Preschool Woes

I had this vision that Colin would go to preschool in the district I teach in (Somerset). I'd drop him off at Sandy's house in the morning and then he'd go to school with his buddy Rece from daycare in the afternoon. I started talking to him about where "his school" was and how he'd be going there with Rece. He was finally getting excited. We open enrolled him. I thought we were a shoe-in. We got denied. All 81 applicants got denied. The superintendent is not likely to change his mind. Apparently there's not enough space for us. Way to go me, counting my chickens before they're hatched.

I'm super sad about it. I don't want him going to school in New Richmond. The district just doesn't impress me. I think back to my days as a substitute teacher and when I worked at the teen center at the Y and how I wasn't impressed. I'm not impressed that we weren't sent any information about registering for preschool. I'm not impressed that we weren't sent any information about early childhood screening. There's just so much that gets me fired up about it.

I will fill out the papers to appeal, hoping it works.
I've got the principal on my side, who says he doesn't understand why. He said there were only 3 preschool applicants. He said he'd talk to the superintendent and see what he can do.
I asked Kevin to talk to a friend/co-worker/"boss"-type person, who is also the school board president to ask him what we can do.

Just in case those don't work, we need alternative plans.
1) He doesn't go to preschool. He stays at Sandy's full time. Not a fan--I want him to have a nice transition year before he goes to kindergarten all day.
2) He goes to preschool in New Richmond at our church. I really want him to go to Sandy's for the other half of the day though, so I'm not sure how we'd figure out transportation there. It's a 30 minute round-trip gig every day.
3) Sell the house this summer (if even possible. Good lord...we'd have to get on that like, yesterday) and find a place to rent in Somerset, then save money for a down payment on a house.

Sucks when a vision disintegrates at your feet. Sucks. :(

Ben: 17 months

A long awaited Ben update!!!
Benny is 17 months old now. Already! He's saying a bunch of words like:
ball (bah)
toys (/t/)
car (gah)
bubbles (buhbuh)
light (ight)
bowl (bo)
deer (dee)
on
up
please (signs it)
eat/drink (signs it by pointing to his cheek)
ick (/ccckkk/)
done (signs it by waving his hand)
hi
hello
bye bye
dada
mama

He's constantly in the fridge looking for snacks. He takes after his brother in that aspect.

Ben is Colin's little buddy. They get along pretty well. Of course there's a squabble here and there, but for the most part they play very well together. Oh...except for when Ben doesn't get his way and bites Colin. Yep, Ben is a biter if he's having a bad day.

He has proven to be a water baby. He loves taking a bath and lying on his belly in the tub, getting bubbles all over himself and kicking and rolling around. I'm excited to take him swimming this summer to see how he likes the water this year. Last year he was pretty chill in his floating chair. I'm sure this summer will be much different!

Ben's sleeping through the night pretty well now that his 2 month long ear infection is over. It's such a nice change. He's a great (but flexible) sleeper. I can lay him down in his bed at nap time and after he fusses for about 15 seconds, he'll go right to sleep. He still nurses at night for about 10 minutes and then he gets a book and takes it to Kevin and they rock and read.

He gets a lot of compliments when we're out and about how cute he is. Must be his little man walk or his squishy cheeks and belly or his little smile. I'm not sure what it is, but we'll take it!

He got a haircut this month. No more mop top. I loved his curls but his hair was getting a little out of control so I cut it.

This month was also punctuated with the fact that he almost impaled his eyeball with a low-sitting branch on a bush. It's so scary to think it could have been much, much worse.

He still hasn't gained much weight. He's still 32 lbs and some change. He's gotten a bit taller and his belly doesn't hang over his pants anymore. He's toning up with all of the moving he does :) He does like to be chased, with his hands behind his back protecting his sides from being tickled.

Ben LOVES art. He loves to color and loves to play with Play-Doh.

I love (most) ages we've gone through, but Ben's age is so fun because he's so busy, he's learning words, and learning how to be more independent. We shall see what this month brings. It'll be fun, I'm sure!

Colin's birthday

I have a 4 year old. Can you believe it? This little man will be going to preschool in 4 months! How did that happen!?!

Colin had a great birthday. We got him a bigger bike (16") for his big day. Not that he could ride it because there was snow outside (ugh). Now that we've had a week without snow, he was able to put some miles on it though. It's a tad big, and since it doesn't have training wheels, either Kevin or I have to hold onto it while he hops on. Then he cruises off, and he's getting the hang of his dismount now. I love watching him ride his bike.

 The day after his birthday was a Friday and Kevin and I took the day off of work to spend the day with the boys. Colin wanted to go to Skyzone, an indoor trampoline park. We had a lot of fun. It was Kevin's first time, and Colin had fun showing him everything. His favorite is definitely the foam pit :) After getting some energy out, we had lunch at McDonald's.

On Saturday, we had the big birthday bash. Colin chose a Jake and the Neverland Pirates party.

My coworker made the cake. I made the sail, and the figurines were from the store.

He got a great variety of presents. Games, building toys, some artsy gifts, etc. The day after his party he spent a bit of time playing with each of his presents.

 Always entertained by a singing card...

 

Happy birthday Bud! We hope you had a great day. We look forward to what 4 is going to bring us. We're sure you'll continue to keep us on our toes and amaze us every day with your creativity and imagination!

Ben's 15 month check up

We had a pediatrician appointment on Friday.

