Snow Day

It started snowing last night around 8 and it hasn't quit. Linus and I were excited to run out to the living room this morning and peek out the window to see how much we got. We had a blast playing in it. The little hill in the front yard is perfect for Linus to sled down. He kept giggling and had me throw snowballs at him while he sledded. I built up a little berm of snow to prevent him from flying into the street. When we went inside his cheeks were rosy, nose was runny, and the smile on his face was huge. Then he ate the half of his lunch he hadn't eaten earlier. We sat on the couch to take a break and he ended up taking an hour and a half long nap next to me. It was delightful to be snuggling with him, sipping tea, stitching on the ornament I'm making for Matthew, and gazing out at the snow coming down. The Christmas tree was lit and holiday music was playing. I guess what I'm saying is that I felt like I was in heaven. It also didn't hurt that we have numerous sweets in the house.

Gingerbread House

We made our first gingerbread house together. Linus helped me make the dough and cut out the pieces. He and Matthew assembled it while I made the royal icing. I made the call the use a hot glue gun and to attach it to a shoe box because I could tell right away that it would be nearly impossible to assemble the uneven walls. I baked them on warped cookie sheets, so none of the walls were level. Of course Linus was very anxious for us to get to the decorating part and was thrilled with all of the candy we bought for it. Tonight I put a battery-operated tea light in it and we admired it with a glow shining through the windows. I had fun making the gingerbread owl, bunnies, and kids for it.

Ballet

The highlight of this week is that we took Linus to see the Colorado Ballet perform The Nutcracker. Leading up to yesterday we read the story and watched a DVD of it. That provided Linus plenty of opportunities to drill me with questions about it before we attended the performance. They provide cushioned booster seats at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, so he was happily perched on the seat between the two of us. Matthew walked him down to look into the orchestra pit before the show and Linus told me the musicians sounded beautiful. What a joy it was for me to look over at his beaming face during the show. He especially like the dresses on the dancers for the Spanish dance. What a treat it was to have him lean over and whisper into my ear, "Their dresses are beautiful!" Some of the teenage performers were in the lobby after the show, holding boxes for donations. Linus was painfully shy about going up to one. He did manage to put the money in the box, but he was frozen in place when the ballerina spoke to him.

At dinner last night Matthew asked what everybody had learned that day. Linus told us he learned some new dance moves. He is still thinking about it today and told me yet again how much fun it was at the ballet.

Here are some things Linus has said recently:
When building a parking structure with blocks he said, "I'm being scientific in how I build this."

While playing with the letter magnets on the fridge: I'm going to spell omnivore." (In case you are wondering, he did not actually spell it.)

Spoken casually over breakfast: "So, when are we going to South America? I want to see all of the animals and pet a toucan."

We were settling in to play farm with the Playmobil and he explained to me that "First the farmers need to plow the fields. And then someone needs to go buy vegetable seeds. A whole lot of seeds because they are planting a lot. Then they plant the seeds. Do you like that agenda?"

I just took the snowy picture. Linus and Matthew are outside playing in the snow. We are all excited to have snow and tonight are going to see the lights at the Gardens. There are so many fun things to do in December with a child.

Linus and Friends

Linus wrote his name for the first time! When he handed it to me after school I was blown away. He acted like he'd always known how to write his name. He wrote it on an envelope that had a letter for Barrett, but I've stashed it away to keep.

Matthew and I went to Linus' first parent-teacher conference last week. Heidi says he has good fine and gross motor skills, migrates around to do all of the activities in the classroom, and has a great vocabulary. Her one suggestion of how he could improve? She said she would like it if Linus would share his ideas more. She had asked the kids what they were thankful for and called on Linus. He said, "I didn't have my hand raised." I had to laugh when she told us this. (He did have fun making this apple turkey.)

Heidi gave us a handout ahead of time to fill out and it included some questions for Linus. His favorite thing about school was playing on the rocket ship. The thing he said he didn't like was the time Hunter said he couldn't get onto the rocket ship. What he wanted to do at school that they hadn't done was play with Playmobil. He also wanted Heidi to know that he likes making puppets and loves his whole house.

