Gymnastics & Gymboree

After not seeing Abby for four days, Shawn was thrilled to have Abby back!

Shawn must have really missed Abby- he didn't seem to mind when she sidled up next to him & 'got in his space' in Gymnastics today!  During warm-ups, it looked like they were working hard when asked to hop backwards and crab-crawl.  They were tricky!  In small group with Coach Enrique, they started at the obstacle course.  They also worked on handstands, the ladder wall, foam pit, jump track, rings and bars, and balance beams.

After a lunch/snack in the car, Shawn walked into Gymboree and wasn't being very cooperative for some reason. He was fine all morning!  When Music Class started, he hid behind me and wouldn't participate. Arg.  Anyway, we started a jazz & swing unit.  We LOVE the song Boogily Woogily Piggy and look forward to singing it each time this unit comes up!  Suddenly, a pair of hands and feet appeared from behind my waist so Shawn could 'boogy woogy all the way home!'  When the jingle bells came out, I received an impromptu back rub as Shawn used them as props! (Hmm... maybe it's not so bad he's back there!)  Abby had a great time dancing with other girls in a circle to It Don't Mean a Thing, If It Ain't Got That Swing!  Shawn danced along too, but only from behind me.  Shawn also started answering vocab questions from his hiding spot.  In addition to knowing ‘crescendo’ and ‘decrescendo,’ Shawn and Abby did a great job answering questions about ‘forte’ and ‘piano.’  By the time the instrument box came out, he was more than ready!  We also sang Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree, Three Little Fishies, and a few others.  During another swing dance, I kneeled on the floor and swung Shawn and Abby around with (fake) swing dance moves, including spins and (their favorite) backward dips!  Finally, Shawn had lots of smiles, though I don’t know what the issue was earlier!  Finally, Ms. Michelle read/sang What a Wonderful World by Ashley Bryan (one of my all time favorite songs).

During Open Gym, Shawn played with friends on the equipment while Abby tried to poop again.  (She had tried earlier this morning, but was unsuccessful.  She hasn’t gone since she was at our house on Friday, so… it was time.)  At one point, she asked for some privacy, which was great because I could stand outside the door to see if anyone else needed to use the bathroom – she was in there for a verrrrrry loooooong time!  (I actually did bring her out once so another family could go!)  At one point, when I checked on her, she had taken off all of her clothes “to make it easier!” LOL  Whatever works!  Eventually, she did it!  PHEW!

In School Skills, they worked on letters X, Y, and Z today.  They played Hide & Seek (Abby’s favorite part) and with play dough.  For their science lesson, they talked about ‘evaporation’ (Shawn’s favorite part).  They learned that it means ‘drying’ and watched the process by drawing with water-color markers on a paper towel, wetting it, watching the colors spread out, and checking on them throughout class as they dried.  They also watched a puddle of water on the floor as it dried throughout class.  Plus, they felt hand sanitizer evaporate on their hands.  They had to be careful listeners during a ‘sneaky song’ and change from tiptoeing to hiding places around the gym during quiet music to running around in circles during loud music.  In a similar game, they listened as the teachers called out “Giants awake!” and stomped around the room or “Giants asleep!” and pretended to drop to the floor asleep.  For their art project, they decorated hearts in honor of Valentine’s Day, which lead to a few discussions about their heart beat (or ‘heart BEEP,’ as Abby called it). Finally, they read the book How Do Dinosaurs Clean Their Rooms by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague.

A Full Day of Gymnastics, Gymboree, and Biting My Tongue

At the beginning of gymnastics, Abby stopped Coach Vali with a rush of urgency - to show off her painted fingernails! On the balance beam, Abby hopped across without holding anyone's hands! After months of working on boosting her confidence to walk across on her own, she’s suddenly hopping across without a second thought?!?! When I asked her about it after class, she just brushed it off and said she was a big girl now. Well, ok then!

