On your three month birthday of being in our lives, Ruby, we just want to say we love you so much and we are so glad you’ve completed our family.
So far you are very interested in what your brother is doing. You love snuggling. You love to smile and coo. You love silly faces, zerberts and baths.
And you are absolutely beautiful.
We met with Theo’s teachers on Monday morning for the spring parent/teacher “chats”, as they like to call them. He has made much improvement since the big transition hurdles of the fall and we are pretty proud of him. Although it’s long, I thought I’d share the full report. My boy has almost completed his first year of preschool and I hope to remember this oh-so-innocent time years from now when school is much more intense and our time together is much less frequent (tear).
Fine Motor and Self-Help Skills:
Theo is beginning to express a more consistent interest in classroom materials and activities. He is still quite restless and listless but has overcome much of his hesitation to have fun. Upon arrival, he is invited to begin his day on the purple rug, reading a book independently. This usually helps him transition to navigating the classroom independently. With some gentle guidance from teachers, he is able to become involved with the material of his choice and is capable of playing in a concentrated way. We are working with Theo on using materials purposefully, for a longer, developmentally appropriate period of time. Theo is capable of a large amount of self-help tasks including: taking off his own shoes in the morning and placing them in the shoe basket, finding, putting on, and removing his coat during outdoor transitions, serving himself food and milk during snack time, and performing a series of classroom jobs. Theo is a great helper and thrives when he is given small responsibilities throughout the day. Theo displays a growing enthusiasm for art and is becoming comfortable with a variety of mediums. He uses a developmentally appropriate fist grip to hold paintbrushes and his whole arm to create brushstrokes and can use his fingers to pinch and roll clay. He displays a growing interest in construction and building materials. He enjoys building with Magnatiles, Duplos, Locktagons and blocks and is currently building two-dimensional and tower-like structures.
Gross Motor:
Theo responds enthusiastically to movement activities that integrate imaginative play. He is particularly passionate about our Animal Yoga and often asks for a yoga/movement session. His activity level outdoors has increased greatly since the fall. He rarely expresses tiredness and is more eager to join running, jumping, and climbing activities for short periods of time. He also is a big fan of classroom dance parties!
Social Emotional:
Theo enjoys morning assembly and group sing-alongs with his friends. He is capable of managing socially during group activities but struggles with one-on-one interaction. Theo can be very warm and engaging but will often lash out verbally if he is in distress about a perceived loss of control. This behavior, while a challenge for him, is a significant improvement from the fall. Theo is now capable of using his words to communicate his feelings and we continue to model empathetic behavior for him, helping him to understand how his words and actions can have an impact on others.
Language and Cognitive:
Theo is incredibly verbal, using his growing vocabulary to communicate comfortably with teachers. Theo makes many connections between home and classroom experiences and is happy to share these stories with us at school. He enthusiastically uses his words to make observations and inform. We are working with him on using words to express his feelings and preferences in the classroom. Theo has great interest in how things work. He is very inquisitive and has a great vocabulary, and often asks about the functions of classroom tools and tools we observe in our community. For that reason, he enjoys manipulative and strategic materials, like puzzles, locktagons and panagrams.
Nature-Oriented Play:
Theo is a curious explorer. He is not completely comfortable exploring independently outdoors but over the course of the year, has become much more comfortable with the spontaneity and emergent nature of outdoor exploration. One of his favorite activities is rolling down hills and joining friends for ring-around-the rosie.
Spring 2014 Goals:
We will continue to spark Theo’s interest in playing alongside his friends, giving him the opportunity to independently initiate both parallel and cooperative play and conversation when he is ready. In addition we will continue to help him grow comfortable navigating the classroom space and initiating play independently with a variety of materials. Theo is very imaginative and enjoys group movement activities. We will continue to create opportunity for Theo to further develop his imaginative play, with hope that he will grow more comfortable and engage in imaginative play independently. We will continue to encourage Theo to consistently engage in sensory activities. We will work with Theo to continue to develop his rapidly growing vocabulary helping him to build on his interest in word recognition and letter writing. We will focus on the change of seasons and continue our study of stories, making connections to our community, homes, and greater community.
So, Theo has some challenges and areas where we are working to improve but overall has grown tremendously. I give credit to the teachers and to the school environment for helping Theo get through a pretty tough time developmentally, with our move and with the arrival of Ruby. I am annoyed with their comment in the beginning, “He is still quite restless and listless…” First of all, restless and listless are pretty different things. And I know no person who has ever met Theo would describe him as listless! Just seems a strong and inappropriate word but I have let it slide. Honestly I think he is bored at times as many of the other classmates are an entire year younger than him. He certainly could have handled much more on the stimulation and educational end, but at the same time I understand that he may not have been ready on the socio-emotional end for another class with older kids. There is also always the elephant in the room of our infamous poop struggles which most certainly contribute to a shift in his mood. But that is another story.
