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March 31, 2005
My mom gave us a whole bunch of toddler CD-ROM games that my youngest brother had outgrown, and I've been installing them for Zeke on an occasional basis. This morning we got out the "Fisher Price Farm" game. There's a part where you click on bunny rabbits to shoo them out of the carrot patch, and Zeke thinks this is hilarious. He has been playing the game and laughing his butt off for the last fifteen minutes.
In other news, preschool is going well, to put it mildly. He goes for three hours in the afternoon every day, and it's barely enough. The first day, I submitted some paperwork at the office and then took Zeke down to his classroom. He sprinted ahead of me and ran inside and promptly sat down in the big storytime circle. I was a little bit lost; the last time he was in daycare, which was almost a year ago at this point, Keith and I would routinely stay with him for several minutes at the beginning of the day, to get him settled in. This time, it was like I wasn't even there. I hesitantly asked one of the teachers if there was something else I was supposed to do? "Nope!" she answered cheerily.
Uh... okay... I'll be back in three hours? When I left, I watched from the two-way mirror in the observation room for awhile, and as far as I can tell, Zeke did not even notice I was gone. He was so ready for this that it is almost criminal we did not get him started earlier.
When I picked him up, I asked what he had done that day, and he informed me that he "played on the playground." This was not big news, as all the kids were out on the playground when I came to get him. (As a side note, you have not seen true chaos until you've seen 50 preschoolers swarming together over a playground. I use the word "swarming" advisedly, because I swear they move like ants or bees or other hive-like creatures. They sort of form into little groups, and maybe a few of the ones on the perimeter will break off and form their own little group, and sometimes the little groups merge into each other, and sometimes they just sort of run off on their own. It's fascinating to watch.)
Then I asked if he'd done anything in the classroom. "Yes," he said confidently. Then he thought for a long minute. "Ummm... I played on the playground."
So you can see what made the biggest impression on him.
Yesterday, his second day, he reported that he played on the playground again, but he also told me about storytime, which involved a story "with a wolf," and that his teacher showed him how to "sit like a pretzel." He demonstrated this for me at home, dropping to the floor Indian-style. I asked what else he did in the classroom, and he said, "Well... I did works!"
In the Montessori system, or at least in this particular Montessori school -- Montessori schools aren't really standardized so I'm never sure what parts of Zeke's school are Montessori-based and which parts are just particular to that school -- they refer to the different activities that the kids do as "works." There are reading works, and math works, and so forth. They have little stations set up around the classroom with different "works" and the kids can go and work with them as they choose. There's a curriculum that the teachers follow, so the kids aren't completely in charge of what they do, but in general it's a pretty lax structure. Anyway, I got a kick out of Zeke telling me that he "did works."
I asked him what sort of works he did, and he said, "Umm... I do not know!" I asked if he did reading works, and he said, very condescendingly, "No, those are not works!" So I guess if I want to find out what works Zeke does, I need to hang around and watch from behind the mirror.
The upshot is, preschool is a big hit so far. I will report more later.
Posted by Jan at 9:05 AM | Comments (0)
March 25, 2005
Zeke sprayed diaper rash spray into his eye this morning. He was promptly introduced to the concept of "flushing the eye with water." I think he will not be doing that again any time soon.
Posted by Jan at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)
March 24, 2005
Yesterday's preschool "assessment" went very well. It turned out to be less of an assessment than more just a chance for us to let Zeke look around at his new classroom and for us to get a brief orientation. He starts on Monday! (Pause for cheering and clapping here.)
Unfortunately, he's in the afternoon class, which means he'll be there from 12:30 to 3:30. This almost precisely coincides with his usual naptime. So, as of this morning, we're adjusting him to a different schedule. Keith (bless him) woke Zeke up at 6:30 AM, two hours before his usual waking time. Then I put him down for his nap around 10:30. Surprisingly enough, he fell asleep and didn't give me any trouble, so maybe this will be easier than we thought. I was also concerned because the past several weeks have been wonderful, with Stazi and Zeke napping at the same time, but about an hour after Zeke fell asleep this morning, Stazi got a little fussy, so I figured I'd try putting her down as well. And, they are now both sleeping like babies. Or preschoolers, whichever the case may be.
