I went into work last week for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, so the kids have already gotten to know their daycare lady (who rocks, by the way.)  It was excellent to get in last week and do some set up.  I feel ready, but a part of me feels like I’m naive to feel that way, and it’s just an illusion because I forget what it’s really like. And also, I think I have no concept what another year of education cuts and working in tight conditions have done.

I’ve got a great load: 3 guitar classes (all a mishmash of folks, of course.  No beginner/advanced split!), 3 ESL classes, and 1 block for Grad Transitions.  For all of my classes, I feel more prepared than ever to teach well.  Now the question is: do I remember how to teach?  The Tuesday night work nights have been really helpful, but I feel a lot like a student just leaving university, with marginal teaching experience and a head full of ideas that look really good on paper.

The kids are in daycare with a greek lady and her husband.  I found them on Craigslist.  They seem excellent — very confident and no-nonsense about the kids, and incredibly experienced. PLUS, there are only 4 kids total and they charge a very reasonable fee.  Add to that the fact that they are less than 5 blocks from Tupper, and what is there to complain about?

Last week, Warren had a great time at daycare. He played well with the other 2 kids and obeyed Nana and Papa very well.  Xavier put up more of a fight though.  He fought naps in the playpen or the crib, and cried a lot on the first 2 days.  On Friday, they said he had a much more relaxed day and he even chose to wander around and play instead of just sitting around crying. Smart move, my dear son.  Choose happiness over misery.

It’s the night before work.  The lunches are ready. The bags are packed. The outfit is laid out. The table is set for breakfast. We’ve got a week’s worth of groceries in the fridge and all of the laundry is up to date.  Whatever I missed will make itself known soon enough. Good night!

I’ve been giving Warren time outs a lot lately — mostly for pushing other people over and stuff like that.  Whenever I do it and a buddy is over, they invariably say “I can’t believe he stays put! My kid won’t stay in a time out!”  It makes me laugh because, yes, he stayed where I tell him to, but he usually has no clue why he’s there. The time out is more to give the kids a chance to forget what they were fighting over more than anything. But maybe the repetition is helping — this week, he’s been WAY less pushy/grabby/bully-ish.  I think.

Dreamer?

Today, I went into to work with the kids.  I need to set up my classrooms and get all my stuff organized.  It was a bit hairy with the kids there, but Alita came with her son too, and they played with Warren for most of the morning. What a good friend! There’s a ton to do still.  I was telling Andre that I could make every night Project Night and still not feel well-prepared.  I think the major issue right now is how much I forget how to do my job.

Along with this is the pendng start of daycare for my two boys.  I think it will be a good thing for them — Warren can learn how to be kinder to people, and the lady certainly seems experienced.  And uncomplicated.  The biggest thing on my mind right now is how much organization and just plain … STUFF I’ll have to have ready to go every morning.  Being a working parent looks like a ton of work.

And though we’ve been playing with potty training, I really do think it will be up to this lauded daycare lady.  She certainly seems up to the task, but you’ve got to know a major part of me feels like it’s my responsibility and I’m shirking it to go to work.  Truth be told, I’m not an incredibly dedicated potty trainer, though. I’d just rather head out into the world rather than hang in our small (and shrinking) apartment long enough to make any progress. And progress on the road is a little beyond me at this point!

What else?

This week, Xavier’s been sick — I took him to the doctor on Monday morning, and he said it was a mild case of croup. Barking cough overnight and yucky breathing. He’s already doing much better and (wonder of all wonders!) he slept at least 11 hours last night.  Warren has just been a little bit out of sorts – I was thinking he may also be sick, but maybe not.  He’s also covered in mysterious bug bites.

How are you?

2.  Quinoa in granola.  NO!!! I thought I had a good thing! I made my own granola this week. My quinoa cookbook had a recipe (obviously involving quinoa).  I looked up a few more recipes on the Internet and they all said the same thing: add it uncooked to the mixture for a healthy, nutty crunch. But this I know FOR SURE:  you get NO health benefit from undigested quinoa.  If I see the quinoa again in my kid’ diaper that evening, it was a waste of quinoa. Ridiculous! What were those wackos on the Internet thinking?

We’re still working on potty training with Warren. It’s a slow and messy process, and I adore that little boy more than anything else.  Except maybe his little brother.

