A Good Day Outside

Today was a significantly better day than yesterday!  (There was plenty of room for improvement!)

We arrived at the library a little early for story time today, so Abby and Shawn got to play in the children’s corner for a few minutes.  We also found lots of animals painted in the mural and the stuffed animals that live among the bookshelves (out of reach) in the story room.  Ms. Nancy was very impressed with how many animal names they knew.  When she was ready to start story time, we were the only ones in her audience, but a few others showed up later.  Today’s theme was “Going for a Walk.”  Shawn, Abby, and I really liked the first story, I Took a Walk by Henry Cole.  It had beautiful and very realistic illustrations showing different places a child went outside and the things he saw there.  There weren’t many words to the story, though there were a lot of labels identifying various things in the pictures.  It was really hard for Shawn and Abby to resist running up to the book to point out something they found on each page.  (If we had been the only ones there, I probably would have let them, but when they managed to slip from my fingers, they blocked other kids’ views.)  Another boy who would rush up to point at something was called back by his mom a few times too, but he was a little older and was pretty easily redirected.  The second story Ms. Nancy read was Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins.  It was about a hen, Rosie, who had no idea that a fox was following her as she walked around the farmyard.  Rosie reminded me of Oma and Opa’s chickens at the Barony and, oddly enough, the fox reminded me a little of Wiley Coyote - each scene showed the hen walking safely by various objects, which inevitably fell on, hit, or somehow battered the disaster-prone fox.  I Went Walking by Sue Williams was a very short book about a child pointing out familiar animals.  It was a lot like Brown Bear, Brown Bear  by Bill Martin and Eric Carle.  It was cute, but not very memorable for me though – I had to look it up on Amazon to refresh my memory!  We also read Spot’s First Walk by Eric Hill.  We have one of the books from this series at home.  Shawn and Abby both like to discover what’s hidden under the flaps on each page.  Spot encounters surprises along his walk, which Ms. Nancy revealed from under the flaps.  Toward the end of the book, a fish warns Spot, “Don’t fall in!” as he’s about to drink from a pond. The next page shows Spot shaking water off his fur.  I smiled when his mom asks him what he did while he was gone.   You see him next to various things he picked up along his walk, but, just like the typical kid, he tells her, “Nothing.”  The last book we read was also by Eric Hill.  Spot’s Walk in the Woods told about things Spot saw during an adventure into the woods.  Since it was written as a rebus, Ms. Nancy had the children help her “read” the words that were replaced with pictures.  They got pretty excited about interpreting the pictures with her.  Abby liked the ending of the story, when Spot was back home and discovered a frog from the woods had jumped into his backpack.  She started hopping each time Ms. Nancy read the word ‘frog.’

Ms. Nancy taught us the sign for ‘walk’ in sign language.  We danced to Walk Outside from Raffi’s Box of Sunshine CD and tried to sign ‘walk’ whenever it came up in the lyrics.  We also recited a few rhymes:

Read a Book

(To the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat)

Read, read, read a book

Travel anywhere

World-wide, you decide

A book will take you there!

Around the Yard

Let’s go walking around the yard. (walk)

We’ll keep on walking, then we’ll stop. (stop)

Let’s go walking around the block. (walk)

We’ll keep on walking, then we’ll stop. (stop)

Let’s go walking to the library. (walk)

We’ll keep on walking, then we’ll stop. (stop)

Going for a Walk

Going for a walk is so much fun (walk)

We look at all the lovely trees (cup hands over head)

We don’t’ hurry, we don’t run (shake head)

We watch for birds and watch for bees (flap hands and make buzzing sound)

After the library, we played outside.  Abby and Shawn pulled out a lot of toys.  The bubble machine is Abby’s favorite.  The Cozy Coupe ranks pretty high with Shawn. 

Balls, buckets, and shovels littered the yard, too. 

We even wished for warm weather by pulling out the kiddy pool! Shawn and Abby had a blast pretending to swim and splash and toss toys into the non-existent water. 

Unfortunately, we had to stop our pool party short because Shawn tripped and scraped up his fingers.  It was time for lunch anyway, but it would have been nicer to end the festivity without the need for Band-Aids! 

 

When Abby woke up from her nap in the afternoon, I heard her say, “Hi, Baby!” She talked to herself a few minutes before I went in to get her. We played together while Shawn continued his nap.

