First Day of Preschool!

Well, it's official. We have a kid in school! I feel like I definitely can't call her a toddler any more; she's a pre schooler!!





We love her school. I mean LOVE it. I came across it by a recommendation from a mommy group friend, because she said they would work with a stubborn potty kid. And now, that is the least of my reasons for liking the school. It is seriously so awesome, I just LOVE it! And, the teacher in me is so interested in this program and learning about how to teach in it some day. It is that great!!









The very first day was last Friday. Nelson was the parent helper that day, so we both went to help and stay. Only half the class was there, the other half had gone on Wednesday. She was totally ready! She has been to the school, in her classroom several times and has already gotten to know her teacher, teacher Stassi, so she is super comfortable there. She walked right in and started exploring and playing immediately and barely acknowledged us for a long time. She was sweet, friendly and shared with the other kids and barely batted an eye when someone else had a tantrum. She even asked to and peed on the potty!!! HUGE milestone. She participated in everything, followed directions and just did great. We are so proud of her and are so glad we made the decision to start her at school. She was READY!!











(And, I was ready too! It helps that my classroom job is the be the class rep; I meet and get to know all of the parents to make the help and 'mini meal' schedule. As Nelson put it; it gives me plenty of control about her and school- the perfect job for me!!!)

7 Months (a little late...)

A LOT of exciting changes have happened for Jakiah in the last several weeks!

Solid foods are going strong! Seriously, this kid eats everything I make for him! And a lot of it! I am so, so grateful that he likes homemade food (so far), because it is saving us a lot of money already! He regularly eats pears, spinach, sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, carrots, mangoes, peaches and brown rice. Sometimes I combine flavors and he eats it all! And so much! He eats about 4 'cubes' (I literally freeze the purees in ice cube trays, then break them up into baggies or tupperware to store in the freezer, so they're called food cubes) every day, which is about 4 small jars of food and those add up!! I just made cauliflower, broccoli, kale, plums, oatmeal and lots more of the previous types of food mentioned, so I'm stocked up for a little while. He seems to really enjoy eating and has started getting the hang of water in a sippy cup too.

Of course, with solids, it has thrown things off a bit. He has had some really hard times with constipation and we've had to get creative. When things are REALLY bad (4 or more days and I can feel how hard his little tummy it!), I give him pear juice or prune juice mixed with rice cereal and he eats the whole thing!! And, it usually does the trick in about 24 hours or so. I'm trying to give him leafy greens every day too, to keep things moving along.

Speaking of moving, this kid is on the move!! It happened so fast, so suddenly and he wants to GO! Just a few weeks ago, he was a lump, then he figured out how to roll and the next thing we know, he's army crawling across the room!!! It's crazy! He gets frustrated right now; he wants to be held and comforted, but he wants to be down and going at the same time. It has led to major separation anxiety and he only wants mommy for comfort and reassurance. He's sitting up a lot, unassisted as well. WHEW!!

I almost don't want to talk about his sleep. I've kind of given up on the idea of sleeping again any time soon, honestly. I've just started going to bed earlier and accept the fact that he wakes up every 2 hours. As long as I'm down early enough, it usually is okay. It's just one thing after another: teething, then tummy hurting, growth spurt, then mobility so he doesn't want to/can't lay down without rolling, etc, etc. I know he'll learn to sleep eventually, but, yes, there are days that I am one tired Mommy!

Seriously though, how can I complain?? He is the sweetest, cutest, HAPPIEST baby boy and I just adore his smiles and giggles, his pure delight and love for his family, especially his big sister. He adores her and loves that she attempts to play with him. He is starting to play and be interested in so many toys, and nothing on the floor is out of reach anymore! The favorite toy of choice right now is definitely Kalaya's baby dolls, maybe because he sees her with them so much! But really, anything that can be picked up and put in his mouth is good enough for him!

Ketchup 9/8

It’s been an extremely busy, fun, productive and did I mention BUSY last couple of weeks! Life has gotten busy!! Here’s a recap of what I can remember:

*Kalaya has finally, FINALLY decided she’s ready to use the potty. For those of you that don’t know, this has been one of the biggest frustrations of my life. Things were bad folks. Every time she was successful on the potty (and this was only with extreme force or bribery) she cried like her heart was broken and the world was coming to an end. It was so bad that we took it to the pediatrician, who determined there was something much more emotional attached to the potty and wearing diapers for her, some kind of security issue and we were to let it go and wait until SHE decided to be ready. Well, we’re getting there!! Lots of regular times on the potty lately, dry pants during the day, asking to go and lots of stickers going on the sticker chart! This is HUGE!!! (still flat out no #2 on the potty, but I’ll take what I can get. Luckily, her preschool is willing to work with us)

*I have been pinterest project crazy! Mainly in the kitchen. I’m trying to save more and more money by making as much as I can from scratch and/or buying in bulk. My freezer is filling up! I’ve made: 15 quarts of chicken stock, a quart of greek yogurt every other week, multiple muffin recipes, cookies, make ahead breakfasts, hummus, whole wheat sandwich bread every other week, granola bars, and some 10 or so different types of baby food; spinach, pears, mangos, apricots, green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, squash, prunes, broccoli, cauliflower, peaches, plums, blueberries, raspberries, kale, and carrots. I’m trying to lower our monthly grocery budget even more, now that we have a small car payment!

*We are LOVING having a mini-van. Nelson makes fun of me for how happy the new van is making me, but it’s AWESOME!!

*We had a fun Labor Day weekend, which included a trip to the beach, visits to both sets of grandparents and an unplanned FREE trip to the Oregon State Fair! Highlights included catching teeny fish in a sand pail, making a nest in the sand, watching the goats climb on a see saw, petting a llama that had ‘just had a bath’, seeing the bunnies and ducks, tasting strawberry lemonade, eating ice cream and having a picnic. (I’ll let you decide which activity happened where)

*Jakiah is 7 months and MOBILE! I’ll try to post a (late) update for him in the next couple of days, I hope.

*Pre school has started!! Again, another post in a couple of days.