First week of school

First week of school, originally uploaded by jessicafm.

Well, the first week of preschool is under our belts and it seems to be okay! The teachers say he's enjoying himself most of the time and he's taken 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 hour naps each day he's been there, which is excellent! He tends not to eat all the lunch I pack for him, but he makes it up in on-the-way-home-snacks and dinner, so I'm okay with that.

I think he's showing the strain of the new experiences, however, in his sleep habits. He's been sleeping poorly the past several nights, with crying that is only consoled by rocking with me (and falling asleep) but waking up shortly after being put back in to his bed. I thought last night was the worst when I went in to comfort him at 2:30am and had him finally totally asleep in his bed at 3:45, when I went back to bed. I promptly fell back to sleep but Mark said that just 15 minutes later Davey was calling out, "Daddy! Daddy!" until Mark gave up and went in to be with him... and they were UP FOR THE DAY. What?!?!

I was wrong though... that wasn't the worst.

Tonight, I tried to put him to bed, even later than usual. We rocked, read stories, listened to music, turned off the lights and snuggled, talking about our day. When it came time to put him in his bed, he got really upset. Finally he seemed mellow and ready to sleep, so I left the room. Five minutes later he was crying and out of his bed, holding the door closed. Only after I asked him, "Do you want me to come in?" did he open the door and point to the rocking chair. We rocked and he was totally conked out, with my hand against the side of his head. I tried moving my hand away and he immediately woke up, pulled my hand back to his head and let out a cry. Trying to put him in his bed when he was conked out again? No way... major freaking out.

"Okay, do you want to sleep in Mommy and Daddy's bed?"

"Uh huh," he cried.

Okay... so he and I snuggled in our bed and he quickly fell asleep. After 15 minutes I quietly slipped out. He's asleep in our bed now. Hopefully he won't wake up and notice I'm missing.

Let sleeping cats lie

wooh hat, originally uploaded by jessicafm.

Well, the house deal is dead. We agreed with Tom this morning to put forth the cancellation document, whatever that is.

If you know me, you know I'm not really upset about this. As I've said all along: Either this will happen or it won't, but whatever happens is what is meant to be. Meanwhile, we still have a cute house in which we live, with a mortgage we can afford. And we don't have to worry about finding a place to rent now.

Not so fast...

mimi hat, originally uploaded by jessicafm.

Oops! Sale of house may not happen... stay tuned!

davey and hat

davey and hat, originally uploaded by jessicafm.

House Update

Front yard, originally uploaded by jessicafm.

So remember when we had our house on the market in October/November of 2008 and we took it off the market after we received no offers?

Well we got an offer last week! We countered and it seems our counter offer has been accepted and we are in escrow! The buyer has scheduled 3 hours for a home inspection tomorrow.

We do not have any home in mind to purchase yet, but if we sell our house now we'll have cash in the bank and at the ready when we DO find the right place. Neither of us feel that the market is going to get any better over the next year or two, so we may as well get our cash out now and position ourselves to buy a larger place as soon as we find the right one. Meanwhile, we'll rent a home for no more than our current mortgage.

Wish us luck please!

First day of school -- he loved it!

I arrived to pick him up at 3:30 and Davey and his class were on the playground. The director of the school, Genevieve, said that he had a really good day, saying that he's really observant and "with it." She said lots of kids are a bit bewildered and lost their first few days but that Davey was great about participating in the activities, watching what others were doing and just generally having a good time. He also, thankfully, happily lay down and napped when everyone did and got in a good snooze.

When I got there he was so preoccupied, playing, that he didn't see me. When he came near, playing with the water fountain, I called out, "David," he turned toward me, his face lit up and he ran to me and gave me a big hug and kiss. Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me to the playhouse repeating, "follow me!" He wanted to show me the "pasta" he had "cooked" in the playhouse. Then he repeated, as he sat in the sun, "I have fun at school!" I asked him to tell the teacher and he grabbed my hand, pulled me towards the teacher and told her, "I have fun at school!" Asked if he wanted to go home, the answer was, "noooo." When asked if he wanted to go get some milk, the answer was yes, and then he was okay with going home, too. We waved goodbye to the teachers and students and left for home.

