Back to school

A few (okay, a lot) of the customary "back to school" pics...

Annika started grade 1 last week Thursday...

It looks like she's walking to school alone, but we all walked together - she was just a few steps ahead of me and Emmett because she was so eager to get there.  So far she's really liking grade 1.  Her "best" friend from kindergarten is in her class, and she really likes her teacher.  According to her, the best part of grade 1 is staying for lunch.  She even helps me pack her lunch each night.

Emmett started preschool (his second year) this afternoon....

We got there a bit early so he had some time to play outside before going in.  Last year he would only jump off that play structure if he was holding my hand, but this year he did it once holding on and then just started running and jumping on his own.  This last picture is his classic "cheese" face (and "I'm done taking pictures mom").  I managed to actually get a few real smiles in those first pictures by quoting "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" to him. :P  This is our 4th year at this preschool (Annika went for 2 years and Emmett went last year already), so it almost feels like dropping him off at a family member's place - it's such a great place with great teachers.  This year Emmett will be going 3 afternoons a week.  He said he had a good day today, but didn't tell me much else.  Boys. :P

Emmett's last day of preschool

Today was Emmett's last day of preschool (until next year). It's amazing how much he's grown over the past 8 months.

He wasn't in much of a picture-taking mood today.

He's done really well in preschool this year.  I try not to compare him with Annika and her first year of preschool, since she was almost 3 and a half when starting preschool, and he's now almost 3 and a half after completing preschool (December baby).  He still doesn't quite know all of his letters, but he can recognize and name most of them now.  He's also starting to associate letters with the sound they make (his speech therapy is helping with that - more on that in another post).  He's really good with his numbers and loves to do his "math" workbook (he recently got a set of "Cars" workbooks from book orders - ABCs, shapes/colors, math and counting).  His art skills are still rather "minimal" (he would often bring home a painting with 1 or 2 smears of paint on it and that's all) and we're working on encouraging a proper grip for holding his crayons/pencils.  He's started tracing letters and shapes, but his control of a pencil is still pretty shaky.  He knows how to spell his first name.  Socially, he interacted well with his teachers, but I don't think he interacted with the other kids much.  Whenever I asked him who he played with at school he would say "no one" (however, at Y Neighbours he had a group of buddies that he would talk about).  All in all, I'm very glad that we put him in preschool this past year (and not just because I liked my free mornings twice a week), and I think that it was very good for him.

Tasting day

Emmett's preschool class has been learning about the 5 senses, and yesterday was "tasting day" (or as Annika referred to it, "the best day ever").  The kids got to taste something sweet (gummy bears), sour (sour patch kids), spicy (BBQ rice cakes), salty (pretzels) and bitter (craisins) and then rate each item on their chart with a happy face or a "yucky" face.  Emmett liked everything but the craisins.  Then, when we were sitting in the car after school, waiting to pick up Annika, he showed me the different faces he made when tasting everything.  What a goof.

An awesome day

Today was Emmett's preschool Christmas concert in the morning, and I planned a little surprise for the kids afterwards.  I kept Annika home from school, and after the concert we went for brunch at the Pancake House and then to the Children's Museum!  I wanted to take them to the museum now around Christmas, because right now they have on display these "fairytale vignettes" - little dioramas depicting scenes from various fairy tales and nursery rhymes - and I remember going to see them at Christmastime when I was a little kid (back when they were in the Eaton's building downtown and at the end of the line was Santa Claus).

First up was the concert - all 10 minutes of it!!  Last year they had crammed several preschool classes together in the church for one combined concert, and it was just a gong show.  This year, it was just Emmett's class, so there weren't nearly as many kids on stage (or family members in the audience), so it didn't take long for them to get organized and sing their 5 little songs.  Emmett had a little trouble at the start of the concert - he didn't get a bell when the teachers were handing out the jingle bells, and he waited and waited very patiently for one, and then started to cry when he realized they were starting the song and he still didn't have one.  Thankfully, they gave him some bells and he was okay to stay up there, but he wasn't overly enthusiastic (although I'm not sure he would've been anyways).  He was all smiles afterwards, though, when they were handing out the treat bags. ;)

Then we went for brunch.  The kids both got these great "snowman" pancakes - 3 pancakes with sausage arms, chocolate chip eyes, strawberry nose and mouth, smarties buttons, and whipped cream and sprinkles "snow".  And, of course, a candy cane. ;)  I didn't take a picture of my meal, but it was pretty great too - maple bacon waffles.  Waffles covered with a maple sauce and topped with crumbled up bacon.  Yum.

