Play-Learn-Grow-Repeat

From Monday Mom – Neetika:
Greetings from sunny California! We are reporting to you from the sunshine state today. We are in town for a family wedding. It’s been so fun, seeing relatives we haven’t seen in years (or in Haley’s case, ever) and exploring a brand new place. The undisputed highlight of the vacation: Disneyland.

Haley is deep into her princess obsession, so you can imagine that she was in heaven. She met Cinderella, Ariel and Snow White. I was proud of her for going up to them all by herself and carrying out full conversations, then smiling adorably for pictures. Haley also loved meeting Micky and Goofy, riding the teacups and Dumbo rides, and the grand finale– seeing the characters from Frozen in the Main Street parade.

To be honest, I felt mostly hot and tired that day. But it was neat experiencing something so wondrous through Haley’s eyes. Now I’m not only looking forward to additional adventures with Haley, but starting from scratch with another little one. It’s such a great ride.

From Friday Mom – Erin:
Good news! Rory’s transition to his new classroom at daycare is going much better than expected. He’s having a great time during the day, watching the older kids, partaking in new activities, and especially enjoying all the new toys and games in his new classroom. He’s even transitioned to napping in his cot reasonably well.

He comes home each day literally wearing evidence of the new, heightened levels of stimulation. Most days, he’s returned home in a completely new shirt, whether because he got his arts and crafts activity all over him, or because they’d been playing in kiddie pools on the playground and gotten extremely wet. While that means mommy is doing a little more laundry than usual, it also means the little guy is seeing and doing lots of new things, and that’s fantastic.

The one down side, however, is drop-off in the morning. Although Rory warms up to his classmates and new teachers as soon as he arrives, he is definitely more clingy than usual. His old teacher and I had the routine down pretty well… Rory and his teacher would wave bye-bye from the classroom window, and I would wave back and escape with no water works. So far, we’ve not been successful trying a similar routine in his new classroom.

It’s made me feel pretty lousy a couple of mornings this week, but I know it will improve soon enough. I’m just happy to hear how well he’s doing during the day, and that keeps me confident enough not to turn around, even when I can hear the waterworks behind me. . .

From Wednesday Mom – Janelle:
Four years ago, I was nine months pregnant with our younger son, Tate. I remember being very round and sitting by the pool ready to meet him. I wondered if he would resemble his big brother. I wondered what kind of personality he would have. I wondered if he would get along with his brother. But most of all, I wondered if I had the ability to parent two boys. I could never imagine how much this sweet boy would impact our family. He has brought a combination of cuteness, craziness, and comedy to our family.

Tate’s birthday is this weekend, and although I’m excited for this milestone, a little piece of my heart is broken. He is growing up way too fast. He isn’t a baby anymore. He dresses himself, buckles himself, and even helps set the table. I never thought this phase of his life would come so quickly. Oddly enough, it makes me appreciate every meltdown and laugh we share together even more. Before I know it, he’ll be off to college and I’ll miss those alligator tears and pursed lips.

Tate had his fourth birthday party last weekend (a week early) with his friends. We hosted a pirate-themed pool party. Captain Tate was in heaven. He smiled from ear to ear the entire party and loved swimming with his friends. What more could a parent ask for? I’m extremely happy to have a thriving four year old. I can’t wait to see what the next year has in store.

Happy Birthday, Tate!