj to bring to work on Monday, but he said it would be better if I brought them over myself.  He thought it would be nice for me to give them to the girls in person.  I thought it was a good excuse for Shawn and me to visit the office and say hi to everyone.  Maybe we’ll just have to go out to dinner while we’re out there…

Just Good Friends

No words needed.

Poor Baron's Left Out

This morning, the kids made a play house out of Baron’s kennel.  I think they had a lot more fun in it than he ever has!

Abby had a peanut butter sandwich at lunch.  Looked delicious! (I wonder… does peanut butter make a good facial mask? Hmm-mmm-mmm…)

Poor Baron was probably pretty jealous today: first the kids were playing in his bed and then Abby had peanut butter for lunch (his favorite)!  Must've been tough to watch -I'll be sure to give him lots of hugs and treats today. 

Hmmm... How do you say 'pee-pee' in German?

Rosemary didn’t come to German class today.  I think whatever was upsetting her mom last week must still be going on.  So, it was just Shawn and Abby again.  We continued the animals theme from last week.  Abby was great with the chunky puzzles and she’s very quick to find animals posted around the room when Nina asked for them.  Shawn’s pronunciation was right on cue today!  Nina had a bag full of animal puppets and handed them out to us one at a time.  Shawn got a giraffe, Abby got an elephant (her favorite today), I got a lion.  Nina asked Shawn, “Mama hat eine Giraffe?”  (“Momma has a giraffe?”) and Shawn said, “Nooooo!  Mama hat einen Löwen!”  (“No!  Momma has a lion!”)  We were floored!!!!  Later, Nina mentioned that she was impressed how much both have learned in just three weeks. (It’s going to be hard to end our free trial next week.) 

At the end of class, Nina passed Diego on their way to their next classes and both saw us at the front door.  Diego said, “Hola, Momma!” and Nina said, “Auf Wiedersehen, Momma!”  Both giggled.  Then Nina told Diego how much Shawn spoke today and Diego said, “Oh, I’m jealous!”  To which I jokingly responded that because of their teacher inservice, we missed his class yesterday – it could’ve been Spanish class that Shawn was talking so much in!  Sorry!  When we got home, I wrote a thank you note to the director of the program, Craig:

Guten Tag and Hola, Craig!
First, I want to express how much fun Shawn and Abby (and I!!) are having in your program.  We are so grateful for the opportunity to try a few weeks of classes in two languages, which we normally wouldn't be able to afford.  Though I've gotten tongue-tied more than a few times in the Parents and Tots programs, I can clearly see the benefit of Diego and Nina's hard work and enthusiasm when I watch the little ones in class and especially when I see them bring the skills home.  I have to admit that I've gotten many strange looks from people when I rave about having Shawn enrolled in language classes, not to mention two languages recently.  People are surprised, since he's not even old enough for preschool yet; however, I credit Language Stars for so much of his language development and his emerging social skills. Even though he chooses not to talk in class sometimes, which can be very frustrating, it is abundantly clear to me that he's listening carefully, taking it all in, and just waiting for the perfect time to try out his new words.  Your program is wonderful and your patient teachers are truly talented!  Please let them know how much we appreciate all they do.  (It will be very hard to end our German experience with Nina next week!)

We rushed home to drop Abby off at home so she could get to a doctor’s appointment.  It turned out she has an ear ache, but luckily nothing else. 

Then, Shawn and I went to Music class on our own.  Ms. Kim was surprised to see us without Abby.  Everyone missed her - it was strange having just one child in class today!  Though Shawn was much more physically active (he danced and wiggled and moved much more than usual), he still wouldn’t reply during the “Ba-Ba” activity.  Maybe some day!

In the evening, Shawn commented, “Momma go pee-pee in the toilet.  Shawn go pee-pee in the toilet?” So, I jumped at the chance and helped him sit on the toilet.  He was very excited about it and grinned from ear to ear.  After a few seconds, he said, “All done!”  but I’m delighted that he’s showing an interest and wants to try.  I don’t think he’s physically ready for serious potty training, but I’ll certainly take advantage of his curiosity!

While I made dinner, Shawn pulled out the canned goods from the pantry.  He’s becoming quite the architect!