After Shelley came to pick up Abby, Shawn woke up.  He found a book on his bookshelf (I could tell by the sounds of him rattling around in his room), then tried to open his door (I was on the other side secretly trying to help him).  When he got it open, he rushed out smiling and then made a bee-line to Abby’s pack & play, “Abby?  Abby?”  He was really disappointed when I explained that she had already gone home.  He just stood in the hallway looking at the stairs going down to the front door.  I had to take his hand to get him to snap out of it!  Then, he went back into his room and found some books to read, which were quickly spread across the floor.  He misses her already.  It’s a good thing there’s still one more day with Abby this week!

Firey Abby, Dueling Shawn, Melodious Mom, Pixies, Wizards, and Dragons! Oh, My!

It was a rough morning.  Abby threw her breakfast of scrambled eggs on the floor.  She and Shawn were like oil and vinegar today.  They bickered all morning and couldn’t figure out how to share any of the plethora of toys.  This doesn’t happen often, but WOW!

Thank goodness for a change of scenery at Music Class at Gymboree.  Miss Elizabeth subbed for Miss Kim.  There were many of the usual students missing from class, but there were also lots of new people in class either coming as makeup from other sessions or newly joining us.  Miss Elizabeth used Abby to demonstrate the movements for some lap-riding songs and my lap was happy to take a break from having two “riding along”!  Shawn was pretty quiet today (maybe all of the bickering earlier wore him out!), but he participated and followed Miss Elizabeth’s directions for each of the songs.  Whenever a new tub of instruments was brought out (maracas, blocks and sticks, or the music exploration box), he’d suddenly jump to life and sprint across the room to pick out his instrument.  He and Abby always want their maracas to match.  They even pick matching ones for me to use, too.  (Sometimes that means taking a little longer to find “the perfect” colors they each want to use.)  Abby was very hot and cold in class today – one moment she’d be enthusiastic and excited about the activity and the next minute she’d cuddle on my lap or (if we were standing up) she’d want me to pick her up.  (I don’t think she was tired because she normally puts her head on my shoulder when that’s the case.)  Even with her unpredictable mood today, she was an absolute star during the “Bah-bah” activity.  Miss Elizabeth held the microphone to Abby first and she showed the class exactly what to do.  When it was Shawn’s turn next, he froze like a deer in headlights!  Rats!  I thought last week was the beginning of a new trend!  Oh, well.  We’ll try again next time.  It turns out that Abby was one of the only kids in class who did the “Bah-bahs” today!  Way to go, Abby! 

After class, we had a few minutes to play in on the gym equipment before heading home for lunch.  A few of the parents from music class asked about Shawn and Abby and I had to explain that they’re not related.  More than once, I heard about how well they get along with each other and how nice it is that they get to do things together… I have to agree - though maybe I wouldn’t have this morning!

On the way home, Shawn called out, “FedEx mail truck!” each time he saw one, and we must have been on a busy mail route because we saw many of them.  We also practiced identifying colors by naming the signs, cars, and trucks that we saw on the way home.  Abby figured out pretty quickly that when in doubt, the signs are green (at least on the highway)!  She asked for a pink sign, too, but as hard as we looked, we didn’t see any.  Maybe we’ll try a different way home sometime or maybe one day we’ll see a billboard that will be pink.  In the meantime, we’ll keep looking.

I assumed Abby would be more than ready for lunch when we got home, so I got the kids in their boosters right away.  Abby gobbled down her yogurt without hesitation.  She looked like she was enjoying it so much that Shawn asked for some yogurt, too!  While the yogurt was disappearing quickly at both seats, I warmed up Abby’s mac & cheese and cut up some turkey and cheese for Shawn.  I presented Abby with her main course as well as a side of blueberries, a granola bar, and her cookies for dessert.  I guess I didn’t have to rush quite so much though because all she wanted was her yogurt – nothing else interested her.  Not even the blueberries or cookies!  This is not normal for Abby.  I got her to eat a few fork-fulls of the mac & cheese, but only if I fed it to her.  (She’d be tight lipped until I got it to her mouth and then she’d take the bite with no problem.)  Meanwhile, Shawn kept eyeing her untouched blueberries, so I made sure to get him a bowl of his own. 

About halfway through the meal, Shawn started making requests for various songs:  The Wheels on the Bus, Ring Around the Rosie, The Monkeys on the Bed, Mr. Sun, ABCs, and Boogie Woogie Piggy… just to name a few!  As I performed my best repertoire of children’s songs (which you will NOT be finding on video!  Again, I’m instrumental, not vocal!), the young diners helped me with the words and actions when they could and when they couldn’t they giggled encouragingly at Silly Mommy!  When it was pretty clear they weren’t going to eat any more and I was getting weary of my own song & dance act, we were off to nap time.