And speaking of Xavier, he CRAWLS. Like an expert. And pulls himself up on furniture. And today, he went up the stairs at the playground. Amazing and terrifying. He’s 8 1/2 months old.

I feel like life is full of interesting yet mundane little bits all the time. It’s a delicious season of life.  I’m sure to miss it next month when I go back to work.  This year has just been full of so much quality time.  We take our days at just the right pace — however fast or slow the kids feel like going. And in the mean time, life is full of quality.

Andre and I have been doing our Work Nights once a week. It’s going really well and as a result, I’m getting prepared for school and Andre’s exploring training at work.  I think Andre is a totally neat person. I feel really good about going back to work, but I don’t look forward to all this time away from the kids.  The thing is, I think the time in daycare will really bring about a change in Warren’s communication.  He’ll have to start making himself understood!

That’s all for now!

Ok, who’s left here? I’m blogging about potty training Warren.  Feel free to let me know what you do/did, ok?

We’ve been toying with the concept of the potty for months and months and months now. Ages ago, we showed Warren the potty and had him sit on it and whatnot.  I called it “Potty Awareness” since I didn’t see any connection for him between sitting on the potty and actually putting something in it.

I read a lot of websites and whatnot that talked about kids’ “signs of readiness” for potty training — knowing that they’ve done something, asking to be changed, hiding to do their business..stuff like that. So as Warren got readier and readier, I started to get a little bit more serious.

Lately, we’ve been letting him run pants-free at home.  It’s always an adventure when we have people over, but for the most part, I think people are friendly with a mostly-naked toddler.  At first, Warren would hold it all in until he got a diaper, but last week we had the breakthrough.  Four hours with no diaper and a ton of toots — something’s got to give! (NOTE:  I didn’t want to puch this too much, acutally, after mom’s horror stories of our friend’s kid who became truly anal retentive…and not just in a personality sort of way). ANYWAYS a couple of weeks ago, I had him on the potty for a whole morning.  He setlled in on the potty and started to watch Cars.  I thought the grandparents were coming soon, but they took another 1 1/2 hours so Warren stayed put.  By the end, sure, he had filled the potty but I didn’t sense any awareness of what he had done.  Is there any victory in tricking your kid to put something in there? Nah.

Last week, we put him on the potty every time we heard a toot or saw the “look” in his eyes.  Eventually, I moved the potty into the living room and he went to it ON HIS OWN, sat down, and really filled it.  Yahoo! And Andre was home too! Thank GOD!  Because in the TMI category, he actually stood up before he was done and we had to clean him, the potty AND the carpet. Yes.

Oh. TMI means “Too Much Information!” tee hee

Since then, we’ve had the potty out in the living room more than in the bathroom. Warren goes pants-free any time we’re home for more than an hour and it’s hit and miss, emphasis on the miss. Ready for more TMI?  Sunday, after a few hours pants-free, he cozied up on the couch beside Andre and Chris and a let-’er rip.  Thank goodness we put the protector stuff on the couch.  So yes, our couch has been peed on. I will never tell you which cushion. MWA hahahahahaha.

Today, in classic toddle form, he voluntarily walked over to potty, sat down, and peed. Straight out.  Excellence in intent, suckiness in the execution.  Sure, you say, “Just put the little guard thingy on!”  except on my model of potty, the little guard is hard plastic and causes … uh… scrapes.  Yeah.  So more cleanup for me for now.

Yes, now there’s a towel under the potty when it’s in the living room.

OH and yes, we give rewards. When he actually puts something in there, I make a huge big deal and after the cleanup, I give him one M and M.  If I remember.

Ideas?

ANYWAYS we just got home from a trip to Andre’ Grandparents’ 60th Wedding Anniversary party, and it was great weekend.  We took our time driving on the way up and on the way back, and it was totally worth it.  The kids got REALLY hot in the back seat of our non-air-conditioned car, so they needed to get out and cool off pretty frequently.

We drove up in caravan with Andre’s uncle from Africa. This uncle came for the party – his first visit with the family in 10 years, from what I can tell. He and his wife and 2 little kids stayed at Lara’s house for a couple of days.  Isn’t Lara amazing?  Yes. Yes, she is.  Now this uncle and family are loaded into a rented RV for a while to tour around BC and do some visiting.