Abby's
(turn 90` left)

Shawn's
(turn 90` left)

Ms. Michelle subbed for Ms. LouAnn today in Art. The theme was 'Fish.' The first project was to make an aquarium. It started by putting glue on the bottom of a page and then covering it with green sand. (It was very hard for the kids to keep the glue/sand on the 'floor' on their tank.)  Then, Ms. Michelle gave them various sponge stamps of sea creatures, a few colors of paint, foam brushes, and glitter glue. The kids got very excited about their projects, but the more they put on their pieces of paper, the more they covered up their fish, and the less they looked like aquariums! Oh, well... they had fun.


They also got to make a play dough octopus with pipe-cleaner tentacles. Abby was able to copy Ms. Michelle by wrapping the pipe-cleaners around a crayon to make the legs curl at the ends. We re-read Big Al by Andrew Clements, which Shawn and Abby have really gotten to like a lot. Finally, they made their own ugly Big Al fish with finger paints on a large fish cut-out and taped to the wall. Abby kept asking for more and more paint! Hers was thoroughly covered and it may take a few days to really dry! Shawn started strong with the finger paints, but it lost its appeal quickly. (Finger painting has never been much of his interest.)

 

 

After class, I transferred the kids from Art 3 to School Skills class starting tomorrow. So, we will no longer be going to Play & Learn Level 6. Otherwise, we’d start Gymboree be at 11:00 am until about 4:00 pm! That makes the day really long. (We did it last week.  It was a lot of fun, but saying that it was too much is a gross understatement!)  While they/I still enjoy the Play & Learn Level 6 class a lot, they really have outgrown it now. (I’ve mostly come to terms with that fact.) I joked with Ms. MaryBeth about missing out on her class, but it backfired. She reminded me, “You know, there’s a way to solve this problem! You just need to have another baby so you can enroll in the classes again!” DOH! I bit my tongue and replied, “I know, I’ll keep you posted!” (I should’ve known better since this has been an ongoing banter between me and the staff for a very long time.)
 
Moving on...

I hadn't anticipated continuing Art 3 because I didn't want to pay for both Art and School Skills classes. However, as we were leaving today, Ms. Michelle realized that Shawn and Abby were the only two students that are actually enrolled in Art 3 right now, while a few others come on a more inconsistent basis. She said that there's a possibility that Ms. LouAnn (and the owner, Melissa) might invite us to stay in Art 3 to keep the class going and entice others to join - free of charge! Therefore, we'll go to Art 3 next week either as our last week or as our first free week! Good deal!


We came home for lunch and naptime. Abby woke up about half way through her usual nap, crying and obviously upset. I eventually got her to calm down and got her to reveal that she had a bad dream about lightning. She eventually did go back to sleep, but I don't think it was very restful. She is normally a fairly sound sleeper, so this was a big surprise.

When Abby went home later, Shawn wanted to play outside.  I was expecting him to pull out his bike, gardening tools, baseball, football, or something along those lines.  Instead, he asked for the push-broom hanging on the garage wall!

Really? Why would I say no or discourage you when you ask if you can sweep out the garage?!


In the evening, I left Shawn and Raj to get an awfully needed haircut. I hope I didn’t give myself away, but I have a feeling Becca sensed something. When we were catching up with events in our lives since my last haircut (Shawn’s birthday, our trip to Disney… NOTHING about a positive pregnancy test!), I mentioned that we were looking at preschools and my nervousness about the concept. Her first question: “So, are you knocked up yet?” AHHHHHH!!! I could only get out “I’ll keep you posted!” (Thank goodness I had said it earlier at Gymboree, so I didn’t have to sputter too much!)

Oh, man.

This is going to be hard.

The Easter Elephant?!

Happy Easter!

Last night, Shawn went to bed easily... the Easter Bunny wouldn't come to our house if we were still awake and might see him! Before I tucked him in, we read The Night Before Easter by Natasha Wing. It was a fitting story for the occasion.