Barrett came over to play last week and the two of them spent nearly the whole time pretending to be kitties or lions. They were adorable snuggling together on the couch. Linus became upset when Barrett said she was dead because a lion ate her. He came to me to be comforted and I reminded him it was just a game. Another time they had a bit of unrest was when Barrett told Linus she didn't want him to be the same animal she was being. He told her, "When you're being something, I'm so excited to be what you're being." His sensitivity makes him very sweet, but I find myself having to help him navigate through his hurt feelings.

Turkey Day

Matthew and Linus making cranberry sauce



Lots of love for everyone (Erin, Grace, Linus, Lisa)



Rich captured this adorable shot of Linus on the couch with Ziggy


We celebrated Thanksgiving with our friends from the neighborhood. Katie and Ziggy hosted at their house and we were joined by Erin, Brad, and Grace, as well as Lisa and Rich. The meal was delicious. Before dinner I enjoyed the goat cheese with blueberries in it. I need to find out where I can buy it. Linus went at the cheese board like he'd been doing it forever; wielding the cheese knives and everything. Everyone took turns entertaining the kids, who kept being incredibly cute. The next day Linus was still raving about Thanksgiving.

Linus and Grace

Our little Grace just turned one and has started walking! When Linus rode up to her house for her birthday party, she came walking over to meet him and check out his trike. Later on, she fell on the cement porch steps and got a big, ugly bump on her forehead, which reminded me of Linus' big bump at his first birthday party. (He fell into a steel dinosaur sculpture the day before his party.) Linus was proud of his gifts for her. He gave her a monkey book and fabric flower bracelet with a smiley face on it. She came over to our house the other morning while Erin went to the dentist. She had breakfast with us and neither she nor Linus focused very well on eating. They were more interested in playing.

Linus showed her his worm bin. We signed him up for weekly preschool programs at the Botanic Gardens and this week the topic was worms. He got to tear up paper for the worms' bedding, and put in compost and leaves. Right now the red wigglers are residing in his room. That is convenient for feeding them scraps from the kitchen, but I suspect we'll be moving them to the downstairs in the interest of creating space in his room.

Linus' latest thing is to start by asking me "why" and then following that up with, "How do you know?" Aaaaaaah! Sometimes it drives me batty.

Silly Boy

Linus is all about silliness these days. I've noticed this with the other three-year-olds we know. What is even more enjoyable from my perspective is the proud, excited look they get on their faces as they demonstrate the silliness. In the picture Linus is showing off the big marshmallow he has in his mouth. We got 18 inches of snow last week and after playing in it the morning of the second day, we came in for hot chocolate. The only marshmallows we had were the big ones left over from camping. (Culinary note: they don't get all melty like the miniature ones do.)

Linus is always saying very silly things or very smart things and I obviously can't write everything down. Here are a few:

One day at the end of summer, in a tired and whiney voice, he said, "I want caterpillars. They're my favorite bug. Can I have caterpillars today?" I told him I had no control over what bugs came along with our produce from the CSA.

He asked me, "Are you happy?" I said, "Yes, I'm just tired." He said, "You aren't smiling so I think you aren't happy."

He was pretending he was a howler monkey and came into the kitchen to tell me, "Howler monkeys scare kids sometimes. I think because they want privacy and not hear the loud sounds. And they howl when they feel shy."

Before we planted our bulbs, I showed Linus pictures of the flowers in the catalog. I explained to him that crocuses are very special to me because not only are they pretty, but they remind me of bringing him home from the hospital after he was born. He said, "Awww. Thank you for telling me that."

We were playing out in the yard and Linus wanted to ride his trike to the park. I said no, because he always gets too tired to ride it back and I don't like carrying it home. He insisted he could ride it both ways and I said no, I don't think so. He came back at me with, "I'm sad you don't trust me." In all honesty, I wanted to laugh really hard at this, but instead said, "The reason I don't trust you on this is based on past experience. Let's just walk there." So we did.