Happy!

In school

In school, originally uploaded by jessicafm.

I dropped Davey off for his first day of school today!!

When we arrived his class was just about to enter the playground. He happily ran ahead of me and waited at the playground gate, smiling.

I went and dropped off paperwork, got his snacks, extra clothes, diapering supplies and bedding stowed away in the appropriate places, talked with his teacher (Annie) and even fixed a printing problem for one of the pre-k classroom computers. Then I went down to the playground where Davey was and he was having a good time as they were readying to go to the classroom for "circle time." He was happy, ran up and gave me a hug and then went back to sit on the bench with his classmates, in preparation for circle time.

It's now 2:15 and they haven't called me so I can only assume things have gone well. I'm leaving the office now and heading straight there to pick him up.

I hope he's had a good time!

Ready 2 go

Ready 2 go, originally uploaded by jessicafm.

Davey and spent most of the day running errands together, gathering all the things we'll need for his FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL, which is tomorrow!

omg

Preserved Lemons

Preserved Lemons, originally uploaded by jessicafm.

A friend asked me how I make preserved lemons, as she often sees me posting about using them when I roast chicken. It's so simple and so delicious!

2 thin-skinned Meyer lemons, each cut into 8 wedges
1/3 C salt
1/2 C fresh lemon juice
Extra virgin olive oil

Toss the lemon with the salt and place in a 1/2-pint jar with a glass or plastic lid. Cover the lemons with the lemon juice, screw the lid on and leave the jar at room temperature for a week., shaking it occasionally. After a week, drain the lemon juice and pour in olive oil to cover. You can use the lemons for up to 1 year, storing them in the refrigerator.

Lots of cars

Cars, originally uploaded by jessicafm.

Just one of the things that Davey enjoys about preschool! Mark took Davey for "pre-visits" on Wednesday and Thursday morning to Marin Day School. Basically, this was Davey getting to play in his class but with Mark around to help guide him, watch over and act as maybe a bit of a security blanket. I got a chance to take Davey for a pre-visit this morning (Friday) and really enjoyed it. Davey really has fun though he's still more of a parallel vs partnering play kind of guy. That's typical for his age and he'll start wanting to play WITH others as he gets closer to 3 years of age.

Monday is his first day of 9-3:30 or so with no Mommy or Daddy around. Fingers crossed he keeps enjoying it!

Swearing in

Swearing in, originally uploaded by jessicafm.

Congratulations, Mr. President. We are all so proud of you in this home and wish you the best of luck. What can we do to help?

Today is a momentous day for Earth!

Davey waves goodbye to Bush and Cheney

Davey waves goodbye to Bush and Cheney, originally uploaded by jessicafm.

'nuff said.

Stand-off over the sand tools

Stand-off over the sand tools, originally uploaded by jessicafm.

That little kid was a bit of a bully! I saw him once dumping a handful of sand down the back of Davey's sweater. I caught him trying to do it a couple more times and stopped him. Little disturber!

It's decided!

I just got off the phone with Susan, the administrator of Marin Day School in San Rafael. She said there’s space for Davey and all we need to do is hand in the application. We agreed I would drop the application (and fee) by on Tuesday and pick up the enrollment package.

The next step will be to have two or so “pre-visits”. That’s where Davey and one or both of us will attend his class for a while. She said we could do those visits next week and start him on his Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule the following week.

I’m excited and sad all at the same time. This is the definition of bittersweet.

*sniff sniff*

Next stop: Preschool!

Here we go again: Our nanny, Marina, will be leaving us as of Tuesday, January 20. She must go to France to work for her other employers. Funny, if it was me, I'd probably jump at the chance to live in Paris for a few months. She, however, isn't at all looking forward to it. And we, of course, are not looking forward to losing her. sigh

I started researching preschools, as we feel that Davey's probably ready for that transition now, at 27 months old. I've been asking friends for feedback, recommendations and warnings, as well as asking for the same from the admissions director of Marin Country Day School (who was a middle school teacher there when I was in middle school there) and from a friend who is a music teacher at MCDS. It's come down to several positive recommendations for:

Ice Cream and Shoe (Terra Linda)
Montessori de Terra Linda
Marin Day School - downtown San Rafael location
Marin Day School - Marinwood location

I've had one recommendation for Good Shepherd in Novato, but it is a denominational preschool and we simply don't want any specific religion as part of Davey's schooling. There was one, "I heard Miss Sandie's in Novato is okay," type of recommendation. That's about it for Novato, however.

