Spanish Class for Lilly

Raj special ordered Shawn a Star Wars calendar and some stickers. The plan for the month of May is that Shawn will earn stickers for getting ready in the morning and for bed at night with 2 or fewer prompts to stay on task. If he reaches his goal of 40 stickers by the end of May, we'll go to LegoLand. (Shawn got a free year pass from his 5th birthday party that we didn't activate until this winter!) This morning he earned his first sticker and he got another at bed time - a great start.

Lilly, on the other hand, had a rough morning. She had two meltdowns before 9:30 am and I'm not really sure what triggered either of them. I was ready to call it a day and go back to bed! Luckily, dragging her kicking and screaming (literally) to Spanish class was what we both needed. We studied modes of transportation, sang "The Wheels on the Bus," colored a steering wheel that we 'drove' around the room, played with some vehicle puzzles, and bounced plush vehicles on a parachute. Though she didn't care a whole lot about the topic, she does love class!

We were able to leave Tiger Lilly behind and enjoyed the rest of the day. We spent the afternoon in the backyard getting some much needed Vitamin D - from the sun & 'D'irt 😎. (I got a little more color than I had intended, but it's not too bad.)  Lilly practiced swinging (hanging by her tummy and the usual sitting position) and has mastered, "Mommy push more, please!" We laid in the grass and sang songs. We checked on the residents of our bird house. Someone's moving in!
And Lilly helped me repot a few house plants. I'm sure they were happy to be outside, too. We giggled when a big, juicy worm surprised us in one of the pots! We moved him to a box Shawn set up for his 'pet' worms. He was thrilled to see it after school.

Lilly fell asleep in time for a quick nap before I got a call from Ferson explaining that Shawn's bus broke down before getting the kids from school and a new bus was on its way, but kids would be 15-30 minutes late being dropped off. No big deal.

Lilly was excited to show Shawn that the little bubbling water fountain was turned back on in the garden outside of the church where their Spanish classes are. Lilly and I would've loved to spend Shawn's class time back outside, but as the official bathroom chaperone in exchange for a tuition break, we settled into our usual seats in the hallway with a bag of crayons and paper as we listened to beginners' music lessons (piano, guitar, violin, etc.) screeching from one room and Spanish class echoing from another.

Not a bad day to start the month of May.

I Want to SCREAM! (in a very good way)

I anxiously called my doctor’s office to make schedule my first prenatal appointment, but got their answering service. Too early. ARGH!! Another ten minutes later, I got through. I have to wait until I’m eight weeks pregnant before they’ll see me… August 30th may as well be an eternity from now! I remember having to wait when we found out we were pregnant with Shawn, but I didn’t remember it being so long. Luckily, according to an online Pregnancy Calendar , I’m already three weeks pregnant, so just 5 more to go… Will I make it?

It’s so hard not to announce our news to everyone I see!


I dropped Shawn and Abby off at Spanish class and had to leave the center in order to stop myself from talking too much to the staff. I camped at Panera a few blocks away instead. While I had a list of things I should have been doing, I browsed pregnancy websites and tried to remind myself of what to do while pregnant – what types of foods to eat (and not), etc. I downloaded pregnancy apps to my iPhone…

I’m pregnant!!

 

I can’t concentrate on anything else!

Ok, I'll try.

 

After having a few weeks of inclement weather, Shawn and Abby were thrilled that class was outside at the park today. They were excited to tell me that they put bandaids on a stuffed teddy bear and a kitty cat coloring page because they were pretending the animals had 'ouchies.' They learned words about being sick or hurt, though they couldn’t tell me what they were. (It's a good thing they brought home a sheet explaining different vocabulary, so I can attemp to help them practice.)

While Abby napped, Shawn and I spied on a baby rabbit. He looked about palm size and grateful to have found shade behind some planters in the backyard. I wanted to offer him cool water and greens, but I knew that opening the door would startle him away. Still, it was sweet to watch the little bunny rest.

