School Has Started

School has started! And this year they start 20 minutes earlier then they did last year. This means that we all have to wake up earlier. Luckily for Middle Boy, he’s a pop out of bed, awake, morning early bird. Unluckily for Older Boy, Younger Boy and myself we’re sleep in until at least 9am, you’d best not wake me, where’s my coffee, I can’t believe I’m up this flipping early non-morning persons.

It’s been about a week and a half now and we’ve all managed to get a routine down. I drag my butt out of bed around 6:30am-6:50am. I wake the boys up around 7:10am. They make their beds, get dressed, come down and eat dinner. I’m meanwhile putting their lunches and snack together. The goal is to get out the door at 7:30am to get them to school around 7:40am. This way Older Boy can walk Younger Boy to his kindergarten class and still have time to make it to his class line and socialize a bit (wake up a bit more).

Considering I’ve cut out the coffee for now and I haven’t slept well through the night in months I’ve been majorly dragging butt. Thirty-six weeks pregnant is exhausting. Everyone keep telling me I have no clue what I’m in for because I’m going to be waking up even more during the night. But considering I’m waking up about 5-7 times during the night as it is I’m hoping that maybe I’m just getting in good practice for nightly feedings and diaper changes.

On a different note, Younger Boy is really, really excited to finally be at school. He’s in the morning class so I pick him up at 11:25am. Luckily, he was accepted into the after school program from 1:40pm to 6pm so he’s able to come back and socialize and play some more with kids his own age. It’s a blessing, in my opinion, but a pain in the butt trying to juggle between meetings at work.

His after school program teacher though was having trouble keeping him focused. Considering he’s a kindergartner (and an excited kindergartner at that) FH and I figured he’d have to work on learning to focus more. But she asked us the other day for tips.

She mentioned she had tried bribing him with “You can be in the front of the line” and some other mumbo jumbo. Basically we told her that in addition to being super excited he was probably testing her on what he could get away with on his scale of Jane-who-lets-him-do-what-he-wants-and-bribes-with-toys-and-goodies on the left and me-who-enforces-structure-holds-him-accountable-for-his-actions-and-challenges-him-to-find-things-to-do on the right.

He tried pulling the sad, blinking back tears that weren’t there yet trick in front of us when we called him over to have a chat. His teacher mentioned that the face scared her because she felt bad, so I demonstrated the resistance to it and got results. Perhaps I’ve just had more training in working with children and behavior between being an instant mom and working in the childhood development centers all those years.

The good news is that she reported to FH the other day that she found that if she gave him a task to focus on he was much better instead of going wild.

I’m hoping that with time Younger Boy will get used to being in a class environment. And that in a couple of weeks I’ll go into labor, because I’ve been really, really patient.

I Get The Good Stuff

Younger Boy started his pre-Kindergarten prep camp this week. It’s two weeks long but this is his first taste of a school-like setting and he gets to play and do stuff with kids his own age.

His teacher told me that he has been one of the happiest children there and always sings the loudest and is always just so excited and happy to do things. I told her that he’s been asking me for about a year and a half now when he gets to go to school so he’s just so happy to be able to have something of his own.

He’s so excited that on Tuesday when his school was cancelled for the day (a body was discovered in the park next door) that the poor child about cried. I felt horrible, even though I know it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t dump the body there, geesh.

Yesterday though it hit me … I may not be his “mommy” but I sure as heck get to enjoy the little things by being his “mom.” I was the one who got to see his face light up with excitement when I picked him up because he was just so excited to tell me about his day and about all the thins he did. I’m also the one who gets to hold his hand and be a part of this new chapter of his life where he starts school in the fall. And I’m the one who got to be a part of all this preparation for him to start school in the fall.

Sometimes I get hung up on the lack of child-mother bond with the boys. Or sometimes I get hung up on the fact that I’m not their birth mother. So I’m trying to really soak in all the good stuff that I do get to be a part of. And I try to give myself credit because a lot of this good stuff wouldn’t be happening without me being a part of their lives…mainly because a lot of it didn’t start happening until I became a part of their lives.

I also remind myself that she might always be their "mommy" but she has continuously made the choice not to be their "mom." And that I'm the one who has continuously, despite the nasty moments, made the choice to be the one that is here for them, to nurture them, to help guide them and love them and experience life with them. I get to be the difference in their lives. And isn't that what all people want? To make a difference in at least one person's life in a lifetime?

And I think that’s really something to be proud of and thankful for.

Baby Update: I’m at 29 weeks now, and so many people keep telling me that I look like I’m going to have this baby in August instead of in September. Which I promise I don’t mind the baby coming early I just would hope it would be a health 2-3 weeks early instead of a whole month early. I do know that I wish the little blossom would stop wedging her foot underneath my ribcage. She also really enjoys kicking me on the right side of my rib cage. I’ve been joking that she’s trying to get hers in now…it makes sense to me. Ha ha.

