Week of the Young Child

Week of the Young Child Celebration

The Week of the Young Child is an annual celebration hosted by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) celebrating early learning, young children, their teachers and families.  Our daycare is accredited by NAEYC and always does a great job planning fun events throughout this week.  The week kicked off with a parade with all the kids dressed in purple, the school color they voted on earlier this year.  Each day had a separate theme - Music Monday, Taco Tuesday, Work Together Wednesday, Artsy Thursday & Family Friday.      

On Work Together Wednesday, both kids participated in the Buddy Project with their classmates.

Eloise's Buddy Project

On Artsy Thursday, both kids worked on special art projects. 

Eloise's class made art projects with recycled items 

The week wrapped up with Family Friday where parents were invited to attend a pizza party at lunch time.  Eloise was so tickled to have me join her at lunch.   

Happy 11 months Preston

Happy 11 months to my monkey man Preston!

Weighing in just shy of 23 lbs and barely squeezing into 12 month clothes.  Good thing he's got a big birthday right around the corner!

Preston's latest tricks:

"Yells" at Piper. 

Fascinated with bathtub plug. Loves to pull it out & put it back in.

Peek-a-boo

Waving Hi & Bye

Saying "Bye!" 

Standing unsupported and thinking really hard about walking

Crawling up the stairs 

Billygoating aka trying to climb on anything and everything

Nurse, sit up & then climb off the chair. Cry to come back up just to show me who's boss. 

If he isn't scaling the walls, he will use anything he can as a walker.  Case in point below.  The diaper genie makes a great walker. 

Future Billygoat. 

Ear Tube Surgery 

Just 2 weeks ago, Preston had ear tube surgery. It was a culmination of 4-5 months of ear aches, high fevers & many sleepless nights. We are optimistic that he will get some instant relief but also some long lasting benefits. He did great before & during the surgery. That first day afterwards was a little rough but he did start standing unsupported the day after surgery. 

Confession:

It's bittersweet when your baby...your last baby...has only 1 more month to go until he is 1 year old. Any day now, he will be walking and quickly transition out of being a baby. It was a different experience when Eloise was turning one because I knew I would get to experience all the baby stuff again with the next one. Mr. Preston is our finale, if you will. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to hanging up the ole breast pump but I'll miss the magical powers that nursing gives you to instantly calm your baby or lull them to sleep. However, it's fun to ponder what I will do with all the time I'll get back when I'm not nursing, pumping & cleaning pump parts. Oh yeah, I know what I will do - chase my 2 kids!  Preston is such a mama's boy right now and as much as it can drive me crazy, I love it. He reaches up for me all the time, crawls with great speed toward me and snuggles me and puts his chubby starfish-like hand on my face. Thanks to Facebook, I've been reminded of how chubby Eloise was as a baby. I love how "juicy" Preston is and I'll miss those baby rolls as they start to disappear. Oh Prestie, I want you to walk and talk but also stay my sweet baby for a little longer. I'm going to snuggle you a little longer the next few weeks because I know that once you are walking, those baby days start to disappear even faster.  

Preston: 10 months

Happy 10 months Preston Bradley! 

Bubbas is completely done with baby food. The only thing he will let you feed him is yogurt & applesauce. Everything else he likes to shovel in his mouth by the handfuls. He's eating breakfast, lunch & 2 snacks at daycare. Some of his favorites right now are waffles, blueberries, bananas, pasta & peaches. The picture below is after his first try of Chipotle. The rice & beans were a hit! 

He's even tried pizza and loved that too! 

He tries to eat dog food every day...seriously...every day. 

Unfortunately, Preston endured ear ache #5 this past month. This poor kid is miserable when he gets them especially with the high fevers that accompany them. 

After he completed his antibiotics, we made the much anticipated visit to the ENT. Thankfully his hearing is perfect but he definitely needs ear tubes. We are scheduled for surgery at the end of the month.  This was us at the ENT office taking selfies while we waited for the doctors. 

Preston is getting stronger and faster every day. He doesn't know what it means to stay put and tries to pull up & walk around wherever he is. 

This stinker is all boy as you can see by the bruise on his forehead. He thinks it's funny to head butt from time to time and can be found banging his head when he's having a baby temper tantrum. 

It's been a tough winter with all of his ear aches so we are ready for Spring! 

Eloise: 3.5 years old

Ms. Eloise is 3.5 already. Where has the time gone? Here's a rundown of what this self proclaimed princess is up to these days. Enjoy! 

#girlygirl

Current Life Goals

Get bigger like Alex (her almost 7 y/o cousin)

Grow yellow hair longer like Auntie Lo

Be Line Leader every week at school 

Get more ponies 

Interests

Lipasticka - Chapstick

Play Doh

Ballet class

Shopkins

My Little Pony 

Fun times in Preschool Room #2

Ms. Laura & Ms. Blanca 

Reading with her BFF Lauren in the tree house. 

Sometimes it feels like I'm playing a never ending game with you but I don't know the rules or the rules keep changing. Such is the life when you have a threenager. 

Meal time fun 

To be called to the table to eat for any meal, we must say: 

"If you have yellow hair and (insert the item of clothing you are wearing), come & eat!"

If you eat all of your food, we let you have a treat or candy. Every time you ask us how many pieces of candy you can have by saying, "can I have 3 or 4 or 2?" The answer is always 2 but can't blame a girl for trying. 

Cheese Sandwich = Grilled Cheese. 

Don't call it grilled cheese cuz you won't eat it if we do. 

Coffee = Hot Chocolate from the Keurig

Crackers & Cheese = Lunchables

Life Lessons

• If you have a baby in your belly, you ate a baby. 

• If you laugh too much, your teeth will fall out. 

• If you're the line leader, people can't go in front of you. If they do, they are rude. 

• If you don't stay by your mommy or daddy, a stranger will get you & that's not good. 

Big Sister status: Awesome

Eloise is so good with Preston. We really couldn't ask for a better relationship between them. No matter where we are, she often tells us, "I wanna give Preston a hug or a kiss." She does this everyday when I'm dropping them off at school. In the moments when she is losing her patience with him and requesting that I "move him from her area," I think about how tender she is with him on the car rides home during the week. Preston hates car rides & will often scream the whole ride (35-45 minutes). Eloise talks to him so sweetly and says, "it's ok Bubbas...no need to cry...it's ok." Sometimes she even sings to him or makes funny faces. It's precious. I love it when she calls him "Prestie" or "Bubbas" or "Monkey Man." He absolutely adores her and loves watching her. 

Lately, she has shown some subtle signs of jealousy so I'm trying to do more one-on-one activities with her where she truly has my undivided attention. She has learned the phrase - Girls Night Out - and I love it! 

Eloise loves her books. Each night she picks out 2-3 books before bed. We read it first and then she "reads" it. Her memory is impressive when she recounts the story but her imagination is even more impressive when she decides to make up her own story. 

 

It's true what they say - the days are long but the years are short. Before we know it, you'll be 4 and headed off to Pre-K. But for now, live it up with your threenager status and keep us laughing everyday.