He's so funny!

Winston is cracking me up lately. I love this age.

He's a little director. "Mama, this way. Mama, sit down. Watch. Look."

This all said while he pushes or pull me in different directions to go play, watch Elmo, whatever. At daycare drop-off one day last week he found a tow truck, took it over to a pile of mats, sat down, patted the seat next to him and said "Mama, sit down. Look. Big truck."

He knows his name now and loves to use it. He'll put a blanket over his head and say, "Where's Winton? Winton where ahhhhhh uuuuuuu?" then throw the blanket aside and say "Peek ahh Boo!" He also likes to give himself self-affirmations. He'll do something and then say, "Yay Winton! Go go Winton!" I won't even be in the room and hear him playing and cheering himself on.

Nana Tutu even got an unprompted"I love you" on the phone the other day, that was huge.

And he knows how to play it up. We have started to get the fake cry. When I called him on it, he actually stopped, looked at me sideways and giggled. He thought he was hilarious.

Oh gosh, there are a ton of other funny things. He can't say "Oscar" or "chalk" quite right yet, but loves to talk about them. (Oscar the Grouch and the sidewalk chalk in the basement) So, Oscar is "ocker" and chalk is (still) "cawk." Oh, and Grinch sounds something like "bitch." I just pray he doesn't pull that out at school or in public.

Last one ---
Winston says "ay yigh yigh" meaning "EI EI O" and that he wants to sing Old MacDonald. I always ask him if he wants a Mexican hat dance. "No, mama! AY Yigh yigh!!! Moooo mooo! Onk onk!" And it must be sung by mama. The two discs we have in the car with professional versions just won't do.

W: "No, mama! Maaaaaaahmmaaaaaah:
M: "You want mama to sing?"
W: "Yep. Mama."

So we sing, and sing, and sing. All the way from daycare home. I won't be done with the verse and he's already instructing me as to what the next sound should be. He's not limited to animals. He's asked for "tractor" the other day. Our funny little man!

Girlfriend(s)?

We think Winston has a girlfriend. Or two. Or three?

He loves a little girl named Emmi. She is about a month younger than Winston and very sweet. He asks about her all the time. And when we pull into the parking lot at school he shouts with glee “EMMMII!” Sadly, Emmi is only there 3 days a week, so 2 days a week little Winston gets a bit of a letdown. :-(

Winston and Emmi greet each other with smiles and sometimes hugs. Emmi even comes over to me with a smile and a hug. It’s quite sweet. I think that the drop-offs are better overall when Emmi is there. She’s like Winston’s luvee. Awwww.

Then there is Eleni. Eleni is a month or two older than Winston and quite a firecracker. She likes to hug and kiss Winston. Winston will hug back, but I have been told that sometimes it’s too much for Winston. Evidently, he ran away from her last week saying “no, no, no” and shaking his head. But they like to play together and will sit and sway together during song time. Eleni greets me with hugs too.

And finally, there is Olivia. She is just one year old and so sweet. Whenever Winston hears her name he giggles, and dare I say, blushes. When she is sad Winston will try to comfort her with a hug or a pat.

Winston has little boy friends too; but really there are only two other boys in the class. And only one other boy who is full-time like Winston. In true boy-fashion they like to greet each other and say good-bye with high-fives. No joke.

Bumps and bruises. And some kisses.

You might remember our stint last “school” year when Winston had a perma-bruise and bump on his head. I swear I think he fell down and bumped his head three times in one week. Well, we got another taste of that last week.

Anytime there is an injury at school the teachers fill out an incident slip and leave it for a parent’s signature. Inevitably I see the slip of paper before I see Winston, so I can be prepared. Right? If the injury is either more serious or just looks that way, the teachers will call to notify you, or at least warn you before you see your child. On Wednesday of last week was notice #1. Just a slip of paper.

Winston had been pushing a toy shopping cart on the playground. Ok, he was running with it. He hit a bump and the cart toppled forward. Not one to let go, Winston went with it, skidding on his hand across the concrete. This meant he had scraped knuckles and a fairly icky looking owie on the top of his right hand. It needed a band-aid for certain. Winston was quick to show me his owie when I got there. And I was quick to give him and the owie kisses. (note -- this is the first time that I used the "let momma kiss it and make it better" line. It works!)

On Thursday we had incident #2. This one necessitated a call. It was 4:47 pm. (yes I noted it). Winston had been playing with another child and wrestling (?) and they both fell to the floor. (Huh? They were standing up to wrestle, you ask? Just wait.). Winston fell and hurt his eye on the rail of a rocking chair. The teacher who called me said it was swollen pretty badly, but that Winston was in good spirits. Not a serious injury. Just looked bad right now. Ok. Breathe momma, breathe.

I get to school and my little guy has a black eye and a red bump on his nose. But, yep, he was in good spirits. As it ends up, he was getting hugs (and maybe kisses?) from either one or two little girls. Things got a bit aggressive and they fell. Now, I don’t know which little girls were involved. But I have my suspicions.

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 ...

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??

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

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!!!

Daycare Transition

Today is Winston's last day as a "Rainbow Tot"! It's transition time at school (they run on a regular academic calendar) and it's time to move up. As of next Wednesday (9/3) Winston will be a "Jumping Monkey." So fitting, eh? My baby is leaving the room he's been in since he started daycare. When he started he was just sitting on his own. Now he's running! Jay and I are tripping out!!

The new room is pretty cool. Each child has their own open-locker type area w/their picture on it for their extra clothes, etc. And they have little tables and these groovy modular box-like "chairs".

All the kids in the new room are about the same age, and most of them are moving up together from the Tots room. I think the transition is going to be much harder on Jay and I than on Winston. I am already not liking the way they store the children's food for the day (what we all bring from home). In the Tots room each child has their own labeled bin. In the Monkey room there is one bin for any items meant to be heated, for all children. And one for things meant to remain cold. I am sure I will adjust, but I just don't like it. (so there. humph).