In memory

Today would have been my grandmother's birthday. I've been thinking about her alot this week. Happy Birthday Grandma, we love you!

Decision time

Well I may very well be the worst blogger ever, so I have decided I am at a decision point, either get to the work of blogging or quit taking up virtual space. I will mull it over for a few days and let all my non-existent readers know of the outcome (or not know as the case may be).

Direct quotes

• When sitting on the toilet he said, "Poop!!" - urinated on toilet. SO proud of himself. Outside did a lot of running - liked when we would say "Ready...Go!!" [just like dad does] Also asked to be next a lot today "neh, neh". [his horse impression sounds remarkably similar to next]
• Stuart marched and danced like the wind-up toys.
• Stuart comments on everything - lots of words!

One very important lesson we're learning, Stuart imitates things. I know, it's no surprise really, but we need to be careful about what we say. Most of the time it's just really silly though. More to come on this....

Does he cry when you leave?

People often ask me if Stuart likes daycare and if he cries when I leave. The short answer is yes and no. In fact, there are days he cries when I pick him up. I showed up a little early a few days ago and he was not happy about it, he desperately wanted to go to the gym with his friends but instead he was stuck going home with mom. Another day he was cruising around (sitting still really) in a "cozy coupe" - the plastic cars kids can get in and move with their feet. I played with him for a bit but then said it was time to go and opened the car door, he grabbed the car door and slammed it shut. Poor guy, he probably had to wait a long time for his turn with the car and I ended it before it's time. Today on the other hand was a good day and he was thrilled to see me, took my hand and waved and said bye-bye to everyone as we walked past.

I don't think he ever cried when Geoff used to pick him up, oh well, I'm sure it's developmentally appropriate and he'll grow out of it. But as I often hear from friends with older children, he'll likely grow back into it around 8 or 9.

As usual

That's how the past few days have been for Stuart, pretty typical. He pushed trucks through the sand, rocked on a boat and sang "row row" and built towers with Legos. He loves pretending so when he was playing with the pretend kitchen he blows on his food pretending it's hot (which is what we had done the night before when he wanted to try our eggplant parm) before pretending to take a bite. He gave his teachers and friends lots of hugs and practiced his animal sounds. "He loves climbing on and off big tricycles and cheering for himself."

The potty saga continues - but I will say that as excited as we are when he pees, it's much less exciting to clean it up.
He still enjoys sitting on the potty and at school apparently likes to sit on the potty and talk about "mama!" What a wonderful time to be in his thoughts....

Drum roll please

Well this seems like a great place to start since Stuart has had a busy couple of days. On our daily notes, one section is "diapering/toileting" and the options are as usual or other. We usually get as usual or nothing (same as as usual) but not on 8/28 we got an "other". It said, "urinated in potty chair!! Yay!!!" That's right, the use the word urinate and not the more standard pee pee like we do, but it was big news. We figured it was a one time deal, but we were wrong, he's done it three more times at home since then - I think the last time when most of it ended up on the floor and on his leg still counts :) We still did a lot of clapping and cheering for him. And now when he looks at the potty or we talk about it he claps and says "yeah". Not sure what can top that, but on the same day he loved coloring with markers, really liked scooping sand with the large spoons and lined by large blocks and knocked them down - all in a day's work for a toddler.

Toddler Daily Information: Message From Caregiver

After starting this blog and not really posting, I was forced (okay that's a bit dramatic) to rethink the whole blogging thing. As it turns out I am just not a blogger, but I am an avid blog reader - probably for the same reasons that I'm obsessed with reality TV. As I've been rethinking my blogger identity I found myself reading friends' blogs - blogs designed to keep friends and family who are miles apart informed of what's going on in their daily lives. Well when I talk about what's going on with Stuart, I usually relay something from his "Message From Caregiver". Everyday when we drop Stuart off at school we fill out the "Message From Home" side, and when we pick him up we get the sheet back and a teacher has filled out the "Message From Caregiver" side. It lets us know what he ate, how he napped (or didn't) and how he spent his time. I love the daily sheets - so for all you daycare teachers out there, keep em coming, and keep em descriptive. For instance, we learned that Stuart does "a great monkey impression" from his sheet (and were able to confirm it at home, it's pretty good).

So in the weeks to come I am going to do my best to post some of Stuart's "Teacher Comments" to keep friends and family informed. And of course I will insert some of my own commentary.