Told you Dexter was evil!

Poppi took this picture of Dexter, asleep in the stroller, with his blackberry. The results were nothing we expected! So scary!

Dexter so comfy

Dexter is forever trying to get into boxes that are much too small for him. He still thinks he is a tiny kitten. Generally we just laugh at him. This time however, he got the last laugh. He was trying to get in the box and we kept saying "no way Dex, you'll never fit". He showed us. No matter that the box is bowing out...he did fit. Must not have been too comfortable though, since he never got back in there. Proving a point. Point Dexter. Still, he can be super cute when he isn't biting me.




Pictures were taken on Aug 7, shortly after Art got home from his conference.

Wyatt ready for 2 wheels?

One of Zach's favorite things to say is "Wyatt tries to do everything I do". This is usually followed by "except go potty, only I do this".

Here is proof of Zach's statement. Wyatt found Zach's bike helmet in the hat basket and proceeded to beg for DaU to put it on him. DaU abliged. Wyatt then had to spend a few minutes preening in the closet mirror. Then Zach's bike was spotted, and Wy apparently thought "hey, I've got the hat thing, surely I can do this". That boy is growing up way too fast!


Checking himself out in the mirror


Pulling out the bike with authority


Realizing he is being caught on film


Attempting to grab the camera

What gets done before breakfast...

There is generally a sizable gap between when we get up and when we eat breakfast, depending of course on when the boys decide to wake up. We generally hang out in the front room for about 30 minutes while Art and I try to wake up.

Here is what happened one morning, just the random things the kids do...first Zach

Zach has on his own, with no help, made a ramp for his cars












Using the car ramp













Sort of letting use the car ramp too












And now Wyatt...


Has discovered that he can get into the box Dexter likes to sleep in












And that he really enjoys being in the box













That darn leg finally makes it into the box. He sits here, content for a good while, then I pull him around by the box's handle for a bit.











Oh yes, and here's a little gem. Zach made these yesterday afternoon. They were so good (branching out from his monolith tower), I saved them for Art to see and took a picture for posterity.

Zach has made a house for each of the animals. Two houses were done and he had brought them to me but then had to take them back to his room b/c they each needed a flower for their house. He's into flowers at the moment, particularly buying flowers for Mommy (not discouraging this!). Each farm animal has a house. Very nicely done I thought. I do feel a bit badly for the cow though - poor thing is about to fall off his own house!

More of Zach's School Stuff

At his school, Zach gets a locker. He has to share it with a boy who goes on M.W.F, so they are not there at the same time. In his locker stays a ziploc bag w/ extra clothes, underwear, and socks. On the days he has to take his backpack (packpack in Zach speak) to school, he hangs it in his locker. He really only needs to take it on Tuesdays so far b/c of swimming - he needs to take his change of clothes in his backpack. He is very proud of his locker. Zach is in the Ladybug class, which is why his name is on a ladybug. The picture is one that Annemieke took when visiting over 4th of July.

Peash, Peash?!

Wyatt has finally consented to use the (sort of) sign language for "Please", and has also started verbalizing it as "peash". He learned this one afternoon when begging for jellybeans. I basically said he could not have one until he signed "please". We have been trying to get him to sign it for months, and now, due to the power of the jellybean, he not only signs it, but says it, for a double whammy of cuteness!


Begging


Reaping the rewards of begging


Wy & Zach doing their best with "please" for jellybeans

We keep the jellybean jar over to the right of the dishwasher, which is why Wyatt is trying to wedge himself over there.

Anatomy of a haircut

Haircut time. I meant to do it before Zach started preschool, but hey, better late than never. Scene set up: Zach is sitting in the Ikea highchair, watching a Backyardigans video (Thanks tante Sassy!) that he adores. We've got stuff wrapped around him in an effort to keep hair off his clothes and body. He has a gummy worm in each hand, and is fed them one after another in an attempt to keep him from whining/crying/complaining. Must work. This is the first haircut he has had since he said goodbye to his best pal the pacifier. We did not expect great things, but really, he did quite well. Almost no crying, and only a bit of whining. He does not like it when the scissors touch his skin. Here is the finished product in a variety of poses...


Zach cooperating with a smile


Zachary ignoring me so he can keep watching his video


Zach whining "no more mommy, I want to watch my VIDEO"


Back of the head shot


Whining "I SAID Cheesy-wheesy, I don't want to say it ANY MORE"


Refusing to smile nicely


Zach's response after I showed him the pictures I took while he was "acting ugly". Apparently very funny.

Zachary's First Day of School

Oh my, this is happening too quickly! How could Zach have gotten so big so fast? Zachary has been very excited to go to school. He has been asking us for about 6 days "is it Tuesday yet?". He has also wanted to know if he got to ride the bus to school, and I said, "not yet, when you are older" to which he replied "like when I'm 5?". :)

So I did EVERYTHING last minute to get ready for his school. I had purchased his backpack (packpack as Zach says) last week, but didn't do anything else b/c we had the Dejongs here visiting us over Labor Day weekend. So last night I had to hustle to get his notebook (for the teacher to journal about him), and his binder (for all his work), and he pictures (for his locker, and the family board) together. Went to bed after 11pm. They give him snack at school, so I didn't have to do that thankfully.

He was VERY excited today, and we got ready very fast.

..
Here is Zach with his backpack (packpack) and posing (not well) before school

Yes, I am aware that Zach is in DESPERATE need of a haircut. I meant to b/f school started, but time got away from us. Hopefully soon. Not too much - it will still be long, but he should not be a ragamuffin!


..
Here is an attempt at the pictures of the boys. Wyatt was quite non-cooperative.


Here is Zach, showing his school bus for going to school.

