...which he promptly shoved in his mouth (doesn't it look like he's saying, "Take THAT, Mrs. Fabiola!"??)...
...followed by a "yummy in my tummy" belly rub! That's my boy!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Waste Not, Want Not (Part Deux)
OK, a little blurry, but we were playing upstairs before David's bath and he fell on the ground next to the ottoman. You can't quite see it, but what he came up with was part of his "chocolate chip cereal bar" from this morning's breakfast...
...which he promptly shoved in his mouth (doesn't it look like he's saying, "Take THAT, Mrs. Fabiola!"??)...
...followed by a "yummy in my tummy" belly rub! That's my boy!
...which he promptly shoved in his mouth (doesn't it look like he's saying, "Take THAT, Mrs. Fabiola!"??)...
...followed by a "yummy in my tummy" belly rub! That's my boy!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Waste Not, Want Not
On David's report card from school today:
"Special Happenings: Was practicing how to eat using spoon, food was falling on floor and I kept telling him not to give up. He got real upset because I didn't let him eat off the floor. He had food on plate but refused. After a few hugs he was fine. Please keep practicing eating with spoon at home. -Mrs. Fabiola." [emphasis mine]
"Special Happenings: Was practicing how to eat using spoon, food was falling on floor and I kept telling him not to give up. He got real upset because I didn't let him eat off the floor. He had food on plate but refused. After a few hugs he was fine. Please keep practicing eating with spoon at home. -Mrs. Fabiola." [emphasis mine]
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Thompson Look-alike Meter
Interestingly, I did this "Look-alike Meter" one year ago and it said David looked more like me by 6%...
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
4th Photo
Yes, it is 2:06am and I did drive over 7 hours today (yesterday now), but I just can't sleep. I've already nearly cleared my DVR (House, The Bachelor, Private Practice) so I decided to "blog surf" and came upon Judy's "Our Little Coconut" post from Saturday... here's the idea: go to your fourth folder and upload the fourth picture in it to your blog.
Of course this is problematic because I have "folders" of pictures all over, but here's what I came up with:
The fourth photo from the fourth "month" of my KodakGallery website...
Jerol being "Jerol" -- Thanksgiving 2005 at Mom & Bab's.
The fourth photo from the fourth folder of our "public pictures" folder on the desktop...
Bandit being "Bandit" upon her return from the "spa" -- December 21, 2008.
And finally, the fourth photo from the fourth folder of pictures on our external hard-drive...
Awww... Mommy & David decked out for the Cowboys -- September 28, 2008.
Alright... going to try to get some sleep now. David has his 2-year-old well child visit tomorrow at 8:40am at his doctor's new fancy-schmancy 20,000 square foot "state of the art" medical building so no sleeping-in even though I don't have to be at work until noon...
Monday, January 12, 2009
Salvador's Mommy, You Better Watch Your Back
So the first time I received an "incident report" from David's daycare was when he was bitten just below his left shoulder blade (yes, on his BACK). I opened the door to his room and saw him in total melt-down, being comforted by the teachers and having ice applied where the little shark broke skin. I didn't know who the culprit was and I didn't ask (I'm guessing they would've preferred not to tell me), but I figured it out about a week later when I brought David in late and as soon as we walked in the door all of the teachers frantically said, "Where's Miles?" Although I was obviously upset, I didn't blame the teachers because I was fairly confident that this cowardly attack from the back was a split-second decision on Miles' part that they couldn't have seen coming and they pulled them apart immediately.
Today, however, I am significantly more upset with the level of "supervision" in the new classroom David has moved into since he turned two. I will preface this with the background information that David has not re-adjusted well to returning to daycare after two weeks of vacation. I'm sure it doesn't help that he is now full-time in the new classroom with the new teachers and, in my opinion, the teachers in this room are significantly colder than Miss Susan and Miss Stephanie from the toddler classroom that he (and I) loved. Either way, it has been 6 solid days of heart-wrenching tear-fests starting from when I get him out of the car in the parking lot and lasting a few minutes after I leave.
Now back to Salvador and why I've got a hit out on his mom. I arrived to pick David up this afternoon around 5:10. As I normally do, I peeked in the window to see what he was up to before I walk in the door. David was standing on a bench near the reading area. The bench is maybe 8 inches off the ground -- a big rectangular box that is about 4 feet wide and one foot deep. Anyway, he was standing on the bench, holding his bear, and facing the wall. He looked like he was about to jump off the bench, which wouldn't surprise me since jumping is his big thing right now. There were 6 kids in the classroom -- one was on the floor near David reading a book, and the rest were spread out throughout the room playing. The one "teacher" in the room (for the two-year-old room the ratio is 1:6) -- and I use that term in quotes because she's not one of the two regular teachers for this classroom, she just comes in at the end of the day. I'm not sure she is really a "teacher," she certainly never has much information on how David's day was, and I believe she has a tongue-ring because she is very difficult to understand. She also wears way too much eye makeup, but that's probably irrelevant. Anyway, I noticed that the "teacher" wasn't interacting with any of the kids, they were all just doing their own thing. She had her nose in some paperwork (I think the attendance rosters) and wasn't really paying attention what any of them were doing.
