"New friends put a smile on my face"

Aidan spent half days (8/9AM to 12:30/1PM) at his new daycare ("playschool") for the full week (Monday-Friday) this week, and he did *amazingly* well!




On Monday, Mama stayed with him the entire time, which helped him figure out that the new place was a safe one. We have also been building it up for weeks, telling him: "playschool is where big boys go instead of work" (!!), that "you will make lots of new friends at playschool", and singing a song about new friends ("new friends put a smile on my face!"). So, that helped. The rest of the week, I dropped him off - and he didn't cry when I left, not even once! Instead, he seemed to thrive there. This is such a relief for Mama, and such a difference from the first time we tried this!)


Aidan's playschool is run as a Montessouri program, which provides various highly structured and age-appropriate learning environments, and gives the kids the choice in deciding what particular kinds of things to engage in within the broader structure. So, Aidan arrives between 8AM and 9AM and has "free play" time, where he can do whatever he wants, whether it's coloring in dinosaur printouts with crayons, building blocks, or playing piano with his new friend Ana Maria. At 9:30AM, they have snack time (usually cheerios or some other kind of healthy dry cereal). Then, they have Montesourri "work" for about half an hour, where they all pick out individual mats, put them on the floor, and then choose whatever classroom toy they want to play with on their own mats (Aidan has particularly liked the colored stacking blocks and books this week). Afterwards, they have music time, where a music teacher comes in and sings songs, plays piano, and has them run around the classroom to different "animal" music (low notes are elephants, high notes are chickens, and bears are somewhere in the middle - they've done bees too). They do "outdoor time" a couple of times a day, when the weather is good, in an outdoor space that is part of the playschool (Aidan loves playing basketball, climbing the small jungle gym, and sometimes plays with the trains and other toys they bring out). Lunch time is at 11:30 (they provide the food, Aidan has loved the pasta but (understandably?) was skeptical about the egg, lettuce and cream cheese on whole wheat sandwich!), followed by outdoor time again, and then nap time around 1:30PM. Every day, Mama picked Aidan up after lunch time during outdoor time, and he would take a breath to say "hi, Mama!" with a grin, and then continue running around, playing basketball, or doing whatever he was doing. His teachers were amazed at how well his transition started out, and said that he was "absolutely wonderful!" :)


Next week, Aidan will attend three full days, so the challenge will be dealing with a longer day and figuring out naptime for the first time. However, he at least knows that it is a safe place with people who he is starting to know, and so he is off to a good start!


On Thursday, Cira and her mommy Mary came over for dinner, which was awesome for Aidan, who missed seeing his friend (they used to go to daycare together), and for Mama, who missed talking to Mary (they used to have hour long talks every week going to and from daycare to pick up Aidan and Cira). Mary helped us get through our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) fresh produce: we had simple (heirloom) tomato, onion and chicken pasta with, lettuce, cucumber, fennel and tomatoe salad, and a peach pie (Mama had to figure out how to get rid of the 18 peaches she had from CSA and from Grandma and Grandpa Ruane somehow!). It was fun to have an excuse to eat such good food and have a wonderful evening!


On Saturday, Aidan and Mama took the A train to the 1 train to the Staten Island Ferry and back home. That afternoon after Aidan' s nap, we all went to Grace's 2year old birthday party (it's amazing how fast they all grow up!). And then we had leftover party pizza in the park before going home and going to bed.


The next morning, everyone was happy, because Daddy had gotten home just after 10PM on Saturday night from his 2 week conference trip to Australia, and so we all finally were reunited! We celebrated by going to the Bronx Zoo and doing Aidan's favorite excursions of riding the monorail (Aidan could care less about the elephants, rhinos, pandas, and deer this time, he just drove his miniature "A" train around the monorail seats), and shuttlebus. This afternoon, we bought Ben & Jerry's icecream and ate icecream at the park, before playing basketball and soccer with a volleyball. It's good to be together again!

