in with the new

Sleep Talking

I know I have a lot of stuff to post about, I'll get there. And someday, I'll be better about posting regularly.

Mas has spoken in his sleep the past two nights. Two nights ago, he giggled, "Silly Gabe". He still misses his friend. And last night, he tossed and whimpered and said, "the Pearl Jam". (Yesterday, I wanted to put Pearl Jam Ten into the car's CD player, but he wouldn't let me.)

I love getting a peek of what's running through his sweet head at night!

Sugar

Something funny to share...
Mason was acting a lot crazy this morning, and told us it was because of the sugar (a cookie that made him a little nutso) he ate on Monday. (It's WEDNESDAY!)

He's very economical about eating sugary foods. Even on Halloween, he ate 4 M&Ms and he was fine with not having any more. His robot brain computes the facts of what will happen if he has too much sugar. Then he makes good decisions and accepts what we dole out. We are lucky, I think!

Bedtime Books

I haven't read books at bedtime to Mason since just after his birthday. The nightly routine used to be:

• bath
• books
• climb in bed and sing songs
• talk about our day
• rest our bodies and go to sleep (this took anywhere from 20 - 40 minutes)

It has whittled down to:

• bath
• bed (some chit chat and asleep in 20 minutes)

When I ask him why he doesn't want to do the fun things anymore, he says, "they take too wong, and it will be too dark." Sometimes I can slip in a song ("they're less than a minute long, Mas!") or we talk about a part of his day, or numbers or spelling, so I feel like I'm not too far off the original plan on those. But I have missed reading books so very much. I haven't read a book to him, except for the occasional afternoon book (maybe 3 times in the last 2.5 months?), since the end of August. Until last night.

Last night I had a EUREKA! moment. I asked him if I could read to him in the bath. He was pretty excited about it. We picked out a pile of books, and I read three while he washed. I hope he lets me continue this bath reading, I missed it so much!

Big Classroom - Week 1

This week has turned out OK for Mason in his new classroom. Thursday morning Mas protested going to school again. But when I picked him up, he told me all about how he and another boy were being silly together at naptime. It was a fun day. Yesterday as we were getting ready to head out to school, he told me, "I wike the big cwassroom." Whew! Who knows what Monday will bring (it's only a two-day school week, so I'm thinking it will go OK), but I'm glad yesterday morning was easier on him.

Yesterday Mason's teacher, Jennifer, told me she had been working with Mas on his fine motor skills, and he is very advanced. She asked if we worked with him on them at home. I told her we didn't, and I was surprised, because he had been behind most of his girl friends for some time. I told her that he plays the wii a LOT. While that's a lot of big arm motion, it's also hand-eye coordination and pressing little buttons. He's been working on his fine motor skills without even knowing! Monday we have a conference with Jennifer. I know he's only technically been there one week, but he has been with her in aftercare for months. I can't wait to talk to her about him, she's really insightful. I love learning about what he's doing, achieving and what new skills he'll likely develop!

Big Classroom Report

Today is day three in the big classroom. The kids from his "crew" have been so sweet to him! Monday, Will dropped Mas off, and Trinity Lane showed Will and Mason where to put his jacket, where his cubby is, where his water bottle and lunch go. Then they had circle, and Aiden put his carpet square right up next to Mas's. Yesterday I brought him, and Trinity Lane showed *me* where everything goes. Then she, Neva AND Aiden all wanted to sit next to him at circle. As I closed the door behind me, Mason was walking over to Neva. I overheard, "Neva, what're you drawing?" It's good to have pals in a new place.

This morning, Mas was sad and told Will he didn't want to go to the big classroom because there are too many kids and it is too loud. Will told him that the noise was something he would get used to, like being in River's music studio. I hope his friends help him be happier today.

House Mob!

I planned a "House Mob" for Courtney. Last month, she told me that she was overwhelmed with schoolwork and commitments. She didn't have time to tend to her overgrown, weedy, large yard. It had gotten extra-out-of-hand this summer. She said she had a large area that she wanted to sheet mulch, and if she did it herself, it would take weeks. I asked her if I could organize a "House Mob" for her. (See this guide on Crop Mobs for info!) She said yes! I invited a bunch of parents from school, and Courtney invited her friends. There were four families from school there today (including ours), and the mulching took less than three hours. Then we sat around eating, drinking, watching our kids play, lazing on the hammock, rolling down hills, and picking pumpkins (Courtney's neighbor tractored them over!). Good times, good people, good thing to be a part of!

















 

Park Fun with Tessa!

We met Tessa and Tara at Carrier Park today. It was just them, no Baby Kate, she was with a baby sitter. Big kid fun! We miss our friends a lot. It was very fun to spend time and play. Mas and Tessa bounced a basketball a little, played on swings, and then we made our way over to the volleyball courts. The courts have really nice beach sand, so we took off our shoes, relaxed, and Mason and Tessa got buried in the sand!






 

Last Day

Today was Mason's last day in the little classroom. Courtney was sad and teared up a couple of times when we were there. We stayed for his last morning circle. They all talked about how they were feeling. (Almost all of them were happy because their mom and/or dad dropped them off.) So cute. Sitting there for circle made me less sad about him moving up. He is much more experienced than the other kids. He's ready to be with the 4s and 5s. That gave me a lot of confidence in this moving up business.

Courtney's report for the day was very sweet and made me teary.

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Today was bittersweet. It was mostly just as sweet as ever, but the reality of this being Mason's last day is sad. We have talked about it extensively but it will be interesting to see what the kids say and do on Monday. He has been our gentle leader. The new children have had a wonderful role model.
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He is still very excited about Monday, "NOVEMBER 15, I GO TO THE BIG CLASSROOM!" Awesome big boy.


 

Eva

 

The other night, Mason told me he loved me, and rubbed noses with me. I've seen him rub noses with his sweet school girlfriend, Eva. I asked him if he tells her he loves her. "Yes, I tell her I love her, and she loves me, too!" They are beyond sweet to each other.

Last Week

 
This is Mason's last week in the "little classroom". He moves up to the 4/5 year-old class next Monday. He is VERY excited. Every day he tells us, "November 15, I'm going to da BIG classroom!" I am not so excited. And it has nothing to do with the class. The big classroom is great. It has awesome teachers. It has a lot of familiar kids (who "graduated" from the little classroom, as well). And it's housed in this great, GREAT school that Mason attends.

My non-excitement is because I am going to miss Courtney so very much. I'm going to miss her observations of Mason, and reports of his interactions with other kids. I'm going to miss the daily reports on Facebook and the regularly posted pictures (the big classroom is sporadic about both of those, it's newer to them, and Courtney's been doing it as part of her daily routine for a year). I'm going to miss drop-offs in the cute little classroom (it's a much smaller, intimate group). I'm going to miss some of the little kids who aren't moving up yet. I'm going to miss Courtney. Oh, der, said that already. 

I'm sure that I will love his new class a lot. Actually, I DO love the big classroom. I am just dealing with this little classroom/Courtney loss, this achey heart, this growing up and moving on, that is going to continue to happen through Mason's life.