Museum Field Trip

This past weekend, Leland's class had a field trip to the Children's Museum. Leland was so excited to spend some time with his preschool pals outside of school. We've been to the Children's Museum plenty of times, and even had a membership for a year. We hadn't been in several months, so we were surprised and happy to see some new things.

Leland loved the helicopter! He spent a great deal of time up there, and one of his teachers even climbed in with him.

The lighthouse is always a hit.

The sailboat activity was new. Leland had fun experimenting with angling the sails to get them to go where he wanted.

The slide and the water table are old favorites.

Bridges and trains were new. They were working on it the last time we were there.

Funny story, I saw the OB/GYN that delivered Alden while we were there. I have run into her probably three or four times (twice at the Children's Museum) since having Alden and she always remembers me. She even remembers my boys' names! She's not even my doctor; she was just the one on-call when I went into labor. We might just have to become friends since we apparently frequent the same places. Ha ha.

We had a great time with Leland's friends and teachers. As a teacher-mom, I know that I won't always be able to attend his field trips, so I love that this was on a weekend and I could be there.

Leland Goes to Preschool...Again

Last spring, Leland started preschool at my school. He went full time for a few weeks and then we switched to three days a week because it was just too much for him. It was a very difficult two months for us. Leland clearly wasn't ready for the structure of preschool and the transition was rough. I have been pretty stressed about this school year, knowing he would be going full time again and not totally sure if he was ready for it (but, ready or not, we don't have another option).

He was so excited to go to preschool again and was asking to go every day for two weeks. When the day finally came, he was all smiles, which calmed my nerves just a tad.

Back to packing lunches. It's way more fun packing his lunch than mine!

Drop off went smoothly on the first day and he said he had a fun day. He's not napping at school this year, so he was pretty tuckered out on the way home.

His first week went pretty well. There were a few bumps in the road, but his teacher is on top of it and I think she'll have him whipped into shape in no time. He still struggles with the structure, but I think it's a lot better than last spring. And he was happy at drop-offs every day, except for Friday, but I think he was just overtired from the week. 

We're off to a good start and I'm hoping and praying that it continues this way.

Leland and his teacher, Mrs. Travis.

Preschool Graduation

Every so often, I go a few weeks without blogging. This is usually for one of two reasons: either there is nothing to blog about or I am too busy to sit down for five minutes. The last two weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind.

With the end of the school year, I was busy with all of my teacher duties: report cards, planning and prepping end-of-the-year activities, packing up my classroom for the summer (and for my move to a new room), etc. Then there were my parent duties such as gifts for teachers and our daycare provider on top of the usual dinner, packing lunches, and playing. And then I got sick - a cold and then a stomach bug. Basically, the last ten days have been insane.

But now, I am officially on summer vacation! Which means I can fill everyone in on all the fun of the last few weeks, because I know everyone is lying awake at night wondering, right?

First up is preschool graduation! Leland "graduated" from preschool on June 3rd. He didn't technically graduate because 1. He was only there for two months, and 2. He'll be going back for two more years of preschool. But he still participated in graduation, which was actually a surprise for everyone.

Leland wasn't interested in practicing for graduation with the class so his teachers told me he wasn't going to participate. They asked if I could come and help entertain him during graduation though, so I made arrangements for my classroom so that I could be there. And I'm glad I did because he (mostly) participated!

He's in front on the far right end.

He sang all the songs with them, but didn't do the motions, and didn't sit while they were calling names. But he did better than of us thought he would.

After graduation, we enjoyed a few snacks with his friends and then I went back to my classroom. Leland still loves to sing the graduation songs, including a portion "You'll Be in my Heart" by Phil Collins.

It was the cutest ever. I was bummed that I didn't bring my camera. My phone was dying a slow death and wouldn't hold a charge for more than three pictures. But there's always next year...and the year after that, right?

Happy graduation, Leland!

I Love You a Bunch!

A few days ago, Leland came home from school with this sweet picture.

His teacher helped him write his name. He's not writing letters on his own yet.

I thought it was so stinking cute. But even cuter was when he said to me, "Mommy, I love you a bunch of grapes."

I thought it was about the cutest thing I've ever heard so we've been saying it a lot around here. And now when I say it to Leland, he responds with, "I love you a bunch of...blueberries!" Or whatever other fruit comes to mind.

Yeah, I pretty much die from the adorable-ness of it all every single time.

More fun than I thought it would be

Before Leland started preschool, I was dreading packing his lunches. I know how much I hate packing my own lunches, so doubling the lunch-packing didn't sound like fun. But, to my surprise, I am actually enjoying packing his lunch.

Ham & cheese sandwich, cheese chunks, pretzels, blueberries, banana, applesauce pouch, and some m&m's.

Perhaps part of the reason I am enjoying it so much is because Leland is so excited about it every day. He is obsessed with his lunch box and always talks about eating lunch and snack at school. Also, I try to pack something special each day that he will be excited about. Not necessarily a sweet treat, but something that he doesn't usually get at home, like applesauce pouches, fruits snacks, or a Nutri-Grain Bar. A couple of times, I have sent him with m&m's in an Easter egg - a pink one because pink is his favorite color. And last week, I made his favorite muffins and sent them a couple of days. It's fun for me to load up his lunch box and think about how much he will enjoy it. Like his mama, food can really make his day.

Grilled ham and cheese sandwich, strawberries, banana, oranges, goldfish crackers, and fruit snacks.