On our way to Sicamous (where we were staying the night) we stopped in Vernon to see some more uncles.  One of them was staying at a B&B right on Okanagan Lake.  When we got there, we just kind of waved hello and walked straight into the water.  Clothes and all.  We were THAT hot.

We spend two nights at the Bueckert’s place — family friends of Andre’s parents from wayy back. We’ve stayed there before. They’re like extra family for Andre, that’s how close they are.  And awesome hosts, that’s for sure.

On Monday, we drove to Salmon Arm for the party.  That basically took the whole day. We ate a fantastic lunch, and then hung about the place for the rest of the day, visitng and doing little scheduled things, like a song from some grandkids, or the fabled slideshow. Stuff like that.

Today, Andre and I left our hosts’ place at 9:30 in the morning.  We stopped in Vernon to visit everyone who was eating breakfast at Grandma’s and then we kind of got on our way.  I say “kind of” because we stretched a 5-hour drive out over the rest of the day and didn’t get home until after 8:30 pm.  But it was a lovely drive and my husband is a seriously lovely man.

Now, that lovely man is gearing up to leave the house again! Sometime after 11:00 tonight, he’s going to go out with a buddy to photograph the Northern Lights.  Apparently they’re visible all the way down to Portland this week?

Really, I’m doing this datebook primarily for the picture I want to put at the end. But I think I’ll like the structure of it. Here goes!

Today…

Outside my window: An amazing mauve sky right above the mountains. The sound of the fireworks. In the darkness, my lovely green garden which produces practically nothing, but makes me happy nonetheless.  On the topic of that garden: my strawberries matured. I picked five.  Warren went out the next morning and ate all of the red ones he could find.

I am hearing: Oh. The fireworks. And a narrated TV show about the Queen Mary (maybe?).

I am thinking: We need to replace our dining room light fixture. We have a replacement in the closet but I’m praying for a volunteer who actually knows what they are doing. I can’t turn on the light anymore with this one.

I am hoping: That Andre’s uncle from Aftrica has a great visit.  That Lara knows how much I appreciate her. That Xavier keeps going with this 8 hours of sleep in a row thing.

I am wondering: Just how much sleep that neighbour lady of mine has lost as a result of Xavier’s screaming. She had a spooked look about her when we met in the hallway today.

I am reading: Nehemiah in the Bible. A few blogs. A huge book from my grandfather.  All this and I REALLY wish I was reading “Generation A”.  I don’t know why I’m putting it off.

I am improving:  Very little.  Not much wieght lost.  Still not a busy person – I have little to do for a person who doesn’t go out to work, and I still manage to not get things done.  Go me.

I am wearing: Tara’s hand-me-downs. Thanks, Tara! This skirt is a total WIN.

In the kitchen:  HM. We now have a deep freeze.  I’ve bought meat three times in the last four days.  But technically, the freezer is actually in the living room.

A few of my favourite things: Warren gets himself out of bed now.  He can open his door and he always makes sure to prop it open with the stuffed animal.  Last week, he got up at 1 am (GAH!) and I heard him banging his door. I made it out to the hallway in time to see him crouched down, carefully placing the pink elephant in front of the door. Then he stood up, toy in hand (edit: “toy” here means a little red sweter de-fuzzer that he has fallen in love with. Yeah) …anyways he stood up, toy in hand, and said “Hi!” all friendly-like. Yeah, right kid.  It’s 1am. SLEEP.

Xavier can commando crawl and is working on a full-on crawl.  He can also sit up by himself now and he feeds himself handfuls of cheerios like a pro.  8 months old.  Amazing. Nothing says “motivation” like a younger brother.  This week I’m completely charmed by this odd thing he keeps doing with his hand, over and over and over again.  I can’t explain it. A half-squeezing/pointing gesture.  He has also started sleeping like a champion (HALLELUJAH!) though he’s still a very light sleeper. I love him to bits no matter what.  And SO cuddly!

A picture thought:  This is what Andre saw on Warren’s pillow yesterday afternoon. It epitomizes Warren right now:

1.  Name something you use in the shower?  Well, I would have said shampoo, but I won’t need it after tomorrow

2.  Something people hate to find on their windshield? Strands of peoples’ hair. But after tomorrow, not mine!!

3.  Name something a man might buy before a date?  Hair Gel.  Getting a theme here?

4.  What is something you cook in the microwave?  Butter. When I really just mean to soften it a little bit. And then I get distracted by my hair in my eyes, and I go looking for a hairtie, and forget to pull out the butter…you know how it is.