On to the museum!  First up, everyone's favorite - the big slide.

The "pin" wall (anyone have a better name for it??).

The fairytale vignettes.  

The kids were pretty hyped up at this point, so they didn't spend a lot of time looking at these, but they did press all the buttons to see the movement in each one (somehow I remember them being more impressive when I was little....).  When I was young, these were lined up in a hallway (or something like that) that led to Santa Claus, and so I remember it taking quite a while to go through them, and we would read the little story with each one, however, with the way they are set up now, the kids just ran around the room and didn't really want to stop to listen to the stories.

...Which was actually okay with some of them, as some of these stories are quite morbid.  Anyone familiar with the Little Match Girl?  She ends up dead and frozen in the cold.  Yikes!

Climbing in the "lasagna".

The art center.  Emmett was in his glory, using all the glue he wanted.

And the inevitable crash on the drive home.

 

 

Emmett's first day of preschool

Today was Emmett's first day of preschool and he did great!  I still cannot believe he's old enough (just barely) for school, but I think it will be good for him.

Of course, he had to wear his favorite orange shirt and his favorite orange sweater!

 

He's going to the same preschool that Annika went to for the past two years, so it's all very familiar.  The teachers are awesome, so even though I was unsure this morning how he was going to do (he's gotten to be quite a "mama's boy" lately), I knew that he was in very good hands.  They said he did really well, though - he was pretty quiet, but no tears (and no tears for me either).  When we got to the school we had a few minutes to put away his things and wash his hands, and then the door opened.  It's a staggered start, so only half the kids were there this morning.  It looks like it will be a pretty full classroom - I think there will be 20 kids there (morning classes tend to be fuller than afternoon classes - last year Annika only had 14 kids in her class).  I gave Emmett a hug and a kiss in the hallway and he walked into the classroom like a pro.  Some of the other parents were going in with their kids, but I'm a fan of the idea that it's better for the kids to leave the parents, rather than vice versa (if I went into the classroom, then I would be the one walking away from him - this way, he was the one walking away from me - make sense?).  Anyway, I think he made a beeline for the train table, and probably stayed there for most of the morning.  It was the only thing he talked about when I asked him afterwards how was school!

Preschool "meet and greet"

Today was Annika's second morning of kindergarten and Emmett's "meet the teacher" morning at preschool. I thought he would be more excited to go (since he was always so gung-ho to see what was going on when Annika was there), but he seemed a little hesitant.  When we were getting out of the car he asked "you stay with me, mommy?"  Once we were inside, it was a bit better.  The teachers are the same ones that Annika had last year, so he already knows them a little and they know him a little.  He found the train table, and I literally I had to drag him away from it to look at the other stuff around the classroom.  I can see him spending most of his time playing there.

He seems so young to be starting preschool (because he is, with his late birthday - he's not even 3 yet, while Annika was almost 3 and a half when she started), but I think this will be good for him.  He seems to be quite lost without Annika around.  This morning he was asking "we go pick Annika up?" already at 10:00.  I asked him if he was missing her and he said yes.  So, with preschool on Wednesday and Friday mornings, and Y Neighbours on Tuesday mornings, that will cut down on his "lonely" time (or maybe once he gets used to not having Annika around, he'll start enjoying it a little more!). 

So far it's been a bit of a hard adjustment for them both, because after school is done Emmett wants so badly to be with Annika, and she's so tired from school that she just wants to be alone.  So that inevitably leads to them fighting and I've actually been putting Emmett down for his nap early the past 2 days, just to get them apart.  I'm glad, though, that kindergarten is in the morning, because it works nicely to have a little down time after lunch (Emmett naps and Annika has TV time and "quiet" time), and then everyone's in better moods by snack time and for the evening.

Snack time

Enjoying a snack at the preschool year-end party this morning (you'd never guess that I actually fed them breakfast beforehand!!).