When Shawn woke this morning, he found a basket with just two Easter eggs in it. The rest of the eggs were scattered around the house, from the hall outside his room, down the stairs, and all over the living room and dining room. It was a lot of fun watching him hunt for hidden eggs and figure out how to get to a few that were out of his reach.

Finally, when all of the eggs had been discovered, Shawn found the last of the Easter Bunny's treasures waiting for him on the kitchen table: his dump truck Easter Basket filled with a bug net, Mr. Potato Bunny, a mini-pot with seeds for planting, a bath-time book, and, of course, a chocolate bunny. He was a pretty excited little boy!

The fun didn't end there! Next, we went to the circus! The George Carden Circus Spectacular was at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates. Before the show started, Shawn and I rode a camel, While we were waiting in line for him to ride a pony (which stopped giving rides just as we approached the front of the line! Arg!), our friends Veer, Shrenik, and Heena called Raj. It turned out that they were at the circus too and had seen us walk right by their seats! They saved a few extra spaces so we could join them. While we devoured popcorn and over-sugared lemonade, we watched "enchanting elephants, tantalizing tigers, amazing acrobats, motorcycle daredevils, and performers from around the world." During the intermission, we had another chance to ride the pony and Shawn got his first face-painting.

 

Though Raj and I were sure that Shawn was going to fall asleep on the way home from the circus, he was still wide awake when we got back. While I prepared our Easter dinner, Raj and Shawn planted the seeds in the little frog pot. They played tackle-football in the backyard. Shawn got a lot of use out of his new bug net and almost caught the biggest bug I've ever seen!

Got him!

Later, we feasted on ham with pineapples, crescents, rice, and green beans. As usual, there were plenty of leftovers to last us (and the rest of the neighborhood) until the next holiday!

 

It was a successful celebration - I think the Easter Bunny would be proud.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

In the wee hours this morning, Shawn woke up and joined Raj and me in bed. Luckily, he went right back to sleep and there was minimal tossing, turning, or kicking involved (at least that I’m aware of)! Recently, Shawn’s been waking up and wanting to come into our bed or not wanting to go to sleep in his bed at all. We haven’t made a big deal about it, but we don’t exactly welcome him in either. Since this didn’t used to be an issue and, in the last week or so, it’s been a frequent request, I wanted to talk to Shawn about what was going on.

So, later in the morning, when Shawn was fully awake, I asked him why he didn’t want to sleep in his own bed ‘last night’ (since it was still dark out). “Because my bed’s too small!” he explained, “I need a bigger bed!” Huh – well, then! That sounds simple enough! I’ll make sure he tells Raj himself tonight! Meanwhile, I have no idea how he got this idea or even knew a bigger bed was a possibility. We’ve never talked about it. There really is still plenty of room in the toddler bed for him – it’s not like he’s bumping his head and feet on the ends. As far as he knows, all kids have beds like his (cribs converted with a toddler railing)! Weird. When I told the teachers at Gymboree this afternoon, Ms. Mary Beth suggested maybe tying a ‘big boy’ bed to potty training… hmmmm...

We attended Art Class this afternoon and I felt like we got a little more ‘bang for our buck’ today. After a few minutes of free paint, the kids colored a cut-out heart with chunky shaped red crayons, glued it to a larger piece of construction paper, and then added glittery foam hearts to it. Shawn was engrossed with the new crayons that were about the size of his whole hand and shaped as hearts, bowls, and simply over-sized crayons. On the other hand, after a few seconds of scratching them across his paper, he lost interest in the actual project. I got him to glue the large heart to his construction paper when I showed him that he could pour the glue from his dixie cup and then spread it around, rather than neatly apply the glue with Q-tips, like the rest of the class. The foam hearts were lost on him entirely. In contrast, Abby went to town! She colored all over her heart cut-out, used her Q-tip to carefully cover the back with glue, and then did the same to add the foam hearts. All. Completely. Independently.

