Bethel's Ice Cream Social

We went to an Ice Cream Social at Leo's school this evening. Tom was able to make it home early enough to join us.

The kids were happy to chow on some chocolate ice cream.  Tom and I were happy to have a chance to talk with Leo's teacher.  She is thrilled with how he's doing in class.  He's very engaged with the activities and he asks lots of questions.  He takes his time with tasks, which seems like dawdling at home, but is thoughtful concentrating in the classroom.  When we first got there, she said, "oh here's my smart kid."  Aww...I'm glad to hear he's doing well and I appreciate all the feedback from the teacher (she sends out emails and notes home every Thursday).  I'm use to the co-op preschool where I have inside look on a regular basis.  Once the bell rings and he goes into his classroom, what happens is a bit of a mystery.  He seems to be enjoying himself and happy to go back each day.  Next Thursday is Back-to-School night, but I also have a soccer meeting and a preschool meeting (I'm suppose to give a speech) that evening.  Should be interesting.

This little house is in the preschool playground, so Leo doesn't have access to it on regular school days.  My kids loved it.  I wish we could have one just like it in our yard.

Uniform Fail

Leo got dressed in his P.E. clothes today, but when we arrived a school, I saw a startling number of kids in regular uniforms.  My heart sank.  It was only the second day and I'd already screwed up.  I asked one of the teachers and she said that P.E. days are Thursday and Friday, not Tuesday/Thursday as I had thought.  Leo has a spare uniform in his cubby in case he gets messy at school and I offered to change him, but he said he didn't care.  The school didn't mind since it is just the first week and everyone is still figuring stuff out.  I saw a fair amount of kids in P.E. clothes too, so either there is some old info circulating that says Tuesday/Thursday for P.E. or maybe the upper graders have P.E.  Oh well, I won't make that mistake again.

Considering this is how his sister went to dance class yesterday, it could be worse.  Most ballerinas wear cowboy boots with their tutus, right?

First day of Junior Kindergarten

It's finally here! The first day of school.  Last night Leo practiced zipping and fastening his uniform pants and then we picked out which shirt and bottoms he would wear.

Look how grown up he is.

New backpack with bigger capacity (and no skulls like his old backpack, which are frowned upon at the parochial school)

Ready to tackle the day!

Good bye hug for sister.

Arriving at school.  There were balloons up and the energy was palpable.

The kids start the day by hanging up their backpacks outside the classroom and then heading to the playground until the bell rings.  He wasn't too interested in playing at first and just wanted to stick close to me, but then Ella arrived.  Ella was in his preschool class last year.  She's a little peanut, about a week older than Leo and very sweet.  She got him out on the playground.

Once the bell rings, the kids line up in front of their classrooms.

It was warming up, so I took his jacket off and the teacher gave him his name tag.

Once the name tag was on, he was shoo-ing me off and told me to go ahead a leave.  He gave me a hug and kiss goodbye first.

He wasn't very forthcoming with the details of his day.  He was line leader today, which he seemed thrilled about.  The teacher sent out an email at the end of the day and wrote "Leo was a terrific line leader and was a great example to the other children".  Go Leo!  He is one of three kids in his class that go home at noon, while the rest of his class stays through lunch until 3pm.  He asked why he wasn't staying for lunch but I told him he could eventually.  They do have snack time while he's there and I packed him a lot of little things to eat - mini muffin, crackers, grapes and string cheese.  Other kids just had one little baggie of crackers/cheerios/whatever, not a lunchbox full of stuff.  The teacher suggested he just have a small item.  Umm...that won't work for my kid.  He brought home an empty lunch box.  Leo and Serafina both eat a ton throughout the day and usually don't go for more than an hour or so without needing something to nosh.  I think I'll keep packing him a substantial snack.

They also pray a couple times a day.  Leo doesn't have too much exposure to prayer and when I asked him what he thought about it, he said, "it's kinda boring."  Oh wait until Wednesday, kid, and you have to go to morning chapel.  His behavior was better the rest of the day, less meltdowns.  I had him take a nap and he didn't fight it.  School takes a lot out of a little guy.  He's looking forward to going back tomorrow and I'm happy to see him enjoying it.  I'm definitely breathing a sigh of relief.

