Meatball Soup

Reed has had a diaper rash on and off for a couple weeks as he's had diarrhea. Our childcare provider, Rachel, suggested a baking soda soak bath. It seemed silly to use enough baking soda in the regular bath to make a difference, so I put some in the soup pot and soaked his tiny hiney in there. It turned out that he quite enjoyed it, and he was very secure in it. The funniest part was that Grandma Joanie and Grandpa Stu were here for the day and had left to take the big boys to school, and came back expecting that Reed would be in bed for his nap. They came into the kitchen talking and relaying a story about school drop-off, and then realized Reed was just chilling in the soup pot in the sink.

Beck likes taking baths with Baby Reed. Theo doesn't so much because Reed's seat takes up a lot of room in the bath and Theo likes to stretch out (see post from last week). Both of them like pouring water on Reed after I have soaped him up, and especially squealing "Look at his tiny penis!" Way to give the kid a complex.

 I like this picture because it captures how Beckett feels about Reed. He likes him, but he's also pretty mad at him for taking his Mama away from him and for hogging all the attention.

Grandpa Greg was too sick to come but Grandma Kathy came for a day visit a week ago and we had a great time reading and playing together!

First parent-teacher conferences

Thursday night Jeff and I went to our first parent-teacher conferences. I was (still am) getting over a yucky cold so I wasn't in peak form but Grandpa Stu and Grandma Joanie held down the fort at home, making dinner and taking care of the three little guys so we could go. The conferences were only scheduled for 15 minutes each, back-to-back, but we got there a little early for Beckett's and got about 25 minutes with his teachers, and then got to Theo's teacher at the end of her scheduled night, so we had about 40 minutes with her. We totally lucked out, getting the teachers in such a relaxed and easy setting.

Theo's teacher, Ms Donna, told us about all the things they are doing in his classroom to encourage learning through exploration and play, and about their observations of Theo in their environment. They see Theo as watchful, somewhat timid with his peers, and yet very clear about what he wants to do. Theo spends a lot of each day drawing and dictating or writing descriptions or narrations of his drawings. He has definite preferences about the writing implements, the size and type of paper he uses, and the amount of time he needs to complete his pictures to his satisfaction. Ms Donna conferred with us about how much of the songs and the group time he is absorbing. I have heard him singing many of the classroom songs, and retelling stories they read, and trying out the games and skills they're practicing together. I'm still puzzled that his teachers can't always figure out what he's doing when he pauses to think before he does something. They seem to think he may not be understanding what's going on, or is confused about what to do next. Our experience of Theo is that he is quite certain what he wants to do, but he's thinking through the steps and doesn't care what he looks like while he's figuring it out. But what's reassuring is that his teachers clearly love and appreciate him, and they unquestionably support what he wants to do while encouraging him to move out of his comfort zone to try new things. Theo tells us about the little girls in his class that he likes spending time with, and he has a couple buddies with whom he likes to draw and write. We were able to confer about some of his favorites, to compare notes about who he talks about at home and who he spends time with at school.

Beckett's teachers have a somewhat different classroom, with a 13-4 boy-girl ratio and a crew of rough-and-tumble boys. His teachers are more of a disciplinarian crew, at least partly because they kind of have to be. But it seems to me they love Beckett just as much as Theo's teachers love Theo. They report that Beckett is "a boy"--that he has his boy buddies that he wrestles and plays rough and runs around with outside. They say he is very attentive at story time and has "on point" questions about the story and what unknown words mean. At school, Beckett is a good friend, is very good-natured, and is helpful to his friends. He has one buddy at school, Ny'Asia, who can be very talkative, especially at meals, and they have gotten in trouble at meal times more than once when they have been getting each other laughing so hard that they fall off their chairs or knock over their food. We have been noticing at home that it seems like Beck speaks with an accent sometimes, especially when he says phrases that are not familiar to us, like the other day when we asked the boys to put on their shoes so we could leave, and Beckett did it, and Theo hadn't yet, and so Beckett said, "Theo, are you waiting for an invitation?" The accent was kind of hard to place, at least for me, but we thought maybe it was a Southern accent, which doesn't make sense because the boys don't know anyone with a Southern accent. Then we went to the parent-teacher conference and realized it's the way his African-American teacher speaks! I think Beck picks up on the differences in language and likes to try out different voices and ways of speaking. So if you wonder why Beckett is speaking with an apparent drawn-out accent, that is why. I learned some more about the way the "accent" developed here.