Abby's

Shawn's (sort of)

Once the Valentines were made, we returned to the ‘Circus’ theme that we’ve been doing for a few weeks. The next project was more fun (even to me). The kids covered the back of a paper plate with yellow, brown, and orange paint using a sponge brush. Then, they glued on eyes, a nose, a mouth (a piece of foam that looked like a packing peanut - ??), and a yarn mane to create a lion. Shawn didn’t care for the painting (so I did that part), but he really got into it when we started added the other features. Again, Abby needed little to no help. She did a great job thoroughly covering the plate with paint, leaving barely any white showing even around the edges. She added facial features on her own, but needed a little help with the mane because the yarn stuck more to her fingers than it did to the plate! I think the final products are among my favorites of all their art projects so far!

Abby's

Shawn's

Then, Ms. LouAnn gave the grownups a choice of either doing a third art project, which she explained may be more challenging than our typical projects, or having more time to play with the toys in the sand/water table. Almost unanimously, we opted for the third project. (I’ve never really understood why there’s so much time at the end of class for play time – we could easily do more projects, or better projects, with that time!) The kids were to use colored foam peanuts to make an elephant on black construction paper. (What? How?) Ms. LouAnn handed out sea sponges and explained that if the peanuts got a little damp, they’d get sticky. (Ooookay…? Still, not understanding what we’re supposed to do.) She also gave us glue. (Alrighty, not sure about this one, but he we go!) Shawn was completely lost, so while he played with the peanuts, I worked with Abby. We arranged the peanuts on her paper trying to shape the body of an elephant, but we weren’t being very successful. Instead, we started over and focused on just an elephant head. We made a long trunk (highlighted with a strip of aluminum foil), big ears, and hopefully, the rest of the head would just emerge as we went. As Ms. LouAnn explained, “The important thing is that the children know it’s an elephant and can tell you about it.” Then, it’s perfect! She knew exactly what it was and could tell me where the ears, nose, eyes, mouth, etc. were. Great job, Kiddo – better than what I would’ve done on my own! It turned out that Ms. LouAnn took the opportunity to help Shawn make his elephant… though the few times I glanced over, it looked like she was doing most of the work. (That made me feel better, since sometimes I wonder if I’m doing too much of the project for him, leading to his disinterest. But, it looked like he was already aloof about it and she just didn’t want him to go home empty handed!)

Abby's

Shawn's

There was still time for Ms. LouAnn to read See the Circus, by M. A. Rey, while the kids had a snack. Rather than our typical Winnie the Pooh cookies, one of the other children brought in Valentine’s Day cookies for everyone. The kids even still had time to play in the toys in the sand/water table, which just turned out to be red air bean bags that they pretended were “Valentines” to exchange with each other…  Glad we did the third project!

Raj and I agreed that we weren’t going to exchange Valentine’s gifts this year. However, I knew he’d still bring something, so I made a present for him – without spending a penny. I took a verse from ‘our’ song (Wonderful Tonight, by Eric Clapton), printed it on velum, layered with some fancy scrapbooking papers, and framed it. I’m glad I did it – it was fun to watch him realize what the verse was.

Raj brought me a lovely bouquet of roses and a very sweet card. He also had a Mylar heart balloon and a box of chocolate turtles, but Shawn claimed them for himself right away. I gave Shawn new toys for the bath tub: a basketball hoop with squirting balls, a motorboat, and a waterproof bath book about opposites. Then, we went out to an incredible dinner at Redstone American Grill (courtesy of a gift card from the team at Artistic Smiles). YUM!  However, as cliche as it may sound, the best part was spending the evening with two of my favorite men.  Cupid's arrows have struck me hard!  (Wish I had captured my two incredibly handsome Valentines on camera, but it didn't occur to me until it was too late!)