Then we were out the door at 8:30 - very early, so unlike us! We had to stop by Walgreens so we could get the pictures I had printed there. Zach gets one for his locker, one of the family for the family board, and one for something else. Off to school. We were the first family there. The teachers were not ready, so Zach stood outside the classroom and looked into the windows while the teachers got ready. Wyatt was all over the places, trying to go into other classrooms, checking everything out. We ran into Art's coworker who was dropping his 2yr old son off for his first day too.


Zach and Wyatt watching the teachers through the window

..
Playing at the car corner (sure to be a fav for Zach!)


Zach at his chosen morning activity - magnet table

There are 3 tables set up in the morning with different activities for them to choose as their morning activity. Today's were coloring w/ crayons, working on puzzles, or the magnet table.

Another hug goodbye w/ the promise that I will be back in a few hours, and we were off. Art off to work with a coworker, and Wyatt and I back home. Only a few tears shed (from me not Zach)!

Wyatt, after his morning nap, was pretty confused as to where Zach was. He looked for him in the front room, then came into their bedroom, and pointed at Zach's bed. Pretty cute.

Picking Zach up from preschool was a bit of a letdown. We picked up Art from work and we all had lunch together, at home, to commerate Zach's first day, and so we could both hear about his first day. As you can imagine, a 3 year old is not GREAT at telling you everything that happened. But here are some things I was able to get out of him:
~ I asked if he sang any songs, and Zach said "yes, one where you put your fingers in the air and sing about our friends". I asked if he remembered the words and he said "no, not really. It is a tricky song".
~ I asked if the teachers were all nice to him. He said "yes, the teachers and everybody was very nice" I asked if he was nice to the other kids and he replied "Ummm, not really". I asked why not, and he said "well, I was cleaning up the cars, and they took some and tried to hide them, but I found them"
~ I asked what they had for snack and he said "apples and juice, but I did not drink the juice because I was not thirsty"
~ He said he went potty 3 times.
~ I asked if he climbed up the big tower: "well, yes, but I used the stairs"
~ He said that he did not cry, but that he DID get a little bit saddy because he thought I just left him there.
~ I asked if he was excited to go to school on Thursday: "Yes, but I want to go on Friday".

That is about everything we got out of him about school. Sad thing is that we have no idea what really went on, but I guess we'd better get used to it. The teachers did not write in his journal today - they are still getting everything situated. It was the first day of school for them too since yesterday was a holiday.

I am certain more adventures will be forthcoming.

Our Little Boy is Growing Up: Zach goes to school

Background: Earlier in the spring, Art and I spent a good deal of time discussing whether or not we should send Zachary to preschool. We are not worried about him learning "things", as he has a great desire to learn and teaching him at home is easy. He loves knowing his letters and numbers and is already trying to write. Often, he will help me "write" my grocery list. He'll say "ok, we need bananas", then write a little squiggle. Then milk, etc. However, his aptitude for learning aside, he does have a bit of a problem with socialization. He is just fine with a very small group of kids, and plays just fine. Big groups terrify him though. When we go to storytime at the library, he does not participate in the singing, dancing, etc. He will not shout out answers like the other kids. Same happens at large group activities at church. So we looked into preschool. We did not want anything too intense, but just 2 mornings a week for a few hours each. Much much much research. We came to the conclusion that we just could not afford it yet, and we could revisit it when he is 4. After all, 3 is still young. THEN, we had an unexpected monetary windfall this summer. When discussing what we should do with the extra cash, both Art and I decided on preschool. Much much much research and contacting schools ensued. The majority of places were still out of control expensive (WHO pays $3000 - $8000 for preschool??). One place, a Montessori school, has 5-day programs only and charges $13,000 a year - with no scholarships until kindergarten. Needless to say, their brochure went into the trash. After much research, we settled onto the YMCA preschool program: http://www.mcgawymca.org/index.cfm?fa=chi.part We had heard good things about it from other parents. I went to the parent orientation to check it out and see his classroom and such b/f deciding for sure. What I like about YMCA preschool:
1. We can afford it
2. Swimming lessons on Tuesdays
3. Gym time (climbing, giant mats, balls, etc) on Thursdays
4. Follow the Skokie school district curriculum
5. Structured schedule of activities
9-9:05 enter and wash hands
9:05-9:30 morning table activites (3 different table w/ 3 choices)
9:30-9:45 circle time: songs, chatting, dancing, etc
9:45-10:05 storytime
10:05-10:15 potty time and wash hands
10:15-10:30 snack time
and so on and so on
6. Will be a diversified class
7. He has 3 teachers in the class at all times (less then 30 students)
8. They offer 2-day-a-week preschool. Many only offer MWF, or M-F, neither of which we wanted. Plus the morning sched was exactly what we were looking for (9-12) One TTh place was 9-11 which is too short.

It will be fun for me to have Zach at the Y, since I worked there (and Staci, and my Mom) for 6 or so years. I used to work in the nursery, and now I'll drop Zach and Wyatt off at the nursery when I go work out.

Which brings me to my next point of background info. For Zach to go to YMCA preschool, he needs to be a memeber. SO, we decided to get a family membership so that we will have somewhere fun to go this winter. We took a tour, and I LOVE their kids play area (I can leave them there for 2 hours while I work out and shower, or just sit on the couch and read for 2 hours, whatever), it is MUCH better than the one where I worked. They will love it. My favorite part of this story. A regular family membership is $86/month for all 4 of us. They were running an Evanston resident special which would take the rate to $71/month. HOWEVER, one of Art's coworkers suggested we apply for financial assistance (he is also a post-doc with a child), which we did and got our rate down to $43/month. What a steal! So I'm psyched about that.

Now we are all set. Zach is off to school tomorrow, and we will try out the Y on Wednesday. It will also be fun b/c Art, the boys, and I can go swimming there this winter.