Eeek! I’m pregnant!!

Look Who's Growing Up!

In the past few weeks, we have had a lot of changes. I already wrote about how Shawn transitioned from a toddler bed to a full sized big boy bed. Since then, he has also dropped his nap in exchange for having a much, much earlier bedtime. It’s been wonderful - instead of going to bed at 11:30 pm, he's not going to bed closer to 8:30 pm! The whole family is happier with his more reasonable bedtime!


We also got to put on his new bed sheets with cars, trucks, and roads on them. They go really well with the mural on his walls!

Plus, Shawn has figured out how to put his own shoes on. He and Raj went to Meijer and got new Toy Story shoes with characters Woody and Buzz Lightyear on them. These new sneakers even flash when he walks. Sometimes I catch him stomping just to see them flicker! He is very excited about putting them on by himself. Thank goodness for Velcro!


Every once in a while, Shawn wants to wear underwear instead of diapers / pull-ups. Potty training is proving to be a very, very slow process. But, he's getting better at it.  He understands that babies wear diapers and big kids wear underwear, that kids in diapers don’t get to do as many fun things as big kids in underwear do (like preschool, the kids’ land at Ikea, etc.). He’s staying dry a lot longer in between changes is asking to wear underwear more often. Now, that it's not every day, but it's happening more often than it used to. Sure wish he was one of the ‘trained in a weekend’ types, but everyone reminds me that this isn’t something that can be rushed… sigh.


Shawn has even had his first activity without me involved! He and Abby went to a ‘Dora and Diego's Super Scavenger Hunt’ Spanish class at Language Stars. (The class description was, "Oh no! A group of baby animals is lost in the jungle, and they need help! Can you help Dora and Diego find them? Come join the super scavenger hunt to make a super rescue!") It was a Kids Only class for 3-5 year olds. (Technically, he didn't qualify for the class because he’s too young, but because he knows the center, the routines, many of the teachers, and has been attending classes for so long, the director invited him in anyway. Plus, it didn’t hurt that Abby was going to be there, too.)

When they arrived, the students each got a name tag and drawstring backpack. Inside the backpack was a pair of binoculars, a map, and vocabulary page to bring home.

 

They got to draw on their backpacks with crayons. I think their favorite part was wearing the binoculars as they searched the center for hidden animals. Very cute!

 

They had so much fun at this special Spring Break class that we've agreed to sign them up for the Kids Only class this summer. Another bonus about the summer class is that they take the children outside to a park - not to have recess outside, but to have an outdoor classroom. This allows the students to learn new vocabulary about the world around them and extend the lessons beyond the confines of the classroom. The Kids Only classes are also a longer time. They've been used to having classes last about an hour, while their new classes will be 85 minutes. Many exciting changes! However, I'm torn about moving them up to the next level because I'm certainly going to miss my Spanish lessons in the Parent and Tots classes… but I guess it's not reeeeeeeally my class. Shawn and Abby are doing very well and are ready to do some things on their and learn some independence. I'll just have to figure out another way to learn a few extra words here and there!


So we've had many changes in the last few weeks! It's been very exciting. Shawn is making it very obvious to me that he's not my little baby anymore.

…I’m not sure if I’m ready for that!

An Adventure to Sonny Acre Farm

Spanish class focused on body parts.  Our friend, Gavin, wasn’t in class again, but a little girl, named Mia, joined us for the first time.  (I’m not sure if she’s in our class now or if it was just a one time deal.)  Shawn loves the opening song, Buenos Dias, Amigos!  Though he only chimes in to reply, “Muy Bien!” he does it with gusto!  Abby sang along with the ending song Hasta Luego, Amigos! including hand motions, of course!  Our project was simply a coloring sheet, but we had more fun singing and dancing to Mi cuerpo hace música / My Body Makes Music:

Mi cuerpo hace música (track 10, Around the World with Language Stars) Mi cuerpo, mi cuerpo hace música. (2x) ¡Mis manos hacen clap, clap, clap! (2x) ¡Mis pies hacen tomp, tomp, tomp! (2x) ¡Mi boca hace la, la, la! (2x) ¡Mi cuerpo hace cha, cha, cha! (2x)

My Body Makes Music (track 10, Around the World with Language Stars) My body, my body makes music. (2x) My hands go clap, clap, clap! (2x) My feet go stomp, stomp, stomp! (2x) My mouth goes la, la, la! (2x) My body goes cha, cha, cha! (2x)

After class, we headed for an adventure in West Chicago at Sonny Acres Farm with Mothers & More for a Mom and Tot Outing.  The newsletter said:

Let's enjoy the day at the pumpkin farm. At Sonny Acres you'll find everything relating to Halloween, fall and harvest time - including huge mounds of pumpkins! They also have hay rides, haunted barn, amusement rides, pony rides, and a Kiddie Koral where little ones can run and play.

What a day for an outing!  It was 80°F without a cloud in sight!  (This is October, right?  In Chicago?  Really?)  We met the other moms and kids in the Kiddie Koral.  It was a fenced in area with lots of things to explore: tunnels, a tractor, slides, fun Halloween props…

When we left the Koral, Shawn and Abby were drawn to some rabbits, chickens, goats, sheep, ducks, and llama (or is that an alpaca??  I really don’t know.)

Suddenly, they realized there was a mini-train ride right behind them and the animals were no longer exciting enough!  I restocked my supply of tickets and they eagerly hopped aboard.  …Until it started moving, then Abby didn’t think it was such a great idea anymore.  She finished her ride, but was sure to be the first to get off.  On the other hand, Shawn loved every moment of the ride and would have stayed on all afternoon if he could have!

After revisiting the animals, we went on a 15-20 minute wagon ride pulled by a tractor through a ‘haunted’ forest.  Though it was set up to be scary for nighttime visitors, in broad daylight, without spooky sounds, lights, or animatronics, it was perfectly suitable for little ones.  They even had child-friendly characters hidden among the ghosts, goblins, and skeletons, like a cardboard cut-out of Big Bird perched in a tree!

 We finished our outing wandering through rows and mounds of pumpkins.

It was a great way to spend the day!  When we got home, Shelley was home early from work.  So, Shawn and I said goodbye to Abby and headed off to a well deserved naptime.

All day long, Shawn was having a pants problem kind of day.  Not just pants, but a pull-ups problem too!  Every few minutes I’d notice that he was imitating a plumber!  Oy!  A very (overly) concerned (read: nosey) mom from our group actually asked me if I’d stopped dressing Shawn in diapers when she saw his pants slipping down.  I tried to explain that we’re potty training and done with diapers, but that he wears pull-up type diapers when he sleeps and when we leave the house.  When he’s running around as much as he was this afternoon, his little wiggly waist just doesn’t have enough girth to keep the darn things up very long.  And, when we’re at home, it’s even more of a struggle with underwear… but there’s rarely an audience there, so it’s not a big deal.  And, really, is a little toddler butt that big of a deal anyway?  Who doesn’t like toddler butt??!?!

Speaking of potty training, Shawn filled out another Potty Paper with stickers this afternoon.  He pulled an ice cream truck out of the toy surprise bag.  It’s fun to watch him pick his surprise toy because he knows he’s not supposed to look inside and can only put a hand in.  (I’ll try to remember to catch it on video next time.)  Since he’s not familiar with what an ice cream truck is, I tried explaining it to him, but realized it’s something that’s better seen in person to really understand.  Oh, well.  It’s a new truck to add to his fleet.

Note:  Steve Jobs, of Apple Computers, succumbed to pancreatic cancer today.  It’s interesting to hear, read, and see people’s reactions to the passing of such an influential man.