He has been pretty good about his Halloween candy. He usually accepts our limits regarding how much he can eat in a sitting. This year I have really noticed more parents taking the candy away in exchange for a toy, or letting the kid keep a few pieces and then throwing the rest out. I want Linus to have a healthy diet and a healthy relationship with food, but I don't think his Halloween candy will ruin him. I turned out just fine and I ate all of my Halloween candy as a kid (except for those icky Almond Joys). We let him have three pieces for dessert. Just like last year, he has been generous with us and shares some out of the packs that have multiple pieces. He was very happy when he opened the little box of Milk Duds and found three of them in it. He handed me one and said, "There were three of these. Good for our whole family." It made me smile.

Halloween

At the end of last Halloween, Linus told me he wanted to be a turtle the next time. He never once changed his mind. About a month ago he said he wanted to be a sea turtle. I was going to sew him a costume, but then he asked for a hard shell. I chose to create it out of paper mache. He helped me tear up newspapers into strips and he stirred the paste, but he didn't like the messy part of dipping the strips into the paste. Sometimes he played nearby while I put on another layer and other times I worked on it while he was taking a bath or playing with Matthew.

As we got closer to painting it I asked him what color he wanted the turtle to be. I could tell that he was envisioning it as he gestured and described: "A white sea turtle. With a white shell and a pink front." So that is what I created for him. As he marched up the street to go trick-or-treating, I thought the costume suited him perfectly. He was a great sea turtle.

When we carved pumpkins, Linus only wanted his to have eyes. After Matthew carved those into it, Linus put pulp on the top of it to be stringy hair. He didn't want to have a candle in his. This is the first time that he had his own vision for his jack o'lantern.

Growing

Last week I started getting the idea that Linus might be having a growth spurt. He was sucking down milk all of the time, sleeping in, and tripping a lot. One day he even took a nap. Yes, a nap! It was a beautiful fall day and we were tackling a couple of new projects. We found a small book case in the alley and I bought a headboard for Linus off of Craig's List for $10. Score! We were cleaning them up and sanding them. After he got tired of helping with that, he hauled every single one of his plastic and wood animals outside to play. Quite a while later he announced that it was time for us to take breaks. He made a couple of trips into the house to bring out a cozy and books for us. I did need a break and I was touched that he'd gone to my bedside table and grabbed the top three books on the stack. So we rested and read books. Next thing I know, I realize he hasn't said anything or moved. He was leaning against my leg. When I pulled away and sat up, I could see that he was asleep. He NEVER naps any more! He was that tired out!

I took a picture of him napping because he looked so sweet.

By the way, he is awesome at sanding and staining. He totally gets the whole thing about going with the grain.

Rites of Autumn

Yesterday we had friends over to make caramel apples. Barrett, her brother Matt, and Linus played outside in between the batches of caramel. They dreamt up a game of tag in which the one who was "it" buzzed around like a bee. Linus is still proclaiming that he enjoyed the party and liked making caramel apples. This evening he asked why we had the party. I told him, "Because it is nice to do things with our friends. That is how we make happy memories."

After the guests left and I'd cleaned up a tiny bit in the kitchen, we headed to the front yard to rake leaves. Wednesday's snow and rain took down most of the leaves in our maple tree. The three of us had fun working and playing with the leaves. Just like last year, Linus got upset when we started bagging up the leaves. Sorry kid, but that is the point of all that raking.

On Friday I helped chaperone Linus' preschool class to a pumpkin patch. We walked the kids there, with each child holding the hand of a classmate or grown-up. We talked about the different sounds we heard as we stepped on dry leaves or wet leaves. The Pumpkin Lady at the patch told us a story and then the kids each got to pick out a little pumpkin for themselves. They all wanted to bring them home, but they will be decorating them in class this week. Last Friday I worked as a substitute for the teacher's assistant. She was out with the H1N1 virus, which then resulted in her having pneumonia. I loved playing teacher with the kids in the art room and I even got paid! The money will be applied to Linus' tuition. Langley teases me that I'll be teaching there next year and all the kids will want to be in my class. Very flattering. (In the class photo, Heidi, the lead teacher, is on the right and her assistant, Laura, is on the left.)