Serafina's first haircut

Well, maybe not her very first haircut, but her first official salon experience.  I took her to the same place Leo had his first haircut.  The ladies there are tolerant and fast, which is exactly what we needed. And the place is colorful and fun.  Serafina was having a ball playing while waiting for her turn.

She was even excited about the cars to sit in.

Here's a shot of how long and scraggly it looked before.

Oh and how it all goes bad so quickly.  She didn't even want to get into the car.  Not even the promise of a lollipop would convince her.  But we powered through.

So miserable.

Then she calmed down.  And did I mention how quickly the stylist worked?  She was awesome.

She started to like the way she looked in the mirror.

Sizing up the final cut.

Happy, beautiful girl.

Good looking trim.

Soccer clinic

I signed Leo up for AYSO soccer a couple months ago and the season is going to start soon. Today they held some "clinics" with imported coaches (one from Scotland and one from England).  Leo was excited to go in his new cleats (he outgrew his old ones) and use his new ball.  He wasn't showing much hustle, which has been an issue in the past, but he was following along and paying attention.

Here he is listening to the coach.

Practicing some dribbling.  

Shortly after this picture is when it all went to sh*t.  They started playing a game where some kids had to "steal" the ball from the other kids.  Leo was on the edge of the field, so he avoided getting his ball kicked away for a while, but eventually it was stolen and kicked to the sidelines.  He immediately burst into tears and came running to me.  It was all just part of the game; he didn't see it that way.  I tried a couple times to get him back to playing, especially when they moved on to a new game, but he never really recovered.  I was extremely frustrated and not being very sympathetic.  I wanted him just to shake it off and get back to playing.  That wasn't going to happen.

I can't say I'm surprised that he was a complete mess or that he couldn't get past it or that we had to leave early.  He's been an utter disaster for a while now.  The slightest little adversity causes him to collapse in a puddle of tears.  He's got almost a constant bad attitude.  It's miserable and it reminds me of this time last year.  I was tearing my hair out and considering calling the pediatrician to find out if this kid had some kind of behavior disorder, but then he started school and everything improved.  So that's what I'm holding out for...Monday.  Just two days away and hopefully Nana will want to come back after this because Leo has been unleashing his wrath on her with true abandon.  It's hard to watch since all she wants to do is be sweet to him.  Tom was smart to hike into the woods for three days with no cell reception.  I'm seriously considering doing the same.

I have no idea how soccer will be once he starts playing on a team.  I'm hoping he'll make a couple friends and have some fun.  Maybe when the game ball is kicked away he'll handle it better since it won't be his special, brand new sliver ball.  Or I might just have the crier on the team.  I did plenty of soccer crying and softball crying and tennis crying and possibly some swimming crying.  I pretty sure my mom thinks this is just the universe paying me back for the hell I put her through on the sidelines.

It's been a long day.  As frustrated and exhausted I am with Leo's behavior, I've been trying to giving him extra hugs.    It's really the only thing I can do.

Meet and Greet

Leo's school held a "meet and greet" yesterday. Serafina and Nana tagged along and we all went to Leo's classroom to drop off the requested school supplies and meet his teacher. Her name is Mrs. Meyers and she couldn't be any nicer and still be human. There is even a little girl in his class that was in his preschool class last year so he has the benefit of a familiar face. I didn't really have any questions for her (I over-heard a lot of bathroom questions) but I did want to make sure it was okay that Leo's nails are painted orange. She fully approved of his colorful nails so I don't have to take it off before school starts. It does clash a little with his uniform.

I snapped a couple phone pictures while they were playing in the room.  I don't know if he's ever seen a phone with a cord.

Serafina like his classroom a lot.  Hopefully she enjoys being in her own classroom as much.

Shopping

I went to the store today.  I had a list of typical items to buy.  I also had two hyper, obnoxious children with me.  Leo was running up and down the aisles, windmilling his arms around like a lunatic and causing other shoppers to clear the path with a look of fear in their eyes.  Serafina was screaming like a howler monkey and trying to escape the shopping cart seat.  I was using my "mean mommy" voice and trying to get it all over with as quickly as possible.  It was miserable, but I had a wonderful realization during it.  I won't have to shop with two kids again for a very long time.  Leo will be in school next week and I'll just have the scream queen.  And in just a couple weeks, I can go all by my lonesome if I want.  I'm not sure if I'll know how to shop without the chaos and stress.  I might actually come home with everything I'm suppose to get.