I did have Shawn tell Raj what he thought about his bed and why he didn’t want to sleep in it lately. Though a little surprised, Raj agreed that if it’s something Shawn thought he was ready for, then we may as well go for it! Looks like we have a project for this weekend…

A Bee-Boppin' and a Pee-Peein'

Shawn slept until around 8:15 am, when Raj brought him into our room to snuggle. (Raj must have been tired, because he never wants to have Shawn sleep in our bed!) We all fell asleep for another hour or so. Then, the boys went downstairs to have breakfast, while I hung out in bed, but awake. It was a very
                         nice
                                             slow
                                                                      morning.

Eventually, we started moving a little faster. Raj gave Shawn a bath and got most of his little black dog-nose off from last night. By the time Mike and Bill came over to take another look at our leaky toilet, everyone was up and ready for the day. Unfortunately, it turns out that Mike needs to order a part, so they weren’t able to finish fixing it today either. Hopefully, though, by the end of this week it should be back in business for ‘business.’

While Raj went to the Bears’ game and Shawn and I went to the Roselle Public Library to see a jazz concert. Shawn was really excited about seeing the instruments. We saw the Eric Schneider Trio featuring a saxophone, clarinet, keyboard, and bass. Shawn and I were the youngest ones in the audience by at least a few decades. I think we were the only ones that hadn’t retired yet! At first, I found a seat on the edge of a row (for easy an easy exit, if needed), but then I opted to find a seat for us on the floor off to the side in front so Shawn could see the musician’s hands better. (I made eye contact with the librarian who was hosting the concert to make sure it was okay that we weren’t sitting in the provided audience chairs.)

Throughout the concert, Shawn had stellar behavior. He watched the concert, listened quietly, and clapped when he was supposed to. During the brief intermission, when we found some cookies and water, a few of the blue-hairs came over to talk to Shawn and comment on how surprised they were at how interested he was in the concert. Apparently, a few of them were paying almost as much attention to Shawn as they were to the musicians they came to see! Before the show resumed, I brought Shawn to the instruments so he could see them up close, yet explained that we couldn’t touch them. He noticed that the clarinet and saxophone had “metal on them” and that the bass was made of wood, “like the harp!” He was a little confused about keyboard versus a piano, but did point out it had a pedal, “like the harp, too!” When the musicians returned from their break, we rushed back to our place on the floor for the remainder of the concert. Afterwards, Shawn told the musicians (I translated), “I really liked your music, thank you very much!” A few more blue-hairs offered their compliments and then we went upstairs to the children’s section. We found a stack of CDs (songs, instrumental, as well as stories), a few ABC books, a few Dr. Seuss books, and a few potty training books (some for kids and some for parents).

When we got home, we stripped off the pull-up and really focused on potty training. We read the kids’ books while we ate a snack. We sat on the potty seat on the toilet while we read them again. Shawn didn’t reject the idea of sitting on the toilet a single time this afternoon/evening/night! Sometimes in the past, he’d say, “I don’t want to go pee-pee OR poo-poo!” at the slightest mention of the toilet, but not this time. He was much more willing to sit, whether he had to go or not. So, I took advantage of it. I had him ‘race’ to see how fast he could put on or take off his underwear - off is much easier! I had him ‘race’ to see how fast he could put his seat on the toilet and sit on top. I had him ‘race’ to see how fast he could put it all away. He was loving it – though it was nothing that I hadn’t done before! I’m not sure what made today different, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. Not a single accident all afternoon or evening… until he pooped in his underwear. But that was the only one! Without a doubt, he earned another Toy Surprise for filling up his Potty Paper with stickers. This time, he pulled an armored half track military jeep/pickup truck from the bag. He (we) had never seen a truck like this before so I explained that it was a truck that carried soldiers on the benches in the back. We talked about how soldiers and other the people in the military were very special people. The military is a little bit like the police, but they keep all of America safe, so we can be free. I also told him that Opa, Pappy, my Grandpa Bill were all in the military.  (I’m not sure if he understood all of what we talked about, but he seemed to be listening and concentrating very hard.)