Once Raj came home, he convinced Shawn to help him put his things away.  It was tough work!

What an exciting day!

(By the way, I think 'pee-pee' is 'pinkeln' in German!)

Children's Corner at EGL

We woke up to a light dusting of snow this morning, but not enough to really effect the day.  It was already a much better morning than yesterday.  We even got to the front window in time to catch the garbage truck collecting on our street.  That certainly helped start our day with some smiles!

We didn’t have Spanish today because Language Stars had an in-service day for their teachers.  Though we missed having class, we visited the children’s section of the Elk Grove Library instead.  (This time I remembered to bring my camera!)

Rough Start and Finish, Great in the Middle!

Happy Presidents’ Day!

We didn’t have a very good start to the day.  Shawn woke at 7:00 am and was not cooperative, which made me run late in getting ready for Abby, who arrived at 7:30 am.  That set me back right off the bat and I’m sure it didn’t help when both Shawn and Abby were a bit crabby, too.  Oh, boy!  What a cantankerous trio we were!

Luckily, we worked out all of our grumps on the equipment at Gymboree’s Open Gym.  There were plenty of distractions and things to do that we were in much better moods for the rest of the day.  In fact, I caught plenty of smiles on camera:

Since Shawn’s swimming lessons are starting this weekend, I couldn’t put off buying a swimming suit much longer.  After Abby went home, Shawn joined me on my “pursuit for a suit.”  He was very interested in all the athletic equipment on display, including the baseballs and soccer balls, kayaks, flippers, and fishing tackle!  I picked out a few suits to try on and steered Shawn into the dressing room.  He loved the fact that he could open and close the door, though he chose inopportune times to do so!  (Fortunately, we were the only ones in the dressing room, so nothing too embarrassing happened!)  In the end, I settled on a blue and black one that reminds me of the designs water makes when light reflects off of it onto a wall or ceiling.  Still, I wasn’t thrilled with the whole experience, but at least I got a suit for Saturday… ugh!  (Hmmm, no pictures from this adventure!)

Nibbles and More!

One of the parent groups that I’m a member of posted an outing to Nibbles Play and Café .  Not many people showed up, but it was our first outing sponsored by them, so we wouldn’t have known anyone anyway.  Regardless, it was a lot of fun!  It turns out that the cafe is about 7 minutes from Raj's Dad's house... I'm still trying decide if that's a good thing or not... I'm a bit torn...

It's not very big, but big enough.  We stayed for about 2 hours.  When we were getting ready to leave, Shawn didn't show that he was losing interest or that he was really all that ready to go yet!  (Just keep 'em wanting more, right?!)  The majority of the place was a cafe with pretty good menu of soups, salads, sandwiches, coffees/teas, and baked treats, but it also had a super kid friendly menu, too (like goldfish crackers by the scoop).  At the counter, there was a sign similar to what was posted on the website about unattended children being given lots of free cake and coffee, but this sign included that there would be a puppy involved, too!

Beyond the dining tables were areas sectioned off with waist-high walls.  (The website stated about how green and environmentally responsible the materials they chose were:  bamboo floors, cork walls...)  Each section had a different theme, including a train table, a pretend zone that was set up as a vet's office (with costumes of various animals as well as scrubs, depending on the character you pretended to be while visiting in the vet's clinic), a library with books that were associated with the theme from the pretend zone (it also had some random toys like dinosaurs and Legos), a construction zone (with not only toy hammers, etc., but shoots and ramps that velcro-ed to the wall), a mirror with various funny eyes and mouths to try on, and a belly-baby and crawlers only zone.  Parents could sip their lattes at the table and still see their kids in the different play areas, if they didn't want to actually go play, too.  Shawn was having so much fun in the different play areas that I don't think he noticed whether we were there with him, at the table, or back in the car!  (Hard to believe, I know!) 

Though I didn't check them out myself, I heard that they even have mini-toilets and sinks for the little kids.  One of the moms from the parent group said that her 3 ½ year old had gone to the bathroom four times in the two hours they were there, just because he thought they were "so cool!"  He didn't want her to go with him to help, because he could manage it by himself - SCORE! 

