Thursday, August 31, 2006
Preschool started today!
Ok, we just got back from taking C1 to preschool. We love it! And more importantly I know C1 will love it. Mrs. L is his teacher, and she has an assitant and other special needs teachers to help her. She has 16 kids in her class... much less than the 25 T and I worried about. 12 girls and only 4 boys. I don't know if that is good or bad. Anyway here are some photos from his first day!
C1 starts preschool Thursday. We are happy, a little sad, nervous and worried. We are happy because C1 is such a great kid and we are so excited about him taking the next step into school. We are sad because he is our baby. We don't think of him as a a preschooler quite yet. Boy is he growing fast. We are nervous because we are afraid his tantrums and outbursts at home might find their way into the classroom. Worried because our little man will be under the supervision of someone we haven't met yet. And the thought of 1 lady in charge of 25 three year olds makes us worry about his safety and well being. I am sure pre-school will be a great experience for all of us and a perfect step on his way to an excellent education.
A long time ago, my father told me that "you learn something new everyday". At the time it sounded kind of goofy, but as I get older, I am beginning to think he is right. Today I learned that letting a 3 year old eat chocolate pudding unsupervised is not the brightest idea.
Hello, my name is C2. I was wondering, is it me, or am I getting the shaft? You see, I am the second kid in our family and even though I am only 7 1/2 months old, I was beginning to think I was getting the short end of the stick here. For instance, I wear all of C1's old clothes. C1 got all bright and shiny new clothes, and I get the hand-me-downs. C1 has 2 CD's that feature his name in all of the songs. Am I supposed to listen to the "C1 is great" music as I age? Our toybox even has a large plaque that is engraved with the name "C1" on it. I felt like I would be stealing if I were to play with a toy out of "C1"s toybox. And, what made it worse is 99% of the pictures and photo albums had pictures of C1 in them... Until today! Mommy and Daddy took me to a photography studio to get my pictures done. I even posed naked! Now there is a big picture of ME right next to Daddy's desk. And Mommy is showing off the pictures to everyone she sees (C1 isnt in one of them he he). Im sure I will still have to learn to accept that I am #2, but today C1 is going to have to experience the back seat!
Anybody who has kids or has ever been a kid knows what I am talking about when I say that it is time for "shots". Well, Yesterday I took C2 to get 3 more of many shots that kids need nowadays. There are some positives and negatives associated with shots. I'll list some that one may or may not be aware of.
Pros:1. Immunizations are designed to protect your child from serious diseases .
2. Some of these diseases (such as polio and diphtheria) were much more common a hundred years ago, but are now rarely seen thanks to immunizations.
Cons:1. Seeing your precious baby get stabbed several times can be traumatic even if the ones doing the puncturing are wearing white coats.
2. Sitting in a waiting room requesting a stabbing isn't fun either especially when you hold number 51 and they just called number 26 (Thankfully I only had C2 with me and not C1, because I don't know how C1 would have handled the 2 hours we spent in the hospital).
3. The 23 of the 24 people in front of me in line had out of control kids (one girl's mother was hollering at her daughter to stop misbehaving and the little girl actually had a shirt on that depicted a cartoon of tweety bird, sylvester the cat and the word "Misbehaving" on it)
4. Our local public school starts next week, and I think every kindergartener was in to have his/her shot in order to start school.
Well, C2 did great, and he doesnt have to go back until February. Conner has another year before he needs any shots, so the future is looking bright and free of diseases and crowded waiting rooms.
C1 turned 3 years old a month ago, and we are still having issues with controlling bodily functions. Well, to be specific, Conner is having the issues. I haven't had any problems for a few years. Sometimes he does great. He will wake us up at night to go, and has gone a week or longer with nothing but fantastic results... until today. The normal day, we had him go potty as soon as he got up. Then for some unknown reason, around 10am he pees on the couch. OK... accidents happen. No big deal clean it up, and learn from the mistake. Teresa and I have always been positive and encouraging during this whole process that started over 1 year ago. I read/heard somewhere that you shouldn't push your toddler to toilet train, it will come when they are ready. So whenever there has been a bump in the road, we have said encouraging things so as to not scare him, or make the potty a bad thing. Anyway, after C2's defective diaper spills its contents onto the couch (same cushion), C1 has another "bump in the road". He says "Daddy will you change me?" Since he is wearing Batman underpants, and not Bob the Builder Pull-ups, this question raised some concerns for me. He went on our carpet this time. At what point of this process can T and I as parents not be so positive? I told him I was upset that he peed on the carpet and told him that he needed baby diapers on now because he couldn't use the potty like a big boy. I put a Pull-up on him and he probably likes that better anyway, but the thought of cleaning up another mess today makes me cringe. I wonder when it is ok to discipline for bad potty moments. I'm sure this issue will soon pass. Then it will be time to enroll C2 in Potty U.
Ok friends and family, here it is. My Blog. The purpose of this Blog is mainly to sort out my thoughts and observations. To keep a record of important things that happen to our family. Another purpose is to communicate these milestones to family and friends. Comments are always welcome.
As many of you know, T and I have been planning on having one of us stay home with C1 and C2 since we started our family. That is the main reason we sold our house, changed jobs and moved out of state. T is very successful as a General Manager with (EDITED). My career with Applebee's was not quite as successful, so we both were happy when the opportunity for me to stay home came about. I have been a stay at home Dad/Husband for nearly 3 months now and although it is not an easy job, it is way less stressful than my position with Applebee's.
Right now I am working on raising my sons, treating T like a queen, keeping the house in good order, and also... the garage sale we have talked about having for literally years.