Last day of preschool

Life goes on...

I haven't posted for a while, so here's a little random glimpse of what's being going on in our lives...

• I've been sleeping better.  However, that's thanks to the wonderful melatonin pills that I got a week ago.  I didn't really like how the sleeping pills my doctor prescribed made me feel (and I was really scared of getting "hooked" on them, even though they say that's only likely with long-term use), so I gave the melatonin pills a try.  I've been taking them for the past week, and been feeling a lot better (except on the days when I know it's time to reduce the dosage - I've had a few groggy mornings).  I started out taking 2 5mg pills, then went down to 1 5mg pill, and now I'm just taking 1/2 a pill (2.5mg).  By the weekend I'm going to try sleeping without any pills.  Hopefully the melatonin will have helped to "reset" my system, and I'll be able to sleep well again.
• Annika is enjoying preschool.  Despite her initial good start, she's had a really rough time adjusting to school this year (which really stressed me out and contributed to my initial insomnia).  I think she was expecting it to be just like last year, and while there are many things that are still the same, there are also many things that are different.  However, I think we've passed that hurdle, and now school is a happy time for all of us.
• We've had a set-back with "Operation: Dry Bed."  You may recall from earlier in summer that Annika recently started (or rather re-started) staying dry at night, and she's regressed since starting school (it started at exactly the same time as going back to school, so I tend to think that's the cause, rather than a growth spurt or something else).  However, she had a few dry nights this past week (I actually put her back in Pull-Ups for the past week, despite her complaints, just so I could get a few good night's of uninterrupted sleep), and with the school situation improving, I'm hoping that she will soon get back to staying dry.
• Annika is loving her swimming lessons.  Yesterday was swimming lessons (she's in Sea Otter now for the 4th time), and I think she was having the most fun that I've ever seen her having in the pool.  She really likes her teacher (a sweet young lady that Annika feels far more comfortable with compared to the man who was her teacher last time), and she's starting to get a lot braver in the water.  She puts her face in the water more often (although she still looks like a drowned cat each time she comes up for air), she's gone completely underwater (a first) and she will often volunteer to be first to do whatever they're doing.  The other kids in her class are also Sea Otter "repeaters", so the teacher is focusing more on building their swimming skills, rather than spending time playing games and singing songs, so that's also a plus.  And this time her class is at 4:30, so hopefully with it being before supper we won't encounter as many pool closures as last time (last session we went after supper, and the pool was closed 4 times due to "foulings" - aka kids throwing up in the pool.  Yuck).
• Annika is also loving her ballet class.  Her class is at 4:15 on Saturdays, which is actually nice, so we don't have another thing during the week.
• Last Saturday was my Y Neighbours Used Kids' clothing and toy sale.  I didn't get much for the kids, but I bought Emmett a pair of boots for $3, a pair of skates for Annika for $10, and this dress for $3.  She absolutely loves it (yay for me!).  So far, she wore it on Saturday afternoon to dance class, and then for the evening, all day Sunday, Monday I managed to get it into the washer, then she wore it all day yesterday and today.  I think she's got her own "October Dress Project" going on. :)

•  Emmett's been enjoying the "mom and baby" library class we've been going to.  I'm not quite as into it, since the class is for babies 0-24 months, and at 22 months, Emmett is the oldest (and biggest) one there.  So it's a little strange doing tickle rhymes and trying to lift him in the air with all the other moms and their little babies, but we're managing.  The thing that Emmett seems to enjoy the most is the tub of books afterwards.  After the "official" part of the class is done, the librarian brings out a big tub of books for the moms to read with their babies.  Most of the moms use this time to chat, however, I haven't really connected with anyone in the class (partly because I'm not really there to make mommy connections - I have those already - I'm there to be with Emmett).  Emmett brings me book after book and we sit together and read them, which is really sweet, because he doesn't sit still for long at home.  So, the class isn't quite what I had expected, but we're still having a good time, and it's nice to spend some one-on-one time with Emmett.
• I helped out with a baby shower at our church last night.  I was in charge of decorations and the games, and I picked "storybooks" as the theme.  A friend helped me with decorating, and we kept it simple, but still got lots of compliments (take that, Pinterest!).  We just put up children's books around the room, with some candles and a few balloons and streamers.  I had also printed off a few book-related quotes and put them up on the walls.  We made a banner using book pages and put the guest of honor's name on it.  For a guest book, I bought the book "Oh the places you'll go!" by Dr. Seuss, and we had everyone sign inside the book, which we then gave to the guest of honor.  For games, I picked 12 "classic" children's book titles and scrambled up the letters and people had to unscramble the titles.  Then I read the first few lines from each story, and everyone had to match up the title with the story.  I gave prizes (bookmarks) to the 3 people who got all the answers correct.