Well, in the few seconds that I was peeking in the window before I opened the door to go in, Salvador comes up behind David and pushes him forward off the bench. David lands face-first on the floor and immediately bursts into tears. I rushed in as this was all happening, grabbed him and tried to calm him down, while the "teacher" "yelled" at Salvador. She basically said, "Why did you do that, Salvador? You don't push. David is much younger than you." Anyway, I was able to get David calmed down. He was more shocked than hurt I'm sure since the little bastard pushed him from behind without any warning. Anyway, it was definitely not what I needed to see (or have happen, for that matter) considering how rough the morning drop-offs have been these past two weeks. I didn't discuss the issue with the "teacher" but I'm damn sure going to talk to his regular teachers and the school directors tomorrow. I don't have great hopes that it is going to make any difference, but at least I will have my complaint on record that there needs to be more supervision when you've got a big classroom and six two-to-three-year-olds.
In the meantime, David has moved up to the "top five" on the waiting list for the Base Child Development Center so hopefully we'll get to move him there soon. There are no guarantees, of course, that the teachers there are any better, but it is worth a shot. At the very least the location is much more convenient which will mean my little sleeper can stay in bed a little bit later each morning...
Today, however, I am significantly more upset with the level of "supervision" in the new classroom David has moved into since he turned two. I will preface this with the background information that David has not re-adjusted well to returning to daycare after two weeks of vacation. I'm sure it doesn't help that he is now full-time in the new classroom with the new teachers and, in my opinion, the teachers in this room are significantly colder than Miss Susan and Miss Stephanie from the toddler classroom that he (and I) loved. Either way, it has been 6 solid days of heart-wrenching tear-fests starting from when I get him out of the car in the parking lot and lasting a few minutes after I leave.
Now back to Salvador and why I've got a hit out on his mom. I arrived to pick David up this afternoon around 5:10. As I normally do, I peeked in the window to see what he was up to before I walk in the door. David was standing on a bench near the reading area. The bench is maybe 8 inches off the ground -- a big rectangular box that is about 4 feet wide and one foot deep. Anyway, he was standing on the bench, holding his bear, and facing the wall. He looked like he was about to jump off the bench, which wouldn't surprise me since jumping is his big thing right now. There were 6 kids in the classroom -- one was on the floor near David reading a book, and the rest were spread out throughout the room playing. The one "teacher" in the room (for the two-year-old room the ratio is 1:6) -- and I use that term in quotes because she's not one of the two regular teachers for this classroom, she just comes in at the end of the day. I'm not sure she is really a "teacher," she certainly never has much information on how David's day was, and I believe she has a tongue-ring because she is very difficult to understand. She also wears way too much eye makeup, but that's probably irrelevant. Anyway, I noticed that the "teacher" wasn't interacting with any of the kids, they were all just doing their own thing. She had her nose in some paperwork (I think the attendance rosters) and wasn't really paying attention what any of them were doing.
Well, in the few seconds that I was peeking in the window before I opened the door to go in, Salvador comes up behind David and pushes him forward off the bench. David lands face-first on the floor and immediately bursts into tears. I rushed in as this was all happening, grabbed him and tried to calm him down, while the "teacher" "yelled" at Salvador. She basically said, "Why did you do that, Salvador? You don't push. David is much younger than you." Anyway, I was able to get David calmed down. He was more shocked than hurt I'm sure since the little bastard pushed him from behind without any warning. Anyway, it was definitely not what I needed to see (or have happen, for that matter) considering how rough the morning drop-offs have been these past two weeks. I didn't discuss the issue with the "teacher" but I'm damn sure going to talk to his regular teachers and the school directors tomorrow. I don't have great hopes that it is going to make any difference, but at least I will have my complaint on record that there needs to be more supervision when you've got a big classroom and six two-to-three-year-olds.
In the meantime, David has moved up to the "top five" on the waiting list for the Base Child Development Center so hopefully we'll get to move him there soon. There are no guarantees, of course, that the teachers there are any better, but it is worth a shot. At the very least the location is much more convenient which will mean my little sleeper can stay in bed a little bit later each morning...
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Suzi, you got some 'splainin' to do!
E-mail from JC: "Oh, and WHAT IT THE REASON (it BETTER be good) as to why your lazy arse has not updated your blog in 2 years? Seriously. Rude. Vacation, and still nothing. What does a gal have to do?"