Accomplishing the Kindergarten Checklist

I picked up the Kindergarten Registration packet for Younger Boy and in it was a page that has a list of things that “They would like him or her to know” before your child enters school in the fall.

Younger Boy can do quite a bit of them already. He knows his colors, he knows common shapes, he knows common fruits and vegetables, he knows common animal names and he’s pretty good at knowing his different body parts. Although he’s having some trouble remembering his shoulder but that’s not a high concern on my list.

They also would like him to be able to count up to 10 objects. So I plopped down a handful of mini marshmallows in front of him. He got up to 19 because that’s all that was there. I didn’t want to give him too many because the rule is if you touch it you eat it.

Some of the things on there that I thought was a little silly was the ability to cut on a line, color inside the lines and string beads or macaroni. I figure he’ll strengthen on these on his own as he gets into his Kindergarten groove. Besides, I know people my age who have trouble coloring inside the lines. I’m not going to expect a 4-year-old to have mastered that feat just yet.

The one big thing I have been working with him on is writing. He, of course, wants to hold the pencil/pen wrong. So we’ve been trying to work daily on writing the letters and how to hold the pencil. I bought a wipe-off work book for Middle Boy when he was learning to write his letters so I’ve been using that with Younger Boy. He’s gotten pretty good at it.

I’ve also been working with him on how to spell his name. We started off using the letter magnets on the refrigerator. And this past Friday was my mom’s birthday so I thought it would be a good idea to have him practice writing his name by signing the card himself. I copied his name down on a piece of paper and had him copy the letters. He sat there and struggled a little bit. But he managed to get the letters onto the card. They were somewhat legible, different sizes, and his s was backwards. But you could read it and know whose name it was.

Yesterday I had FH sit down to work on some of these Kindergarten feats with him. He had a pencil in hand and a big piece of paper. I asked Younger Boy to practice writing his name. I also asked FH to go grab the piece of paper so he could copy it down for him. Well, low and behold, by the time FH walked over from the desk to the table Younger Boy had printed out his name if very legible letters.

FH and I looked at each other quite astonished, and proud. Younger Boy looked at me and smiled. I could swear his had a “You silly fool. Of course I can write my name” look on his face.

Baby Update: I'll be going on 17 weeks on Wednesday. We heard the heartbeat again and it's still going strong. I'm waiting for the next ultrasound on April 29th. It's the big one where I have to drink 5 1/2 glasses of water an hour and a half before so they can look for birth defects and what not. We're hoping the baby will let us know what he or she is. Please think *Girl* for me because I sure could use another female in this house of boys. Especially considering even the cat is a male.

It Rhymes!

Younger Boy has really been excelling in the spelling words area. He has learned about compound words; although I can’t say that he understand the exact word “Compound Word.” But he’s learned that he can put little words together to make bigger words. He’s mastered such words as “cupcake,” “subway,” and “cat food.”

In addition to these bigger words he has also been learning about words that rhyme. Many times throughout the day I hear excitement in:

“Crys! Bed, Shed! They rhyme!”

“Mouse, House! They rhyme!”

And various other rhyming word combinations. He’s also starting to learn new words from rhyming words. For example we were in the car one day trying to think of all the different words that rhyme with bug. He started switching the “b” out with other letters.

From switching out single letters, he started switching in letter combinations like “ch,” sh,” “st,” etc. He learned that chug rhymes with bug, but that stug isn’t really a word –

Even though it rhymed. Which brings us to tonight’s experience.

There we were. In the middle of a restaurant. He was happily eating his ice cream. He had spelled the word “hat” for us multiple times. Hat by the way is his most favorite word ever. When out of no where he announces out loud:

“I can spell shat! S-H-A-T!”

FH and I looked at each other.

“He didn’t learn that from me.” I mumbled as my face dove into my hands to try and contain the laughter that wanted to bust out. FH just shook his head as he mumbled “We’ll, it is past tense.” Can I just say that we were both dying from holding in the laughter.

I think I shall wait to see if he spells it again in which I’ll let him know that “shat” isn’t really a word. And instead we should try the word “shut” or even better we can stray away from substituting that vowel and make the word “shout.”

You have to love the things that come out of those little, rapidly growing brains.

Little Minds Are Amazing

I may have missed out on all the of baby related things of having a child but I am so thankful to be here now. I’ve seen Older Boy develop a love for books, I’ve seen Middle Boy learn how to read and spell and tie his shoes, and as you may recall I’ve been working with Younger Boy on learning letters and spelling.

He amazed me again yesterday. I finally got him that second set of magnetic letters for the refrigerator. Yesterday he was at it spelling words left and right. And then he asked me “Does this spell Caterpillar?”