This morning, Shawn asked me, “See Daydo (Diego)? Play with Daydo’s (Diego’s) toys?”  Yup!  It’s Spanish Class today!  Once we got to Language Stars, it took Shawn a little while to warm up, but he was chiming in before long.  Abby made an attempt to say, “Me llamo Abby (My name is Abby),” but could only get out “Me… Abby!”  Even when we’d prompt her for the missing word, she’d skip it and go straight to “Abby!”  She knew exactly what was going on and what we were doing though.  Both of them were fully participated in the Buenos Dias / Good Morning song, including giving two big thumbs up when we say, “¡Muy bien! (Very well!)”

Good Morning (track 1, Around the World with Language Stars) Good morning friends, How are you? Very well! (2x) Hello friends, (3x) How are you? Very well! We’re well! We’re well! We’re well, well, well! (2x)

Buenos días (track 1, Around the World with Language Stars) Buenos días amigos, ¿Cómo están? ¡Muy bien! (2x) Buenos días amigos, (3x) ¿Cómo están? ¡Muy bien! ¡Estamos bien, estamos bien, Estamos bien, bien, bien! (2x)

This unit is about naming body parts.  We focused on la cabeza (head), el brazo (arm), and la pierna (leg) today.  We gave a teddy bear a bath, naming his parts including los manos (hands) and los pies (feet).  While he got clean, we sang En la tina/In the Bathtub.

In The Bathtub (to the tune of “This Old Man”) In the bathtub I wash My arms and my hands My legs, face and hair Now I am clean.

En la tina (To the tune of “This Old Man”) En la tina yo me lavo Mis brazos y mis manos Mis piernas, mi cara y mi pelo Ahora ya estoy limpio.

Our project involved making funny faces on a piece of paper by gluing los ojos (eyes), las orejas (ears), la nariz (nose), and la boca (mouth), which were all a review, onto the frame of a face and coloring el pelo (the hair).  Diego worked with Shawn while I helped Abby.  When we were done, Diego confessed, “Mine is not as cute as you!”  Now, I am absolutely certain that he meant, “The funny face project that Shawn and I made with cockeyed features did not turn out as well as the one that Abby and you made.”  …But, I like the way his broken English version sounded better!

At lunch the kids really wanted to share their food!

While both kids napped in the afternoon, a neighbor pulled out of his driveway and hit both his garbage can and his recycling cart that were still on his curb from this morning.  He didn’t stop to take them inside or even to move them out of the way.  He just left them toppled over half-way into the street.  I guess he must have been late for work or something!  It would’ve been kind of funny, except for the fact that Baron jolted into guard dog mode and all of the commotion woke up Abby, somehow Shawn amazingly slept through it all.  Baron calmed down pretty quickly, but Abby, who was scared out of her wits, needed a little help catching her breath and relaxing in order to go back to sleep again.  (Thanks a lot, Frank!)  About 15 minutes after she fell back to sleep, there was a delivery to the house next door.  The delivery truck’s door made more racket which woke Abby up.  Luckily, this time she wasn’t frightened.  She just thought Daddy was here to pick her up.  When I didn’t go in to get her, she simply drifted off… again.  Poor kid.

It has been a GORGEOUS day!!  It’s only 45F, but the sun is dazzling, the sky is bright blue, and the big, puffy clouds remain to be giant, floating cotton balls and haven’t turned gray or threatening… so far.  (Rain is in the forecast in the next day or so).  Even though it is still pretty chilly in the shade, which includes half of our house at any given point in the day, I opened the windows and doors to let in the fresh air.  On the sunny side of our house, it was actually a little warmer outside than inside!  I did close the windows in the kids’ rooms at naptime, since the breeze cooled down the rooms considerably.  Besides, the landscaping crew was out and about today, so closing the windows at naptime helped muffle any noise they might make as they go by.  (It wasn’t enough to block out Frank’s garbage can collision or the clatter from the delivery truck though!)

