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
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Shawn's
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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.

A Sick Day - Abby's Turn

Abby hasn’t been feeling well the past few days, so this morning, when she still wasn’t feeling well and her fever returned, Bill decided to keep her home.  We have nothing on the schedule today, so I let Shawn sleep in and wake on his own.  He’s still getting over the tail end of his icky-ness from last week too, so I figured that the extra sleep would be good for him.  (As Oma reminded me, “He is his mother’s son, afterall!”  We do love our sleep… in the mornings, at least!)

Once he did wake up, Shawn met me at the top of the stairs with a big smile.  Nice!  I like those kinds of wake-ups!  After I helped him change out of his clothes from yesterday that he fell asleep in and into fresh clothes, I asked him what he’d like for breakfast.  “Eggs!  …and yogurt!”  That was easy.  We shared a double egg omelet, though I would’ve preferred to add cheese or something to it he politely requested, “Just eggs, please.”  Afterwards, Shawn helped me clear the table.  Then, while I was emptying the dishwasher, he helped me by sorting and putting away the clean silverware.  When he was done, he gave me a hug for being such a good helper!  (I'm not sure what I said to get him so excited about sorting silverware, but I hope I can remember it for next time!)

 

A little later, we tracked Oma down at work via Skype and chatted for a little while.  We wouldn’t want her to accomplish too much in one day!  We also figured out how to add email subscriptions to our blogs.  This will definitely help me stay on top of the news from the Barony and the NJ Hardwicks (if we can get her to join the bandwagon) better. 

During lunch, Grandma Fanny showed up at our doorstep unexpectedly.  In her very broken (yet improving) English, she explained that her passport issues were finally resolved and that she was on her way to O’Hare Airport hoping to try to get on a stand-by flight back home to Hong Kong.  Needless to say, she wouldn’t be coming over for our English lessons anymore, as long as she could get on a flight.  (This summer, she was planning a trip to meet some friends in Toronto.  The night before her flight, her daughter was helping her get ready and realized that they had let her passport expire – by. ONE. day.  So, she couldn’t go on her trip.  For the past three or four months, her family has been trying to get her passport fixed.  The winters here are very hard on her, there’s a big family wedding back in Hong Kong coming up, and her husband, who she hasn’t seen almost a year, is still in Hong Kong. She got her new passport today, and she’s very excited to be able to go home again.)  We gave each other a big hug and I wished her a safe trip home.  Though I don’t think she understood the words I was saying, I’m sure she understood the idea.  She turned around and hurried back to her daughter’s house two doors down from us. 

I’ll miss our twice weekly sessions, deciphering her attempts to tell me a story in English, trying to explain certain spelling patterns or grammar rules in as simple and basic language as I can manage, and (mostly) interacting with a student who is so incredibly motivated to learn something that is challenging (ahem - foreign!) to her.  I’ve had a lot of fun dabbling into teaching / tutoring again and I feel like I’ve actually been able to use some of the things from my Reading Specialist program, which I haven’t needed a whole lot in the past year.  I’m happy that she finally gets to go home again, but I’m sad to see her go.

A few minutes later, our doorbell rang again!  Grandma Fanny came back just to give Shawn a pack of his favorite orange flavored yogurt drinks that she picks up for him each time she shops in Chinatown.  They’re the perfect size for little hands and little mouths.  He loves to guzzle them down and since they’re small servings, I don’t mind too much that they’re really mostly sugar.  After I thanked her profusely for being so thoughtful and generous, I was able smuggle the drinks into the refrigerator without Shawn seeing them.  They’ll be a nice surprise for dessert or something later.  I'll need to ration them out, since we won't be getting any more!

When Shawn started to slow down at lunch time, I asked him if he wanted to finish lunch or if it was time for his nap.  The first time I asked him, he said he wanted more lunch.  The second time I asked him, he admitted he was ready for a nap.  WOAH!  I think this is a first!  I can’t think of a time he’s ever been ‘ready’ for a nap or bedtime!  Put this day on the calendar!

