More drop-off improvements

Drop-offs at daycare this week have been amazing. It's almost like it's not the same kid. Winston wants to walk himself into school, all the way from the parking lot. He walks into his class, pushes his jacket off and is gone. Playing with toys, saying hi to friends. Especially Emmi. Oh my, I think he has a girlfriend.

More to write --- have to run ...

Funny little man

After his bath the other night, Jay gave a little pat to Winston's bare booty. Winston laughed and said "moh".

So Jay did it again.

Winston once again said "moh, moh!" and giggled. W. even put his bo0ty in the air on hands and knees to continue to get his pats.

Jay gave some faster pats, like a quick three time pat-pat-pat. And not lightly either.

Guess what?

Winston still wanted more and just kept laughing. We were cracking up! When Jay stopped, Winston decided to smack his own booty.

I. Kid. You. Not.

Laughing, laying on the bed on his belly, naked, my kid is trying to smack his own butt. His butt was all red, but he wanted more. Is this odd?

Then yesterday we were watching him on the video monitor when he was down for his nap. And he was smacking his own butt again. What's up with this kid??

Winston's 18-Month Well-Baby Appointment

I guess we need to start referring to it as his "well-toddler" or "well-child" appointment. Anyway ......

We had a great, great appointment this morning! Winston was in wonderful spirits and the (new) pediatrician we saw was supportive, helpful and overall just lovely.

Here are the stats:
Weight: 22 lbs, 4 oz - 10th percentile (this is huge as he fell off the curve at 12 mos, was at 5% at 15 mos)
Height: 31.5" - 25th percentile
Head: 48cm - 50th percentile

He's also in good shape with the number of words he's saying (almost 50 now -- see the full list on the right column), all gross and fine motor function dvelopment, etc. Now, if we could just get him to eat his veggies. :-)

Next appt in 6 mos. Wow!

Winston Judah is 18 months old today!!!!

Yes, it is true. I just can't believe it. Watch this space for a retrospective in photos from the last year and a half. Or at least a little "then and now."

The early days ..









18 mos




Other news today ......

Drop-off at school was so, so, so much better. Winston wanted to walk by himself down the hall and into his room. There was still some clinginess, but it didn't last long. A tiny bit of whining. But I am happy to report that when I left the room Winston didn't seem to care a bit. He was otherwise occupied with little Miss Margaret while they looked in the mirror together while wearing construction hats.

Ah, it was so nice. A relatively peaceful drop-off. Fingers crossed these continue.

Just a quick update on drop-off this morning

Last Friday the drop-off at daycare was supah bad. SUUUPAH bad. It hurt me. Winston screeched, threw himself to the floor, almost hurting himself, to get near me. Eventually one of the teachers pretty much grabbed him up and they went with the rest of the class to the gym. I then had to sneak out covert-style past the gym which was on my way to the car. Guess what? Winston was fine. Jostling in line for his turn at the slide on the climber. I don't think he saw me leave (?).

So today I was apprehensive. And I am sure that Mr. W. picks up on that from me. We were running super late this morning (water heater took a nap so we had to wait for hot water. It's fine now (fingers crossed)). By the time W. and I got to school his class was already in the gym. So, once again, that same teacher grabbed Winston from me (a tad too harshly for me, really, but it worked). And Winston went off to play while I went to the classroom to drop-off his stuff. I hear him wailing all the way down the hall. :-(

Guess what? It all of about 5-10 minutes and Winston was fine. When I (once again) skulked by the gym windows Winston was happy and climbing all over this teeter-totter boat thingy. All good.

SO, while the screeches haven't lessened in intensity, they have shortened in duration. Progress, yes??

Are you ready for some football?

Winston has enjoyed the start of the NFL season. He can say "football" and gets excited when the games are on. You should see daddy and Winston sitting on the couch together, cheering on the J-E-T-S.

Football still takes a backseat to Sesame Street, but at least the boys have something in common to watch together! I wonder when Winston will get his first fantasy football team?

Winston in the rain, priceless

Forgive the videographer. Just turn your head sideways and it's fine.

View on ......

Pay puh, pay puh

This is how Winston refers to drawing of any kind. I think he really means using pencils, pens, markers, etc. But I must have said "only on paper" so many times that the entire activity is now "pay puh."

The kitchen table has been perpetually covered with butcher paper for some time now. We tape the paper down and Winston goes to town. He sits in his booster seat and has the best time. He now has washable markers, stampers, crayons (the bulby kind) and some colored pencils. He spends so much time there that we have invested in some other crafty type items so that we can try other creative things.

The only challenge is that eating in that same space is now a bit more difficult. Winston is easily distracted by the "pay puh" items and often wants to have something on his feeding tray while he eats. He's definitely a multi-tasker.

Harvest Day at daycare/school

Here's Winston and a sheep at Harvest Day, 2008!

Farmer John and his trick dog come out to the UMHS Childcare Center every fall to entertain the kids. He brings a petting zoo that includes sheep goats, a pig, shetland pony and a trick dog. In this shot Winston is watching the pony on the stage. I think the sheep is watching too. :-)

Then Winston started to dance to the music. He had his own ho-down! :-)

But it got tiring, so he took a break.

But was soon right back at it. Playing and having fun. :-0

Lil' Kicker!