Word of the Day: Loquacious

Shawn interrupted our lunch today with, “Ah-ehm, ah-ehm, ah-ehm! (tapping his throat) Tengo, tengo, tengo sed!” ( I am, I am, I am thirsty!) It took me a moment to figure out what was going on and that he wasn’t just speaking in jibberish before I realized he was trying to sing part of a song we do at Language Stars before water is served during snack time. Sure enough, I’d forgotten to give him his sippy cup. Always full of surprises…

We went to Open Gym at Gymboree and saw some old friends, who we haven’t seen in a while. Abby was excited to play with a few girls a little older than her. Shawn joined a game of basketball with a little boy who exclaimed, “Slam dunk!” each time his ball went through the hoop. Before I knew it, Shawn was calling out, “Slam dunk!” each time he threw the ball - into the basketball hoop or elsewhere. (I’m not sure I would’ve been able to interpret what he was trying to say if I hadn’t seen the story unfold, but since I knew the context, it was pretty funny!)

We didn’t stay at Open Gym the whole allotted time because Abby was giving me the impression that she was getting tired. She’d find a ball and then sit on my lap to watch the other children playing. If she lost her grip on her ball and it rolled away, she’d get up to retrieve it, but otherwise she was content to sit and watch, sometimes even leaning her head back on me. That was my cue that it was time to go.

Moments after pulling out of the Gymboree parking lot, we saw a semi-truck with the silhouette of a horse in its logo. Abby was very excited to see the horse and gave out an energized, “Neigh! Neigh! Neigh!” And, for the entire 18.1 miles and 40+ minutes it took us to get home (I stopped at an ATM along the way), Abby impersonated an extremely loquacious pony. (Loquacious – good word, eh?) I’m not sure what happened to Sleepy Abby that I saw back at Gymboree, but we must have left her behind! This Abby’s rhythmic repetition was so mind-numbing that it actually put Shawn to sleep!

When we got home, I parked in the garage and left Shawn in his car seat to nap. (With the rocky sleep he’s been having lately, there was no sense in disrupting him.) On the other hand, Abby was no longer interested in sleeping. So, she put Blue Baby Doll in time out (I wonder what she did!), had a leisurely snack, and then I put her in the Pack & Play. She talked to herself for a good 30 minutes (including a few versus of No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed!") before finally drifting off. In fact, Shawn woke from his nap before Abby did, which NEVER happens. I even texted Bill that Abby was still sleeping, so he decided to keep working until I let him know that she was up. When she finally did wake up, Shawn joined me to get her out of bed. He rushed up to the side of her Pack & Play and asked, “Abby, have a good nap, Abby?” and she answered with a wholehearted, “Yeah!” I would say so!

Car Seats, Costco, and Party Hostess - Phew! What a Day!

There was no Spanish class this morning.  Language Stars is on Spring Break.  Instead, we took a fieldtrip to Costco.

As we were getting in the car, both kids climbed right in to their car seats!  Surprise!  Shawn can do it now, too!  Just like Abby’s first time by herself, he got in as if he had been doing it easily for months.  The give away that it was a new conquest was his immense squeal of delight, gleaming smile from ear to ear, and contagious giggle that followed.  Now, for their next goal:  buckling themselves in!

At Costco, we found a new dog bed for Baron.  However, just like everything else sold there, it was economy sized!  Since we had already been filling the cart, there was no room inside for the gigantic cushion, so I balanced it on top of the other groceries.  It actually worked very well because when it was positioned just right, Shawn and Abby could lean way back and rest their heads on the super plush, fuzzy bed.  They had the softest shopping cart seats of any other kids in the warehouse! 