5.  Name a reason a younger man might like an older woman?   Her long, flowing locks.

6. Name an item found in a man’s pocket? Lint.  Some of which may be comprised of his lovely wife’s hair.

7.  Name something a dog does that embarrasses its owner?   Licks peoples’ ears. Unless those ears happen to be covered by hair.

8.  Name a kind of test you cannot study for?  One of those drug tests where they take a sample of your hair.

9.  Name a phrase with the word ‘home’ in it? Have a bit of the hair of the dog that bit you….at home.  That’s the full phrase, right? (It’s getting hard to work “hair” into every answer here!)

10. Name a sport where players lose teeth? Hockey. Hockey players sure are hairy guys, eh?

11. Name something a teacher can do to ruin a good day?  Tell you to brush your hair.

12. Name a fruit that isn’t round?   Peaches.  And they have hair! And really, have you ever seen a truly round peach?

13. Name a bird you wouldn’t want to eat?  Swallow. And did you know they use peoples’ hair to build their nests?

14. Name something a person wears even if it has a hole in it?  A hat.  Pretty much needs a hole, come to think of it. And you know what hats cover!

15. Name something that gets smaller the more you use it?  Tube of hair gel!

16. Name the person that is most likely to respond.  Carole. She has beautiful hair.

17. Name something that can brighten your day?  Not having to brush my hair.

18. Name something you’d do if you won the lottery? Donate money to cancer research.  You can do this too!  http://cancerevents.kintera.org/baron or http://cancerevents.kintera.org/baronnotbald

I’m planning to do the Big Shave on Monday night, but I haven’t chosen a location for the Shave yet.  I need people to RSVP so I have an idea of numbers. I  just have no idea who cares to see the hair go and no one has said a thing about it yet.  The world in fact is oddly silent on the subject altogether.  Oh well! The Cancer Society is getting a big boon here no matter what.  And for those of you who threw a donation into the pot:  way to go! Awesome!

So what else has been going on?

Xavier slept 7 1/2 hours the other night. Since then, we’ve had late nights, so he hasn’t really had a chance to repeat the trick.  He’s up no matter what at 3:30 am – the question is reall whether his lovely parents here will have him in bed early enough for him to log those types of hours.

Last weekend, our church hosted a dunk tank at the Riley Park Community Festival.  Andre and I volunteered at the booth, which inlcuded being ready to take a turn in the dunk tank if needed.  I did indeed take a turn in the tank and I was surprised at how much fun I had. So many people were complaining about how cold it was, and whatnot – heck, most of last year’s volunteers declined it this year!  But I loved it. I sat on my perch and yelled “Come dunk a baptist!! Three throws for a dollar!” until Kevin replaced me with a much calmer gentleman.  My favourite part was then Ryan brought me a cup of tea. In the tank.  So there I perched, soaking wet, sipping tea from a cup and saucer while perched on the seat of the dunk tank.  It was a great moment.

Warren is acting VERY TWO these days.  He is full of major scrapes and bruises and a day really isn’t complete if he hasn’t thrown himself to the floor in complete and utter despair.  He has learned how to scream from the master: his brother, and he adds his own uniqueness to it to make the screaming even louder.  Good thing we adore every little bone in his body and every hair on his head.  He hasn’t made much progress on the “communicate in English” front lately, so he’s getting more and more frustrated. That can be good — much problem-solving and learning comes from a manageable level of frustration.  Today, he did point at every bus and say “bus!” to me while we were out. That was cool.

We’ve been thinking and praying for Bill and Carole a ton.  I can’t imagine how stressful it must be for them — to have “sold” a place, bought a new one, and THEN find out the first sale is a no-go.  it makes something within me stretch almost to the breaking point.  So to hear, tonight, that their sale did indeed complete is a wonderful thing. Hallelujah!

Good night, folks!  Don’t forget to tell your peeps that you love them! Oh. And tell me if you’re coming to The Shave. And consider donating. http://cancerevents.kintera.org/baron or http://cancerevents.kintera.org/baronnotbald