So that's what's been keeping us busy lately.  It seems like October has just been flying by!

First day of preschool - second time around

Yesterday was Annika's first day of preschool.  This is her second year at the same preschool (it's for ages 3 and 4), so she walked in like a pro yesterday.  One quick kiss and she was on her way (and I was a lot better this year too!). ;)

We had a bit of a challenge getting a decent "first day of school" picture.  For some reason, the phrases "stand up straight", "look at me" and "smile nicely" just don't compute for Annika. :P  She has a tendency to do this weird thing where she curls her upper lip in (looks kind of like a squirrel face to me) or she looks away or tilts her head or sticks out her tummy...

She picked out her outfit herself.  I wouldn't have necessarily chosen the lime green capris to go with that jumper, but oh well.  Some things just aren't worth a fight (and they weren't that visible anyways).  I was just happy that she finally fit into that jumper!  I bought it probably about 2 years ago, and it's (mis)labelled a size 3 (but probably more like a 5 - it's even a little loose on her now).

We got to school a few minutes early, so she had time to play on the swings before it was time to go in (it was a bright sunny day, so she's squinting in these pictures).

Found her name and hook!  It was in the same place as last year. :)

She had a great first day and she's looking forward to going back.  On the drive home yesterday she kept saying, "when I go to school tomorrow...." and I had to keep reminding her that she'd have to wait 2 days to go back.  :)

1000 gifts: fall routine

Summer was great, but right now I'm so thankful for fall and to be getting back into activities and routine.  Over the summer I found that not enough routine/activity wasn't good for the kids (or me), and neither was too much.  It was a balancing act to find that perfect spot of being just busy enough without being too busy.  Hopefully with all we've got scheduled for fall, it will be just right!  So thankful for all these opportunities!!

201. Annika's preschool - starting today!  Annika will be going to the same preschool as last year, but this year she's in the "4 year old" class (she's actually in a 3/4 year old combined class, so this is a big deal to be one of the older kids now).  She'll be going 3 afternoons a week.  Today she was very excited about the fact that on Mondays it would be a small class (Monday is an optional day, not everyone chooses to go - so far there are only 7 kids in the Monday class) and she would have just her favorite teacher there.  Pictures to come tomorrow!

202. Annika's dance class - starting at the end of September, she'll be doing a 10 week ballet class on Saturday afternoons.  Even though she always seemed a little tired and dazed in her last ballet class, she asked all summer long about when ballet would start again.  This time the class is a little earlier, so hopefully she'll be a little more upbeat when she's there! 

203. Annika's swimming lessons - starting at the beginning of October.  I didn't really want to do swimming and dance at the same time, but Annika said that she really wanted to do them both.  I figured it was a good sign that she wanted to do swimming again (she enjoys it, despite the fact that she'll be repeating her level for the 4th time), so I said okay.  She'll have swimming lessons on Tuesday afternoons, at 4:30 (hopefully with having lessons before supper there won't be as many pool closings as last time!).  We decided not to put Emmett in swimming lessons right now (there are only so many times you can sing "The Grand Ol' Duke of York"), so he'll be spending some time with Grandma while I take Annika to swimming.

204. Emmett's "Baby Rhyme Time" class - starting at the beginning of October for 8 weeks.  I wanted to do something for Emmett (poor second child gets so neglected), so I signed us up for this free (yay!) parent/baby class at the library on Friday mornings (Annika will get some Grandma time then).  

205. Y Neighbours - starting tomorrow!!  Yay, definitely looking forward to getting back into my Tuesday morning routine, even if it does mean that we have to get up a bit earlier to be there by 9:00am (the kids are usually up around 8:00am, so sometimes it can be a bit of a rush).