As we were leaving, a guitarist playing kiddie music was gathering a small crowd and passing out kiddie instruments.  There was also birthday party that was getting started.  (I'm not sure if the guitarist was there on his own or if he was hired for the party, but all of the kiddie-patrons seemed to be dancing and joining in, whether they were invited to the party or not.)

It would be a nice place to meet up with friends that also have kids (up to age 6 or so), so that parents can catch up while the kids play. I saw one mom that was working on Excel graphs & charts on her laptop and flipping through books and notes at her table.  Her kids (~2yo & ~3yo) didn't seem to mind that she was busy - they were pretty well entertained on their own.

We'll definitely go back sometime!

As if the day wasn’t exciting enough already, we were going to have lunch with Dadajee afterwards, but he wasn’t feeling well, so we brought him up some soup instead.  He must have been pretty bad because he was too nervous to let Shawn in the house for fear of spreading his germs.  For the few minutes we were there, he kept a handkerchief over his nose and mouth.  Had he been feeling better, he was going to come with us to Uncle Gulshan and Aunt Kusum’s house for a big Puri Family dinner to welcome Cousin Tony from India.  Unfortunately, he wasn’t feeling well enough to go.

Cousin Tony was only in town on business for a very short time, so we all got together to see him before he left.  The kids played while the adults played poker and/or talked.  It didn’t take very long for Shawn to warm up to all the people and run off to play with the cousins.  As usual, there was more delicious food than we could possibly eat, though I certainly tried my best!  Auntie sent everyone home with containers to enjoy later.  Yum!

I’m full!  I’m exhausted!  I need another weekend!

Happy Birthday, Veer!

Happy Birthday, Veer!

We celebrated Veer’s second birthday today with a party at Gyboree!  He had a train theme for the decorations (“All aboard Veer’s two-two birthday train!”).  Heena ordered the birthday cake from Deerfield’s, the same place we got Shawn’s 3-D airplane cake for his first birthday.  They also had individual cupcakes with Thomas the Train characters decorating the tops for the kids.  Though Shawn didn’t know the two teachers that led the party very well, he still had a good time, especially with the hula hoops, the rocking horse, and the parachute.  It was fun playing with his cousins, Milan, Misha, and Meera, too.  At the end of the party, we brought home a little bucket with a hand painted a train engine.  It was filled with goodies, like funny sunglasses and Thomas stickers.  We were all ready for a nap when we got home!

A Much Less Hectic Friday

Abby came over at 7:45 this morning and played with Baron while I got breakfast ready.  Then, she helped me wake up Shawn.  He must’ve been in a deep sleep because he normally hears us coming, but this morning it took a couple of Abby’s giggles and pokes to get him to open his eyes.  Sleepy head didn’t last too long though.  Once his eyes adjusted to the gorgeous morning sunlight coming in the window, he was ready to get up and play – forget getting dressed! 

The kids were so focused on playing and rearranging the bookshelf (again and again), that they weren’t interested in coming down for breakfast until around 9 am, but since we don’t have music today, we don’t have anywhere to go until 1 pm.  There’s plenty of time to do our own thing this morning.  They definitely worked up their appetites though.  Abby wolfed down her chocolate chip pancakes and Shawn gobbled up his cheesy omelet.  It probably would’ve been easier to hose them down afterwards, but about a dozen wet-wipes finally did the job.  Then it was time to play some more!  If all goes well, we’ll get a nap in before it’s time to go to Family Gym this afternoon…

Success!  Both Abby and Shawn were fast asleep before 11:30 am.  It’s a good thing that Family Gym was followed by Open Gym this afternoon, they weren’t up in time to make it to Family Gym and I didn’t want to wake them after just an hour nap.  Abby woke around 12:45 pm and Shawn didn’t wake until 2 pm - and that’s only because we woke him up!  We made it to Open Gym for a little while before we needed to be home in time for Bill to get Abby.  I’m glad they had a chance to run around and burn off some energy though.