Well, here it is... with nearly four months of build-up I hope I can deliver the goods!
Let's start with the vacation, since that prompted JC's most recent "lack of blog updates" chastising. With the exception of those years when one or both of us was deployed and 2006 when David was due to arrive on New Year's Eve, we have always managed to make it to Florida and/or Texas for the holidays. Well, back in September Gary & I started pricing out potential trips and were disgusted with the nearly $2000 it was going to cost us in airfare alone. In addition to the ridiculous ticket costs, Gary's work schedule in December was a bit up in the air so we broke the bad news to our families that we wouldn't be traveling at all for Christmas 2008. Well, sometime in November we learned that Gary would have to travel to Tampa -- just three hours from my parents -- for work December 21-23. Translation? The U.S. Government (thank you, taxpayers!) would be paying for Gary's ticket to Florida! We went ahead and got tickets for me & David to meet up with him on Marco from December 23-30. We (and my family, of course) were thrilled!
Gary flew out on Sunday the 21st. David and I spent a fun day at LEGOLAND on Sunday and a lazy day on Monday prepping for our trip. Well, low and behold on Monday night David starts to spike a fever. Our flight left out of San Diego at 9:30 on Tuesday morning and, according to my thermometer, as we were leaving the parking lot for the airport he was up to 101.5. Fan-tastic. We made it though check-in and security (always fun with a sick toddler, a 50-pound suitcase, a car seat, and a carry-on bag!) and headed for the gate. Because he didn't turn two until the 27th and ticket prices were bad enough, I only bought one seat for this trip and, for the first time ever, was going to have a connection (all his previous flights were non-stop). We board the plane and make our way to our seat -- towards the back and a MIDDLE SEAT (never again). First the girl with the window seat arrives -- a 20-something girl who apparently adores her 2-year-old niece -- so far, so good. Then our aisle passenger arrives. Suffice it to say that her first order of business was to request a "seat belt extender." With David being warm to begin with, I try to crank up the air above our seat with no luck -- the barely cold air barely came out. Add to this the fact that it was a bright, sunny day and, even with the shade down, the heat was coming in through the window. This first leg was from San Diego to Houston -- about a 2 1/2 hour flight. We get in the air and, despite having a fever, being scrunched in the seat, and being warm, David did pretty well... until we started our descent. He had fallen asleep during the flight and was abruptly woken up as we started the landing into Houston. This launched him into major melt-down mode, complete with screaming, tears, snot, and sweat to the point that I went ahead and took his shirt off. This lasted the entire descent (approximately 20 minutes), taxi (10 minutes), walk to the new gate (10 minutes), and boarding the second flight (10 minutes). You know it's bad when the people around you boarding the flight are trying to read your boarding pass to make sure they're not sitting next to you and your screaming kid! Well, the saving grace came as we were boarding the second flight. As we walked through the first class seats a man sitting in the aisle seat handed David a Blow Pop. David grabbed the Blow Pop, said, "Lollipop!" and immediately stopped crying. He happily sucked on that lollipop for the next 20 minutes until he passed out and slept the rest of the way to Fort Lauderdale. Thank you, Mr. Blow Pop Man, whoever you are!
Well, here it is... with nearly four months of build-up I hope I can deliver the goods!
Let's start with the vacation, since that prompted JC's most recent "lack of blog updates" chastising. With the exception of those years when one or both of us was deployed and 2006 when David was due to arrive on New Year's Eve, we have always managed to make it to Florida and/or Texas for the holidays. Well, back in September Gary & I started pricing out potential trips and were disgusted with the nearly $2000 it was going to cost us in airfare alone. In addition to the ridiculous ticket costs, Gary's work schedule in December was a bit up in the air so we broke the bad news to our families that we wouldn't be traveling at all for Christmas 2008. Well, sometime in November we learned that Gary would have to travel to Tampa -- just three hours from my parents -- for work December 21-23. Translation? The U.S. Government (thank you, taxpayers!) would be paying for Gary's ticket to Florida! We went ahead and got tickets for me & David to meet up with him on Marco from December 23-30. We (and my family, of course) were thrilled!
