Month: June 2014

This photo of Theo and his teacher, Ms. Voya, melts my heart very much. Ms. Voya is a wonderful teacher and she helped Theo, and us, a ton this year. I don’t think we would be in as good a place as we are with Theo, to be honest, if it weren’t for her and for this year of preschool for Theo. I know I’ve had my gripes with their communication, but she is incredibly invested in the children in her class and she worked very closely with Theo this year. Her natural way with children was apparent every single school day. She communicates amazingly with them and is exactly in line with how we try to parent; nurturing, empathic and fun. I had a wonderful conversation with her at the end of the year party and we ended on such a positive note. We are all incredibly proud of the hard work that was put in this year by Theo and for how amazingly strong he has come out after many challenging transitions in our lives. We can’t be more proud. From cooperative play to using words to express his emotions to navigating his way through becoming more flexible and coping with change, the result is apparent in our daily lives.

The end of the year party was celebrated at the Prospect Park Carrousel…

and it was bittersweet. I mourn the fact that Theo won’t be in that same nurturing environment next year for Pre-K, and I relish in the fact that he was so fortunate to have his first school experience be so intimate and special a setting. It was eye opening and inspiring. He made friends, and I made friends, that I hope we stay connected to for years to come.

The first year of school has come to a close. I hope to reflect back on this year as the foundation for many school years to come. Here’s to a wonderful summer!

Our sweet girl is five months. Ruby will give a few giggles here and there to Mama and Dada, but nothing gets her full-on chuckling more than Theo. They are really warming up to each other, and I have to say it’s the best thing in the world. She watches him intently and smiles and laughs at most everything he does. Theo seems to really get a boost from this and is starting to see her as not too shabby.

All in all, Ruby is doing really well. Happy girl who smiles a lot, is easily distracted when eating and doesn’t like the car seat very much. She is super interested in food when we are eating. Especially when it is something crunchy. She’s hilarious. She’ll be nursing and immediately turn and look at me like, wha??!

Ruby likes to play with her feet and toes and she also responds to her own name now. She loves chewing on her toys and sitting upright in the Bumbo so she is part of the conversation. Napping and nighttime sleep are still a little iffy but we are doing what we can.

Whatever challenges, when she looks up at me with those baby blues and smiles the warmest, widest smile you have ever seen I just melt and fall more in love with her.

This whole sibling business has really been melting my heart lately. They are really warming up to each other and Ruby just thinks the world of Theo.

Does it get sweeter than this?

My Dad and Sherry passed along their Subaru Forester to us. We are super thankful and super happy about it. Two car seats are strapped in and we are ready to roll.

We celebrated our two year wedding anniversary last week. Jay got me a silly card that Theo also thought was pretty silly. He memorized it.

Happy, sweet girl!

Ruby showing off her leg warmers!

First picnic in the park last weekend!

Ruby is doing well. Cooing, blowing bubbles a lot, chewing on toys, playing with her feet and toes, rolling over and then back again, and she is now trying out her doorway jumper. She’s getting the hang of jumping with her legs and we just play around with it a little and smile and giggle.

Sleeping has been more challenging lately. She was having short naps and waking up more frequently at night. I’m super focused on getting her on somewhat of a solid routine. Obviously her naps can’t all be comfy and cozy at home since I have another kid to worry about. I guess that is just the deal with the second child. She hasn’t been sleeping well in the carrier. She’ll sleep about 30 minutes. I’ll pop her in the stroller when we are somewhere with Theo and he is playing but she doesn’t seem to like to sleep in there either. Maybe that will change as we are out and about more in the summer and she gets used to it. She sleeps best cozy in our room, swaddled in the rock n’ play sleeper, with the white noise machine. She is a light sleeper.

She is usually down for the night by 8:30pm and up in the morning by 8am. Feedings during the night haven’t been predictable lately, but whatever. She snacks and goes back to sleep.

Me and Jay are both really tired these days! Ruby is so awesome, though, and I still can’t believe she is mine and I have two kids. We are very lucky. Really looking forward to the summer and seeing lots of family and friends in Cleveland soon.

This kiddo will be FOUR in just three months. Theo has made strides in many respects and he has really graduated to “big kid” status.

First off, he likes the big kid swing now. He is learning to pump his legs to swing himself. He still wants Mama to push him high like the much bigger kids next to him.

Second, he has been offered a pre-k spot in our zoned school. PRE-K. It truly isn’t our first choice for schools but we knew it would most likely be the only spot offered since it’s our zoned school. I have several friends in our old neighborhood who didn’t get a spot at all, even at the zoned school. We are going to accept the spot, but I’m still not 100% he will go there, yet. It’s five days a week, but only half days. We could maybe keep him at Play by the Park, but obviously not free, plus I’d like him to really be in a structured learning environment. I need to research more. But, as of now, he has a PM spot at PS 249, The Caton School.

Third, Theo has jumped into some imaginative play that is so wonderful to watch. Particularly with his fire station. He often sets the stage and races to slide down the pole with the firemen and save lives over on the garbage can with his fire engine. He puts the firemen to sleep in their bunk beds and we have to be very quiet while they rest.

Fourth, his drawing has evolved to where what he is drawing is beginning to look the way the object actually looks. Like a rocket ship. He has drawn several lately and he drew one for Ruby last night. We practice writing letters and numbers, too. Besides his name, he can write many other letters but some are challenging. He’ll say, “no thanks, I can’t do that one” or “mine looks different”. He can count to 100.

Fifth, he is very friendly everywhere we go and I’m seeing him walk up to other kids and ask them their name and start playing with them. He is always like this with adults but it’s nice to see him more social with other kids and not shy to jump in and play with them.

Sixth, he has made such strides at school. I can’t believe the school year is about to come to a close. His teacher has recently told us of many breakthroughs for him and that he has been empathizing with friends and helping them at school. He has become very well adjusted there and we spend time with several of his friends outside of school. Many of the transition hurdles he faced (starting school, moving, having a baby sister) were tough for all of us but have made us all grow and come out stronger.

Theo will have two weeks of Play by the Park camp this summer and they have so much fun stuff planned I can’t wait for him to have a blast. He will go four full days for those two weeks so it will be the most time he has had away from me. He is continuing with soccer for another session this summer as he is enjoying it very much. That is Daddy and Theo’s special weekend class, too, so it makes me extra happy.

Theo is also adjusted more to being a big brother. It certainly isn’t roses all the time but he does tell me he loves her and I did catch him singing to her this morning while I went to the bathroom. He is starting to want her around for stuff.

He is such a sweet, smart, CURIOUS, sensitive guy who can really drive you crazy at bedtime these days. We love you, Theo.