The Forehead Strikes Again

The theme for story time at the library was Polar Animals.  Two other families came this time, but we didn’t interact much with them.  Shawn and Abby both paid a lot of attention to the books today.  In fact, when the librarian finished one book and was getting herself organized for the next one, either Shawn or Abby when pipe up with, “More books?” or “More stories?”  I’m pretty sure I even heard a “please” in there a few times too!  We read:

Adding Arctic Animals by David Bauer – “Many arctic animals are photographed.  They are grouped together to easily see how many are there.”

One Snowy Day by Jeffrey Scherer – “The animals each brought one item.  They worked until they completed making a snowman.”

Musk Oxen by Roman Patrick – “A musk oxen lives in the tundra.  It knows what it has to do in order to survive.”

Polar Babies by Kristen McCurry – “There are many animals in the polar region.  Several babies are photographed playing and resting.”

We learned the ASL sign for polar bear.  Though I’m not sure I saw a connection to Polar Animals, we also had fun dancing to Shake My Sillies Out (from More Singable Songs).  And, we revisited a few rhymes, though they weren’t related to the theme either:

Read a Book

(to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat)

Read, read, read a book.

Read along with me!

It’s story time with all my friends

At the library!

Hands Go Up and Down

Hands go up and hands go down.

I can turn them round and round.

I can listen and so can you.

I can sit – I’ll show you how.

Hands go up and hands go down.

Story time is starting now!

My Eyes Can See

My eyes can see.

My mouth can talk.

My ears can hear.

My feet can walk.

My nose can smell.

My teeth can bite.

My lids can flutter.

My hands can write.

But when the clock,

Its time does show,

I’ll take some books

And away I’ll go!

My Hands

My hands say thank you with a clap, clap, clap!

My feet say thank you with a tap, tap, tap!

My smile says thank you just look, look, look!

Story time is over – take home a book!

On the way home, we went to a car wash to clear away some of the winter grime that was building up on “Momma’s Car.”  The staff let me and the kids stay in the car, so I didn’t have to get everyone out, though that’s what they normally ask their customers to do.  I just moved over to the front passenger seat while one of the workers got us into position.  Shawn did this with me before, so he watched the sprayers, the soap bubbles, and the scrubbers work their magic.  Abby, on the other hand, was not impressed by all of the noises and the machinery.  Even though I could turn around to see her and offer her my hand to hold on to, the experience was a little scary for her.  Luckily, as soon as we were done and I hopped back into the driver’s seat, she was happy again and ready for our next adventure - NAP TIME!

While I made dinner, Shawn entertained himself by dancing around the kitchen.  He twirled, he ran, he rolled, he spun, he kicked, he boogied, he…  hit his head on the kitchen cabinet.  On the corner, of course.  With his forehead, of course.  It wasn’t big, but hitting right on the corner of the cabinets did cause him to break the skin.  He got a small goose-egg lump to go with the gash, too.  I was able to cover the cut with a band-aid, but I think it’s going to leave a scar.  Not used to the feeling of something stuck to his head, Shawn reached up to investigate the band-aid throughout the rest of the evening. 

Raj claims that “Chicks dig scars,” but this chick would really prefer our little man to endure toddler-hood injury free!

Lions and Tigers and... Kindergarteners? Oh, My!

In German class, we continued our lesson from last week, learning the names of Raubtiere (wild animals):  der Elefant (the elephant), der Tiger (the tiger), der Löwe (the lion), das Zebra (the zebra), die Giraffe (the giraffe), and der Affe (the monkey).  Obviously, these were pretty easy to catch on to!  We made a picture using animal stamps for our project.  Nina had another class scheduled after ours today, so she couldn’t wait for Rosemary and her mom in to start class.  (That worked great for us, since we started a new day for Music at Gymboree today.)  Yet, when they did arrive, Rosemary’s mom was visibly upset about something and had to leave to take a phone call for most of class.  While she was gone, Rosemary was fine, but when she returned, she became very clingy and started crying.  There must be something going on at home.  Since we only met them once before, I didn’t feel right asking personal questions.

Today was our first day in our new Music II class with Ms. Kim.  It’s a big class, but saw Paula and her mom (who live in our neighborhood).  We miss having Miss Elizabeth, but we’ll see her on Friday and Ms. Kim did wonderful job too.  After class we had a chance to say hi to Mrs. Mary Beth, Shawn’s old teacher from Levels 3 & 4. 

