Holy Toddler Batman

So last night G and I were TRYING to go to sleep. Ok ~ one of us was at least. The other kept calling her daddy in to say goodnight.

on the last round, she got her hug & kiss ~ made sure mommy hugged daddy too and then we all snuggled for a bit. Apparently G had officially had enough family time when she told Pete-a-lee. "Ok, you go clean kitch-ken now"

Thats my baby.

OUCH!

So this morning I was dutifully leaving for my weekly meeting. Typically this a far less eventful 'event' but since the onset of 'daddy daycare' ~ I had 2 goodbyes to contend with.

So i say my first goodbye ~ thankfully he didn't cry.
Then onto my next.

Come-ere and give mama kisses bye bye.
"NO - come toooooooo"
"No sweetie, mama has to go to work and be with all grown-ups today."
"NO MOMMY I COME TOO!"
(a few more rounds)

Then she darts in front of me, picks up her baby doll, hugs her and with venom in her eyes says to me.
"I take baby with ME!"

"Ahhh - so Mommy should take her baby too?"
"YES!"

Good argument kiddo - almost had me there for a minute.

Open for business – Daddy Daycare

If you read about lemons on May 27 you’ll understand why.

Two weeks have passed since the decision to take G out of daycare to save every penny earned. Each day I would watch her enter the class room and run to circle time where all the kids would sing and dance and learn something new. Each day I hated knowing that at some point she wouldn’t have that anymore and wondered if she knew…but of course she knew, she’s just stronger than her mom and me. As she waved bye to her teacher and friends last Friday Jenn and I were overcome with emotion and just balled. At least a weekend in the country helped cure (distract) the sadness and today starts a new chapter and some amazing memories I get to share with G.

Daddy daycare is open for business.

After breakfast the start was a bit rocky. I sat G down and asked what day is today? Blank stare. Monday. Mawndy. Good. And it’s the first day of the week, well technically the second…but…oh damn…Jenn... what do they say Monday is at Happy Faces????

But we found our groove with some water color painting, bike ride, swings and making lunch together before Jane and the Dragon, a book then a 12:45 nap. Just a little over 3 hours since this adventure started and I was exhausted and realized I need to have a plan to keep me sane and give G some order and continuity.

Jenn arrived home around 2pm so I left to shop for groceries and while out stopped by the library for some pre-school help.

Handtalk Zoo – George Ancona & Mary Beth
The Essential Montessori – Elizabeth Hainstock
Teaching Montessori in the home the pre-school years – Hainstock (a bit old school even for conservative ME)
Things to do with toddlers and twos – Karen Miller (my fave so far)
Have fun with your kids the lazy way – Marilee LeBon (title sounded great but the book is boring)

The afternoon session was all about cooking with G helping pour yogurt, pick mint leaves and mix fresh cucumbers and onions to get our Mediterranean feast ready for a picnic at the garden. A very fun and yummy way to get tactile, sensory, dexterity and vocabulary lessons and the best part....keep her attention.

Tonight after some light reading I decided to make play dough! Fun and easy...a sealed container now holds 3 smalls balls of red, green and blue dough. So, I’m set for 1 activity for tomorrow. Now if I can fill the other 6 ½ hours. I’m excited just thinking about all the possibilities!

sittin in a tree

So i've been telling EVERYONE and their brother about G's new boyfriend, I don't know why i don't just blog about it already so i can embarrass her forever with it down the road.

So yesterday G goes to school in a cute new sundress (thanks to aunt joanne!) When she enters the classroom a little boy says "Gew-y-anne like-ed your new dwess" To which she demurely replies "why thank-you" and does a little spin. Then she walks over to her seat and crawls up. WHY THANK-YOU and a coy spin. Are you KIDDING me?! I SWEAR to all that is holy i only watch real housewives late at night after she has gone to bed.

THEN when i went to pick her up. They had about a 7 minute exchange of goodbyes. "bye Gew-y-anne" ~ "bye bye kee-nu, see you tomorrow" complete with high fives and lil fingers through the fence. Sheesh. What do i have on my hands here.

But i will say - she's adorable and has been perused by "kee-nu" since day 1. When she first started transitioning into the toddler room he said " I like-ed gew-y-ann ~ she's CUTE!"

Oh boy. Things to come. The things to come.