206. My book club - starting tonight!  Another thing that I'm really looking forward to for myself. :)  Tonight we're meeting for dessert (of course) and discussing our summer read - the "50 Shades" trilogy.  Should be a great evening!

207. A mini-vacation!!  Carey and I have booked a little getaway (4 days, 3 nights) to Toronto/Niagara Falls for the end of September.  Definitely looking forward to a few days of kid-free time with my hubby and getting to see places I've never seen before.

1000 gifts: #141-150

Here's what I'm thankful for this week:

141. Starbucks caramel macchiato on a Tuesday morning with my Y Neighbours ladies.

142. Annika's enthusiasm for planting and growing things...

143. ...and the fact that Annika's enthusiasm is starting to rub off on me (I'm actually quite excited to see if our little garden will produce anything!).

144. Free slurpees

145. Using my new sewing machine (for real) for the first time!  It was a Christmas present and it's been sitting neglected for far too long. 

146. Annika's preschool - school ended on Friday and it was a very good year for her (and I've really enjoyed it too).  I think she's learned a lot, and it's also been good for her social skills.  She really enjoys school, and I'm so thankful that there was never a fight or fuss about going to school.  By coincidence, she picked the same dress to wear on her last day as she wore on her first day.  What a difference 9 months makes!

147. Another outside project finished, thanks to my handy husband.

148. Neighbours peeking over the fence to say hello and ask for advice; other neighbours building us a new fence.

149. The 6 young people who were baptized at our church on Sunday morning.

150. Annika's questions about God and our faith that inevitably follow such an event.  I'm glad that she is interested in understanding more about God and what it means to be a Christian, and I pray that I can answer her questions in a way that makes sense to her, but is still meaningful and accurate.

U is for unique

Since the beginning of the new year, Annika's preschool class has been going through the alphabet, focusing on a different letter each day.  The kids are encouraged to bring an item starting with that letter for show and tell.  First of all, I have to say, I'm so impressed by her teachers that every single item that she's brought to school has come back home.  I thought for sure she'd lose some along the way, but the teachers are very good at making sure that the kids keep track of their items and that they put them back in their backpacks each day to take home.  That must be no small task, so kudos to you teachers.

We're now onto letter U and I have to say, I'm glad that the alphabet is almost over.  It's been a bit of a challenge for us (or perhaps just me), remembering which letter it is each day and finding something to take along.  As we've been going through the alphabet, I've discovered something about Annika, something that is actually very cool - she has a strong desire to be unique.  She learned that word from a Fancy Nancy book, and while I don't really like Fancy Nancy books in general (I'll save that rant for another day), I like that Annika has learned that word and that she understands the concept.  She doesn't want to be like everyone else, and she definitely doesn't want to bring the same thing for show and tell as everyone else.  I remember on "O" day when I was trying to get her to bring a toy octopus, she told me, "I don't want to bring an octopus, EVERYONE will bring an octopus" (and she was right - there were quite a few octopuses that day).  I think that was right around the time when she learned the word unique and decided that her show and tell should be unique each day.  Which is great, but also a lot more challenging!  (By the way, she ended up bringing some fake orchid flowers for "O" day, and was quite satisfied that no one else had brought flowers - although I'm pretty sure she mispronounced "orchids" every time she said it).

Last night we were trying to think of "U" words for today - umbrella was definitely too common, we didn't have a unicorn or a ukelele, and we decided it would be inappropriate to bring underwear to school (wearing it is okay, showing it is not).  I told Annika she should just bring herself, and tell everyone that she's a "U" word - unique.  She wasn't too impressed with that (and I thought I was being so creative!), so I googled "U words", and came up with "ultrasound".  So today she took in her ultrasound picture, from when I was pregnant with her.  I made sure that she understood that it was a picture of her, so that nobody would think that she was making any announcements (hopefully no more of those kind of announcements around here - I'm done!!).  :P  She thought it was quite unique and that made her quite happy.

As for her wanting to be unique, I think that's great (even if it's sometimes more of a challenge, and who knows what she'll want to do to be "unique" as she grows up!!), and I try to tell her every day that she is unique and special, no matter what she's wearing or what she brings to show and tell, because God made her.  :)