Things were going so well that we didn’t even think about naptime. He didn’t get to sleep at 8:00 pm, like the other non-nap days, but today wasn’t quite as exhausting as those were either. He was tucked in bed before 9:00 pm, which is still far better than 11:00 pm!

Shawn had been long asleep by the time Raj came home around 11:00 pm. I got some cleaning, blogging, email, laundry, and reading all done in the meantime. And, celebrating with a little glass of wine…

It was a good day!

It's Just Not the Same Without Crepes

We started our morning with a Level 5 Play and Learn class at Gymboree. We visited the ‘Animals at the Zoo’ again, but instead of a book at the beginning, we looked at pictures of animals that we might see there. Both Shawn and Abby loved finding hidden bananas that were scattered around the room. (They’ve gotten very good at returning Gymboree toys to their proper baskets, even if it’s not intentionally part of the activity.) They also had fun swinging across the monkey bars, calling out, “Ooo-oo! Ahh-ah!” as they went. Abby likes to hang from one, let go, grab the next with both hands, let go, and repeat until she gets all the way across. Shawn likes to move one hand at a time from one to the other, and needs just a little help to support his weight. They really were little monkeys today!
When class was over, we played around for a few minutes, but when the babies’ class was ready to start, we took a break in my car. I played a CD of Dr. Seuss stories and read a few Thomas the Train stories while we snacked and enjoyed the sunshine. I’m sure there won’t be too many more weeks that we can do this before it gets too cold to hang out in the car!


An hour later, we came back inside for Family Music. We studied country and folk music again. Shawn and Abby helped pick animals for Old MacDonald, duck and horse respectively. They love their maracas and drums! They even got to do Bah-Bah’s into the toy microphone today, which we haven’t had time to do in a long time. They got very excited when their turns came around. It’s amazing to watch these two in music class. They participate and follow directions extremely well. Shawn gave a maraca to a three month old who was in her car seat while her mom and older brother participated in class – he gently placed it in her hand and made sure it didn’t fall out while she tried to grab it. Abby wants to help everyone around get their instruments back to the teacher or basket when it’s time to clean up. They can so incredibly sweet and considerate!


After class, we made our weekly trip to the Schaumburg Farmers’ Market. But, to our dismay, there were no crepes! I’m not sure if the crepe stand closed early due to the wind (up to 40 mph gusts) or if they weren’t there at all, but , oh, the calamity! Hopefully, they’re not done for the season, the market is still open until the end of the month. We made the best of our visit and visited the apple orchard stand for some cider (and a free apple cider donut sample), the olives and hummus man for black bean and chipotle hummus, garlic hummus, and black olives (and free olive samples), a farmer for potatoes (which Abby and Shawn helped me pick, but I must have left the bag somewhere at the market because I didn’t have them when we got home!), and a fruit farmer for apple butter (and free samples of various types of apples and cranberries – pucker!) Without our crepe snack, it didn’t feel like our visit was complete, but as we were going back to the car, the vendors were shutting down.


When it was time for naps, I guess Abby didn’t think it was quite time yet. She didn’t object to going down, but she certainly wasn’t ready for sleeping. She talked and sang to herself from about 1:15 – 2:30! After listening to her for a while, I remembered to grab my SmartPen and I recorded her! I slid the pen under her door and captured her saying things like, “How about… How about…Mr. Sun? No! How about.. let’s sing B-I-N-G-O!” I could pick out a few lines from Old MacDonald, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, and Bingo… but eventually (around 2:30 of the recording), she settled down and finally went to sleep.

P is for Pumpkin, Potty, and Pfffffft!

I woke Shawn in time to catch the garbage truck come around our circle, which also meant he was awake to greet Abby and Bill when they arrived.  Suddenly, he wasn’t so bleary-eyed anymore!  It’s play time!


