Shawn's Spring Karate Tournament

Shawn's Spring Tournament was this morning. He did a great job! I'm so proud of his performance today. Unfortunately, he was devastated when he missed 3rd place by 1/10 of a point. While watching the other students at his level compete in his group, Raj and I honestly thought he had it. Still, I was impressed that Shawn was able to identify what move he could improve upon (the same one that all the students at his level struggle with): the hook kick, round kick combination.

It's official, we have a 1st grader among us!

First tooth fairy visit to Shawn

Shawn lost his first tooth today! I was convinced that it still had a few days (or even weeks!) before it would come out - boy, was I wrong!

We were eating dinner and Shawn started playing with his wiggly tooth. All of a sudden it popped out! I think it scared him a little. He put it on the table and just stared at it for a minute while I was cheering & clapping! When it finally sunk in what had happened, he got excited and yelled for Raj, who had gone to the kitchen for something. He came rushing back to the dining room to find a slightly bloody gap in Shawn's nervous smile. He shoved a bit of paper towel into the hole and told Shawn to bite down on it. He cleaned off the tooth and put it in a ziploc bag so it wouldn't get lost before the transaction with the Tooth Fairy. Shawn carried around the ziplock bag for the rest of the night.

Shawn was very concerned that tonight's tornado watch was going to interfere with Tooth Fairy's arrival or that a tornado might blow away his tooth! (I can't imagine where he gets his worrying from!) In an effort to distract him from the severe weather outside, Raj told him a story of his first lost tooth:

At school recess, Raj wasn't getting along with a girl in his class. In fact, she smacked him across the face with her gloves! His tooth came out and he was so terrified that he ran home! His mom was surprised when he walked in the door and then school called to see if he had shown up there. It turns out that no one had told Raj that permanent teeth would replace the baby teeth and he thought his teeth were all just going to all fall out. Luckily, someone at school found his tooth and saved it for him in a mini-manilla envelope.  

Shawn thought that was pretty funny.

We also thanked him for his timing: yesterday Raj would have missed it, tomorrow I'd miss it. During the school day, we'd both miss it. Tonight at dinner worked out well! (Plus it was a good excuse for mint chocolate chip ice cream.)

Raj helped him set up a trap to try to catch Tooth Fairy in action. (They tied floss all over the foyer.) After that, Shawn and I read a story called, You Think It's Easy Being the Tooth Fairy? by Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt. It's a very cute story from her point of view. (Maybe next time he won't try to make her job more difficult!) He carefully put his tooth in a special tooth container, put it under his pillow, and reluctantly went to sleep.

Raj said the tooth is officially identified as tooth O. (Baby teeth are lettered & adult teeth are numbered.) Tooth Fairy marked it on a certificate and wrote a tiny letter (1/16 of a sheet of paper!). Both were stamped with an official tooth-shaped hole punch, rolled up into a scroll, and tied with floss. She also left money covered in gold glitter glue rolled & tied with floss - and a business card to her favorite dentist. Shawn woke up 30 minutes before his alarm went off to see if she had gotten the message to come!

Hard to believe my baby is growing up, but things like this won't let me deny it

Kindergarten!

See the Story here.

Shawn has no training wheels!

See him in action here.

Shawn's instructional shoe tying video

Learn to tie your shoes from the Master Tie-er.

Shawn 5th Birthday invite

Spelling

Shawn: What does OBOXYX spell?

Raj: I don't know.

Shawn: MOM!!! I just spelled 'I don't know!' With all the right letters in the right order!!!

Karate Gold Belt

I love Shawn's look at me at the end of his test. "I did it, Mom!"
I missed the first half of his test because the kids sitting in front of the class were also testing with him (for stripes on their white belts) and they blocked my view. Oh, well. Shawn tested for the gold belt by himself, so I had a clear view of him. It's so fun watching him take such pride in his accomplishment.

On the road again

After my trip down Memory Lane, it was time to head home. We stopped once for Shawn to pee into a corn field. (That's what happens when he doesn't give me enough notice to find an actual bathroom!) It worked out well because we didn't need to wake Lilly in order for him to go. About halfway through the drive, Lilly woke up and made it clear she needed a break.
We stopped in Bloomington for a stretch and a snack. To my surprise, there were no changing tables in the bathroom - there were special shower facilities, but no changing tables?!?! Arg. So, Lilly got a chilly open-air change in the car. Of course, her diaper blow-out (which are so seldom I could probably count on one hand) necessitated a wardrobe change. Sure would've been easier and warmer on a changing table, but we managed to get the job done. Shawn was excited to share a chocolate frosty with me during our late lunch and Lilly ate half a banana and some Cheerios (though it looked like we left half of her container on the floor under her highchair).