A few aisles later, I was looking for a barrel of mini pretzel squares.  (I think they’re called Snaps, but I’m not sure.)  When I couldn’t find them, Shawn caught on to my disappointment and echoed, “Bubber, bubber, bubber!” (Bummer, bummer, bummer!)  Abby giggled each time she heard us protest.  (I think we even got a couple of smiles from other shoppers walking by!)  We did find pretzel rods instead, so it wasn’t a total failure.  Shawn actually would rather have the big sticks or full sized pretzels anyway, but I still like the size of the mini shapes.  I had to distract him from seeing the new barrel in the cart, because he wanted to dive right in!

Naptime brought on more freckle kisses from Shawn.  I just wanted to give him a huge hug and not let go. 

This evening I hosted my first (and probably only) Tastefully Simple party.  Thanks to everyone who came.  Abby, Anna, Veer, and Shawn played with Raj and Veer’s Dad (Shrenik) in the basement, while the ladies sampled the goods in the living room and dining room.  I will admit that, while hosting these parties isn’t my ‘thing’, I did have fun having everyone over – to socialize if nothing else. 

When the house finally emptied and quieted down and I finished cleaning up the dishes and leftovers.  It was well past bedtime (for all of us).  Shawn had a tough time going to sleep and I had a tough time staying asleep!

Buenas Noches, Mis Chicos

The new toddler bed setup must have been really exciting for Shawn because he woke up early this morning (6:30 am).  He switched between being awake and asleep off and on until 7:15 am, when I had to get ready for Abby to come over.  I got out some of his toys, turned on some music, and closed the door.  Raj was impressed that Shawn could entertain himself, unsupervised, and not get himself into trouble AND that he didn’t melt down when I left him alone in his room.  (I think part of the secret is that Shawn’s still a little tired in the morning, so he’s not exactly bouncing off the walls!  We’ve also practiced having short time periods to himself for months.  We started with just a few minutes and then built up from there.  I think it’s important that kids have a chance to do their own thing without adults directing their play.)

In Spanish class, Abby and Shawn were super hyper.  (It didn’t help that their friend, Xander, runs around throughout each class and his mom just looks helpless as to what to do with him.  She's a very nice person, but I'm nervous that Xander is going to have trouble once he gets into a structured setting like school, unless either he matures and figures it out on his own or his mom steps in to help him get under control.)  Normally, both Abby and Shawn are very interested in Diego’s lessons and activities, but Xander must have been more engaging today.  It’s a good thing that we were just reviewing counting today and they weren’t missing new stuff!  On the other hand, maybe a new topic would have kept them more attentive! Hmm…  Diego’s project was simply a coloring page of a girl holding balloons.  Abby liked the balloons, but I don’t think any of the kids paid much attention to actually counting them. 

Later, Abby’s nap was about an hour and 45 minutes.  Shawn took his first nap in his converted bed.  He must’ve been happy with it because, I woke him up after 2.5 hours!  (Again, no problems with him escaping when he’s not supposed to, now that he’s able to.)

In the evening, Raj and Shawn went to Open Gym at Gymboree and I went to a Mothers & More board meeting at Cozymel’s in Wheaton.  When I came home, I found Raj and Shawn asleep in the rocking chair… awww…

Cumpleaños Felices, Raj!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RAJ!

Shawn made a birthday banner last night, so I snuck that into Raj’s lunch this morning.  I also ordered a birthday bouquet of flowers and balloons to be delivered to his office - hopefully while there are plenty of patients around to witness! 

In Spanish class this morning, the topic was emotions.  We focused on happy/feliz, sad/triste, tired/cansado, and angry/enojado.  We sang If You’re Happy and You Know It / Si Estás Feliz y Lo Sabes, which I’ve listened to countless times on the Language Stars CD that we have in the car.  It’s one of those songs that I know the words and I understand (knowing the English version helps), but I can’t get my mouth to form the correct words fast enough to be able to actually sing along!  Oh, well.  Here are the lyrics:

If You’re Happy and You Know It If you’re happy and you know it, you will clap your hands. If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will show it, If you’re happy and you know it, you will clap your hands. If you’re sad and you know it, you will cry…. If you’re angry and you know it, you will stomp your feet…. If you’re tired and you know it, you will yawn….