Bill explained that Abby’s doctor didn’t think she was ready for potty training yet, so they were going back to diapers.  Bummer, but okay!

Abby and Shawn played in the living room with some trucks and books until breakfast was ready.  Then, played some more until it was time to go to art class.

Art class focused on pumpkins today. Too bad Shawn didn’t focus on pumpkins today! He was all over the place and not very interested in participating in the projects.  

Abby's

Shawn's Mine

I will admit that Shawn helped stuff the paper bag with newspapers in the beginning, but when it came time to paint, his contribution was done.  Every once in a while, I got him to hold the paintbrush, sometimes with me sometimes independently, and made a couple of dabbles, but he just wasn’t into it.  Meanwhile, Abby realized that scrunching the giant sheet of newspapers was a bit too tricky for her fingers, so she figured out how to loosely roll up the paper, then fold it into (about) thirds in order to get it all to fit inside the paper bag!  Great problem solving!  She had a great time painting her bag and was very aware of any brown bag showing through.  (Ms. LouAnn even commented on her attention to detail!) 

While the kids ate Winnie the Pooh cookies, Ms. LouAnn read Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington.  It was a simple story illustrating the growth of a pumpkin, starting from a seed.

Shawn was a little more interested in the second project. They painted an apple orange and stuck stickers on it to make a jack-o-lantern face.  Shawn figured out that rolling the apple in the paint was a much faster way to cover it, but we managed to use the brush to spread the paint around.  He loved putting the stickers on, too.  (Meanwhile, I thought it was a weird project to do at all!)

For the last activity, Ms. LouAnn uncovered the tub/table and the kids found balls and foam blocks.  She set up a game of 'Pumpkin Bolwing,' since most of the balls were orange and the blocks could stand up like pins.  It was a good practice in taking turns and waiting patiently.

I had a chance to chat with Shelley while kids napped.  Since Abby’s enjoying wearing underwear and using her potty seat, Shelley decided to continue potty training as we have been.  (Phew!)  There have been other instances that she hasn’t been happy about with their current pediatrician, and this sealed the deal.   Now, she’s on the market for a new doctor.  Shelley said she had someone lined up to get a second opinion and I shared Dr. Lin’s business card, just in case they want to shop around.

I’m so glad I closed the windows in the kids’ rooms before naptime.  The house stinks of exhaust from the roofers’ machinery and generators.  It’s a shame to shut out the beautiful day, but there’s certainly no fresh air circulating around here today!

Abby woke around 3:30 pm and was not happy with all the noise over our heads.  She was all smiles by the time Bill came to get her though.  Perhaps being back in underwear for the first time all day had something to do with it…?

When Raj got home, he and Shawn went out to Open Gym at Gymboree.  When they came home, Shawn had a goose-egg / strawberry on his forehead.  He was excited to tell me about the Elmo ice-pack he got to use though, so the bump must not bother him too much!

After bath time, we were each doing our own thing in different rooms.  Suddenly, I heard a sound that I haven’t heard in 20-something years, yet I knew immediately what Shawn was doing.  We keep a cassette (yes, cassette) of German/English songs in the tape player of the mini-stereo in his room.  I heard the familiar, though distant, swooshing sound of the tape being pulled from the inside of the cassette.  Argh…  Using the eraser tip of a pencil, I managed to re-wind it all back inside, but as I was spinning the pencil around and around, I kept reminding myself, “This is why no one uses cassettes anymore!”  Though I got it all back in place, Shawn had it pretty crumpled in spots, so it may be history… like the rest of the world’s cassettes!  (It would be a shame not to have those songs anymore…

...oh, well...

...it is a cassette!)

Did I See a Pike Shucking Corn?