While he napped, I intended to accomplish a list of jobs around the house.  Instead, I emailed more with Oma, Skyped with Jennifer and Jonathan, and blogged a bit.  Before I knew it, hours had past and I heard Shawn rattling his doorknob, announcing that he was awake.  Darn!  Well, maybe I’ll get to those things later!

After a bit of play time together, we went to Staples to pick up a few supplies for a gift certificate that I made for Mothers & More.  We are contributing to two new mom gift baskets that will be put into a silent raffle.  I’ve created a glossy card that opens to reveal a free year membership to our chapter.  I also wanted to attach our business card to the inside, but I didn’t want to be permanently affixed.  That’s what led me to Staples, in search of temporary, repositionable glue or tape or something.  Luckily, I found some!  The dispenser looks like white-out tape, but it basically turns paper into Post-It notes!  Now, our business card is inside the card and won’t fall out, but can be removed without destroying it or the gift certificate.  Perfect!

We also stopped at Costco before meeting Raj at home for dinner.  At the end of the day, I didn’t get done nearly as much as I had hoped (especially for having only one child and no scheduled events today), but now that I see it all in writing, I guess it wasn’t a total blow-off of a day!

I got a text from Shelley saying that they took Abby to the doctor, had a throat culture, but everything is clear – even her ears.  She just has a cold.  That’s great news.  Therefore, she’ll be back with us tomorrow!  Shawn will be very happy to see her again.

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.

More Spring Cleaning

Abby stayed home again today.  So, Shawn and I did more spring cleaning and errand running.  It wasn’t exactly a fun day, but dreadfully productive!  It’s too bad it wasn’t as warm as it was on Monday though - it’s much too cold to air out the house again.  We got so busy cleaning and running errands that we accidentally missed Family Gym and Open Gym.  In fact, we got so much done, Shawn fell asleep in his car seat between two stops while we were out.  Rather than go all the way home to put him to bed (and possibly wake him in the process), I drove to the next place on our to-do list and parked while he napped.  I figured it was a perfect time to make some phone calls!  I had just enough time to catch up with Oma before Shawn woke up.  Then, off we went to cross off more jobs from our To-Do list!

Shawn: The Human Monkey!

Shawn has officially turned into a human monkey. This morning, he and Abby were playing in his crib. He climbed onto the railing, and perched there for a moment absolutely proud of himself. He announced, “I’m riding a bicycle! Look, Momma! I’m riding a bicycle!” I had to take pictures of his new stunt because I didn’t think Raj would believe me when I told him. It looks like it’s time to convert the baby crib into a toddler bed! (tear…)

Abby went home early today. While Shawn finished his nap, I cleaned house and opened all the windows. The weather station on my computer reported 47 F, but felt MUCH warmer. The windows are staying open!

When Shawn woke from his nap, I set him up in the basement with all of his toys so I could continue cleaning the rest of the house. I blocked the stairs with a puppy/baby gate and went upstairs to get to work. The next thing I knew, Shawn was standing next to me giggling uncontrollably! I thought maybe the gate fell down or something, but when I checked, it was still intact just as I had left it. Shawn demonstrated his escape artist's skills by sticking his toes into the little holes in the gate - up and over he went! Simple as that! He was beaming with pride, even more so than when he got out of the crib this morning! We're in trouble...

When Raj got home, he changed the crib into a toddler bed. Now, instead of a full height railing across the top, it has a half height rail that goes about ¾ of the way across. Shawn was so excited that he could climb in and out “all by MY self!” (which he practiced over and over again!), that he was extremely wound up with enthusiasm. He had a hard time relaxing enough to go to sleep, though climbing out of bed in the middle of the night didn’t seem to be an issue. When he woke up, he simply sat up and called for me as usual. I’m not sure if he’s awake enough at those times to realize that he could get out if he wanted to. (I wonder how long this will last!)