Ethan Turns 3!!

We celebrated Ethan's 3rd birthday at Club Aviva Gymnastics. I was wondering how Ethan would do at his party because the last gymnastics party we went to, Ethan spend a good chunk of time sitting on the side just watching instead of participating. Luckily this time, he got right into the mix with everyone else. Seeing as the last couple of posts were so long, I think I'll let the pictures do the talking with this one. As you can probably tell, the pictures of kids in the gym were a bit fuzzy because it's hard to get still shots there. Luckily, Josh tooks lots of pics during the food and cake time too.

 

 

I promise the next time I post this many pictures, I will try learn how to add a slideshow in.

Happy 3rd Birthday to our big boy! We love you!! xoxo

Back to School

I guess all good things must come to an end, and the awesome lazy days of summer are now gone too. This past week has been a hectic one. We've had first swimming lessons without Josh in the pool, Ethan's birthday (more on that later), first week of school for me, first week of homeschooling for Maddy and first time at preschool for Ethan.

Back to school for me is always an adjustment for the entire family. Josh had to take a few days off here and there so that I could go in to school to prepare. That actual being back at school has not been too stressful since in the first week we still have our classes from the previous year. The real work will come in the next few weeks as we get our classes and the real planning/work will begin. It's been hard getting into the routine of waking up earlier than usual on Thursday and Fridays in order to make it out the door in time.

On Saturday Ethan had his first swimming lesson on his own. I was a bit anxious about this because I remember when Maddy transitioned to her child-only class and there were many tears. At one point I was asked to leave the pool area in order for her to calm down. Ethan had already told us that he didn't want to go without Papa, so I was wondering if the tears would come too. When the time came, Ethan sat on the steps with Josh just behind him. I was so happy to see that his teacher was the same one that he's had in the Parent/Tot class. Right away she played the "Pick up the balls and put them in the basket" game and that helped ease Ethan in bit. He's played this game over and over in the other lessons and he was eager to play. Shortly after Josh came round to the other side of the pool and I breathed a sigh of relief. Actually I cried a little. Yes, a little sappy I know, but it was probably a mixture of a release of stress I had been feeling about his first time, and also because it was a sign that he's growing up.  He did pretty well the rest of the class. He was serious as ever and did everything the teacher asked him to. During the last 3 minutes of the class they had the kids stand at the edge of the pool. The teacher sang a song and they were to jump in one at a time. We could see that Ethan was getting anxious and not to mention cold. When it was his turn, he hesitated so the instructor on deck tried to encourage him by saying, "Come on Ethan, just like you used to do with your Papa." She had very good intentions but that was the wrong thing for our little guy. It was likely suddenly the flood gates were opened and he let all his tears that he tried so hard to hold in during the last 27 minutes out. Luckily it was the end of the lesson, but I could hear the tears coming from the mens change room the whole time I dressed Maddy. Hopefully this week will be better.

This past Monday I officially started homeschooling with the kids. Ethan is enrolled in preschool for Tuesday and Wednesday morning so he joins Maddy and I on Mondays. I was so thankful to be homeschooling the kids on Monday because it was such a busy weekend and it was great to know that if we were a little late getting started it was no big deal. We still managed to get started on time and we had an awesome morning. We got through all the lessons I had planned, enjoyed a nice 'recess' break out in the beautiful weather and even had time left over to play with the many new toys Ethan received for his birthday.

It is a little hectic with both kids there, mainly because Ethan's attention span is still rather short. Both kids want to have my attention, so it's a bit of a juggling act. Luckily it's WAY EASIER than juggling the needs of 23 kids, so I have nothing to complain about. On Tuesday and Wednesday it was just the two of us after circle time (Ethan leaves for preschool after our circle time).  It was just incredible. Maddy loves all the attention she gets and I purposely plan lots of activities that we wouldn't be able to do with Ethan there. I'm loving the one on one time I have with her, kind of like the one on one time I had with Ethan last year. So, so far so good on the homeschooling front.

