Toddler No More

Today was Kyra's last full day in her Toddler's class.  Next week, she begins the transition to the Two's program, with some of her old pals JD, Brennan, Duce and Isabella.  I went to her class today and brought cupcakes, which as you can see the children enjoyed... and we sang Happy Birthday, which Kyra really enjoyed.  I wanted to bring something else to the classroom to signify that it was her birthday, but really had no idea what to bring... only mylar balloons are allowed, and well, I was too cheap to bring each kid one of those... Goodie Bags for 1 year olds?  I think not.

So at the last minute, I opted to bring in each child & teacher a carnation (remember I'm cheap).  Kyra LOVED handing them out and a couple kids rather enjoyed them, but mostly the flower broke off the stem & the remainders were put in each child's cubby.  Oh well.  

The best part of the "party" was hearing her teachers tell me all kinds of stories about her - how she monitors the other children when they are eating lunch (asking "All done?" and taking their plate away), how she sits herself between 2 of her friends and rubs their backs before nap and how she constantly wonders what each teacher is doing, asking "What Ms. Kim doing?" and "Ms. Kristin go potty."  Both Ms. Kim & Ms. Kristin said they were going to be very sad to see her move on to the Two's... I know how they feel.  Don't get me wrong - she is more than ready to move on... but it's hard to believe she's already two and a Toddler No More.

Nights with Henry

Every day I ask Henry how his day was.  The normal response is "good."  Last week, I asked him this question as I was putting him to bed.  In what I suspect was yet another tactic to prolong the inevitable, he began to tell me in great detail all about his day - "first I went to school and helped Ms. Clara get my friends, then I did my writing folder, then I went to centers, then we had circle time, then morning snack and then I went to centers again, and then we had lunch, and quiet time, then we had afternoon circle time and we went outside and then Daddy picked me up..."  You get the idea.  

At the end of his detailed report, I ask him what his favorite thing was that he did that day... it varies depending on the day... yesterday his favorite part of the day was eating a donut.  Except for Fridays and Saturdays...

You see, in an effort to get Henry to sleep in his own bed for as much time as possible, we came up with the rule that he has to sleep in his bed on school nights, but on Fridays and Saturdays, he can sleep in Mommy & Daddy's bed.  And because he stays up a little later on those nights and I am normally tired by that time, 9 times out of 10, I wind up going to bed with him... we call it "snuggling."  Yes, he's almost 5 and no, this probably isn't the smartest or healthiest thing I do and he grinds his teeth in his sleep and can't keep still, so I don't get much sleep at all... but this past weekend, when he was done giving me his daily report of the day, I asked what his favorite part was and he said, "Snuggling with Mommy" and in the mornings, when he wakes up, he hugs me...

OK, I know the kid is super smart and quite possibly working me and yes, I am a sap... but I figure we'll keep snuggling as long as he wants....

The Purse

Recently, Kyra has really become quite the girly-girl.  She only wants to wear things that are pink, she loves barrettes and bracelets, has a real thing for chapstick (although she may like to eat it more than wear it I fear and constantly asks, "Where chapkip go?  Where is it?"), and then yesterday, she found her Elmo Purse that she had gotten for Christmas.

 

She was entertained by this purse all night long, taking items out, putting them back in and saying, "Bye-bye.  See you later."  Then after we read our books last night, she insisted on bringing it to bed with her.

  

Of course, after this photo op, I took the purse out of her bed... but at 5:30 this morning, I woke to "Purse.  Mommy, purse.  Purse."

Our New Blog

Today is day one of our new Blog... I'm totally stealing this idea from Kyra's former Toddler Teacher... She started one after her daughter was born last July and I check it all the time!!!  I figure this will force me to take more pictures of my kids and will hopefully encourage all of you to check in & see how we are doing!

This is literally the only picture I could find of all of us and it was taken 2 months ago!  Yikes - I better get to work.

Feel free to post a message any time you like - just keep it clean!  Talk to you soon!!