We had a brief discussion with one of the classroom teachers about Zeke's potty training. The preschool we've chosen has mixed-age classrooms, so he'll be in with other kids ranging in age from 3 to 6. He'll be one of the youngest kids there. All of the kids have to be potty trained in order to be in the preschool, but obviously the 6-year-olds have fewer problems than the 3-year-olds do. The teachers recommended that we begin encouraging Zeke to take off and put on his own pants before and after using the potty. We did this yesterday and Zeke was very successful, thus proving again that kids are generally far more capable than we give them credit for. They also suggested sending him to school in elastic-waistband pants that are easy to take on and off. Are there people who put their potty-training toddlers in pants that AREN'T easy to take on and off? My God. This was really a no-brainer for us.
Apart from the potty training thing, I think Zeke is completely ready for preschool. We had to literally drag him away when it was time to go home. He really, really liked wandering around the classroom and exploring various little objects they had to play with. He was extremely interested by a tray that had a a large glass bowl, two small glass bowls, a set of tweezers, and some glass beads in it. The teacher asked if he wanted to try using the tweezers to move the beads from the large bowl to the small bowl, and this preoccupied him for the next several minutes. I think he would have stayed there doing it for hours if we hadn't had to leave.
During part of the time we were there, the kids were having storytime, sitting in a big circle while the teacher read a book. Zeke evinced absolutely zero interest in this, preferring instead to roam around the perimeter of the classroom exploring new playthings. I think this is natural, but also perhaps is part of Zeke's personality. It's hard to tell at such an early age, but from what I've seen so far, he prefers playing alone to playing in groups. (I sympathize.) I am hoping that being around the other kids at preschool will help him to become more social, or at least help him to function reasonably well when surrounded by other kids.
Anyway. Monday is the big day, and we are all very excited. More reports to come as events unfold.
Posted by Jan at 11:59 AM | Comments (0)
March 22, 2005
In Stazi news
A few days ago, she took her first step. We were at my sister's place, and Stazi took a little step from the coffee table to the couch. She has repeated this a few times, but shown no signs of wanting to take more than one step at a time.
Still, we are battening down the hatches in preparation for Full Walking Mode to commence within the month.
Yikes.
Posted by Jan at 1:57 PM | Comments (0)
March 21, 2005
More adventures in potty training
Last night we were driving back from my parents' house, which is about an hour-long drive, assuming no stops. We filled up the tank at the gas station down the road from my mom's house before setting out, and I unwisely got Zeke one of those Propel waters. He loves them. It did not occur to me that giving a newly potty-trained toddler a humongous container of water right before leaving on an hour-long car trip might be a bad idea.
All went well until we were about ten miles from home. Zeke suddenly announces from the back seat, "I want to use the potty." Keith and I give each other a nervous glance. Keith says, "Zeke, did you say you need to use the potty?" Zeke says, "Yes. Umm... I am going to pee in my Nemo pants."
We simultaneously scream, "NO!!!!" and Keith starts coaching Zeke to hold on and not pee, while I frantically look for an exit. A few short minutes later, yelling, "Don't pee, Zeke! Don't pee!" the whole way, we pulled into the parking lot of a Waffle House. Keith grabbed Zeke and made an end run for the bathrooms with Zeke tucked under his arm.
Pee was successfully deposited in the potty rather than in Nemo underpants. However, Zeke was mightily disappointed that there would be no waffles for him. I tried to console him with the prospect of a cheese sandwich when we got back to the house, but it just wasn't the same.
Posted by Jan at 3:37 PM | Comments (0)
March 19, 2005
Yesterday I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather (60 degrees, sunny) by loading up the kids in the wagon and going on a hike. Originally I was going to wait until after Zeke's nap, but after the third time I went into his room to re-settle him and tell him he needed to lie down and sleep, I thought, what am I doing? It's beautiful outside, the sun is shining for the first time in days if not weeks, and Zeke doesn't even look tired. So I asked if he'd rather take a nap or go on a walk, and of course he said he wanted to go on a walk.
So we loaded up the backpack and some drinks (sippy cup with water for Stazi; Capri Sun for Zeke) and set off. There's a park with a playground about a mile and three quarters from our house, and I optimistically thought it might be a nice jaunt and some good exercise for me. As it turned out, I was not wrong, although we did have to stop at a convenience store halfway there to buy more water because Stazi had carefully dumped hers out into the bottom of the wagon, where it combined with the updumped baggie of Cheerios to form a glue-like Cheerio slurry that I am considering marketing to construction companies as an excellent alternative to concrete.
Anyway. We reached the park without much hassle, although I do have to say that the lack of wheelchair-accessible (and therefore stroller and wagon-accessible) intersections here in urban Columbus is extremely annoying. There are very few of those nice curb ramps, so I did a lot of hefting the wagon up and down over curbs. But it was probably good for me, so I shouldn't complain too much.
