Month: November 2013

Theo and I have had the pleasure of having Daddy for two 4-day weekends in a row the past two weeks. Last week he took Thursday and Friday off, just because. And this week, of course, was Thanksgiving so Jay had Thursday and Friday off. It has really been a nice to spend extra time with Daddy. Especially before the baby arrives.

Last weekend we had a friend’s car so we took a trip up to the Bronx to visit the New York Botanical Garden. We have frequented the Brooklyn Botanic Garden many, many times since we lived a few blocks away but we had never been to the NY Botanical Garden in the Bronx. They happened to have a train show happening so it was a perfect activity for Theo, lover of trains!

It was basically the entire Conservatory filled with model trains running through model structures, buildings and bridges all designed after famous NYC landmarks.

Everything is made out of natural materials and it was very cool to explore. Theo loved just watching the trains go around and around and seeing the model Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges was very cool for him, too.

The last thing we did was take the tram tour of the garden, which Theo insisted on because he loves the tram. The garden is huge and beautiful and we will definitely need to visit in the spring/summer when everything is in bloom. It was still gorgeous with all the fall foliage but definitely will be a must see for cherry blosssoms, peonies and roses! There is also a kid’s adventure area that we didn’t make it to but definitely seemed highly worthwhile the next time we visit.

And we got to pose with a big Christmas Tree!

There are constantly memories I want to preserve. Funny and smart and clever things Theo says, experiences we had, sweet moments. It’s hard to get everything down on paper. I want to remember every piece of Theo’s personality as it’s developing. The bits of his sweetness that makes our days so utterly happy.

We have a very adorable process that began as a means to help Theo with the transition of Jay leaving for work every morning. He now does it with me when I leave, and just about anyone who comes over to our house.

We now live one flight up (and there is only one couple that lives above us so our hall is basically private) and we have a nice little landing outside our door that serves as our “launch pad” for all goodbye’s. We go out there with Daddy in the morning and Theo gets really excited. He gets kisses all over his face/head and Theo will ask for more… “one on my nose, and on my eyes, and my ears, and my forehead, and my head…” and then it’s straight to, “do you need monster spray?” Theo counts each monster spray, using his fingers to count correctly… “one monster spray (spray motion and sound effect, “shhhhhh”), two monster spray…” After five or six monster sprays, Jay starts heading down the stairs and then Theo raises his fingers and shouts, “wait a second, I need another kiss!” while jumping up and down, basically. They give each other another kiss and then we wish Daddy well on his way and watch him down the steps. Sure it’s kind of a lengthy process, but it’s very sweet and makes Theo really happy and excited to say goodbye to Daddy each morning. Even today as I ran out for some errands for a little bit Theo asked, “do you need monster spray?”. Yes, I definitely do, I told him.

On our way home from school each Tuesday and Thursday, we stop at Brooklyn Commune for lunch. The tradition began after our first “playdate” at the school as a couple other mom’s were going with their kids and I was just learning the neighborhood. They have famous “star cookies” that come in four different sprinkly, sparkly colors. I started promising a star cookie after school so Theo had something exciting to look forward after pick-up. It has since turned into a perfect lunch spot for us on our way home. He loves going there and what I really love is that he always wants to order his meal all by himself. He has even attempted to cover my mouth when I have tried to order for him.

“Can I please have a kids’ grilled cheese, juice box and a purple star cookie?”.

It’s really sweet. I’m pretty certain I was way too shy to ever order my food myself until I was, like, twelve. At least.

I know I’ve spoken of Theo’s love of buses. There seem to be two buses one can catch… one with a “sparkly” floor and one with a “ridged” floor. Theo has been very interested in these two options for several months. For awhile he did NOT, by any means, want to get on a sparkly-floored bus – only ridged. He would shout, “it IS a ridged bus! see I told you!!” and skip right onto the bus. Not sure why. He cried one time when the doors opened and the bus had a sparkly floor and we had to wait for the next one 🙁 Lately, he has been excited to take the sparkly bus, too. What’s most notable, is that when he sees the bus coming he shouts out which one it is. “Sparkly bus!” or “Ridge bus!” and I’ve been so curious to know how in the world he knows in advance. What is it that lets one know ahead of time? Sooo, of course I asked him. And boy did I learn. Apparently the digital signage on the front of the bus that tells you what bus number it is will be a different color. Green lettering for sparkly, orange lettering for ridged. Perceptive little guy, that Theo.

We had this last week. Jay and I both looked forward to sitting down one-on-one with Ms. Voya and Ms. Gilly to really get a sense of how Theo has been doing in school. We all know the past couple months have been tough on all of us, but we continue to hope that with many changes also comes growth.