Si Estás Feliz y Lo Sabes Si estás feliz y lo sabes, aplaudirás. Si estás feliz y lo sabes, tu cara lo mostrará, Si estás feliz y lo sabes, aplaudirás. Si estás triste y lo sabes, llorarás... Si estás enojado y lo sabes, pisarás... Si estás cansado y lo sabes, bostezarás...

For our project, we made ‘paper plate face flips.’  We glued happy and sad faces on opposite sides of a paper plate and then attached a popsicle stick handle.  They weren’t really masks, since there aren’t any eye holes, but close enough!

In the evening, Raj and Shawn went to Open Gym at Gymboree while I made a birthday dinner – BBQ brats (in the broiler).  After dinner, Raj opened presents and we had dessert:  a homemade mini chocolate cake with a layer of butterscotch pudding in the middle and topped with homemade icing – YUM!. 

Here is Shawn saying Happy Birthday to Raj when he got home from work:

Very Sticky Thank Yous

This morning, both kids took turns sitting on our new potty seat.  Neither of them did anything while on there, but it was very exciting!

In the car on the way to Open Gym at Gymboree, Abby counted, “Uno, dos, tres!”  Diego would be very impressed, I’ll be sure to let him know tomorrow!

At Open gym, Abby rode a teeter-totter/rocking horse and exclaimed, “Neigh! Neigh! Neigh!...”  One of the other moms jokingly asked, “So, she likes horses, eh?”  On the other side of the room, Shawn climbed up an A-frame.  It had skinny round rungs instead of slots for the steps on each side, so it was a little more tricky than what he normally climbs.  Still, he managed to climb up and down “all by my-self!”  I think I held my breath a little while he did it, but boy was he proud of himself afterwards!  There was a parachute flung over the monkey bars by the A-frame.  It generated some major static electricity and Shawn fell victim to it while he played under it.

Shawn and Abby also had fun going down the slides.  Shawn made sure to give another friend a chance by saying, “Sundus’s turn!”  Later, when she and her mother were getting ready to leave, he said, “Bye-bye, Sundus!” though he was rather quiet, so I don’t think they could hear him.

After Open Gym, we stopped by Dominicks for some groceries.  The check-out clerk thought Abby and Shawn were “absolutely adorable!” and gave them “Thank you!” stickers used to mark over-sized purchases.  Abby and Shawn were thrilled with their sticky accolades.

      

Shawn, Baron, and I took a two hour walk after Abby went home.  It was just to the park by the train station and back, but stopping to look at every pine cone, branch, and fallen leaf along the route took a very long time.  Shawn has gotten very confident climbing the playground equipment to get to the slides.  He has no interest in the short slides at all – only the big, bumpy, and spiraling ones for this big boy!  It was getting pretty chilly on our walk home and definitely time for dinner.  It’s just so hard to leave the park behind, so we walked home via the path by the dog park to help distract Shawn from having to say bye to his slides.  The dog park was busy, so there were lots of dogs to see as they ran over each other to greet us at the fence.  I felt bad for Baron since we weren’t actually going into the dog park – such a tease, I know.  Sorry, buddy.  Shawn’s still at eye-level with most of the dogs there and can barely hold his own against Baron (or his tail!) when he gets excited.  When he gets a little older, I’ll reinstate our dog park membership and we’ll all go play in there.  In the meantime, it's time for dinner!

Happy Fasching / Mardi Gras / Fat Tuesday!

Happy Fasching / Mardi Gras / Fat Tuesday!