At the playground, there was one other little girl there. She was about 6, or so her Oma told me, and Zeke bonded with her instantly. They started playing a chasing game where she'd run, and he'd chase after her, and then she'd stop and let him catch up, and then he'd hide behind a tree and she would chase him, and so forth. They had great fun. Stazi was content to sit and watch this unfold from her perch in the baby swing.
After about half an hour, the little girl and her Oma had to go home, and I started getting the kids ready as well. I wanted to give Zeke a chance to go to the potty, because it had been awhile since we'd left the house, but unfortunately we discovered that the park bathrooms were locked. So... Zeke peed in a pile of leaves. He thought it was awesome and started yelling at the top of his lungs, "I PEED IN LEAVES! I PEED IN LEAVES, MOMMY!" Luckily, there weren't too many other people around.
The trip home was also uneventful, although I did discover a three-block-long trail of Cheerios that Stazi had apparently thrown out of the wagon on the trip to the park. Then we got home and I fell asleep on the couch with Stazi while Zeke finally took a nap. It was not a bad day, all things considered.
Posted by Jan at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)
March 17, 2005
Lately I've been taking Zeke's alphabet magnets and making little three-letter words out of them and playing word games. Like I'll make BIT and then replace the B with an L so that it makes LIT. Zeke usually has no idea what the word is, but he really likes playing the game, so I keep up with it. Actually, he thinks every word is BIT because that's the first one I made for him. I spell PAY and he says, "bit!" He's also fond of putting an S on the end of words and then saying, "bits!" This is because I made the word BIT and then handed Zeke the letter S and asked, "Can you make SIT?" He looked thoughtful and then stuck the S on the end of BIT. "Well, Zeke," I said, "that's not SIT, but you did make the word BITS!"
He thought that was cool. So now every time I make a word -- any word -- he puts an S on the end and says, "bits!"
In other news, Zeke came down with a hideous virus on Sunday that made his voice all raspy. On Monday, Keith and I conferred about whether or not to cancel his preschool assessment on Tuesday. "I think he sounds better," I ventured. Keith looked at me. "Baby...he sounds like a 60-year-old smoker."
So we kept him home, out of respect for the other kids and also because we didn't want his potential teachers thinking he had a pack-a-day habit at the tender age of 3. We had a hell of a time rescheduling. The school was supposed to call us back on Tuesday, but didn't. We called and left voicemail. Keith actually contacted a real live human being there on Wednesday morning, and was told to expect a call back later in the day. This never materialized. We left more voicemail. Thursday morning I sent an email to the address the director gave in her voicemail. Miracle of miracles, she wrote back, explaining that she'd been sick with the same Martian Death Virus (not her words) that had infected every one else around here, and that's why she hadn't got back to us earlier. I was somewhat mollified. Anyway, the new appointment is next Wednesday, and I am looking forward to it.
I had something else to report, back when I started this entry eight hours ago (Stazi woke up from her nap and then both kids needed a snack and then Stazi pooped and then Zeke had to use the potty and then Zeke wanted the same snack Stazi had but we were out of that snack and then we had to read a book and then we had to work on Zeke's duckling costume for Duckling Day and then Stazi pooped again and then Zeke wanted a drink and then we had a fight about whether or not to turn the TV on and then it was time to go pick up Keith from work) but I can't remember what it was anymore. My brain, it is like the proverbial Swiss cheese.
Posted by Jan at 6:10 PM | Comments (0)
March 11, 2005
Enough already!
OK, not the best photography on my part, but you get the gist. Earlier today about an inch and a half of wet, clumpy snow got dumped on our street (and presumably the rest of the city as well, but that is of less relevance to me personally). Then it melted a little and then the temperature dropped, so now there's a thin sheen of ice all over the streets and sidewalks.
It's March! For the love of God, when will it stop?! This was all very attractive and romantic and Christmassy and blah blah blah, back in December. NOW IT'S MARCH. Can it with the winter wonderland already, hey?
Posted by Jan at 9:58 PM | Comments (0)
Potty training is going almost unbelievably well, and by "unbelievably" I mean that I keep expecting Zeke to give up on the whole thing and start peeing in his underpants again. But so far, it's been a smashing success. For the first three days of "Potty Training Boot Camp," we did not leave the house. Well, I left the house. Once. Wednesday night, to go to the grocery store. But Zeke stayed in, because I was too scared to take him out in public in underpants, but I felt it would be a major step backwards to put him in pull-ups again.