Ben's stats:
Weight: 31 lbs, which I believe to be inaccurate. Just 4 days before that, he weighed 33 lbs. So we'll just say that he's holding steady at 32 lbs. He hasn't gained any weight for about 4 months but he's still way over the curve and still in the 100th percentile.
Height: 32 1/2 inches (87th percentile....slacker)

Ben had been to the doctor a few days prior and was diagnosed with an ear infection and bronchiolitis. His ear looked like it was getting better and Dr. C. didn't hear any wheezing indicating bronchiolitis. Ben got his 4th round of DTaP and Hib vaccines. He barely whimpered when he got poked, but his DTaP site was very red (softball size in diameter), warm, and hard over the weekend.

While we were there, I had Dr. C. look in Colin's ears and he had an ear infection too, but since it doesn't seem to bother him, we decided not to get antibiotics.

Nothing else to report. Next time we go in June it's a double appointment...Ben's 18 month and Colin's 4 year! Don't tell Colin that he's probably going to get shots. He plugs his ears when Ben gets his, and I'll put $100 on Colin crying more than Ben when he gets his shots.

Colin's haps

I talk a lot about Ben because he changes so fast, but you know...there's Colin around these parts too. I thought I'd give you a little update on him with some pictures.


Colin wrote his name about a month ago and I was quite impressed. I didn't help him write this. I traced my finger on the paper, and then he wrote it with a pen.

Dude loves smoothies. Here we were at Target and shared a strawberries and cream from Starbucks.

He came to school with me so I could do something really quickly and listened to a book on CD. Seriously. He looks huge here.

He loves playing Starfall on my laptop and using Kevin's iPad to watch PBS and Disney Jr. shows. I wish he liked playing games a little more than watching shows, but it does provide for some good consequences ("stop yelling or no iPad tonight.").

 I forget what he was talking about here, but he looks huge in this picture too.

His current favorites:
TV Shows: Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Phineas and Ferb, Little Einsteins
Foods: Mac & Cheese, hot dogs, pears, clementines
Toys: Legos and other building things, anything that can me made into a rocketship/airplane
Games: "Spiderman," Chutes and Ladders

He's a great shopping buddy. Most Sundays he comes with me to Target and Aldi. We were at Target yesterday and I was trying on some t-shirts (I got 5 shirts for $20!) and he said they looked pretty on me. I mean...how can I not buy them if they look pretty on me? :)

Colin continues to prove that he's an excellent builder. It's amazing what he can create with Legos, Tinker Toys, etc. He drew a stage on the whiteboard at daycare. What 3 year old draws a stage? I love his creative mind :)

Colin is SO ready for spring. He doesn't want to wear his boots anymore. He is anxiously awaiting the snow to melt so he can get his Gator out of the shed. Every time it rains and the sun shines, he gets super excited that the snow is melting, and he groans when it snows. Can't say I blame him :)

We open enrolled in the school district I work in for Jr. Kindergarten (4K/preschool) next year. It's a half day every day, and then he'll be able to still go to Sandy's for the other half of the day. We won't find out if we got accepted until June. Then we have to figure out transportation between Sandy's and school since the bus can't stop at Sandy's.

We're gearing up for his 4th birthday. 4TH BIRTHDAY. ::jaw drop:: So far it's Jake and the Neverland Pirates themed. Kevin and I are taking the day after his birthday off to do something fun with him. Not sure what yet...waterpark, Skyzone, zoo...we'll see what he picks.

Ben: 15 months

Holy moly. The biggest "new" thing that Ben does is communicate more. You've seen my lists. I love documenting first words/signs. It's fun to see what's most important in a little life. Like...

Words: Mama, Didi (daddy), mopmopmop (mop), ball,  there/this/that, uh oh, hello, hi, and "baa" = what a sheep says.
Signs: nodding head for yes, shaking head for no, waving goodbye, milk, daddy,
"please"

"water"

He gets into a bit of mischief, too. He's always opening the refrigerator and getting clementines, pears, hot dogs...whatever he can find. He knows how to get the step stool and set it next to the couch to climb up on it, he climbs on it and turns the light switches on and off, and tries to reach things he shouldn't be reaching. It's tough keeping up with him. :)

Benny is drinking out of one of the Tupperware cups with the sippy spout really well. He also has is own Camelbak for water just like big brother. He's working on his last 1 year molar. The others came through the last few weeks.

Ben LOVES to color.

 

and brush is hair 

 teeth.

He weighs 32.4 lbs, so he hasn't gained weight in a few months. He has a pediatrician appointment next Friday.

Ben is still nursing. Mostly in the morning when he wakes up, and before he goes to bed, sometimes when we get home from daycare, and sometimes once at night too. When he nurses he signs "milk please" over and over. :) I do refuse to nurse him at times now and distract him instead. He's usually okay with that. I love nursing, and I want to follow his lead to wean, but I would also like to be done by May or June.

Please forgive me for future posts that document more words. :)

Words, Signs, and Andectodal Accounts

Just thought I'd jot down a few words and signs Ben does/says for my own record. It's so fun to see him acquiring language :)
Words:
Uh-oh
Mama
Hi
Bye
"Duh"-This/that/there
Didi (Daddy)

Signs:
Milk
More
Please
Ball--just learning this one
All done--sometimes
No (shakes his head)
Yes (nods his head)
Daddy--as of today!
Waves his hand for hi and bye
 *We're currently working on help, book, and thank you

It's also quite fun to see his relationship with Colin growing. They're becoming buddies, which I love. This evening, Colin told Ben to sit in the laundry basket, so (with help) Ben got in. Colin took his claw grabber toy and closed it around the laundry basket handle and pulled Ben around the house. When Colin decided he was done playing, Ben climbed out, found the claw grabber, put it in the basket, climbed into the basket, handed the grabber to me, and signed "more please." So silly.