On a positive note, in the short time Theo has been going to preschool, his ability to express his many emotions with words and to move forward passed frustration and anger has certainly improved. He is a bright, loving, affectionate little boy and the teachers see that side of him very much. He continues to choose to be that way mostly with the teachers and not as much with friends in his class. He has this interesting demeanor that I can’t describe. He is an extroverted, social being yet he doesn’t care too much for interacting a whole lot with the other kids. The teachers said even when it comes to outdoor activities he sort of sticks to the beat of his own drum. As I think I’ve always said, he likes smaller groups, just like me. I think he gets overwhelmed and uncomfortable. It can’t (I suppose it could) be sheer coincidence that since three kids have left his program (leaving only six friends in total) he seems to be more comfortable and flourishing a bit more.

They showed us a slideshow of Theo from the start of school until now and gave us a play-by-play of what he has been doing in the classroom, both inside and outside. I like the teachers very much and know that they have a wealth of experience and are directly in line with our beliefs as far as nurturing and teaching Theo to treat others with kindness, have empathy and to be able to feel comfortable genuinely expressing his emotions. He is building trust with them. As things have improved on the home front, they seem to have improved with school too. We hear him expressing his emotions often and we are all processing this move, the impending arrival of our new family member and the struggles of separation from Daddy and the occasional separation from Mama.

We have new traditions that have helped us tremendously with our transitions and Theo is more comfortable expressing his feelings knowing they are normal feelings and we all have them. I am watching my child before my very eyes develop and grow into such a lovely kid. He is not without tantrums and frustrations, and we continue to teach him (and ourselves!) how to emotionally regulate. In the past week I have seen a happier kid bouncing into school. And that makes for a happier everyone.

As I’m laying with Theo, waiting for him to drift off the sleep, he rolls over… “Mama? I have something interesting in my nose. It’s a booger. Can you take it out for me please?”. And then he wants to see it… “Ew, yuck! Can you throw it in the garbage?”.

I let our babysitter, Sarah, go the other day. Theo really seemed to enjoy her for a long while, but recently he has been telling me over and over again that he doesn’t like her and wants a new babysitter. I was a bit hesitant at first. I know he is having a tough time with me leaving to work at all that I assumed it was just him fighting that and not so much a dislike for Sarah. I also thought keeping her as we made the transition to our new place would be welcome consistency for him through all of the change. Apparently not. I’ve been dreading Friday mornings when Sarah comes over and I struggle to get him acclimated so I can get out the door. He always seems to have a good time once I leave… so, again, I felt it was just the initial act of me leaving that was tough for him.

Anyhow, I’ve been talking to a mom who lives a few blocks away from us who had posted on the local listserv that she was looking for a nanny position. She has a three year old and a ton of experience watching multiple children, babies, etc. This appealed to me since we have a baby on the way and I’m thinking long-term for the help that we will need once we have two children. Maria is really great. She is a Slovakian woman who is very jovial, sweet, nurturing and experienced. She babysat with her son, Gabriel, a few times over the past few weeks and Theo has really taken to her. I think the motherly figure is crucial for him right now. Him and Gabriel seem to be hitting it off, as well, and it’s definitely good for him to have a playmate while he’s being babysat. Sooo, I called Sarah the other night and told her it was time for a change. The second babysitter to be “let go” by the Lieber-Tekus family.

Maria and Gabriel were here with Theo today for 5 1/2 hours. The longest stretch yet. It seemed to go really well. Theo looks forward to them coming over and tells me, “Gabriel is a sweetie”. Maria took them out for the first time together today and it sounds like they really had a great time running around near the ball fields and playing in the leaves. I hope we can really have a connection with them that is long-lasting. I may need more help in the coming weeks before the baby is even born and they live super close to us and are really flexible. And she said he is already learning some Slovak 😉

Our little boy continues to amaze us with humor, language/vocabulary and love daily. It seems our big move is becoming more comfortable for everyone. It still feels so new, but I think we are getting there. We had a housewarming party this weekend and every friend of ours that Theo adores was here and he was so happy. These are the moments and memories that are making this place our home. We have been home a lot, trying to take it easy and especially spending quality time with Daddy here in the mornings and on the weekends. Theo is continuing to struggle a bit with separation from both of us and that’s tough to swallow but his overall behavior and sleep habits have certainly improved.

Yesterday morning when he woke up he was talking to me in bed and was kind of babbling… (with amazing hand/arm gestures) “This is our home. I’m still a little bit sad, but I’m happy too.” He hasn’t been fighting coming home every time anymore and our routine is falling back into place. He has also become more comfortable running around our place, digging into his toys and playing more independently.

He tickles my insides when he gasps and says things such as, “I can see our solar system!” or “I see our planet Earf (Earth, obvs)!” in response to being out after dark and looking up at the stars.

He always says, “I will try my best” or will talk about how he is “concentrating”.

And yesterday telling me in regards to feeling the need to poop, “At first I wasn’t listening to my body, but then I was listening to my body.”

And this kid is seriously asking “why?” constantly. For some reason I thought this phase happened at a younger age so I thought we skipped over it. Nope. He is loving this right now. I think it really helps him with his love of stalling, as well 😉