Thursday we actually left the house. It was scary. Zeke peed in the potty before we left. During the half-hour drive to Keith's workplace, I managed to keep from asking him, "Zeke, are you still clean and dry?" more than, oh, seven or eight times. Ten tops. Then we drove to COSI.
After checking in at COSI, the first stop we made was the bathrooms, where I found to my dismay that they don't have any child-sized toilets. Zeke was too afraid of falling in to sit down, so he stood up and peed and then we went upstairs to "Kidspace", which is the big toddler/preschooler playroom.
I chickened out and took the kids home after only an hour because I was worried that Zeke would have an accident due to the fact that he was scared to sit on the big potty. I made three wrong turns getting back onto the interstate and cursed out a very large percentage of the other drivers on the road. "LISTEN, JACKASSES," I wanted to scream, "I HAVE A SMALL CHILD IN THE BACKSEAT WHO HAS NOT POOPED ALL MORNING AND WE HAVE TO GET HOME NOW NOW NOW, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"
We made it home and Zeke was still clean and dry. Then he did his business on his little potty seat before nap, and we all had a nice, well-deserved afternoon siesta.
Incidentally, for those of you keeping track, so far we have not had any overnight accidents, and I am pleased to report that today Zeke actually woke up from his nap just to tell me that he had to go to the potty. (Well, okay, he didn't actually say anything, he just stumbled bleary-eyed into the bathroom and looked at me expectantly. But I think it counts.)
If we all survive this experience it will be some kind of minor miracle.
Posted by Jan at 3:10 PM | Comments (0)
March 9, 2005
In which I modestly show off my handiwork
I made a dress for Stazi for her birthday and I am very proud of it, so here are some pictures. In case you can't see it, there is a zipper closure in the back. A zipper! A zipper, I tell you!
Posted by Jan at 2:08 PM | Comments (0)
Success! (so far)
So, the long-awaited entry on Potty Training Boot Camp that I am sure all five of you have been anxiously holding your breath for.
This was all prompted by two things: 1) The Montessori school called up and let us know that they have an immediate opening for AM preschool, but that Zeke needs to be potty trained. 2) I am sick of changing Zeke's diapers.
I explained to the director of the Montessori school, by the way, that Zeke is not really potty trained, although he certainly understands the concept, and that I believe he is right on the cusp of learning. She and I discussed it for awhile and decided to let him give it a try anyway, on the grounds that he will probably learn quickly once he sees the other kids, and also that he will probably be able to at least hold it for a few hours in the morning while he's at preschool. And if not, well, we'd try preschool again in a few months.
Anyway, Keith and I conferred, and decided that we wanted to take more drastic measures than we had previously. We brainstormed for awhile, throwing out ideas that we'd read in books, heard from friends, seen on the Internet, or whatever, and finally decided on "Underpants Day", aka Potty Training Boot Camp. For a week, we told Zeke that the following Monday was going to be "Underpants Day" when he got to wear big-boy underpants ALL DAY LONG and wasn't that exciting? We really played it up. Underpants Day was more exciting than Christmas. We talked about it every time we changed his diaper. "On Underpants Day we won't need to change your diaper because you will have underpants on! And you will pee in the potty!"
Zeke seemed amenable to all this. Then we went to Target and let him pick out two packages of Underoos. He chose Bob the Builder and Finding Nemo. (Shrek got dissed!) We also bought a potty seat, to be placed in our kitchen. Our bathroom is upstairs, so for Zeke to get there, he has to climb over the baby gate, go up the stairs, and then climb over the other baby gate. It's a lot of hassle and it takes him really far away from whatever he was playing with. Zeke was very intrigued by the potty seat. He wanted to open it right away but we told him, "Not until Underpants Day!"
Monday morning arrived. "Zeke! Underpants Day is here! It's Underpants Day!" (This definitely falls into the category of Stuff You Never Thought You Would Hear Yourself Saying Back When You Were An Angsty College Student.)
He peed in the potty right after getting up, and then we put him into a pair of Bob the Builder underpants. "Zeke," I explained solemnly, "Bob does not like to get wet or poopy. Let's see if we can keep Bob clean and dry all day long. CAN ZEKE DO IT?"
Zeke grokked immediately: "YES ZEKE CAN!"
