Aunt Jamie

Sometime my youngest sister Jamie really loves her little nephews. Sometimes I think they get on her nerves. They are close enough in age that sometimes they seem more like annoying little brothers than fun little nephews. Funny enough, this was one of those times when they were really getting along.

Mom and Jamie came over to pick up our old iPod. Mike's got a Touch and I use his old shuffle so we weren't using his original iPod. Jamie is jonesing for a Touch (crazy that all her 12-year-old friends have them), but mom said no. So, she could either have a knock-off mp3 or Mike's old iPod. She chose the latter. They stopped over to get it and Jamie got a little workout in while she was waiting for Mike to sync up the music.













And then they were done. Completely wiped.

Oh Christmas tree

For the last three years I have hemmed and hawed about when to put up our Christmas tree. It's not that I don't like it. I just don't want the extra stress of it coming down on top of my kids. Last year we didn't put it up until about a week before Christmas and if just felt like a lot of work for not much enjoyment. This year I vowed to get it up sooner. And I did, though not as soon as I would have liked (last weekend would have been ideal).

We only lost one ornament in the decorating process. Mike gave Zander two bulbs and he thought he could treat them the same way he treats any other bulb --- so he banged them together. Scared the crap out of him. Mike learned his lesson and I decided it was time to invest in some new bulbs. This time, I'm getting ones that don't break!















This is what a tree looks like when it is decorated by a 1- and 4-year-old. See where all the ornaments are? I'm debating on whether I should leave it like that.

Puzzles

Nick has been into puzzles since he was about Zander's age. He had stacks upon stacks of the wooden shape puzzles that I bought at garage sales (those things are expensive new) and a few that he received as gifts. Now that he is older he still loves putting them together, but unfortunately there are few puzzles that are made for his skill level. He can fly through a 24-30 piece puzzle in minutes, but still struggles with the 60 piece ones. First there are too many pieces and second, the pieces in those puzzles are small like in the 500 piece puzzles. Just a few days ago we finally got out some of Nick's old puzzles for Zander to try. He tries hard, but gets frustrated very easily. I am sure it is just a matter of time!

If only

I used to do Christmas cards, back before I had babies. I'd pick out the cutest ones I could find, write a nice little note inside and send it on its merry way. Then I had kids. And suddenly, those minutes I used to fill with addressing envelopes were suddenly busy changing diapers, singing songs, playing trucks and then finally catching a few quiet minutes to myself before getting up to pick up those trucks, do the dishes and finally head off to bed.

So, now that I have kids, and I really should send out Christmas cards with cute, holiday photos of my wee little ones acting naughty and nice, I don't. But, if I did, these are the pictures I would use this year. Think of this as your early holiday greeting. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, you know, all that stuff!

First day of preschool

I don't know who was more nervous this morning -- me or Nick! We have been talking about sending him to school for the last few months (Back story is we weren't planning to send him this year, but decided he needed a little more stimulation and interaction with kids his own age) when we found out BS would accept him mid-year in the 4-year-old room. He is by far the youngest kid in there, but that's OK, he has another full year of PreK ahead of him.

Anyway, he woke up this morning ready for school. The only thing keeping him from being 100 percent excited was that I was taking him there -- he wanted to ride the bus, but I think he wanted me to ride with him. After a wonderfully nutritious breakfast of powdered sugar donuts, Mike helped him pack his Lightning McQueen lunch box and we were off in my "van-bus." I dropped Z off at the baby-sitters and then it was off to school.

Nick kept talking about how much fun it would be the whole way there. He talked about writing his name and all the other great stuff he would get to do. We parked, walked up to the door, opened it --- and his whole tune changed. He was instantly back to my shy little guy, clinging to my leg and silent as can be. His teacher did a wonderful job trying to engage him, and even got a nod out of him just moments after we entered the classroom. But, I think he was overwhelmed by the other kids in the class who crowded around him introducing themselves and everyone else in the class.

We got out his lunch box, went into the hall to hang up his coat and then the teacher showed him the bathroom all the way at the end of the hallway. I can't believe they trust the kids to go all the way down there by themselves. YIKES. We showed him his Pre-K class, but his teacher wasn't in yet -- this will come back to bite me later. We got back in the daycare room and the teacher once again tried to get him to interact with the kids. She got out some cars and asked another little boy to take Nick and play with them on the track. I leaned down to give him his kisses (he likes one on each cheek) and a hug and he turned around and walked off, without looking back. He wasn't all excited, but he wasn't crying either.

I went down to the office to turn in his paperwork and pay for everything, then followed the principal back to his classroom to wait while she peeked in the class. I thought I was busted when I peeked my head around the corner and he was headed straight for the door. I thought he looked like he was crying, but nope, he was just off to the bathroom with the teacher. YEAH!!!

Anyway, I couldn't do anything at work all day. I just kept wondering how he was doing. And, come to find out he did OK, except when he had to transition to the Pre-K class. Remember how I said the teacher wasn't there in the morning, yeah, well, he had never met her before and freaked out a little when the daycare teacher tried to take him over to the class. Turned around and walked out as a matter of fact. She finally got him into the classroom and doing a puzzle and I guess he did OK after that, again, not all engaged, but not crying either.

During the afternoon recess, he fell down on the playground and skinned up his stomach and got a little scratch near his eye. He also broke the zipper on his coat at some point during the day so we had to go buy him a new one tonight. ARGH! I decided that as long as we had to go out, we might as well eat out, too, so we went to dinner and Nick darn near fell asleep on the way. I don't think he is used to being mentally challenged as much as he was today. We'll see how that works since he no longer gets naps and has to get up earlier so he can get in a breakfast before we leave for school. He is going to be awfully tired come Wednesday (no school) and the weekend. Maybe he'll actually nap then! This could be good after all. :)

All in all, it was a pretty good first day. I am so proud of how well he did! I can only hope the rest go just as well, if not better!

Pig pile

I am pretty sure this only happens in a house full of boys. And, while it was hard to breathe for a few seconds, it was still great fun rough housing with my guys! The way they are growing, I won't have the upper hand in this kind of situation for long.

Some things you just can't explain

Zander came out of his room with these two blankets. He tried several times --- unsuccessfully --- to wrap them around himself. I don't know why. But, he was mad when it wouldn't work. So Mike stepped in to help out. Maybe it's not that they are better left unexplained, but they are simply unexplainable.