Abby woke up from her nap seconds before Bill knocked on the door to pick her up.  She was definitely still drowsy when I brought her downstairs with her head on my shoulder.  When Shawn woke up from his nap, I found him climbing into his rocking chair with a book.  When I greeted him, he replied, “Abby at home. I see Abby to-mon-ow (tomorrow).”

Raj got home from work just in time for us to go to a Mothers & More Family Outing to MagiQuest in Lombard.  We had never been there before and really didn’t know much about it, but this was a good excuse to check it out.  It was a sort of a living video game.  The website describes it as, “an interactive live-action, role playing game where players embark on quests and adventures in an enchanted fantasy world using real magic wands to solve the mysteries of the game.”  The interesting thing about the wands is that they ‘remember’ what quests you’ve done and what you’ve already accomplished on each quest.  Repeat visitors can buy their own wand, so their progress is recorded and so they can visit other MagiQuest locations (or online) while adding to their own profile.  (Of course, the store in front as all sorts of trinkets to buy in order to ‘personalize’ the wands, too.)  When we got there, we were given a Magic Wand and a pamphlet sized guidebook, or Ancient Book of Wisdom, to use along our ‘quest.’  The Magic Wand worked as a sort of remote control to trigger things to happen along the way.  We’d point the wand at a treasure chest and it would open to reveal the loot inside.  We’d point it at a forest scene and the monitor would reveal a nymph or wizard who would grant us a charm or give us a clue for our next step.  Shawn figured out that the wand caused things to happen, though he didn’t always point he wand at the hidden sensors in the scenery just right, so he’d start shaking it wildly in hopes that something would react to it.  Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t!  He really liked pointing at the gemstones that would light up in different colors.  Later, we actually went on a quest to find all of the gems and Shawn was thrilled to revisit them, so we already knew where most of them were.  Along our quests we found a Pixie, learned from a wizard, fought a goblin, and tricked a dragon. Though it’s a good thing we could use Shawn as our excuse to be in this living video game, I can honestly say we had a good time and it was fun to act like kids running around on secret quests through dungeons!

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!

'Hel-talk-oos' in 'Ooo-neee-nee'

During breakfast, we watched airplanes coming in to land at O’Hare. Even though this happens virtually 24-7, they thought it was pretty fun to announce, “Another airplane!” when they saw a new one in the distance.  Abby kept asking for a “hel-talk-oo” (or as Shawn would say, “het-top-ter” or as I would say, “helicopter”), but we were much too late to catch the traffic copters in the air. 

After breakfast, Shawn and Abby held hands and ran around the living room saying, “Whooo wooo! Choo choo train!”  They were giggling and beaming the whole time.  These two are something else!  Later, they helped me put up Spring and Easter decorations.  We stuck window clings on the front window and mirror, poured plastic eggs into various vases and containers around the house, and hung some miniature decorations of bunnies, birds, and Easter eggs from the dining room chandelier.  They had fun checking out the new décor.

It’s deceivingly pretty outside today: crystal blue sky, hardly any clouds, bright sunshine, little/no wind – but 25 F.  It’s a bit chilly for a walk to the park today.  Rats! Looking forward to the days when we can play outside without going numb - though I’m not a big fan of heat stroke either!

This evening, just to see what would happen, I told Shawn that we live in Chicago, Illinois.  Now, we’re practicing, “Where do you live?” “Ooo-neee-nee”  If he’s ever faced with telling someone where he lives, he’ll definitely need a translator!  Too bad we don’t live somewhere easy like… Hawaii!

When I was putting Shawn down to sleep for the night, he pointed to the freckles on my cheeks.  I told him, “Those are Momma’s freckles.”  He gently tapped them a few times, then leaned in and kissed them on both cheeks!  He made the pucker sound and all!  I couldn’t help it - I almost teared up.  My sweet little man.