I completely forgot today was a holiday until my sister, Jennifer, emailed me pictures from Jonathan’s German school party.  We’ll have to whip something up for dinner to celebrate the occasion… not sure I’ll manage to do (or find) any other traditions for the day.  Maybe I can find some jelly donuts at the grocery store…

I actually heard birds singing outside this morning as Abby, Shawn, and I were on the way to Spanish class.  I’m not convinced that winter is over yet and that the snow is done for the season, but it was a nice change of pace from the howling wind, tip-tap of snow flakes, and grinding scrape of the snow plows that we’ve become so accustomed to this year!

Shawn mentioned Diego’s name a few times this morning while he was getting dressed.  It’s a good thing we had Spanish class today so he could see him!  Today’s Spanish class was about transportation.  (One of Shawn’s favorites.)  We focused on car / el carro, truck / el camión, airplane / el avión, train / el tren, boat / el barco, and bicycle / el bicicleta.  Diego came prepared with a bag of toy cars and little foam airplanes that the kids could play with.  We practiced identifying the colors of the toys and talking about if they went fast or slow.  Diego led us through an adapted version of “The Wheels on the Bus” (one of Shawn's absolutel favorite songs) that covered each of the different modes of transportation:

The Wheels Of The Car / Las ruedas del carro

The wheels of the car go / Las ruedas del carro dan

Round and round. (3x) / vueltas y vueltas. (3x)

The wheels of the car go / Las ruedas del carro dan

Round and round / vueltas y vueltas

All through the city. / por toda la ciudad.

Diego even brought out a large plastic sheet with a town drawn on it, so the kids could drive their cars… “all through the city / por toda la ciudad.”  I think Shawn and Abby recognized the tune, but they weren’t so sure about the words to this version.  Just before snack time, Shawn was right on cue when we played hands up (manos arriba), down (manos abajo), in front (manos al frente), and in back (manos atrás).  They got pretty excited about playing the game today.  Both Abby and Shawn were funny, as usual, when Diego was checking their hands to see if they were clean (limpio) or not (sucios) before snack time.  Each student in turn would stretch out her hands for Diego to “smell” them, to which he’d respond, “[Snif, snif, snif] Ewwwww… yucky, yucky!  Las manos están sucias!”  That always gets a round of giggles from the kids.  Then, he helps the parents ask the kids if they’d like a wet-wipe napkin to clean their hands.  We sing a song to clean our hands and then to clean the table because “la mesa está sucia!” To the tune of Hurrry, Hurry, Drive the Firetruck, it’s something along the lines of:

Clean, clean, clean the hands (table) / Limpie, Limpie, Limpie las manos (la mesa)

Clean, clean, clean the hands (table) / Limpie, Limpie, Limpie las manos (la mesa)

Clean, clean, clean the hands (table) / Limpie, Limpie, Limpie las manos (la mesa)

Then eat! / Entonces comer!

Once the table was clean, Diego handed each student a picture of a bicycle.  Then we helped them attach construction paper circles with brads, so the wheels could “go round and round / vueltas y vueltas” as we sang the song a few more times about a bicycle / bicicleta this time.  (I felt like it was a bit of a tongue twister, though that could’ve just been me!)

Diego forgot to end class with the nursery rhyme song, See You Tomorrow / Hasta Mañana.  Though we always want class to go a little longer than it actually does, I wasn’t about to bring up the song that I stumble over each week!  It was a nice break.  I’m looking forward to when a new nursery rhyme is introduced.  It feels like we’ve been working on this one for months!

Dr. Booth called today from Aurora University to ask if I'd teach a course this summer - Reading in the Content Areas. The problem is it's 8 am - 4 pm for a week about 45 minutes away, so it completely conflicts with watching Abby and I’d need someone to watch Shawn the whole time, too.  She knows that I'm babysitting/nannying, so I mentioned that if they could give me 6 classes in order to get benefits, I'd have more to consider. She's working on schedules and placements now, so she said she'll see what she could come up with, but wasn't sure she had the availability right now. We'll see if that gets me anywhere - I won’t hold my breath!