Summer is in View

The other weekend I finally bought a wading pool for the boys to play in.  We never got one for Preston because he was so anti-water fun.  He didn't like water parks, sprinklers or pools.  As soon as I put Logan in the water he immediately started splashing around and smiling ear to ear.  Preston stood out of the pool for no more than a minute, I asked him if he wanted to come in and he said with a resounding "YES!".  Preston was the in the wading pool for almost an hour!  I guess he just needed a wing-man.  The hat Logan is wearing is Preston's old hat that his brother hated wearing. Of course, Logan loves wearing the hat and had it on the entire half hour he was in the water.

I love this stage of babyhood.  He sits up on his own, crawls when and where he wants to and can stop and entertain himself for a good amount of time.  His exploration of object straight to his mouth, stopping to stare at his big brother and pulling himself up to a standing position are part of his routine.  I remember Preston entering these phases of his life and it seems like yesterday. Watching Logan do things in the same place as Preston once did is just so exciting!

Swing Town

We went to the park this morning.  I place Logan in the baby swing for the first time ever.  Man, oh man, did he love that swing.  If he slowed down to a small amount of motion he would push his little body and legs in attempt to get himself going again.  I was pushing him faster and higher and he continued to laugh louder and longer!  Preston was all over the playground.  He was sliding down the slides this time, which he never did in the past.  Now that Preston is in preschool he has access to a playground with a couple slides and he is more confident with them now.

Good Morning Boys

Preston's daycare experience has been fun and entertaining. The first 2.75 weeks, with the exception of the first day, he cried and cried and wanted me to stay with him.  It was really tough dropping him off in the morning.  He would grab on, screaming "mommy" over and over and it was hard on both of us.  Just shy of his third week we walked in and there weren't any tears.  He just stood in the room, gave me a kiss and a hug like always and I left.  He finally understood that Mommy will be back.  Now on the weekends he says he wants to go see the "kids" or see his friends at school.  He gets reports from the teacher on how he did, how much of his lunch he ate and what he participated in during the day.  The first week I was amazed that he knew about plants growing in the ground, he talked about gardens, a magnifying glass and seeds.  All these things he learned from school because mommy does not have a thumb that is aware close to being green.

The next week it was a teddy bear picnic and someone brought cupcakes in for a birthday celebration.  The week after that the teacher said Preston was saying "no" a lot and telling the other kids to say no.  He wasn't being a good listener and actually told the teacher "I'm not being a good listener today, am I?".  Preston enjoys school.  Some days when I have to wake him up to get the day started I start to hear "no school today Mommy, maybe tomorrow".  He never cries or throws a fit...well, yet.  It gives Rob some good old fashion one on one time with Logan and let's Daddy get the sleep he needs.  Some days Daddy wouldn't get any sleep because one would be down for a nap the other would be up.  I hated hearing when that happened because Rob needs his sleep.

Summer is less than 2.5 weeks away!  We might continue going to school for some of the summer so Mommy can get some well deserved sleep now that she doesn't have to run off to work.  The sleep deprivation is tough on us when Logan is going through a growth spurt, up 3 times during the night and when I have long night events at work.  My latest event was the big ART WALK that I have been putting on for the last 5 years.  This year was great I had our band teacher join me with students that performed!  A real Fine Arts Night.  It was great to have more than just my artwork going on.  I like when good things get even better.  I was pleased with it all.  In addition I was part of a CIRT Team that went over school improvement plans at three schools in our district. Remember Washington Elementary School District has 28 elementary schools so we were just one of our 15 teams. The principals and leaders at each school had to present their plan to us and we found the components of their plan to be evident or not evident.  It was great to hear about the highlights each school has for themselves.  People are doing some great and wonderful things out there in our district.

I also finished up our last BEGIN II Art meetings, where I oversee the art cadre of second year art teachers.  It was an elite group (only two) this year but probably worked out for the best considering I had to take time off during my maternity leave.  This was my second year as art cadre leader and I am starting to get into the groove of it and plan to continue next year.  Our big celebration is Monday!  All this on top of teaching kids art.  A teachers day is never truly over at the end of the school day.  Summer is when I really get to slow down and stop to enjoy time with the family.