Monday, November 24, 2008

Ian Gets Down to Business

Late Friday evening, I realized that I had left the charger for my Kindle at the office and my power was low. There was no way I was going the weekend without my book, right at the good part, so I packed Ian in the car and made the grueling 6 minute drive from our house to my office. I know what you're thinking...rough commute.


He loved sitting at my desk and playing with my keyboard. I wish I would have thought of it, but I should have gotten pics of him doing crazy things... in my manager's office, the high security server rooms, the owner's office, on a fork lift... you know, career advancement tactics. Probably a good idea I didn't think of it!

We also went to the grand opening of the new grocery store literally feet from our house. Ian loves the car/carts and they have 3, meaning we'll almost always be guaranteed to get one when we shop there. They don't know it, but that might make me a more frequent customer than competitive prices or convenient location. Others were probably wondering why, but I got a couple of cute pics of him driving the cart...and yeah, that's Ben & Jerry's in the cart. I have no shame.

We made a trip to our local Children's Museum, where I conveniently ventured without a camera (gasp!) and a fun new play area at a nearby mall...also sans camera. Could I be letting go of photo addiction? Let's hope not.

So... Today was my rescheduled Parent/Teacher conference that I blew off on Thursday. I called my mom before so she could keep me accountable. Crazy that at 35, I still need my mommy to keep me on task. While waiting for the meeting, I also stopped by the T-Mobile store to check out new phones... phones with calendars and task lists. Phones that won't let me miss another appointment like that again. My hot pink RAZR was cute 5 years ago, but it's let me down one too many times. Time for a big girl phone. I digress.

Although Ian is still on track to get in at the Learning Preschool down the street from our house, hopefully sometime in January or February, this conference was important. He's been at this daycare since February and this is the first communication we've received from them about how he's doing. I asked for extra time to discuss his hearing and how they need to be communicating with him...and to fill them in on his background. His teacher is a nice (young) girl who seems to have the kids best interest at heart. I feel bad that she essentially handles 15 2 year olds all by herself with one assistant. I also know that this type of ratio can't equate to much one on one time or focused learning.

In the end, she had a lot of great things to say about Ian's progress. The one thing he needs to work on is going to sleep at naptime. We never have issues at home, mostly because he loves that alone time in his crib to play and talk to himself. Put him on a mat in the middle of a room with 15 kids and he's a mess. If I can't get him to understand that he has to close his eyes and go night night at naptime, then I'm afraid I need to make it the daycare's issue to deal with. I kind of feel like I throw a grand a month at that problem...and have essentially hired professional babysitters to get him to take his nap. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but he's 2. If he doesn't take naps every day, I have a feeling he'll somehow live to see adulthood.

I did bring up the MANY bites he has come home with recently and his tattling that "Mommy, Tyler bites people!" She admitted that they have 2 biters in the class and those kids are both on probation. They have to have a teacher with them at all times (doubles their staff in the room) and if it doesn't get better in 30 days, they will be expelled. Sad for them, but something I can't tolerate. I certainly don't want Ian to learn that biting is the right way to communicate frustration.

I also asked that he get more water and less juice, and gave her some feedback about the nutrition level of the foods listed on his daily sheet. I know food is expensive, but when all meals are starches plus canned fruit... with a chicken nugget or fish stick, I can't imagine that he's getting much in the way of protein or calcium.

So, it went well. We have a couple of little things to work on, but he has proven that he can hold his own with his peers, isn't overly affected by the chaotic environment, and by her accounts is very good at "clean up" and is very gentle with his friends. As we know, he does very well with music, instruments, and books. I told her that his new passion is Little Einsteins, but never watched TV until just a couple of months ago. He probably gets 2 hours a week total, and I feel pretty good about that. It's an educational show and he has learned many instruments from it, and now enjoys classical music.

Below are a couple of pictures... Weak, I know. I'll get back into the swing of things soon!




"Getting I.T. Done"

Steering the cart... Even if I just have one thing, I'm forced to get this 100 pound cart and drive the lanes for 45 minutes.

Good Times! Heaven help us when it's time to get out and leave the store.

4 comments:

  1. As for nap time, is there an area in the room that they can put him away from the other kids? Maybe more in a corner so he is more alone? When I worked in a day care center there were always kids that could not nap with another kid a foot away from them (I know I wouldn't be able to!). Are they being pr-active to see if there's an area that he falls asleep easier? Just a thought.

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  2. Ok, those car carts are dangerous. I once took out an entire display of Stove Top stuffing. Aisle 2 at the local Acme will never be the same. But as long as the kids are happy, I'll happily take out the Progresso display next. The workers see me and move all products out of the aisles :)
    Ian couldn't get any happier, could he?

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  3. Oh, Micah insists on taking those monster carts through the store too. Not maneuverable at all!

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  4. Hihi,
    Saw your Hangzhou pictures! Very pretty. We were there in February 2006 for our daughter Ying Xin and pretended to be unable to read English (stupid Dutch tourists in China, huh?) and DID take pictures inside the temple. If you want them, I can mail them to you? Just give me your e mail address and I'll forward some...
    Regards
    Karen Visser
    http://karenvisserconra.ikneemmee.nl/yingxinvisser

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