The YMCA Swimming Director approved Shawn’s graduation to Pike (without parent) - IF he can swim a few feet on his own (preferably without floats), be comfortable in a back float (with help to stay afloat), in addition to the other things he’s already done like blow bubbles, bob, kick, splash, reach… SO, we have a strong focus on strengthening a few skills in the next 3 sessions before this class is over!

I put two boxes of old papers and files from when I was teaching into the back of my van before swimming class.  Afterwards, we stopped by the Roselle Train Station for a free public ‘shredding event’ to dispose of them.  (They’d been sitting collecting some nasty cobwebs and old leaves in the garage for at least two years, probably more, so it was time to say goodbye.) It felt good!

Then, Shawn and I went to the Kline Creek Farm Corn Harvest, which was an outing sponsored by Northwest Suburban Families, but the only member that showed up was on her way out when we arrived.  That’s okay though - Shawn and I probably had more fun on our own.  A blurb from the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County’s news release summarized what we did:

Help with the real farm work of harvesting and storing corn that will feed the farm’s cows and sheep this winter. Use authentic techniques of the era to try shocking, or stacking bundles of corn to let them dry; shucking, or removing the ears of corn from the stalks; shelling, or removing the corn kernels from the cob; and storing the corn in the corn crib.

So, we pulled ears of corn directly off the stalks.  We tried to leave the husks left on the stalks, but some people took them to another station to learn how to make corn husk dolls or 'action figures,' depending on the audience.  (We didn't make it to that activity.) We tossed the corn into the back of a horse-drawn wagon.

Then, we left the field to other workers and explored the rest of the 'living-history farm' grounds.  Shawn even got to turn the crank on a machine that twisted lengths of twine into a pretty nice looking rope.

This is Shawn making a rope, but the video of this in action wouldn't load properly.

Later, the wagon returned from the field full of corn, so Shawn helped toss the ears into a corn crib.

I asked a few times if he was all done, but he kept on working!  Other parents and I teased about the ease of child labor, when it doesn't involve their own toys and chores.  Eventually, we visited with some chickens, a mare, sheep, and cows.

With another day in the 80’s, it was a great way to spend the day.  (High 82° / Low 54°F with scattered clouds or mostly cloudy until the evening when they skies cleared up.)

Shawn fell asleep on the way home (Raj was napping after work, too) and when he woke up, Daddaji had come over for dinner.  He brought chocolate covered mini-donuts, the perfect size for small hands.  I cooked Indian food, which I’m always a little nervous about when there are other people consuming it, but everyone seemed to enjoy it.  He stayed for a little while after dinner to chat and have some chai.  Rather than the usual Lipton with sugar and milk, I served Chai of the Tiger (black tea, chopped and powdered ginger, chopped and powdered cardamom, chopped and powdered coriander, chopped and powdered cinnamon, chopped cloves, chopped black pepper, rose petals, lavender, and jasmine buds from Serene Teaz, where Mothers & More had our Open House a few weeks ago) in our fancy Ingenuitea infuser/steeper (a Christmas present from Oma and Opa a year or two ago).  Daddaji was impressed by the infuser/steeper, though I think he’s more accustomed to his usual Lipton version.  Oh, well, I thought it was great!  Shawn gave him the fish he made in art class a few weeks ago to display on his refrigerator.  When the evening was over, Daddaji went home with a paper grocery bag full of leftovers to hold him over the next few days.

After a day of swimming and working outside, it was definitely bath time!  Later, while Raj relaxed in front of the TV, Shawn and I followed along with a few Dr. Seuss stories on YouTube.  Then, he said he wanted to use his workbook, so we did a few pages (Shawn really enjoys matching and pattern exercises) before reading a bedtime story and saying goodnight.  Finally, Shawn put himself to sleep and I did some blogging.

What a full day! But, I have a super exciting adventure planned for tomorrow…!


FYI – There was no roofing work today… I kinda figured as much, since it’s Saturday, but not sure why the company claimed they’d start today!