We came home to find Shelley and Bill in their driveway.  The internet wasn’t working at Shelley’s office, so it was tough for her to get much work done and she came home early.  That meant that Abby got to go home early, too.  It was a really warm day, though a bit soggy, so we were all going to meet outside to play after the kids had had their lunches and naps.  Shawn was a little confused why Abby was leaving so early, but as soon as lunch was over we headed to his room for a much needed nap after a super busy morning.  So much for playing outside with Abby later… naptime lasted for about three hours!  By the time Shawn woke up, the temperature had started to go down again and playing outside didn’t seem quite so appealing.  We managed to go out and do a few laps around the driveway with his Cozy Coupe while I let Baron out, but our fingers and ears started to get cold and the wind started to pick up again, so we didn’t stay out for very long.

Raj closed his office today.  Instead of thetypical work day, he invited kindergarteners from a local school to visit for “Give Kids a Smile Day.”  Ms. Tina directed the whole event.  She carried a special Tooth Fairy wand and even wore a tiara and wings over her scrubs to show her special status.  The team lead groups of children through tours of the office, read stories about taking care of teeth, and showed them that the dentist is someone who helps people and not someone to be afraid of.  They even had a coloring contest.  By the end of the day, over one hundred students toured the office! 

Afterwards, Raj had to drive all of the way to Naperville for an IDA meeting.  He didn’t get home until well after Shawn was in bed.  I know it’s hard on him when they don’t get to see each other.  He’s been working very hard.  Hopefully, he’ll have a chance to take a break soon.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We skipped open gym today and I had full intentions of helping the kids make Valentine’s instead.  Somehow, even without our outing to Gymboree, we seemed to run out of time and were still working on them when Bill arrived to pick up Abby in the afternoon!  It was nice to take a break from activities and do our own thing today though.

After Abby went home, Shawn and I delivered his Valentine and some cupcakes to Raj's office.  We barely caught them as they were cleaning up after their last patient, but it's always fun to visit.  Shawn has named the antique dental chair, "Shawn's Chair" and immediately climbs into it whenever we're there.  Ms. Jeanne even showed him how to push the pedals in the back to make it hum.  (It doesn't actually move any more, but it makes sounds like it's going to!)  Shawn also makes sure that the plaster molds and other teeth that are on display in Raj's office are arranged to his liking, even if sometimes that means they fall on the floor.  Occasionally, he'll stick his fingers inside one of the models and say, “Ouch!”  He also likes to brush the teeth on the giant display mouth, though sometimes it bites him, too. 

I realized after the fact that I didn't catch Shawn making any Valentines before he decided he'd had enough of craft time.  Ooops!  Raj did take this picture a few days ago, so I thought it would be fun to share it today:

(This is now saved as the background on Raj's phone.  Shawn knows it's there and gets very excited when he sees it.  It's pretty funny to watch.)

Dinner and Dancing for Mom and Dad, Playtime at Abby's House for Shawn

Tonight is a Formal Dinner and Dance for the Indian Dental Association of Illinois, for which Raj is the Secretary. He had to go early to help set up, so I took Shawn over to Abby’s house to play for the evening. He was very excited to go to her house. I’m not even sure he noticed when I left! I did fail to tell Shelley and Bill ahead of time that Raj and I were going to an Indian event, so when I arrived at their door dressed in a lehenga, they were more than a bit surprised! I forgot that they’ve never seen me dressed like that before. After chatting with them for a few minutes, I headed to the banquet hall to meet Raj.

   

Later, Shelley brought Shawn back to our house when Abby went to bed. She even got Shawn to sleep! It was nice to be able to have him sleep in his own bed and not have to try to transfer him later. She sent me a photos of the evening at their house:

Gymboree: Our Home Away from Home?

When we got into the car to go to music, Abby surprised me by climbing all the way into her car seat this morning!  Normally, she gets in and plays with the buckles on her seat until I get Shawn strapped in and come around to her side.  Not this time!  She jumped right in her chair without even thinking about it.  Once it had sunk in that she had actually done it, she had a huge smile on her face.  It wasn’t a one-time stroke of luck either – each time we got in the car today, she climbed right into her chair as if she’d been doing it for months.  What a big girl! 