I walked over and this is what I saw: KATRPLLER



Not only was I amazed that he had attempted such a long word by himself, but he actually had used the phonetic sounds to try and spell it. I was so proud.

I told him the letters of how to really spell it and even showed him the “cat” in “caterpillar” since he already knew how to spell cat.

These little minds simply are amazing to me. I’m very excited to see what else he has picked up.

My Spelling Fanatic

I have created a spelling fanatic in our house. Do you remember the preschool program Word World that I recently discovered last month? Well not only is it now Younger Boy's show of choice to watch, but it always launches him into a spelling frenzy.

He’s learned a lot of words like “star” and “mat” and “bat” in addition to his favorite word ever “hat.” I can always tell when he’s really learned a word from the show because he ways “That’s a WordWorld word.”

Those magnetic letters have become one of his new favorite pastimes. We still, however, need to get another set of letters because it’s hard to spell some words when you only have one of each letter. Example, last night Older Boy and Younger Boy were at the fridge:

OB: How do you spell “daddy?”
YB: I don’t know. D-A-D.
OB: Almost. That’s “dad.” “Daddy” is D-A-D-D-Y.
YB: That’s three Ds! I only have one!

Another plus is he is also started to distinguish letters and sounds. A lot of times he will hear a word and say something like:

YB: “Bird” That starts with a B.

He also has taken up to asking how to spell words. The longer words though he sometimes re-asks if that’s how you spell it. I think all of the letters confuse him.

YB: How do you spell “balloon?”
Crys: B-A-L-L-O-O-N
YB: No it’s not! That’s not how you spell “balloon!”
Crys; Yes it is!
YB: That’s how you spell “balloon?” Well it has a lot of letters.

And lastly, for now, he’s starting to grasp beginning and ending letters. Although he does mix it up a bit, I’m rather impressed he is still able to connect the sound and letter.

YB: “Fun” starts with “N”
Crys: “Fun” ends with “N” … F-U-N
YB: Ohhh. And “hat” starts with “H.”
Crys: Yup.

I think it’s pretty obvious that I’m a proud momma.

A Letter Short

I thought I’d send you an update about the progress with Younger Boy and working on Preschool activities at home. We discovered a great kids TV show the other day. It’s called Word World. Basically everything in the world is made of letters – literally made of letters. The dog’s body is made out of the letters d-o-g. We came across it after watching Sesame Street. It was kind of creepy but looked really cute at the same time so I decided it was OK to watch.

I’m pretty glad we did. As soon as the show was done Younger Boy jumped up and ran over to our refrigerator where we have those plastic magnetic alphabet letters. The problem is that we only have one set, but it works great for spelling small words. Younger Boy wanted to spell some of the words we had seen in the show so we spelled “dog” and “web.” He would say the word we were going to spell. Then I would ask him to find each individual letter and we would put them together to form the word.

I’m still trying to figure out just how much he knows. He can sing his alphabet song, but I’m not sure how much of that is memorization and how much is actually knowing. So we went through the alphabet and I had him grab each letter. There were a couple of letters he said he didn’t know so I made a mental note of those. But he did recognize and was able to find a good majority of the letters. I was pretty proud.

And this conversation ended our word spelling activity for the day. Apparently I need a couple more vowel magnets. (My apologies for those that are friends on my facebook page, but it was too precious to pass up.)

*playing with the magnetic letters on the fridge. We only have one set of the alphabet*

YB: How do you spell cat?
Crys: C-A-T
YB: Oh! How do you spell fox?
Crys: F-O-X
YB: How do you spell HBO?
Crys: You spell HBO
YB: H-B-O
Crys: Good Job!
YB: How do you spell pee?
Crys: P?
YB: Yes. How do you spell pee? *does the 'I need to potty' crotch grab*
Crys: P-E .... well. You need another E. But we only have one.
YB. Oh. P-E-E?
Crys: Do you have to go potty?
YB: Yes.
Crys: Then go! You don't need my permission.
YB: ok.

Getting Back to the Basics of Learning

As some of you may remember, I’ve decided to work with Younger Boy on learning some preschool basics while he’s home. This past week we have been working on tracing and learning the letters. He’s been very excited. I’m not sure what he’s absorbing, but I do know that he really wants to do it. In the middle of coloring yesterday he asked if he could write letters. I don’t even think I could describe my excitement in the fact he initiated the want to write some letters.

We’ve worked our way up to G so far. We tried some free-hand letters but his little hands just can’t quite grasp the crayon the way you’re supposed to be holding it in order to write. So I’ve been writing the letters down and letting him trace over them with a different colored crayon.

I also have letter magnets on the fridge and we’ve been going over some of the letters and words that start with them. Like Thomas starts with the letter T and Olivia starts with the letter O. I don’t expect him to get it, but I’m still excited that he’s been asking what letter different words start with.