On this bath day Theo did his usual lay-down-in-the tub, submerging almost his entire body save a few inches of his face. Beckett then laid down on top of Theo, using Theo's belly as a pillow. Theo was singing a made-up song, loudly, so B has his fingers in his ears to block the sound.

First sleepover!

Last week the boys had their friend Walter over for their first-ever sleepover. Everyone looks pretty tired here, except Walter, because we kept the boys up about an hour later than their usual bedtime to accommodate Walter's later bedtime. We were all pretty tired! But the sleepover was a great success (at least for me and Jeff--we were grateful everyone went to sleep right away and slept through til normal wakeup time!). I think we'll do it again soon, maybe with our friend Preston!

Leaves

I was going for the quintessential arty, seasonal Christmas card photo. Not sure I got any winners here. The sun was in Beckett's eyes and Reed had only so much patience for being laid in the leaves between his brothers....

On Veterans Day Theo and I met Auntie Tara and her daughters Zoey and Ellery at the Juwonio playground. They had a great time riding on the various structures and building mud pies, as well as raiding the trike barn and taking some rides around the circuit.

Warm playground day with Leah

Last Tuesday was Election Day, a paid holiday at my office and a beautiful, 60 degree day. The sun went down close to 5pm, which reminded us that winter is upon us, but we (and about 100 other kids and parents) enjoyed a fantastic visit to Onondaga Lake Park.

More fun with Halloween costumes

We are getting a lot of use out of this 6-9 mo Robin costume. I think it looks pretty good on Theo. But much to his disappointment, Beck has a hard time getting it up over his legs and hips.

More fall fun

 A couple weeks ago when Grandpa Stu and Grandma Joanie were here for the day we had some fun raking the leaves and jumping in them, and also piling Reed in the leaves on top of the big boys, as well as putting Jeff on the roof to assist with installation of the eavestrough.

Book fair

Last week was the boys' Scholastic book fair at school. I volunteered for the PTO Tuesday when Theo's class happened to come in. The boys think it is very cool to pick out new books for themselves. This is them upon arriving home, when they opened Theo's backpack to look at the books. You can see they literally just threw their backpacks on the ground, threw off their coats, and just sat down to pore over the books.

Leaf jumping

On Halloween morning we went to Canastota for a party with my friend Heidi and lots of kids and parents. The boys had a great time playing with the kids' toys and ignoring the Halloween festivities and games. This is my friend Trista with her son Finnegan, along with me and Reed.

On Halloween night Theo went back to his Raphael costume after doing Olaf at school. Luckily he didn't remember that he used to have a turtle shell on the back (we left it at Heidi's). Reed and I stayed home to greet trick-or-treaters, a smaller bunch than in years past. Grandma Joanie and Grandpa Stu went trick-or-treating with the boys and Jeff, and brought dinner to enjoy after the children went to sleep.

Eating the first pieces of Halloween candy after they returned home.

Tonight is the eve of my first day back at work, Reed's first day at childcare, and the big boys' first day at afterschool at their school. We went over to Reed's teacher's house today to show Reed (and Jeff, and the big boys) around. The big boys enjoyed all the great toys and wanted to stay more than the hour we were there. Reed got a chance to spend some time with Rachel and we got to talk about routines and sort out logistics. I have certainly spent a lot of time in the last many months thinking and planning for this, and I feel very good about what we have lined up. I had originally thought of having a neighborhood teenager pick up the big boys from their classrooms and bring them back home to play for two hours before we got home, but after interviewing a couple it seemed like a risky and complicated choice, what with their afterschool sports and activities, plus factoring in possible sick days or vacations or teenage whimsy/flakiness. So the boys are going to the school afterschool program managed by the local Y, just for two days a week at least for now. Jeff's going to be able to take the big boys to school most days and I will take Reed to Rachel most of the time. Please wish us luck!