A New Swimming Instructor

We have a new swimming teacher now, Ms. Becky.  Our old teacher, Ms. Mary, apparently has something “wrong with her ear,” (sounds a bit fishy to me…) so Ms. Becky will be taking over for the remainder of our classes this term.  Already, there’s an improvement in what we do.  Ms. Becky has a skills sheet to help track the progress of each child.  Apparently, Ms. Mary hadn’t filled them out… yet… or even knew they existed!  Ms. Becky apologized for feeling a little lost without that information about each of our children, but she accomplished more today than we have in the past three lessons combined:  we used float belts that could be positioned for front floating or for back floating, we practiced climbing out of the pool and jumping back in, we practiced kicking and reaching, and we tried blowing bubbles in the water.  We still played with water toys and sang a couple of the kiddie songs like The Wheels on the Bus, Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, and Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear.  There was a lot less down time today than in the past.  I think all the parents noticed that and seemed pretty happy about the new teacher!

Shawn was getting ready to nap right when Raj came home from work.  It was a bit of a struggle to settle him down again, but after a quick kiss hello from Dadda, he was so tired that he couldn’t keep his eyes open for very long.  When he woke up, I opened the door his room and he met me at his bedroom door!  It’s the first time he’s actually gotten out of his bed when he’s woken up.  Raj thought that this was going to happen right away, but usually Shawn just sits up and calls for me.   This time, he was trying to turn the door knob when I opened it.  I was greeted with a big, mischievous smile, a couple of giggles, and “I had a good nap!”  What a way to wake up.  Gotta love it!

We ate dinner downstairs.  I made pizza in a spring-form pan, which Raj has receptively requested to be the way I make them from now on.  Shawn sat on his own stool at the bar.  What a big boy.  He even devoured all of his cooked carrots and his own slice of pizza before a dessert of “shawbees and booboos” (which he always wants together) and “gapes” (aka, strawberries, blueberries, and grapes).  He’s getting pretty good at eating with his fork.  He certainly likes having a fork, though sometimes he simply holds it in one hand while he picks up food with the other.  (Last night, Shawn placed an individual carrot slice from his plate onto his tray and then stabbed it with his fork.  When he successfully got it all the way to his mouth, Raj and I would cheer and applaud his triumph.  That got him pretty excited!)  Tonight, he ate the carrots with his fork with no problem, but the pizza was a little tricky – the toppings complicated things when they wouldn’t stay on his cut up slice.  Dadda helped a few times, but Shawn’s fingers picked up the slack whenever the fork wasn’t being effective. 

After Raj gave him a bath, Shawn and I settled in for a bedtime story in the rocking chair.  He decided either the story was too long or he was too tired to listen to the whole thing, so we moved to his bed.  Just as I thought he was drifting off, he’d announce something like, “I had a bath with Dadda.  I got clean and brushed my teeth!”  Yes!  That’s right!  You certainly did!  Now... go 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!

A Disappointing Library Story Time

Story time at the library used the theme “Going to the Park.”  I was a little disappointed.  Not very timely, since the weather has taken a turn toward the cold and hasn’t been (and won’t be) very conducive to actually going to the park.  I wasn’t very impressed by the book selections either.   Oh, well.  Maybe next week will be better.

Ms. Nancy read:

·         Hop! Plop! By Corey Rosen Schwartz and Tali Klein
A cute story about an elephant and a mouse who are friends and try to find something they can do or play together.

·         Spot Goes to the Park by Eric Hill
Shawn and Abby like lifting the flaps in stories like this.

·         Please Play Safe by Margery Cuyler
Ugh.  A book about what not to do when playing?  Gee, sounds like fun!  It had good points like not pushing into each other and sharing, but… eck!  We won’t be checking out this book!

·         Play Ball with Me by Lynn Reiser
This was another flap book that Shawn and Abby liked.  Each page featured a specific sport’s ball and equipment and the readers guessed what sport was being hinted. 

We danced to Jumping and Counting from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem, though I didn’t quite get the connection to the “Going to the Park” theme…??

We also learned a couple of poems:

Outside Play
Let’s go outside and play.
The sun is shining.
It’s a beautiful day.
We’re sure to have lots of fun.
We’ll hop and skip
And jump and run!

On the Playground

Playing on the playground is a treat,

Swinging and sliding can’t be beat!

(make swinging and sliding motions with hands)

The playground is where we like to play,

We run and skip and hop each day!

The Slide

Climb up the ladder

(climb fingers up arm)

Hang on to the side

(grasp arm with fingers)

Sit down on top

(place fist on top of arm)

Then down you slide!

(slide fist down arm)

 

Even though story time was a bit disappointing, Abby provided us with plenty of entertainment throughout the day.  She was an extraordinarily garrulous little girl!  Whether she was talking specifically to me, to Shawn, or to herself, she certainly had a lot to say!  By the time she went home, she wore me out!