Carolina Boys

Sam and his buddy, James, hanging out before a UNC Lacrosse game.

New School Updates

After a heart-wrenching Monday morning, Bruce took Sam to school yesterday and today. Here are his drop-off reports.

Tuesday

Sam was brave this morning.  After you left, he got it into his head that he wanted to leave even as he whimpered and cried. At one point he said we were going to be late.  He grabbed a Curious George book and not a toy, no matter how much I asked if he wanted to take a car.  He grabbed his coat and wanted to go.  Very much as if he knew he had to do it so let’s get it over with.  So we got there and there were right many folks in class, he was ok, but whimpering and put away his blanket and dolphin, found his hook, etc.   Again, all the while whimpering.  Went back into the room and was crying a little more but trying to contain himself. He hugged me and gave me a kiss and then grabbed dolphin and his book and was heading to sit next to Carina when I left.

All in all, very brave, but very difficult.

Wednesday

Good drop off. He was pretty ready to go, but there was an undercurrent of trepidation.  He made me stay with him until he washed his hands and he made me hug him about 4 times.  But I saw no tears and heard no whimpering.

So, things are getting easier. It helped that Sam slept in a little this morning (until 6:30) and so was a little more rested. And despite his rocky starts, he is clearly having a great time. This is his activity report from yesterday:

What a fun day! During circle time, we read "The Cat in the Hat" by Dr. Seuss; after reading we discussed about the fun things we can do in rainy days. The children were asked to share their ideas, and we wrote them down on  raindrop cut-out. Also, we play a rhyming word game. The children were given three words, if  all word rhymed they showed their thumbs up, if the words didn't rhyme, they showed their thumbs down. They loved doing this activity!

Today, the children made Thing 1&2 hand print art with Ms. Evans. Before lunch time, we listen to the story "Green Eggs and Ham" then we talked about the importance of trying new food. After the children have tried their lunch, they were encouraged to vote.

New School News

Breaking news: Sam has started a new school. After we moved from Durham to Chapel Hill, just five minutes away from my office, the commute to Durham and back for his daycare was something we knew we wanted to discontinue as soon as possilbe. So after nearly six months of the daily slog, Sam got a spot in the UNC daycare, called Victory Village (this is after being on the waitlist since April 2011). We are excited! Sam, not so much. He already misses his old friends and his old school. Drop-off is hard on both of us.

But the great thing about this new daycare? They send email updates, and lots of them! By lunchtime my last memory of him (looking pitiful) is replaced with photos of him looking engaged and happy.

The school is celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday all week. Today, Sam joined his friends in a game of "Cat In the Hat" bean bag toss! He also made and counted truffula trees (using pompoms, pipe cleaners, and playdough), and loved having his face painted like the Cat In the Hat. Tomorrow? They will eat green eggs and ham (Sam I am says he does like them). My thanks to Dr. Seuss for easing Sam through another tough transition! Oh, the places you'll go!!

My Sweethearts

(The last one is a new alpaca at the Museum of Life and Science, whom I have lovingly named Tina Turner. She is my best friend.)

Swim Lessons, Pike Edition, Class One

I signed Sam up for swimming lessons at the Chapel Hill Y. Now that he's a BIG BOY (read: 3yo), he participates in a group with a teacher, and Mommy is relegated to the sidelines. Sam has had two sets of swim lessons in his short life, and it is safe to say he is a bit cautious when it comes to large bodies of water, as he is with most things (except for large dogs, which he thinks are nicer than little dogs).

I honestly didn't let myself have any expectations, but after the hour unfolded, I would say it went about as I would have expected. Sam showed equal amounts fear and bravery, gravity and levity. He cried three times, refused to do two of the drills, but he also gave the teacher vigorous high fives, giggled hysterically any time he got splashed, performed a water rescue on both a giraffe and a zebra, and did his best to buck up when I reminded him that we were going to Foster's Market for a special treat should we both survive the lesson.

He and I are both committed to him learning how to swim -- me for obvious safety reasons, him because he is desperate to go down the water slide at the pool this summer. Honestly, I'm super proud of him. He was quite anxious but really showed some heart and stuck with it. Here's hoping I can get him pumped up to return for lesson number two.


A rocky start.


Hey, kid screaming next to Sam, you're NOT helping.


Putting on a brave face.


Kicking like a pro.


Look at that form!


Making a train! This was his favorite part.


The train went down the whole length of the pool!

Lazy

What I've been doing instead of blogging. But stay tuned! More swim lessons and soccer season are coming up, so we will have to get off the couch.

New Year's Resolutions by Sam Warrington

1. Question everything. Ask "why?" even while Mommy is explaining something. When she finishes explaining, ask "why" again. Repeat until she walks away.
2. Question authority. Say, "No I not," when confronted with perceived wrong. Refuse to wear listening ears. Continue to do what I'm not supposed to be doing while being told to stop doing it. Repeat until authority figure walks away or I am forcibly removed from situation. Then sound reasonable when trying to explain to said authority figure that I "just wanted to do it one more time," while crying.
3. Help Mommy and Daddy confront their snacking addiction by smelling on their breath whatever treat they're sneaking and questioning them about it -- loudly and repeatedly -- until given a bite to keep me quiet.
4. Continue my campaign to ignore the numbers 14-16 while counting and the letters t-x while singing the alphabet song or practicing letters. They are unnecessary. Also, Q. Ridiculous. 
5. Stop napping on the weekends. Takes time away from playing with Mom and Dad and also leads to a late-day parental breakdown and thus a little extra iPad time.
6. Try new foods. In 2012 I expanded my palate by discovering M&Ms and sweet tea. What's next?