A Triangle, Momma!

We all got to sleep in until 8:00 am today.  That was nice.  (Ahh, gone are the days when 8:00 was still getting up early!)  Shawn (and I) slept much better last night.  My cold/allergies are still giving me a hard time, but at least Shawn let me sleep for more than an hour stretch at a time!

While he was playing, he decided to put his potty seat on toilet, pull up the stool, and sit down – all by himself!  I wasn’t even in the bathroom with him!  His diaper was on and pants were still up, but I was very impressed!

It’s official – Shawn knows his shapes.  Raj was at an orthodontics class, so Shawn and I had dinner on our own at the kitchen table.  All of a sudden, Shawn started pointing at the back door exclaiming, “Triangle, Momma!  Triangle!”  I tried to correct him and explain that the back door was actually a rectangle, but he wouldn’t have it, “No, Momma!  Triangle, Momma!  Triangle!”  still insistently pointing at the back door.  I saw the reflection of our light fixture in the glass of the back door, “This?  This is a circle, Shawn, not a triangle.”  Getting very impatient with my apparent lack of knowledge about shapes, “NO! NO, Momma!  NO!  There’s a triangle, Momma!” 

Sure enough. 

I finally saw it. 

There clinging to the screen door was a moth, whose wings were in the shape of… a triangle.  When I finally pointed to it and asked if that was what he had seen, Shawn had an enormous, satisfied grin from ear to ear, “See, Momma?  See it?  A triangle!” 

We watched the moth dance in the light on the sliding glass door until it found another light to visit.  But, even after it was gone, Shawn continued to look for the triangle on the window, which he now knows is called "a moth."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What an exciting day!

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

Shawn and Abby were very playful at breakfast this morning.  They both made their fair share of silly faces for the camera.  I can’t say that a whole lot of eating was accomplished though!

We went to Music II and Family Gym at Gymboree today.  In Music, there’s an activity we call the “Ba-Bas” where the Miss Elizabeth leads us in an echoing exercise of simple vocal rhythms (a.k.a. Ba-ba!).  The kids’ favorite part is that she uses a play microphone to show whose turn it is to say the rhythm.  She starts us and the parents echo in unison a few times.  Then we go around the circle.  She starts, the parent echoes, she repeats, and then points the microphone at the child… who may or may not repeat the rhythm.  No matter what the child does (says, “Ba-ba,” points at the microphone, smiles, leans forward, hides his face, whatever…) Miss Elizabeth is always beaming with praise for the effort made.  Anyway, Abby shows no shyness when it comes to “Ba-Bas.”  She waits for her turn, but then confidently chimes in “Ba-ba,” right on cue - and pretty well in rhythm with Miss Elizabeth’s lead!  Shawn isn’t quite as interested in performing for others.  He follows along and he waits for his turn (sometimes he’ll even whisper “Ba-ba” while we’re waiting!), but when it comes to saying “Ba-ba” into the microphone, he clams up.  Sometimes he’ll smile as he hides his face in my arm, but he just doesn’t seem to like being the center of attention.  I don’t think it’s the toy microphone that bothers him because Diego uses one in Spanish class and Shawn loves playing with it.  It took him a while before he’d speak in Spanish class, so maybe he’s just not ready yet.  Regardless, both kids did a great job listening and following directions throughout class – whether they were vocal or not!

In Family Gym, it was the second week of the transportation theme.  This time we were using the different modes of transportation (train, plane, car, boat…) to go on a trip to Gymbo’s house.  We had to pack a bag (of scarves) and then we did an activity on the equipment that represented the different vehicles we had to take to make the journey.  We also played a game of Red Light, Green Light while the kids “drove” mini-hulahoops as cars.  Shawn and Abby liked that game, though I had to help them stop for the red lights!  On the way home, we practiced saying, “Red light means STOP!  Green light means GO!” whenever we came to a stoplight.  I have to agree with the kids, green lights are much more fun!

When we got home, they kids know to take off their shoes and coats and to put them away in their baskets.  They’ve gotten pretty good at knowing the routine, but with all of the cold weather gear on, it can be a little tricky to get it all off on their own.  Abby’s showing that she wants to try to do it, even if she needs a little help sometimes.  Once we get their shoes, hat, gloves, and coat off though, they’re both pretty quick about tossing them into their baskets so they can go play.  I love watching them become independent.  They look so proud when they finish their “jobs”!

Playing in the Kitchen

Abby and Shawn have discovered more uses for the giant pack of toilet paper I bought from Costco, aside from the choo-choo train that it was a part of when I first brought it home.  Now, it serves as a step stool to reach things on the kitchen counter!  Ohhhhh, boy!

I prefer it to be a musical instrument than a step stool, though I'm not sure they'd agree!  Abby played "Freeze" (like at Gymboree) with me for half a verse of the ABC song before she lost interest.  Shawn must not have been impressed by my singing voice, since he never joined in! (Oh, well.  Yet another reminder why I'm instrumental and not vocal!)

Still, the sturdy box that used to hold Fuji apples from Costco (I use to bring in groceries) is much more fun.  Here, Shawn explains that they turned it into a car so they could go to Gymboree and play with the balls.