Finally, this past Tuesday was Ethan's first day of preschool. We've been talking about it a lot, actually it's a fine balance between talking about it enough so that he feels prepared, but not talking it about it so much that it gives him time to create any anxiety over it. As you can see from the pictures he was all happy in the morning and went off with Josh quite easily. Josh called me later in the morning to report that he went in fine, went to the washroom and joined the circle with no problem. When Josh left, he gave a little wave and turned back to the teacher. Phew! When I went to pick him up, one of the teachers told me he did ok, but had some tears. Another told me he had an up and down day with  tears on and off. When I first saw him outside he didn't appear to be crying. He came running to me and gave me THE. BEST. HUG. EVER. It was like he didn't ever want to let go. I could hear some sniffling a bit and it was all could do to not burst into tears myself because I didn't want to forget this moment. We came home and the minute he saw Woa Woa he ran to pick him up and gave Woa Woa the biggest hug too. The whole rest of the day Ethan was stuck very close to me. We went to the library and he stayed right by my side the entire time. I can't say that I didn't enjoy this extra "I need you mommy"-time.

Today was a different story. After our circle time, Ethan didn't want to go to preschool. The tears came and the big crying started. Josh held him while I put his shoes on. Still tears. Josh carried him to the car and after strapping him in, Maddy and couldn't only faintly see a little hand waving through the tinted windows. After school, the teachers said that he had a better day than yesterday but there were still tears. I got a big hug and he was still sniffling a bit. I'm sure that it will get better as the days go by, but I sure am glad to be over the 'first week'. Well, except for the big bear hugs and extra cuddles.

 One last looks for mama before heading off for school. Sorry, Shauna. I loved your picture that I had to copy it for Ethan. 

So there you have it, our first week back to school. Boy, is it ever stressful sending your kids off on their own to navigate the world. I cannot imagine what my post will be like when they leave for university! I'll be a mess, that I know for sure.

Thanks for reading. I'll have a post about Ethan's birthday soon.

Ethan Three Years

Wow, Ethan is a preschooler. It's a little sad to know that we are done with the 'toddler' stage, but just one look at that sweet, sweet smile and I can't help but want to smoosh him in a giant hug.

Ethan is really becoming such a helpful little guy around the house. He is so proud when he gets to help with cooking, emptying the water from the dehumidifier, clear the dishes from the dishwasher or picking up the newspaper. One of his favourite things to do is the pull up a chair while I'm cooking and help or watch me. When he plays, it's the same thing. He loves to play cook and is usually found in by the play kitchen making soup or cakes.

His speech has also evolved so that we and others are now able to understand him most of the time. He tends to have some trouble with pronouncing blends like 'sp', 'bl', 'sm' etc. Because of this, there are some words that only we can understand because of context and repetition on his part. The funniest times are usually when he is trying to get something across to us and Maddy is the only one who is able to understand him. My favourite expression is, "Wa dat mell?" (What's that smell'?) The look of disgust he usually has on his face, along with his uncanny dog-like sense of smell, cracks me up!

Ethan's love for food is still as strong as ever. Today I was on the computer and he was at the table eating some strawberries. The house was quiet and I could just hear the crunch of the bites he was taking. I looked over at him and he was totally engrossed in eating. He reminded me of the McCain's Super Fries boy. Some of his most content moments are when he is enjoying some kind of food. The down side to this is that he is always wanting food and the times when we don't give it to him, it usually results in BFFT (Big Fat Fake Tears). The tears are actually there and there are many, but we can tell they are fake. He has an amazing ability to turn them on and off just like that. Maybe we should put him into acting.

He is becoming a bit of a jokester around the house. Some people are surprised to hear this because when we are in the company of others, Ethan is usually reserved, if not serious. When he opens up, though, look out! He loves to do things over and over just to get a laugh out of us and he loves the idea of 'beating us to the punch'. He recently likes to climb into his car seat and scramble to do up the top clasp. Then is bursts out, "You missit!!" I don't know why, but he gets a kick out of it every time.

His favourite thing in the whole world is still his beloved Woa Woa. I have had to get over the 'yuck' factor of toting that thing all over the place. I just make sure that the second (hidden) one is washed and always ready for a quick swap-a-roo when the current one starts to smell bad. Ethan thinks I'm just a whiz at washing Woa Woa really fast because I'll take the dog from him, go into the laundry room, make a bunch of washing noises and return with a 'newly laundered' Woa Woa in a matter of seconds.