He wants so very much to be like his older brothers and to be able to read and write. I want to embrace his excitement to learn and do things, but I want to make sure that I’m doing it right. I need to dumb it down I guess – get back to the basics. I’ve found that to be one of my more challenging things lately when it comes to teaching and helping the boys learn. Remembering how hard it was to learn simple things like letters and adding, because I learned all of that so long ago. Taking that step back is a lot harder than I thought it would be. But I have confidence that I can do this.

I’ve been thinking about getting some letter stencils or alphabet specific coloring books. I’m thinking more hands on things instead of flashcards since he is going to be 4-years-old., but I wanted to see if any of you have any ideas of other things I can get to help teach him the letters and to become familiar with handling crayons?

Younger Boy writing his letters.

Beaming With Pride

Can you feel it? I believe I’m sending out warm and fuzzy rays of sunshine right now. I had a really great blog entry of progress but after tonight I have to share ... and brag.

Younger Boy received some hard cover Tonka Block Books. There are six of them and they have colors, words, numbers, opposites, etc. He’s been playing with them and pretending to read them lately, and tonight I decided that I was going to read them with him.

First we did words. I would say the word and he would say it after me. I’ll tell you what, listening to a toddler try to say the word “dependable” was cute. Especially when he giggled the first time we read it because he wasn’t sure. But he had the word down. And he loved the word “Fearless.” He actually asked me to use the word. I have no idea where he learned to do that from, but my sentence was “Younger Boy is Fearless.” He really liked that.

Then we did the colors. I know he wasn't reading the actual color words, but since he was saying the correct color I congratulated him on reading the color book by himself. There's nothing like a child's smile to make your giddy and happy inside.

But what really made me proud and excited and giddy was when we did the number book. The numbers are written out as words, but there is also the same number of images on the pages. I counted out one truck, then two trucks. Then I turned the page and he started counting. One, Two, Three. He counted all of the objects through out the book by himself. And it absolutely delighted me when we turned to the last page of the book and he counted out: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten!

Who knew that little stinker could count up to ten. I guess he is paying attention when I count out things.

Oh, and did I mention how proud I am of him? Because I’m definitely proud.

Singing My Preschool Woes

Do you remember your younger childhood schooling days? I’m talking preschool here. I went to a parent co-op preschool and I have such vivid memories of playing there. I remember some of the activities, I remember the songs, I remember my teachers, and I even remember getting in trouble for kissing a boy under a table.

Anyway, Younger Boy is at the age where he is definitely ready for preschool. He knows his colors, he knows his shapes, he knows numbers 1-5 (sometimes he knows 6 and sometimes not. It depends on the day.) And he is so, so, so excited to go to preschool. He asks me everyday if he’s going to preschool and I always have to let him down.

I feel horrible telling him not today. I’ve been trying to make sure he has things to do that aren’t just playing with Thomas and Friends, because at some point in the morning Thomas just isn’t fun anymore. I also refuse to park his butt in front of the TV for more than a half hour. We have play-doh and finger paints and Lincoln Logs – and that’s all great and all but it just doesn’t replace play time with other kids and the opportunities I know an outside preschool teacher can provide.

Now that we’ve moved and are a bit more settled in we’ve really been researching preschools. Unfortunately I can’t consider the more affordable parent co-op preschool because I just can’t take 3 to 4 days off of work every month to help out. So I’ve been looking into the life of private run preschools and our city’s preschool programs.

I’m waiting to hear back from the city’s preschool program because at this point, it looks like it’s the one program we might actually be able to afford. Because whoa – preschool is expensive.

I had no idea just how expensive it was until I started to look at prices. One preschool we looked at, and toured and really liked is about $250/month for a two day a week program. And that was one of the cheaper programs. Others we looked at want $135/week for a two day session!

I don’t want to deprive him of a great opportunity to be social with other kids and to go to preschool, but $250 a month is really cutting into our budget. And considering we’re trying to save up to pay for the wedding, I just don’t realistically see how we can afford it. I’m really sad about this, but I’m not giving up hope.

And trust me that I would ask Jane for help funding if I thought it was one: realistic and two: she could/would help out. But considering that she just can’t afford to help with anything I don’t even want to take a step down that road. Besides, according to their court papers the only thing that is written that she is expected to pay for is medical expenses that go beyond what FH’s medical insurance will cover.

So far the city-run preschool program is the next affordable option, but if not then I’m looking into possibly daycare options. I’d like to at least get him into some social setting so that he’ll have that opportunity to play with children that aren’t his brothers. I know how important social interaction is when it comes to children. Who am I kidding? I know how important social interaction is to adults! I’d also love to be able to send him off to be social without me there. I think that is an important part of him learning his independence and learning more about himself.

Anyway, those are my preschool woes. Wish me luck, and if you have any other ideas of how I can affordably get some socialization in for Younger Boy I’d love to hear them.