Catskills

Aidan was still sick on Monday, so instead of going to his new playschool, we went to visit his pediatrician (Dr. Eng) instead. She told us that he shouldn't start up a new daycare this week, so plans changed. Instead, Laurie filled in with extra babysitting time on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and then we drove up to the Catskills, where Grandma and Grandpa Ruane were, for the rest of the week.

It was really nice to be in the Catskills! On Thursday morning, Grandma and Grandpa took Aidan on a new train (the Arkville train to Roxbury), and Aidan loved it! The trip took them past the Delaware river, where Grandma said that cows were frolicking in the water, and past many train crossings, where Aidan imitated the whistle ("Woo! woo!"). Aidan passed out for an hour of the two hour trip, but was thrilled to wake up and still be on a train, and be able to stant at the back and watch the track. That afternoon, Aidan helped Grandma and Grandpa harvest fresh peaches from their orchard, which is finally starting to bear significantly. (So far he won't eat them, but everyone else thinks they are delicious!) Then, we all washed Grandma/Grandpa's and Mama's/Daddy's car: Aidan was in charge of the hose, which meant that it was the most exciting and hilarious time Mama has ever had washing a car! Needless to say, afterwards, we were all soaked! :)

Mama got some work done on Thursday, and on Saturday helped Marguerite make a delicious peach galette for dinner with Vinny & Laura Jean, James & Susanna, and Marguerite & Nadir. Aidan loved following Grandpa around and helping him dig up dirt with his little shovel, helping Grandma cook (French toast on Thursday, French donuts on Sunday!) and play with the cuckoo clock. At dinner on Saturday, Marguerite & Nadir's golden lab Gora came over too, and Aidan was beyond thrilled to play with him: he followed him into the meadow, even without anyone else, threw rocks for him to catch in the stream with Mama, and was totally fearless and thrilled to play with him for as long as Mama would let him. It was fun!

On Sunday, we are driving back to the City after lunch, so Aidan can sleep on the way down. Then, we'll decompress with some playgrounds, have dinner, and get ready for playschool to start on Monday! Hope it goes as well as possible!

'Bye, Tia Nina

This week was Aidan's last day at Tia Nina's daycare. She has been amazing and has helped Aidan transition from being a baby who nursed on demand and didn't know how to put himself to sleep without nursing, to a big boy, who is okay with not always being the center of the universe, and enjoys going to "work" to play with his friends for three full days a week, while Mama and Daddy do their own work. It has been quite a transformation! Aidan is starting up a new daycare, which is very close to our house and has Montessouri program with all sorts of great toys, and we think he will like this new "playschool" once he gets used to it. But transitions are always tough, and he's going to miss Tia Nina, her family (especially Adia and Nina) and his friends (Cira, Gita, and Genessa) at "work"!


This week was a good one until Aidan got sick. Daddy took him on the Staten Island Ferry on Thursday, which meant he not only got to take a train (his favorite) but also got to run around a gigantic boat, while checking out the Statue of Liberty!




On Friday night, Aidan came down with a low fever and a phlegmmy caugh and cold, and had a miserable night; he was so miserable that he actually woke up at 11:20PM and wouldn't go back to sleep for a few hours - which is the first that has happened in ages! Fortunately, he fever was gone by Saturday, and his caugh and cold became more manageable, too.



On Saturday, Aidan was acting normal en0ugh that we all (Mama, Daddy, and Aidan) went to the Bronx Zoo (which has become a favorite of ours). This time was the first time that we visited the "Children's Zoo" there; Aidan loved petting the goats, climbing up the tree house jungle gyms, and running through the prairie dog tunnels! That night, since Aidan still seemed to be doing okay, Mama and Daddy decided not to cancel a date that we had planned, and Aidan had fun playing with Laurie while we went out for wine & cheese and delicious desserts on the Upper West Side.


On Sunday, we all took the train uptown to the Innwood parks, where we played in the sprinklers (Mama and Daddy as well as Aidan - it was HOT!) and Aidan jumped off short and medium-sized blocks.