Gary flew out on Sunday the 21st. David and I spent a fun day at LEGOLAND on Sunday and a lazy day on Monday prepping for our trip. Well, low and behold on Monday night David starts to spike a fever. Our flight left out of San Diego at 9:30 on Tuesday morning and, according to my thermometer, as we were leaving the parking lot for the airport he was up to 101.5. Fan-tastic. We made it though check-in and security (always fun with a sick toddler, a 50-pound suitcase, a car seat, and a carry-on bag!) and headed for the gate. Because he didn't turn two until the 27th and ticket prices were bad enough, I only bought one seat for this trip and, for the first time ever, was going to have a connection (all his previous flights were non-stop). We board the plane and make our way to our seat -- towards the back and a MIDDLE SEAT (never again). First the girl with the window seat arrives -- a 20-something girl who apparently adores her 2-year-old niece -- so far, so good. Then our aisle passenger arrives. Suffice it to say that her first order of business was to request a "seat belt extender." With David being warm to begin with, I try to crank up the air above our seat with no luck -- the barely cold air barely came out. Add to this the fact that it was a bright, sunny day and, even with the shade down, the heat was coming in through the window. This first leg was from San Diego to Houston -- about a 2 1/2 hour flight. We get in the air and, despite having a fever, being scrunched in the seat, and being warm, David did pretty well... until we started our descent. He had fallen asleep during the flight and was abruptly woken up as we started the landing into Houston. This launched him into major melt-down mode, complete with screaming, tears, snot, and sweat to the point that I went ahead and took his shirt off. This lasted the entire descent (approximately 20 minutes), taxi (10 minutes), walk to the new gate (10 minutes), and boarding the second flight (10 minutes). You know it's bad when the people around you boarding the flight are trying to read your boarding pass to make sure they're not sitting next to you and your screaming kid! Well, the saving grace came as we were boarding the second flight. As we walked through the first class seats a man sitting in the aisle seat handed David a Blow Pop. David grabbed the Blow Pop, said, "Lollipop!" and immediately stopped crying. He happily sucked on that lollipop for the next 20 minutes until he passed out and slept the rest of the way to Fort Lauderdale. Thank you, Mr. Blow Pop Man, whoever you are!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
First Day of "Cool"
On Tuesday morning David went for his first day at the Childtime Learning Center. Since Gary & I were off of work, we let him wake up on his own (7:30), gave him some breakfast, then headed over around 8:30. We told him he was going to "school" which he repeated as "cool" while we were in the car. As soon as we walked in the teachers (Miss Sue and Miss Susan) greeted him and welcomed him to the class. About 6 other kiddos were sitting around the "mini table" (so cute) having their morning snack -- graham crackers and orange juice. David marched right in and started exploring all the new toys. Within about 3 minutes he was in the back corner of the classroom "working something out," and for those of you who have seen this in person, you know exactly what I'm talking about and how loud and embarrasing it is! Guess he was feeling pretty comfortable with the place! Gary & I headed out a few minutes later and he didn't even seem to notice. His first day "report card" said that he was "offered" blueberry bread for a snack and ham pasta & peas for lunch (apparently he declined... no surprises there) so only had a few peaches to eat all day. He napped from 12 - 1:20 and I came and picked him up at 3:30. When I arrived they were playing outside and, aside from pointing at me and saying, "Mommy," David continued about his playing as if I wasn't even there! Overall, a great first day!
Today we took him in around 9:00 because we didn't have to be at work until 12:00. Again he walked right into the room and began playing with no concern about Gary & I leaving. According to his "chart" today, he was offered (and, again, apparently DECLINED!) beef stroganoff and carrots for lunch (but did eat all the pears - no surprise there, either), had some saltine crackers around 2:00 and graham crackers around 4:00. He only napped for about 30 minutes so it was no surprise when I picked him up at 5:00 that he was pretty wore out. We came home, he immediately went to the DVD player and started repeating "Me-mo, Me-mo, Me-mo, Me-mo" (Finding Nemo is his new favorite movie), we had dinner together just the two of us (Gary is in 29 Palms tonight), followed by a messy helping of "Gee-Go" (Go Gurt), a bath, and he was down for the count after two books at about 7:40!
Today we took him in around 9:00 because we didn't have to be at work until 12:00. Again he walked right into the room and began playing with no concern about Gary & I leaving. According to his "chart" today, he was offered (and, again, apparently DECLINED!) beef stroganoff and carrots for lunch (but did eat all the pears - no surprise there, either), had some saltine crackers around 2:00 and graham crackers around 4:00. He only napped for about 30 minutes so it was no surprise when I picked him up at 5:00 that he was pretty wore out. We came home, he immediately went to the DVD player and started repeating "Me-mo, Me-mo, Me-mo, Me-mo" (Finding Nemo is his new favorite movie), we had dinner together just the two of us (Gary is in 29 Palms tonight), followed by a messy helping of "Gee-Go" (Go Gurt), a bath, and he was down for the count after two books at about 7:40!
Watching "Me-mo".... and eating "Gee Go"!
Tomorrow is going to be his first "full" day, including, I'm sure, me having to wake him up (Mr. Sleepy Head), so keep your fingers crossed! I'm also waiting to see how many days he decides to "decline" food before he realizes that's all he's getting!
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