Fired

Fired. Harrison. From his mail-checking job.

He had gotten a bit slack and unreliable -- often intentionally dropping the mailbox key on the way to the mailbox to see if he could get it to bounce under a bush so his dad would have to squat down and fish it out -- so we've decided to give him some time off and let him get his priorities back in order. He's still the official garage door opener/closer of the family, but let's just say that he's not our top pick to fill the mail checker position anymore. Maybe we've been putting too much pressure on his with all this responsibility at such a young age?

Harrison Blows Kisses!

Ms. Freida had been trying to teach Harrison to blow kisses, and he waited until the first week he's not with her to try it out!

The bedtime routine is that Chris gives Harrison a bath while I hang around and commentate, then we both snuggle with him while he dries off and gets his pajamas on (which he now fetches for us from across the room), then I hug him and leave the room so Chris can finish and deposit him in his bed. Well, last night when it was time for me to leave the room, Harrison waved "bye bye" and started blowing kisses! His kisses were a bit sporadic -- sometimes they came from his mouth but sometimes he got them from a cheek or an eye and then threw them to me. :) So that delayed bedtime by a few minutes as we stood there and blew kisses back and forth.

Harrison's First Preschool Incident

Well, it didn't take long...

What group of toddlers can exist without some strife? There was a bit of an incident today, and I can't decide whether to be proud of Harrison or hope he doesn't do it again! Ms. Marlen said, "He certainly is strong" when I was claiming him, which made me think, "Hmmm... What does that mean?" She was referring to his vise-like grip. Apparently, Harrison went over to one of the bigger kids (it's a class of 10 or so kids, all more than 1 and less than 2 years old -- Harrison is only 15 months, so he's in the younger half, plus he's little for his age), grabbed ahold of whatever that kid had, and pretty much took the boy to the ground until the bigger kid gave the thing up. I was a little open-mouthed when the teacher told me ("Am I supposed to tell her that he's never done that before or that I'll give him a talking to or what?"), but then she said, "The other kid took the thing from Harrison, so I just let Harrison take it right back." Oh! Well, good for you, little honey! Don't let that kid take advantage of you! :) But maybe that's wrong... Either way, makes me giggle to think about two little boys who are about 2 feet tall rolling around on the ground engaged in fierce battle over a plastic boat or something. I guess the art of negotiation follows the art of speaking, which we're still waiting on.

So wish us luck with the rest of the week -- and wish the other little boy luck that he stays out of Harrison's way! :)

Preschool!

Harrison starts preschool today! He's going to a language immersion school, which means that his day takes place in a language other than English (we have him enrolled in the Spanish program). The teachers don't sit there with flash cards and verb conjugations or anything, but everything that is said is said in Spanish (Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? Let's put your shoes on. Come wash your hands. Please. Thank you.). They also have a French program and may start a Chinese program.

Chris will take Harrison in the morning, get him all set up for his day, and leave him eating breakfast with the other little ninos. From 8:30 to 11:30 they do art, have "organized" book-reading time and singing time and dancing time, play outside, and explore their room on their own. Lunch is at 11:30, then a few hours of nap. Then snack and I pick him up at 3.

Chris and I have really been impressed with all of the teachers we've met and with the facility overall. We're both so excited for Harrison to get to experience all that preschool has to offer -- learning how to lead, learning how to follow, learning how to share, learning how to interact, learning how to live in a community. I'm really nervous, of course, and feel a tiny bit guilty for taking him away from the comfort and safety of his current childcare setup with Ms. Freida and his best baby friend Elise, but I really think that he's going to love going to school once he gets settled in. The lead teacher in Harrison's room (Ms. Marlen) is so sweet and personable and real that we know we're lucky to have her with him each day.

There's not too much info on the website (the blog the website links to is much more interesting), but here you go : http://www.littlelinguistspreschool.com/

Hot babes, here I come!

Last Day With Ms. Freida

We're going to miss her so much.

Waving bye bye

Spinning, Spinning, Spinning...

Harrison has learned to spin, and he thinks it's very fun. Especially when he gets dizzy and falls down.

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling...

Harrison has also discovered log rolling and loves it when we all three roll around at the same time -- from one end of the room to the other (changing directions when we crash).