For the past few weeks, Fridays have been extremely busy, perhaps a little too much for one day.  We’d start with music, have a break for lunch and maybe naps, and then go back to Gymboree for Family Gym (and Open Gym depending on the nap situation).  However, today is our last day in this particular music class at Gymboree.  Next week we’re moving music to Wednesdays so we can spread things out a bit.  It should help Fridays seem a little less hectic!

Still, for today, I think we were at Gymboree as much as some of the teachers were!  We had Music, Family Gym, Open Gym, and this evening was the Sweetheart party in honor of Valentine’s Day.  (Abby wasn’t feeling up to joining us at the party this evening, I think she had had enough!)  Shawn and I did a lot of driving back and forth, but we had lots of fun.  Raj met us there after work and Shawn’s eyes absolutely lit up when he saw Dadda walk through the door.  We made a Valentine with his painted hands, ate red velvet cupcakes, “mailed” pretend Valentine’s cards, and, of course, a variety of games and activities.  The Halloween and Christmas parties were a lot of fun, but this one was led by two teachers that Shawn didn’t know.  I think it inhibited him a little.  The teachers were very nice, but it seemed to me that they may have even been trying a little too hard!  There were a few activities Shawn didn’t want to participate in and simply watched the other kids instead.  With the action packed day we’ve had, though, a little people-watching offered some well-deserved downtime!

Oma sent me a web link with someone’s home video of Chicago’s blizzard and asked if we had experienced what was shown in the movie.  The time lapse shows 17 hours of snow in 41 seconds.  Pretty cool to watch, especially if you didn’t have to actually live it!  Anyway, I'd say that's pretty much what we saw from our windows, too.  I took pictures, though didn't have the forethought to do any time-lapse type stuff.  I wish I had done something like that with our grill in the back yard!  Even with street lights on, it got a little hard to see after the sun went down, though that's when the really impressive winds picked up and the streets completely disappeared - even the dips of the curbs vanished.  The land really took on a barren, other-world appearance.  Very eerie. 

I think all of the streets are back to normal now, though parking lots are about half their normal sizes because of the snow mounds that take up the parking spaces.  There were a few special dump trucks that had heaters in them to melt the snow that the plows would load into their backs, but they were really just used on major roads and at the airports where they needed the snow gone quickly and didn't have anywhere to push it out of the way.  We've gotten a few more snow flurries since "the big one," but just enough to make people grumble and get nervous about getting any more - not really anything we would've gotten excited about before. 

Gotta love Chicago weather!

Not Just Books at This Library!

I joined a group called Northwest Suburban Families as a way to find fun things to do with kids and families.  Today, NWSF sponsored a playgroup at the Elk Grove Village Public Library.  The host was a mom, who was originally from Germany, and her two boys.  Being the only ones from the NWSF that showed up because of the cold weather, we talked and got to know each other until she had to pick her older son up from preschool.  It was a shame that we were the only ones there, but the Elk Grove library has an amazing youth “wing”.  In addition to the enormous room dedicated to children’s books, there’s a large corner that serves as a play room.  There was a puppet theater with a whole cast of animal puppets, a wooden castle and house, tables with magnetic toys built into the table tops and magnet wands attached to the underside, a small kitchen complete with dishes and pots and an entire pantry of play food, shelves of dinosaurs and trucks, a table full of Legos… I’m probably leaving things out, but there was such a selection, it’s hard to remember it all!  Abby and Shawn had lots of fun playing in the pretend kitchen.  Shawn didn’t even notice the dinosaurs or trucks until we were there for about an hour.  Abby met another little girl, who was extremely bossy – to kids and adults.  But, Abby played with her very nicely for a little while before she lost interest and rejoined Shawn.  We’ll definitely be going back to see what else the library has to offer little ones.

(And, I'll take pictures next time!)

Intro to German... and Monkeys

Shawn woke at 7:00!!  Luckily, he entertained himself in his crib with some toys and music playing while I got ready for the day.  Then, we were ready when Abby came over at 7:30.