So Underpants Day commenced. Without getting into the gory details, I'll just say that he had a clean and dry day pretty much the entire day. I took him to the potty every hour or two, and he stayed accident-free until his Daddy got home. A few minutes after Keith arrived, Zeke did have a small accident, but apart from that, nada. Then we put him to bed in underpants, which was a little scary for us, but it turned out okay, because he woke up on Tuesday morning still clean and dry.
Tuesday there were zero accidents all day long. And he woke up this morning in a dry bed too. So I am really freaking optimistic at this point. We can definitely at least say to the preschool that he's started potty training, if not all the way there yet. I am psyched.
And that's the story of Potty Training Boot Camp.
Posted by Jan at 10:46 AM | Comments (3)
March 6, 2005
To everybody who might be wondering when I am ever going to post new pictures: I am currently sifting through the backlog of photos that we have taken since approximately mid-December or so. This may take a few days. But when it is done, I promise you: pictures!
In other news, tomorrow commences Potty Training Boot Camp. I will post with more details after Day 1 is over. Frankly I am not optimistic and am expecting to do a crapload (no pun intended) of laundry over the next few days, but you never know. Zeke has surprised us all before.
Posted by Jan at 11:28 PM | Comments (2)
March 2, 2005
Took the kids to COSI (the Center of Science and Industry) this morning. We were there a few weeks ago with my brother-in-law in tow, and we decided to buy an annual membership, primarily to support COSI, which has been having some funding problems, but also because it has a cool indoor play area for preschoolers, and I thought it would be a nice alternative to just staying home on rainy/snowy days.
Boy. I had no idea. We didn't actually go in the play area last time we were there, so it was a surprise to me this time around just how big it is. This thing is gigantic. They have a pretend ambulance, a play doctor's clinic, a play restaurant, and some other pretend stuff we didn't even get to. They have a "living room" complete with easy chairs and reading material for parents, and a few computers that only connect to parent-related websites (e.g. Mothering.com). We spent a fair amount of time in that room as it is also where the Thomas the Tank Engine train set is located. They also have a giant water play area that has a huge tank with stuff floating in it that the kids can play with. There are also raincoats on pegs on the walls so your kids don't get completely soaked while playing. There is a baby-sized ball pit, some climbing equipment... they have everything, man! Everything! We spent an hour there and it felt like no time passed at all. Those of you who have spent an hour at the playground of your choice may know that this is significant. Usually ten minutes at the playground -- for me, anyway -- feels like an eternity. But I could have stayed at the COSI play area all day long. The best part was that it was very Stazi-safe. I was able to put her down and let her crawl around and explore for most of the time we were there. This does not happen at the regular playground, because 1) it's often too rainy or muddy to crawl around in the dirt, 2) I don't want her eating the dirt, and 3) there are older kids running around that could stomp her. So this was a very nice change.
Attention Columbus-area stay at home parents! If you do not take advantage of this place, you are insane. We are going there every week from now on. Maybe twice a week. Maybe every day. I love it there. I want to move in there. (OK, I exaggerate. But only a little.)
Still waiting to hear back from the Montessori people about when we can set up an assessment for Zeke, by the way. There was a phone snafu yesterday, so presumably we'll get in touch this afternoon.
Posted by Jan at 1:41 PM | Comments (0)
March 1, 2005
Update on the preschool situation: We submitted the application for the Montessori school last week, and the Waldorf application is signed, sealed, and ready to go. But! A New Development Arises! The Montessori school actually called us this morning to say that they have a morning and an afternoon half-day opening for the preschool. So we're going to take Zeke for an "assessment" sometime this week and then we'll know if he can go or not.
The assessment, from what I understand, is basically just to make sure your child is verbal enough to understand simple commands (like, say, "Everybody follow me, the building is on fire") and capable of dealing with preschool. We have zero concerns in this regard, as Zeke is quite verbal enough, thank you. The only thing is, he's not really potty trained. I mean, he grasps the basic concept, he just doesn't want to do it, or doesn't grok the whole situation, or something. I don't know.
The Waldorf place told us it wasn't an issue when we did our tour there. I believe the director's exact words were, "No big whoop, we'll change their pants all day long if we have to until they figure it out." But I didn't specifically ask the Montessori people what their policy was. I guess we'll find out later this week. I hope he can get in. We're all going a little stir crazy with the weather, to put it mildly. Every time I make plans to go for a walk, it either snows, drizzles, sleets, or the temperature drops below 20.
I will keep you all updated.
Posted by Jan at 2:54 PM | Comments (0)