Asked Oliver what the letter of the week is at preschool this week. “60,000.” (The actual letter of the week is “w”).
Later this, “Me and my brothers, all my pretend brothers {Ed. note– these include Max, Zach and Mayonnaise} traveled to Hawaii to see a volcano and it was abrubting!”
Also have caught him several times this week crooning “Let it Snow” and “Baby it’s Cold Outside;” meanwhile Asher is hooked on “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” and “Deck the Halls.”
Oh, speaking of Asher, i mentioned that we’d begun the potty process. At first, there was much (dramatic, tantrumy toddler) resistance. Until i started with the bribery. (One Skittle per bathroom attempt is apparently a very strong motivator.) And now, I’m happy to say we’re off diapers (except nap/nighttime) AND Skittles! I’m surprised and delighted.
Our new yard has a small pond in it, however, so in addition to the occasional set of pee pants, i’m also changing pond pants. They’re not IN the water, but they do like to “fish” and scoop and whatever else, so, yes, pond pants.
Since the move, it became apparent each morning as we drove past the elementary school two miles away to drop Stella off at her school, almost ten miles away, that we should not be commuting to kindergarten. So she switched this week after the Christmas Break. And it’s great! The decision was wrought with some parental (okay, really just maternal) pseudo-guilt (“We’re tearing her away from her friends!” and such), but we were confident it would be the wisest move for us as a whole family. Plus, this is the place we’re planning to stick around a while! The school all our kids will attend together in a few years. (Can’t you see them in their little backpacks walking into school together? I mean, really.) After the first couple of days, it would seem the decision was certainly the right one. And i don’t necessarily think that this means anything deep, but whereas she didn’t really say much about school before, she is now talking about her new friends, teachers, what this kid said to that kid, what the teacher did in class, that stuff, and that is definitely a good thing.
Oh, and now that it’s done, i can say that I have survived my first stint flying solo. Can you believe I’d never had overnights all alone since we’ve had three kids? When B has traveled, i’ve either gone to stay with my fam or they’ve visited us. But, yes, we not only survived several days (and nights. Oh, the long kids-waking-up-at-all-hours-for-no-good-reason nights!) but got to school on time and got everything else done (on time) too. So, feeling pretty good about that. And also pretty tired. Yeah, at this point, the feeling has faded to mostly just tired (note decline in my linguistic skills here). And that’s pretty much it. (Yes, total brain shut down is beginning now. Time. For. Sleep.)