We are super proud of our boy and can’t wait to see what more he can do when given a stimulating and exciting environment for him to thrive! We love you Theo!
3 months update coming soon!
Last week (and part of this week) is spring break here in NYC. It’s been nice to have nowhere to go and to make plans with friends. I have been hanging out with a few of the mom’s from Theo’s school, which has been really great since I don’t have a lot (any) friends in our new neighborhood. We aren’t that far from our old hood, but with a freezing cold winter/pregnant belly/newborn, I haven’t seen many from our old crew. Anyhow, it’s been a pleasant surprise to have found a few mom’s in his tiny school that I like and can relate to. One of them just had a baby a few weeks ago, so that’s cool too. Her and I decided to take a trip to the zoo with the kiddos, and another mom and kid joined us from his class. It was great until the sun disappeared, the wind picked up and everyone was tired. We still fit in a quick ride on the carrousel for the kids on our way out for being well behaved, but the walk home was brutal. Me and Noelky were hilarious just trying to get through the park to the awaiting coziness of home. Both Theo and Kami peed on trees on the way back and my hands were frozen pushing Theo in the stroller. Needless to say, it was one of those afternoons that ended in me, Theo and Ruby in our cozies watching a movie on the couch.
Nonetheless, thankful for friends and spring outings in the park!
My sister and my oldest niece, Dylanne, visited last weekend. It was a quick visit, but it was really nice. They brought us food and cupcakes and Theo really enjoyed spending time with them. We took a trip to the rink in Prospect Park that has now transitioned from the ice rink to a roller rink!
Roller skating is tougher than ice skating, surprisingly. Or not surprisingly. Walking on wheels in much more unsteady after all. Theo only went around one time but I was quite impressed with how well he did even though he didn’t seem to feel that way. He wanted to just hit the snack bar, of course. Who didn’t?
We can’t wait for June! The outdoor part of the rink is being transformed into an amazing sprinkler extravaganza. Guess where we will be a lot this summer??!
Did I really forget to document this??!
Theo finally agreed to holding Ruby and letting me capture a photo. It may have been fleeting but it was really sweet and certainly shows a step in the right direction. Theo really needs to be coaxed at times into engaging in activities. He needs a really good reason to do so. He needs a job, or to receive something tangible back… for instance a smile.
Big brother likes to feed Ruby a bottle and gets very happy when she takes it and is happy.
When Theo looks at Ruby and he gives her any sort of attention, she lights up and smiles immediately. It’s adorable. She is definitely watching him now and is very interested in what he is up to.
Theo likes to help me with the diapers, particularly throwing them in the diaper pail, and often just jumping on the bed while I am changing her. He has also been swaddling monkey and has requested I “swaddle” him a couple times. The other morning this happened…
It was touching to see him holding monk like a real baby. He said, “I’m burping monkey”, and he was patting his back just like I do Ruby. I told him he will make a great Daddy one day.
Theo started soccer class on Sunday and it is the most adorable thing ever.
Jay took him so I didn’t get to witness it first hand, but he said Theo was focused, listened well and truly enjoyed it. He was heard shouting, “I love soccer!” and “soccer is tiring, I need some water!”.
Goal!
And, go team!
He will be going every Sunday for eight weeks. Yay, Theo!
Jay’s dad came for a visit to meet Ruby and help out with Theo for a few days after Jay went back to work. Theo got some wonderful new treats from Grandpa Joe! We visited a great toy store where Theo was able to pick out a new flashlight to add to his ever growing collection. Grandpa Joe also bought him an awesome snap circuit set that is filled with 100 different projects to build. It is awesome and Theo absolutely loves it. It’s for a bit of an older kid, but as long as he has someone to read the instructions and provide some guidance it’s a piece of cake. He is in heaven with this set.
Grandpa Joe also brought Theo a giant piano for his Christmas gift! This has been a nice addition to Theo’s room and fun for everyone to play, or just lay on 🙂
Thanks, Grandpa Joe for the great gifts and for taking Theo to the Transit Museum for hours. And also for leaving him your special yellow flashlight! It has joined the others on his nightstand.
Theo has been enjoying his scooter much more these days. Finally! And he is such a little lefty. It’s nice to be out and about with the baby on me and for him to be able to enjoy scooting along. Will make our spring and summer more fun and simplified. He always holds my hands at the crosswalks and… I know I know, we REALLY need to get him to wear his helmet.
Theo with Kami and Aidan from Play by the Park. Kids hanging out at Vanderbilt Playground in Prospect Park after school. This photo makes me happy.