After we got home, Daddy said goodbye, and took a train to the airport: he is going to Australia for two weeks for a conference. We will miss him! Aidan is supposed to start out his new daycare Monday, but is going to go to the doctor instead. We will have to see how things go. We may just go to the Catskills to visit Grandma and Grandpa Ruane early, and start the new daycare next week. We'll have to see.

How sweet it is

Despite some definite forays into the world of "terrible twos", Aidan has been impressing Mama and Daddy with just being a really great kid recently. He is amazingly kind, thoughtful, attentive, and trustworthy, which we find remarkable for someone who has only just turned two years old!


When we ask him to share toys with other kids, he almost always passes them over immediately and with a smile, perfectly happy to wait his turn until the next time; he now regularly asks Mama and Daddy about how we are doing ("Nice day?", "Nice shower?"); in the car today, he asked Mama if she wanted some of his canteloupe ("Want some, Mama?"); he knows that he should never go into the street ("cars go der, no go on sidewalk; pee-po [people], sidewalk") and almost never deviates from staying on his part of the pavement; he is almost always stays behind the yellow line when we are in the subway; and he regularly checks in with us about things he is not sure about (can he pick up the ball in the street *from* the sidewalk?).


He also is learning social customs in general: He thinks that "naked" means not wearing certain (not all) clothes, and occassionally points out basketball players on the "skins" team of a match as "naked"! (We are trying to tell him to say "shirt off!", which he says occassionally, but he usually reverts back to, "Mama! Dat boy naked!" which we can't help laughing over).


Of course, life is still dramatic, especially when you are two. This morning, Aidan threw a full-out fit because he wanted to play with Mama, when it was her turn to sleep in. (Daddy took him outside, and he got distracted with trains while Mama caught up on some sleep, so it turned out okay.) And he is still working past a whining phase which drove Mama crazy for a while. But as a whole he is a really great kid, generally reasonable, and always kissable! We feel so lucky that he is part of our family. :)

Just my imagination...

It is amazing how much Aidan's imagination has developed recently. I remember at Christmas wondering when he would start developing imaginative play - but now he is well into it! He talks to himself and his toys about little storylines, and even draws stories now! He regularly lies on the floor next to his train sets so that he is eye level with them and talks about what is happening with them, or talks to himself about what is happening or about to happen in his day.


Last night he got out of the bath and said quietly, "All done, baf [bath], get die [dry], yite [light] off, yite on [he likes turning on and off the light in the bathroom after the bath], jamas [pajamas] on, yie [lie] down, books, up!" When I noticed this sequence, I said "hey! No UP after books! Then it's bed time, time to lie down!" and Aidan laughed mischievously (he knew he was planning an escape from bedtime!)


On Saturday, he drew on his whiteboard an Aidan-original masterpiece, and then told Mama all about it: he said that "Raining! Rain goes der and der and der and der..." (rain was doing down all over the whiteboard - it has been raining a lot here in NY), but identified two little colored in squiggly blocks as "houses!", clarifying, "dat OUR house (pointing to one of them); dat neighbor house [pointing to another". Then he pointed out two other blocks and said: "Buses! M4 bus der [pointing to one of them] and der [pointing to the other]" (the M4 bus is our local bus). He added "Bus die [dry]!" and said that "Mama, Dada, Aidan on bus, in back [of the] bus, die [dry]". Mama was amazed! He really had drawn a story about a rainstorm where we all went on a trip on the back of a dry bus to keep out of the rain!


This Sunday we all went to the Natural History Musem downtown, and we had an amazing experience while we were visiting their incredible dinosaur exhibit. While looking into a dinosaur skeleton that was behind barriers, Aidan decided that he wanted to touch it ("Want touch dat!"). When we told him he couldn't, he asked, very distinctly, "Why not?" Mama and Daddy double checked with each other, and there was no doubt that that is what he said. We couldn't believe it! He hasn't started asking "Why?" yet, but he must be on the verge, if is already able to understand "why not"! We were blown away. :)