For the main portion of his lunch, I have also sent chicken nuggets, leftover stuffed shells, and leftover wet burritos. He almost always comes home with an empty lunch box.

I tend to send him with a lot of fruit because that's his favorite, and it's a nice healthy snack, so I can feel good about sending it. I do feel guilty about not sending veggies every day, but I think peas are about the only veggie he would eat at school (he's getting pickier about veggies as he gets older; he eats them at home, but not without some coaxing).

Hot dogs, oranges, yogurt, peas, crackers, and raisins.

Sometimes I ask him what he wants in his lunch and he will pick a few things. Or I ask if he wants leftovers or a sandwich. He would probably be thrilled with PBJ (or "peanut jellies" as he calls it), but since he has a friend with a nut allergy, I don't want to send peanut butter. Technically, we're allowed to, but if Leland doesn't wash his hands well and then plays with her later, it could be dangerous.

So packing his lunch (and two snacks) each day isn't so bad yet. I'm having fun with it, and I like trying to think of new and different things so that he doesn't have the same things all week long. Good thing since I'll be doing it for several years to come!

One Crazy Week

As you know from my post a few days ago, Leland started preschool this week. The first day went really well. He was excited to go and seemed to have a fun day. Since then, things have been a little rough. Not terrible, but not easy.

Leland seems to have fun at school. When I peek in on him (usually at least twice a day...I can't help it), he is usually giggling and having fun. But in the mornings, he doesn't want to go. We get to his classroom and he starts crying that he wants to leave. It breaks my heart, because although he would sometimes cry when I dropped him off at daycare, it was only right as I was leaving. Now he cries immediately upon walking in. But, like I said, he seems to have fun during the day, and he doesn't want to leave at the end of the day.

The other day, I peeked in on him while he was having snack. He was laughing and being silly with his friend, Sal. Upon looking a little more closely, I noticed that he was eating a doughnut. Apparently, Sal gave Leland one of his doughnuts, which is a bit of a no-no, because they're not supposed to share food (which is a policy in my classroom as well). When one of their teachers talked to them about not sharing food, Leland very innocently said, "But I like doughnuts." Oh, the little cuties.

So, drop offs have been rough, but I like that I can spy on him a few times a day and just see how he's doing.

Alden started his new daycare on Tuesday. We talked to and visited a number of daycares, but none of them seemed like the right fit, or else they didn't have a full time opening. Then my co-worker shared her daycare provider's information. We met with her and it went great so Alden started the next day.

He has been doing well. A few tears when I drop him off, but he calms down quickly. He does the same thing at the church nursery, and just needs some cuddling to feel better. I'm glad that he's adjusting well.

This daycare is a little bit out of the way. Not terrible, but not as close to school as Julie, so my commute has increased by about 10 minutes. That's been a little tough for me. In the mornings, I feel so rushed to get out of the house and to work on time, and in the evenings, I feel anxious to just get home and hug my babies. My days have felt extra long this week (Contrary to most public school teachers who work about 7.5-8 hour days, GTA teachers work 9 hour days. Then add the commute and we're away from home over 10 hours every day.)

Funny thing, I was so nervous about Alden's transition and I had no concerns about Leland. But after this week, I'm the opposite: worried about Leland and confident that Alden is just fine. I'm thankful today is Friday, and I can spend some much needed time with my babies this weekend. My heart needs it and I'm pretty sure theirs do too.

Preschool Change of Plans

We were planning to enroll in Leland in preschool next fall. He was going to start going two days a week and if that went well, we would add a day. Because he has a December birthday, he won't start Kindergarten until he is almost six years old, so after the first year of preschool, we were planning to send him full time for his second year.

One perk of my job at GTA is that my kids get free preschool. It is a pretty amazing benefit, but despite the money it would save, I wasn't ready for Leland to leave Julie's and I didn't think he was quite ready for the structure of preschool. So I was planning to ease us both into this by going part time at first.

Because Julie will be unable to work for the foreseeable future, we have decided to enroll Leland in preschool after spring break. I don't want him to transition to a new daycare only to have to transition to preschool in the fall, so he will just be thrown right into it next Monday.

I think he will do fine with most of it. He is very outgoing, not shy at all, and loves meeting new people. Also, two of his friends from Julie's will be there, so I think that will really help. He might struggle with the structure a bit though. The kids in preschool have been doing circle time all year and probably sit for 10-15 minutes at this point in the year. Leland probably won't be ready for that, but his teachers are aware that he's a "young" three year old, and I think they will be supportive of him throughout his transition.

For me, one big challenge will be packing a lunch for Leland. My school doesn't have a lunch program so everyone brings a lunch and snacks. I hate packing my own lunch every day - I love our half day Fridays when I can go out for lunch or order something to be delivered. That won't be an option for Leland, so I will need to pack his lunch Monday through Friday.

The fun part about packing a lunch for Leland? A new lunchbox!

I wanted to get him a matching backpack and lunchbox and I spent entirely too much time thinking about what to get him. I was hoping I could take him to pick out his own backpack and lunchbox, but there aren't many options in stores this time of year. Basically, our choices in stores were Disney Princess, Frozen, or superheroes. Leland isn't into any of those so, instead, I picked out some adorable and very "Lelandy" things online and I can't wait to get them. I think Leland will LOVE them.

In one week my baby will start preschool. Where does the time go?