Back on the road, we watched an incredible sunset, which seemed to surround us with subtle rainbows. I guess one advantage to having little in terms of landscape, is the 360° of sunset views on evenings like this.
Once it was hard to see much out his window, Shawn entertained me with some original songs 
so I handed him my phone to record it. I wasn't sure if he knew how (that's what the "No, no, nooooo!" was all about in the beginning). Little did I know, he was already recording! Not sure if he can still sing the same songs, but he's really gotten into a singing mood lately - love it!
There was a slight slowdown near Channahon due to construction, but it didn't last long and we were close to home by that point.
When we pulled into our driveway, Shawn couldn't wait to tell Raj how much he missed him. It was sweet to see their massive bear hugs. Raj had done some great staging work throughout the house while we were gone (though it was hard to tell once we got my car unloaded) in preparation for our first showing earlier today. The boys wrestled and played to get out Shawn's pent up energy from the road trip. We  snacked for dinner and cuddled in front of a movie (Toy Story) until we went to bed. It's good to be home.

London Bridge is falling down

At dinner, Shawn was suddenly overcome with concern.

Shawn: I hope Zibby stays safe in her new home and doesn't fall in the water!
Me: I think she's really enjoying her new home [in England]. Why would she fall into water?
Shawn: Because of the bridge!
Me: ???
Shawn: The one that keeps falling down!
Me: [palm-face]

It took an extensive conversation for me to convince him that the London Bridge is not a danger to his good friend.

(On a side note, I'm pretty proud that my 4 yr old knows that London is in England!)

Shawn's Halloween Salute

We're donating some of our Halloween candy to the troops. I was tempted to sort through Shawn's stash 'for him' when he wasn't around just to avoid the stress of parting with the treats. (Honestly, there's no reason for 1 child to have this much!!) But, I decided to involve him in it instead. I'm so glad I did! He carefully divided his loot, giving away not just the kind he doesn't like, but divvying up the candy he enjoys, too. He was really excited about giving candy to soldiers! (And there's still more than enough for Raj and me to 'share' with him!)

I love when kids surprise us! Such a big, patriotic heart.

Mom's copilots

A Question

S2: Where did Aunt Jennifer go?

Me: Back to her home, Honey. A while ago!

S2: Oh, why???

Me: Because that's where she lives.

S2: Why can't she stay here?

Me: I would like that, too, but J2, E, & D would miss her and she would miss them.

S2: Oh, ok. Are we going to see her again soon?

Me: Well, not for a little while, but we'll see her at Christmas time at Oma & Opa's house! 

S2: With J2, E, & D??!!

Me: Of course!

S2: Ok. I can't wait!

"Wearing" isn't the same as "getting dressed"

I 'wear' Lilly regularly, so Shawn asked if I'd help him put Clickey the Dolphin into a Moby wrap, too!

Bath time

Sept 25

Raj had a lot to do after work this evening, so he asked if I could give Lilly her bath tonight.  Are you kidding? I'd love to! Shawn jumped at the chance to "help" me, too.

Baths are normally Raj's territory, which I sometimes eavesdrop or spy on, but I try not to infringe on this special  time. On the other hand, Lilly hasn't exactly  been a huge fan of baths, so I think Raj might have been relieved that I'd take care of it tonight.   (A combination of being hungry and/or tired tends to complicate the limited time that Raj has with her in the evenings during the week.)

 

Lilly showed some apprehension at my bathtub skills at first, but I distracted her with a few of Shawn's  bazillion bath toys and she relaxed from there.  Shawn was eager to get her more toys and help get her sudsy (I think he was itching for the opportunity to gently rinse the soap from her hair - or dump a bucket of water over her head! But, I distracted him and moved on quickly.)  Baron anxiously stood guard tub-side.  I was left with very little room between him and Shawn perched on the toilet seat, but we got the job done.

We ended with a massage, which Lilly often gets agitated about (I'll never understand it), but tonight, she actually seemed to enjoy. After warming up in pjs and topping off with a Mommy milk night cap, she fell fast asleep.

Afterwards, Shawn did a great job getting ready for bed tonight.  Until... he got tangled in his zip-up footie pajamas as he was trying to undress to pee.  Standing directly in front of the toilet, he managed to get more pee on his underwear, pjs, and self than in the actual pot! Arg.  So, I tossed him into the shower, too.  

At first, Shawn fought me pretty hard about the shower. (He normally takes baths and had just taken one last night.) But try as he might, once I turned the water on, he didn't have much choice but to get wet! Moments later, he had gotten over his obstinacy and was having fun  stomping in the shower puddles and playing shower-basketball. I was impressed that he actually went along with my coaching to soap up and even wash his hair! (The few times he's taken showers before, I've needed to be much more hands on, especially in washing his hair.) Eventually, I needed to turn the water off, in spite of pleas for "just a few more minutes, Mom!" Unlike Lilly, Shawn has always enjoyed post-bath/shower massages. So, we made sure to dry quickly to get to the good part! Then he jumped into his pjs. (We'll skip over a little tiff during toothbrushing) ...and he hopped into bed so I could read 'Where the Wild Things Are' by Maurice Sendak.