We've got a visit scheduled for Mark, Davey and I at Ice Cream and Shoe on February 10. They'll accept applications for sometime after that date, but not much longer. They work on a year-round school schedule, with a new session starting in Summer (July?).

I went to the open house for Montessori de Terra Linda last Saturday morning and, I have to say, I was impressed. I can see how the Montessori method could be great for kids and how I think it'd be a lot of fun to learn with that method. My concerns with it, however, are:

1. They want parents to commit to Kindergarten because he would be in a mixed 3-6 year old class. Leaving before Kindergarten would deprive him of the chance to be the "big kid" and mentor the little kids, something he'd be growing towards the first two years. On the other hand, most private schools, such as MCDS, have open enrollment for Kindergarten and beyond that, the only openings are for then children leave the class.
   
2. What if he's not interested in playing/learning all the different topics? I.e. the other little boy Marina watches is 6 and has been going to Montessori for several years. He still doesn't read or know his A-B-C's. I'm sure he'll eventually learn them, but... would I want that for Davey?

Montessori's school year begins in September, though if we choose to go there and he is accepted, we could enroll him in Summer camp. I'm not sure of those dates.

Mark and I are going on a two hour or so tour of the Montessori school tomorrow, where we'll see the classes in session and how the children learn/play/interrelate and how the teachers lead the classes.

Thursday Mark, Davey and I will tour both of the Marin Day School campuses and see what we think. The Marinwood location doesn't have any openings until Summer, when they move to a larger campus. The downtown San Rafael location could pretty quickly accept Davey on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, but are full on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

What fun!

Meanwhile, Mark is getting in touch with people advertizing their nanny services on Craigslist, just in case...

Wish us luck!!

An exciting potty day!

Yesterday Davey was eager to NOT use his potty chair and have me, instead, hold him over the adult toilet. He'd first experienced with being held over the potty was on new year's day when we were at the Russian River and hadn't brought his potty chair. I took yesterday's desire to use the adult potty as a sign that he's ready to move up from the potty chair and to the adult toilet from now on.

So today he and I went to Target and picked out a potty ring to put on top of the adult sized seat. There were a couple styles and I let him pick out the one he liked best (yay, it's made in the USA, too!). I also bought a two-step wooden step-stool to place beside the toilet so he can get up and down on his own.

The minute I took the ring out of the packaging, Davey asked me to take off his diaper so he could pee. I put the ring on, put him on the ring and he peed with some happiness. Then I put the step-stool next to it. That was 15 minutes ago and he has since peed 4 times, the last time exclaiming, "This is fuuuuuun!"

The Sony Sing-a-long Cassette Deck Lives

Dad and Linda bought the sing-a-long casette deck for Prescott when he was a toddler. Prescott really enjoyed it and had a legendary (in our family, at least) performance of the "A-B-C" song.

Then, when Rozzie was a toddler, she was very much a performer, usually with the stage names of either Stadium or Alaska and she used this sing-a-long cassette deck extensively.

Now this toy has been passed in to Davey's hands. They very generously gave it to Davey yesterday afternoon and last night I put new batteries in it so it would work. Davey quickly figured out how it works, though he obviously needs to learn how to prevent feedback and how to not (literally) eat the mic.

Behold, the punk rock version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!

Running across bridges with Daddy

Running across bridges with Daddy
Originally uploaded by jessicafm

On new year's day we went for a little family walk in Armstrong Redwood Forest. It was chilly, dark, damp and beautiful. Davey happily ran the 1.2 miles or so to our turn-around point. Then he wanted to be carried back. Of course!