We started Winston in a soccer class at the nearby High Velocity Sports center. The class is every Saturday morning from 9-10. The first day he was a little hesitant and needed both mom and dad there with him. The "coach" is Lauren and she is great with the kids. The ages are from 18 mos to 2 years (I think). There are about 5 or 6 kids in the class and all of them are just adorable.

They wear uniforms (see pix to follow). And they use real soccer balls! They run up and down the tiny field doing red light/green light to stop and go. And they play with cones and discs; stacking them and then knocking them down with a kick or kicking the ball into them. The kids also practice using their feet instead of their hands by stomping on bubbles that Coach Lauren has for them. They even put their hands together to get stamps on them and then have a group cheer. It's sooooo cute.

There is another little boy in his class, Adon (sp?), who is 3 days older than Winston. The two of them are definitely the smallest kids. Keeping in mind that Winston's a slight fellow, so is Adon.

The second class was today and Winston seemed more comfortable today than last week. I think this bodes well.

More daycare - Separation Anxiety

Last week was Winston's first week in his new class at daycare/school - the Monkey Room!

He was introduced to it and the teachers there with multiple visits over the summer, and with the teachers taking over in his old room occasionally before the transition. But with all that being done, I am still not surprised that we have some more separation anxiety.

But, even with the effort to ease thee kids into the new environment our recent mornings have been tough at drop-off.

This past weekend it's been happening at home too. If Jay and I are both with Winston he's fine. If one of us leaves Winston's sight, he calls after us repeatedly until we return. Sometimes he is satisfied if the parent with him explains where the other parent went and when they will back. At least for a bit.

Inevitably he starts up asking "Mama?" "Dada?". I can't got to the bathroom without him seeking me out. I was upstairs and Jay and Winston were down and he kept calling "Mama!!" I'd answer him but he wanted to be with me. Same thing for Jay. Then when he finally sees us, he's fine and practically squeals our names. At first I thought he was just having fun realizing that he can call us and we do answer him. But it seems to be more than that.

You should have seen us in stores this weekend. He could be heard all over the store.What can I do to help him? What can Jay and I do to deal with this? At home it just gets a little annoying, but at drop-off at school he gets super clingy, clutches at me and just wails. We do all those things you read about to help, and I know it's just a phase, but it's still hard.

Ideas:

He loves to draw and color, so this morning (9/8) his primary teacher and I started to draw with him. He wanted me to draw too, so I did for a bit. I even drew a stick figure and told him it was mama. he seemed to like that. Then I gave my crayon to the teacher and tried to shift Winston's attention. Then I kissed him, said bye, that I would see him later and walked to the door. He still cried, but didn't try to jump the chair like he did last week. I am wondering if having pictures of Jay and I at school would help?? He has his photo album of family so maybe I should start leaving that there with him again?

(9/9)
Last week it helped with a teacher taking Winston over to look out the window or to start drawing. Today was BAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDD tho. Winston had to be pulled from my legs. His new primary teacher was there and stayed by the door as I left, hugging him. Of course, he struggled and tried to pull away. The teacher kept saying, "you're safe Winston, you're safe." I don't think he gets "safe" yet tho.

She held him at the front window while I waved and blew kisses, then I walked away. He was screaming!!! Bad, bad bad. It was so hard.

We didn't end up sending the photo book b/c Winston refused to leave the house without his monkey, his bear and his blankie. All "his buddies" that he sleeps with. He has brought them in the car before, but usually kisses them bye-bye and he's ok. Today they went into the class with him. I tried so hard to be energetic and excited on the way to school, talking about his friends and his teachers. Then when we got there I sat and read a book with him. That was great b/c the other kids came up and wanted to see. Winston pulled away from me and sat with them, then went on to play with other things, but kept checking to make sure I was still there. If I even moved more then a few steps away he'd freak. I am going to call to check on him soon.

Later ....

Evidently he only asked for me or dada for about 5-10 minutes yesterday. Then again at about 4:30/5 o'clock. Today was a bit better after I left. (oh, and he hardly eats at school since moving to the new room. But then we get home and he scarfs dinner. So, I know he's hungry. ugh)

Oh my gosh, I almost forgot to mention this. I found out that his new primary teacher will be on vacation for two weeks (starting next week)! Poor Winston is just getting used to her (at least I hope he is) and she's going to be away. Oy!!!

Toys - esp. cars and trucks

I find it so interesting that no matter how much Jay and I may try to keep Winston's toys gender neutral, he generates toward cars and trucks. And bugs. I noticed this in Winston's classroom especially where the more gender-associated playthings are presented equally. The girls seem to seek out the dolls, the boys the trucks. It's downright freaky to me. It's not absolute by any means, but does seem to be the trend.

Nothing seems to exemplify this more than our recent experience with HotWheels.

Holy crap! Two packs of cars have been on his dresser for about 10 mos. He just noticed them. I was pushing for them to stay packaged and maybe even put away. Jay says, no way. Let him play.

So I did.

It's a slippery slope isn't it? Our house will never be the same, huh? The kid looooovvveeeees them!!!!!!
(upshot -- they are great massage tools when Winston runs them up and down my back)

He clutched them in his sleep when we put him to bed. He would NOT let go of them Oy!

Labor Day weekend - Papa John & Grandma Dawny visit

I have a goal to get all of Winston's grandparents on video singing nursery rhymes. This was the first successful attempt. Here's Granddad/Papa John and Grandma Dawny ...