Today was our first day of German class at Language Stars.  We got four free trial classes through a special promotional offer.  I’ve been really excited about starting, but our first class was snowed out last week! 

We met our teacher, Nina, in the front classroom.  There’s only one other girl in the class, three year old Rosemary, who usually has the class  by herself!  (What a great teacher : student ratio!)  Unfortunately, she and her mom showed up 15 minutes late.  Normally, Diego would start Spanish class and if someone’s late, they just join in.  Nina explained that this family is always 15-20 minutes late.  Since they are normally the only ones in the class, it doesn’t affect anyone else and Nina waits for them.  She had told them that we would be joining for a few weeks and to please be on time, but I guess they forgot.  This meant that class was more like 9:30-10:30, rather than 9:10-10:10.  Not a big deal on most days, but today we had plans after class.  Arg.  Oh, well.  Anyway, Shawn and Abby took advantage of the extra time to play with the box of toys and Nina and I got to get to know a little about each other.  Once the others arrived and we got started, German class was a lot of fun.  We opened with the nursery rhyme:

Alle Meine Entchen / All My Ducklings

Alle meine Entchen / All my ducklings

schwimmen auf dem See, / Swim in the lake,

schwimmen auf dem See, / Swim in the lake,

Köpfchen in das Wasser, / Head under water,

Schwänzchen in die Höh! / Tail up high!

This was a blast from the past because, although I didn’t remember all of the words, I vividly remember singing this song as a little girl.  The tune was certainly familiar and I caught on to most of the words pretty quickly, though the enlarged poster on the wall with the lyrics was still a helpful guide.  As we sang, the kids put a bunch of rubber ducks into a bin of water so they could “swim in the lake.”  Nina even pointed out a rubber duck that had its “head under water, tail up high!” 

I think all of the Parent and Tot classes have the same curriculum topics each week, regardless of the language.  As it turns out, the activities are similar too, though the teachers present them in different ways.  So, today we learned about colors, just as we had in Spanish.  We even did the same activity with the pictures of an elephant that we did in Spanish last week with Diego’s sub.  Abby knew right away what to do with the colored scarfs and the pictures of the strangely colored elephants. 

Ein Elefant in lila / A Purple Elephant

Ein Elefant in lila, / A purple elephant,

In lila, in lila, / Purple, purple,

Ein Elefant in lila, / A purple elephant,

Hast du noch nie gesehen, / You’ve never seen one,

Und ich auch nicht / And neither have I.

Fortunately, German class had snack time just like Abby and Shawn were accustomed.  And, as luck would have it, there were even goldfish.  That immediately got Shawn’s attention and he decided that his hunger for goldfish outweighed his shyness of the strangers in the class.  It was the only time throughout the session that he spoke, even though he was still following along and participating quietly.

After the snacks were cleaned up, we did the same project of making fruit loop necklaces as we had done in Spanish before.  This time there was a plastic string to use as the necklace instead of yarn, which was much easier to thread through the fruit loops (at least, those that weren’t eaten first!), but it was very hard to keep tied once the necklace was done. 

It was interesting to hear the tunes of some of the same songs that we’ve learned in Spanish, but with lyrics in German.  My mainly mono-linguistic tongue and brain got mixed up more than a few times.  I wouldn’t be surprised if, in addition to what I’ve learned in Spanish class, a long lost word from my high school French classes or even a tentative word from teaching myself Hindi got jumbled into phrases I tried to mutter today! 

After German class was over, we quickly jumped into the car and headed to an outing sponsored by Mother & More.  During our car ride to Little Monkey Bizness in Wheaton, we listened to quiet, instrumental music.  The linguistic part of my brain was tired and needed a break! 

Little Monkey Bizness was a lot of fun.  We had such a busy and exciting morning that we didn’t stay for very long because both kids were overdue for a nap.  In fact, at one point I found Abby trying to lay down to get some shut-eye in some of the playground equipment!  If that’s not a sign of a child who needs a nap, I don’t know what is!  But, we did get an hour of good playtime in and I got lots of pictures of Shawn and Abby being very independent and exploring the equipment.