While we were reading, Raj came home and looked exhausted from his day. Aside from a kiss goodnight to Shawn, I feel badly that he didn't see the kids at all today. I'm glad I was able to take care of baths for him. (I had fun doing it - shhhhh!)

Shawn's white belt

Video of Shawn's white belt

It's entertaining for me to see the difference between Shawn's semi-coordinated, high effort flailing at his 3rd class and the much more in synch & deliberate actions of kids who have been practicing just a few weeks longer than him. He's so proud of himself after each class. I'm excited to watch him grow.

Instructors: Mr. Arnaldo Rosas & Mr. Tony Roller

Little sister

Shawn woke around 4:30 am and wanted to tell Raj about our date night last night. He eventually got back in bed. But, around 5:30 am, he came to Lilly's room looking for me. After a bathroom trip, water, adjusting his blankets, etc. he (and I) was still awake at 6:30 am. Rather than work to get him back to sleep when he'd need to wake in 30 minutes, I invited him to have a breakfast date with me while Daddy and Lilly slept. We watched he sun rise, had breakfast (which he normally eats at school), and read two books.  It was a great morning, even though he was still not thrilled about going to school.

Later...
Me: Lilly, it's time to get Shawn from school!
Lilly:

Still later:
Apparently, Shawn was talking about our dates all day to his teachers. They informed me that Shawn said we are having another date tonight, but we have other plans I think he'll enjoy just as much...

At home, we brought two kitchen chairs, drinks, and snacks outside with our bag of library books. We sat in the shade by our front step, reading book after book, enjoying the gorgeous day. (High 73°F, sunny)
A few hours later, it was time for karate class. It was his third class: promotion to white belt. Not surprisingly, he fell asleep during the five minute drive it takes to get there. He was really excited about getting his belt, so I didn't feel too badly about dragging him out of the car once we got there. He woke up quickly, though I could tell he was a bit dazed and wasn't focusing very well. (Not that anyone in the group of mostly 4 year olds really 'focuses' all that well!)
The teachers went over each student's progress card and determined who was ready for a new belt or stripe. Shawn was one of three. The class went through warm ups and  exercises. They practice chunbi (CHOON-bee) a lot. It means "Ready: Stand with outside edge of feet parallel, inside edge of feet spaced shoulder width apart; place fists one inch apart and one inch in front of belt knot." It's a call to attention, but they also practice 30 seconds of holding still regardless of distractions from the instructors (requests for high fives, checks for untied shoes though they're barefoot, etc.) Shawn is very proud of himself during these because he doesn't let the instructors trick him into moving, other than smiles. They also do a sit down - stand up game that really tests their listening skills. The instructors call out silly commands, made up words, and rhyming words, but the only ones that the kids are supposed to respond to are 'sit down' and 'chunbi.' It's encouraging to see how well Shawn listens and follows directions in this class!  Later, they run through an obstacle course a few times, occasionally having to stop in their tracks for chunbi.

 

 In the last few minutes, the parents of the three students being tested/promoted were invited into the room for a better view of the process. (I think my being there & recording it contributed to Shawn's lack of focus, but he did what he needed to do.) Only the students receiving their white belts and black belts get a certificate with their promotion. Shawn thought that was pretty special. The instructors do a nice job emphasizing the commitment and effort each promotion has demonstrated and that future ones require. Painted on the back wall of their room is the motto, 

"Black belts started as white belts…they just never quit!"

Instructors: Mr. Arnaldo Rosas & Mr. Tony Roller

  I picked up Raj at home, but then surprised Shawn with dinner at Pilot Pete's. I even got the waitress to bring Shawn a cup of root beer to turn his kids' meal ice cream dessert into a float. Happy Day!

Then, bath, quiet time, story, and BED! (Aside from the few moments of shut-eye in the car before karate, I'm shocked he's still functioning! He must've been running off of momentum alone.) What a (very long, yet exciting) day!

Love you!

As Shawn rushed out of the house full of excitement to go to a friend's house to play, he said, "Bye, Mom! Love you!" And gave me a giant hug & kiss.
He did the same to Lilly ♥!!!
Then, to Baron (our dog) :)
And, as I waved to him from the front window, I watched him do the same to the pillar at our front step, "Bye, House! Love you!" {hug}

He is coming back, right??

The Little Boots Rodeo in Elk Grove Village

Ride 'em Cowboy Shawn!