School Uniform Playdate

Leo's friends Doug and Sophia start school on Monday as well. They will be going to the same school (different classes), but all three kids are going to wear uniforms. Doug's mom thought it would be fun to have the kids see each other in their uniforms before the first day. Of course, I changed Leo out of his nice school clothes the minute we were done with these pictures.

Serafina wanted in on the action, but didn't bother to take the fruit pouch out of her mouth.

Runny nose?  I'll just use my new shirt.

Squeeze for sister.

Is Max turning into a Smurf?  Nope, he just got a hold of a blue stamp pad.  

Leo isn't doing that great without his nap.  By five pm today, he was melting down right and left.  Little things were setting him off and it felt like I had a newborn again and we had entered the "witching hour".  Transitions are never easy, but a full-blown tantrum on the lawn in front of all the neighbor kids isn't too pretty.  I just have to hope tomorrow is a little better, and Nana arrives on Thursday so that will make everything better.

In one week

Leo starts school one week from today. It's kind of hard to believe the first day of school is almost here.  I wouldn't say we agonized over what to do about school this year, but it was a big decision that weighed on our minds.  After getting confirmation from his preschool teacher that he would benefit from waiting a year before entering kindergarten, we looked for a program that would be a good fit for him and wouldn't break the bank.  We found a school that meets at least one of the criteria.  Bethel Lutheran School (BLS) offers a Junior Kindergarten class - not quite kindergarten, but more advanced than preschool.  But wait, we're not Lutheran...we're not really religious at all.  Well, Bethel Lutheran identifies itself as "a Christian school for the world" and makes it very clear that a family's religious beliefs do not impact their acceptance of a child into the school.  Heck, when we were on the school tour, one woman mentioned that she has never discussed God with her child and asked if that would be a problem.  The tour guide assured her it wasn't an issue and I saw that mom at the parent orientation, so clearly it really wasn't a problem.  Anyway, the school has accepted us (and our money), but I'm not so sure how we are feeling about accepting them.  Leo will participate in all the activities that occur at a Christian school - prayer, hymns, chapel.  But I don't know how this will translate to our home life since we don't plan to attend services on Sundays or even the holidays.  I guess we'll just have to go with the flow and see if the discord becomes an issue for Leo.  It wouldn't kill me to put on some decent clothes and go to church.  Of course, I usual spend Sunday mornings at my preferred spiritual place - the yoga studio - and it will be very hard to sacrifice that.

Our plan is for Leo to attend BLS for a year and then go to the public school kindergarten the following year.  BLS class sizes are small (18 kids per class) and everyone seems very nice so far.  I'm hoping he has a chance to mature and develop his social skills.  I also want him just to enjoy his time there.  He's expressed some resistance to starting back at school, but I'm confident he'll get into the swing of things.  He said he wants me to make him a muffin to take for snack the first day.  I think I can manage that.

He's seems to be finally outgrowing his nap.  Most days he skips it, but sometimes if he gets up too early, I'll have him lay down.  And sometimes, he just passes out while eating a carrot.

Mermaid

At the beginning of the summer, this one didn't want to get in the pool.

Now she doesn't want to get out.

Beach day

Our summer is quickly coming to an end, so I thought we'd have a beach day. We headed down to my old college stomping grounds and spent a few hours on Capitola Beach. It wasn't all that warm but we had a great time. Serafina was a bit of a fuss-pot. She cried because it was too windy, because she got sandy, because she was wet. That's pretty much what the beach is all about. Thankfully she was able to put aside her grievances and have some fun too.

Leo, on the other hand, was happy almost the whole time.

Towards the end of our visit, Leo tripped in the water, got tangled up in seaweed, was pelted by a wave and started crying pretty hard.  I got him cheered up with the promise of seeking out a special treat.

We hit the jackpot and found a taffy store.

Leo asked if this was Candyland.

Taffy makes everybody happy.