What's Your Name? Super Hat Man!

This morning, Bill told me that Abby learned to say her first and last name over the weekend.  Though she wouldn’t answer him this morning when he asked her, I made sure to ask her throughout the day, “Abby, what’s your name?” and she’d reply, “Abby Pow-oh!” with a big smile.

Shawn decided it was so cold out today, that he needed two hats!

Too bad the second one was on backwards - it made it a little tricky to see!

Woo-Woo! Wow-Wow!

Shawn, Raj, and I spent the day at the High Wheeler Train Show at Harper College in Palatine, IL.  Veer, Heena, and Shrenik joined us to see the 20+ “spectacular operating railroad layouts”, which did not disappoint!  There were model train sets of all sizes, “from the tiniest "Z-scale" up to the popular garden sized "G-scale" - and every one in between.”  There were vendors and hobbyists with everything train related on display.  There were a few sightings of Thomas the Train, but it was much more geared towards the model train enthusiast.  The artistic talent and attention to detail that we saw in the models was incredible.  These were much more than toys, though I do think that many of the people who were involved in these incredible displays would admit to a combination of many hours of hard work with blood, sweat, and tears and a tad-bit of childish delight from “playing” with a hobby they loved. 

As mere spectators, I’m sure we didn’t comprehend all there was to offer at the show, but it was impressive to see the handy-work that was exhibited.  I’ve got next year’s show on the calendar… just in case  Shawn’s still interested in trains.

Swimming

Today’s swimming lessons were much better than last week.  Shawn was still pretty tense for most of the class, though I did get him to relax a few times.  I un-locked his arms to reach for a bath toy and he even let me hold him facing out so he could see the rest of the kids.  We practiced helping the kids get in and out of the pool today.  Parents stayed in the water and helped the kiddies climb onto the edge and then jump/scoot back in.  Cashton (sp?), an older boy (maybe 3 years old) and definitely a veteran of swim classes, was jumping in and out like it was a race or a game.  Shawn managed to climb (or did I heave him out???) and sort of sat-scooted back in as I tugged on his arms.  He didn’t have nearly the enthusiasm of jumping back in the water as he did while we were at the pool in Hawaii last summer!  It was a bit colder today though, even from last week’s water temp.  I wonder if that slowed him down at all or if he’s still getting used to the class and all of the people in it…

Shawn's fun time in the hotel pool in Hawaii last summer:

Gabby Abby

Abby is definitely expanding her vocabulary.  She is putting words together into simple phrases now!  She said, “Blue plate” when she pointed at Shawn’s lunch and while they were playing with a magnetic farm on the refrigerator, she echoed, “Purple cow!” when the toy recognized which animal she and Shawn had put into the barn.  When Abby woke from her nap and we walked passed Shawn’s closed door, she whispered (as only a toddler can), “Shhhh! Night-night!” to let me know that Shawn was still sleeping.  Very cute!

Together Again

Shawn woke up early at 6:00 am, but was kind enough to play in his crib while I got ready for the day.  Abby was feeling better today and joined us at 8 am.  The two friends were very excited to play together again.  They were incredibly hyper for being early in the morning!  They ran around, scattering toys across the living room floor – all before Raj came downstairs to go to work!  I’m glad to see that Abby’s feeling better!  It looks like it’s going to be a busy day!

Viva the Boogily, Woogily Piggy!

Abby stayed home with coughing and congestion today.  Her coughing yesterday sent up a red flag for me, but I was hoping she’d fight it off.  Instead, she has a doctor’s appointment to help her get back to normal faster.

With Abby at home, it turned out that Shawn was the only student in our last day of German class!  (Rosemary and her mom must still be coping with whatever was going on a few weeks ago.)  Shawn took advantage of having all Nina’s attention to himself.  While we practiced the names of shapes, he was really involved and spoke a LOT.  He really did great.

As we said, “Danke schön!” (thank you) and, “Auf wiedersehen!” (good bye), Nina gave Shawn a heart shaped sticker, which he immediately stuck to his forehead!  It took me a moment, but I realized that was the pretty close to the place his band-aid had been for the past week or so!  I guess he missed having something up there!

In music class, we started a “swing and jazz” unit.  We know have a new favorite song The Boogily, Woogily Piggy, which is a jazzed up version of “This little piggy went to market…”  In honor of the new song, Ms. Kim stamped the kids’ hands with a little pig rubber stamp in addition to the usual music class stamp.  Shawn was certainly ‘jazzed’ up after class – he didn’t want to leave!

When we eventually got home, Shawn’s energy finally wore out and he took a three hour nap.  Phew!  Later, we Skyped with Oma, Opa, Gamble & Buddy.  Shawn loves to see them and asks about them all the time.  Even though he gets a bit antsy sitting in front of the computer and ends up running around from room to room in the background of our Skype conversation, he likes to check in and see if they are still there.

Shawn had us giggling this evening as he hollered his favorite non-sense line over and over.  Raj and I agree that it sounds an awful lot like, “Viva Toya!” which of course means something like, “Long Live Toys!” He’s been saying this for months and gets really excited when he says it, or when we say it to him.  We’ve figured out that we can get him to smile and get pretty silly just by starting, “Viva…” We have no idea how this started, where he got the phrase from, or why he thinks it’s so great, but it is a lot of fun!

The Garbage Truck is Here!

Shawn smiled and giggled in his sleep this morning.  It was adorable.  I wish I knew what he was thinking about - it must’ve been a good dream!

When Bill dropped Abby off, he told me that Abby woke between 6:00 and 6:30 am.  Since her day started earlier than usual, I woke Shawn right away when she came over.  That way they’d both be ready for naps early today.

With both of them awake early, they were able to watch the recycling truck come around our circle for their weekly pick up.  It just may be the highlight of the week, when we make it to the window in time to catch it!  (And, it's my highlight to watch them get so excited!)  This week I finally remembered to get them on video while the garbage truck came by.  (It's a bit slow and they're initial excitement was spent when they saw the truck turn to the cul de sac across the street.  So, unfortunately, you don't see their jump for joy when they first saw it.  Maybe next time!)

We had a surprise greet us in Spanish class – Xander, from our old Gymboree Music class, was enrolled in our class!  I think his mom was just as surprised to see us.  It sounded like she got a deal for a few classes on Groupon or something, so she hadn’t decided if this would be a long term enrollment or not. 

Diego lead the group in reviewing the names of shapes and colors.  Abby’s vocabulary’s definitely growing.  Today she said, “Gracias!” (thank you) and “morado” (purple).  I love listening to her try to say words like “por favor” that come out a bit jumbled, but her intention is perfectly clear.

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful, but I did hear Abby coughing a bit.  I hope she's not coming down with something.

While Shawn and Raj went off to Open Gym in the evening, I got my hair cut.  Becca trimmed off about two inches, which ordinarily wouldn’t be very noticeable, but when she straightens it, I have a drastic new “do”!  I didn’t do anything with color this time, but I’m think at my next appointment (in May) I’ll do something different for the summer.  Maybe… red?