This Little Dude

My little Spencer is such a handful these days! He is just full of confidence now that he’s been walking for a while. He also loves to be mischievous. You can see from the glint in his eye that’s he’s up to no good. Favorite things to do? Pull the safety covers out of electrical outlets and climb into things he has no business getting into. I mean, is the drawer under the stove really that exciting a place to play? Oh, and he loves to throw all his food to Kovu when he’d done eating. Good thing his smile lights up his entire face … that boy is just too cute!

The obsession with the drawer under the stove started with him pulling out my pans while I was cooking.

Then, one day, he decided it was best to just climb in.

Then he got stuck. I wish I had gotten a picture with both of his feet in the air.

Today, he thought it’d be a good idea to climb into the (folded up) stroller while I was unloading groceries.

Don’t worry, Mom, I’m not going to throw my yogurt bowl on the floor for Kovu.

Oh, she caught me.

Back to the NC Transportation Museum

A few weekends ago, Papa Art and Grandma Karen came to visit and go with us to the NC Transportation Museum. Our trip was a special one – it was a reward for Alex for completing a sticker chart for completing the rest of his potty training. Alex has been diaper free (except for sleeping) for over a month! Hooray!

It was a very nice day for a train ride! We all had a blast riding around the train yard, taking a spin on the turn table in front of one of the largest round houses ever constructed, and watching a train engine push another engine into the round house right next to us!

Click here to see pictures from our visit in May, 2013 (before Spencer!)

Alex was very excited for his second train ride!

Spencer was a little worried when the train started moving …

…but then he was entranced by the view.

Riding on the turn table.

One of the docents let us know the engine would be on the turn table, so as soon as we heard the train whistle, we ran to the front of the round house to watch.

Turns out we had a great spot! The engine was pushing another into the bay right beside us!

First Soccer Practice

I’m officially a soccer mom! Alex went to his first soccer practice Saturday morning. He’d been very excited for soccer to start, especially since buying his shin guards and cleats. The team provided shirt, shorts, socks, and a ball for the kids (45 3 and 4 year olds!) and is focused on teaching skills, rather than herding a bunch of kids around a field. About half way through the season, the kids will be divided up and they’ll attempt a few games. I can’t wait!

Alex was great at practice! As usual, he was a little timid at first, but after realizing how much fun he could have, he was really into it. Here are some pictures of all the fun.

Meeting Coach Rob and learning their song. “We are 3. We are 4. We are here to score, score, score!”

Learning to dribble

Goal!

Learning to run and kick into the goal.

Who Needs Clothes?

I went into Spencer’s room Saturday morning and found him without his shirt. Funny thing is, we put him to bed with a shirt on!

Dropping the evidence.

I’m sure he was wondering why I came in, then dashed out for my camera!

He did it again later in the day and I caught him in the act!

Sept. Preschool Update

Alex is doing great with preschool! He is always excited to go and willingly jumps out of the car with a smile. He’s making friends - Ethan and Ryder play on the slide with him. He usually only talks about the playground, but to give him credit, he begins and ends the day playing outside! I try to ask him a few questions about his day after reading Miss Barrie’s email, but he’s usually moved on to the other part of his day by then. I’m so happy he likes it so much!

His 1st art project in school – based on The Kissing Hand, a classic “welcome to school” book.

Last Thursday, he was soo grouchy, so I asked him to lie on the couch with me. He passed out in no time. He woke up with a “welcome to preschool” cold and was sick all weekend.

Alex’s self portrait! This week, they’ve been talking about what makes them special. I wonder if his crazy hair was mentioned?

Alex came home with his first certificate, a pencil, and a tattoo today!

This picture was sent with last week’s email update from Miss Barrie. Each student had a picture and caption … Alex’s was, “Alex loves our slides!”

Alex’s 1st Day of Preschool!

Tuesday, September 2nd, was Alex’s very first day of preschool! Thank goodness he had already attended summer camp at his preschool. It was nice to not have any jitters! (I only had a few tears when I drove away – no sobs this time!) He was excited to go, practically jumped out of the car, and had lots of fun. I think he was relieved after orientation to see kids who are all his age. Many of the kids from summer camp were a year or two older and probably already knew each other. The kids in Alex’s class are all in their first year of preschool (at least their first year at Playwise). He’s even already told me he has friends. Yay!

Here’s the email we received from Miss Barrie Tuesday afternoon. She does this after every class … isn’t that awesome?

We're off to a great start this year!! Our little ones had a terrific time this morning and were all smiles!  Some things we did together:

• Picked vegetables from our garden and counted to make sure we had enough for everyone to take one home.  (Good one-to-one counting practice)

• Began our 'friendship circle' this morning on the patio by singing 'Round and Around' name game to introduce ourselves.

• Enjoyed listening to 4 friends talk about themselves while showing their adorable homework cut-outs!

• Acted out the characters in the big book called Do You Want to be my Friend? (some characters were: horse, peacock, giraffe, lion, kangaroo, etc.)

• Met in the library for language arts and read, sang, and danced to The Rules Rap.  Fun way to introduce our rules and routines!

• After snack, we played in our centers inside while I called a few children at a time to tell me their colors that they know, point to different colors, name their favorite, and then I painted their hands to create a little poster (we will finish on Thursday and take home then).

• At the end of the day, we read How Do Dinosaurs Go to School for storytime and talked about the naughty dino in the story and how he learned the rules in his classroom.

• We sang our goodbye song and played in the water table until dismissal (whew, it was hot outside!)

 

On the way to preschool with a smoothie and Cheerios.

So excited to go play on the playground!

I don’t know what he was doing, but he was cracking us up!

Alex and Miss Barrie

We didn’t have time for this picture before school, so we took it when we got home. He’s proudly wearing his “Back to School Treats” from Miss Barrie and Miss Sharon.

Spencer had so much fun at the grocery store and the house with just Mommy, but was SO excited to see Alex again when we picked him up.