Independent Streak

Linus wants to do nearly everything for himself. If I get out a spoon for his breakfast he complains and doesn't stop until I put the spoon back. Then he reaches into the drawer and takes out the very one I'd chosen for him. I'm getting much better about remembering that he wants to use his skills. Of course I still get the whiney, "Mama. Take my boots off for me. I'm too tired to do it."

Out of the blue I discovered that he could cut pictures out with scissors. Linus' teacher suggested in her weekly newsletter that we give our kids some strips of paper to cut into small pieces. That sounded like good practice in cutting, so I pulled out some scraps of printed scrapbook paper and gave it to him for cutting. He cut out a few jagged strips, glued them together, and told me it was a tree. The very next morning I found him cutting out the pieces to an activity we got from the library. I was shocked and said, "Since when do you know how to cut so well?! Did you learn that at school?" He said, "No. I cut the paper yesterday and now I know how to do it." Amazing! It is interesting how kids can go from not being able to do something, to doing it quite well over night. He was pretty proud of himself.

Doesn't he look cute in his sweater? I love guys in sweaters. Linus chose his outfit, including the boots, and I chuckled to myself that he was dressed like Matthew. We got the boots secondhand from neighbors. They are a bit beat up, but still have a lot of wear in them. Linus wears them everyday now. I took the outdoor pictures on our walk to preschool last week. I enjoy our time together on our walk. He holds my hand much of the time. We talk about things we see, like the leaves falling off of the trees or acorns we find. It provides us some focused togetherness before we part at school.

Farm Animals

Erin and I took Linus and Grace to see the farm animals that were visiting the Children's Museum. It was a beautiful fall day after several days of rain. It was nice to get the kids outside. (Not that I mind rainy days.) Linus pet a duck, hen, rabbit, goat, and sheep. He also got to sit on the pony. He liked watching Grace try to put the rabbit's ear in her mouth. She tries to put everything in her mouth. He laughed when I told him about the time he put a duck's bill in his mouth.

We watched Grace for a few hours today and she gave us hugs for the first time. We were there when she woke up from her nap and she was so excited to see us come into her room to get her. I got her out and we were playing with her on the floor when she crawled up my leg to lean into me and snuggled close. Then she reached over to Linus and did the same thing. He was in heaven! He really loves Grace. On our way home he was sad to leave her. He told me that they could both sleep together in her crib.

Linus has been asking me, "Do you love me when I'm in pajamas? Do you love me in the bath tub?" etc. After I tell him yes, he says, "I love you when you are in pajamas," etc. He missed Matthew a lot last week. Matthew has had to work a lot lately and after a few days of this Linus gets mopey about it.

On Friday at preschool they got to paint with cars. He said it was fun to see their tracks. He likes to tell me how they say, "One, two, three; that's enough for me!" when they pour their own water. He says it is hard to say it and pour at the same time, but they are supposed to say it so they don't pour too much.

Loving Life

Linus is having fun nearly every minute of every day. He really enjoys attending preschool and getting to do fun, new activities. He told me he wishes he could go every day. Last Friday the kids got to make rainbow toast as part of a color lesson. They painted bread with dyed milk. After it was toasted, they got to sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar and snack on it. He also likes to play house and dress-up. (One of the perks of being in charge of organizing the photos for the teacher is that I get pictures of Linus doing things at school. Here he is with Heather.) It is clear to me that he listens to his teacher because of things he tells me to do. For example, on his second day of school he firmly instructed me to walk up the stairs on the right side and when coming down to use the other side. One day I asked if he played with Oscar. He said, "No. He didn't know the rules and I know the rules. We were having circle time and he wanted to play, instead."

After one day of preschool, he started calling me mom instead of mama. What makes this strange is that he says it in nearly every sentence to me. "Read me this book, mom," and "I'm playing dinosaur, mom." I guess he is just trying it out. I was sad about it for a few days, but now I'm over it. I guess I thought I'd be his mama for longer.

I bought him some Playmobil toys off of eBay and he is in heaven with them. "It has binoculars (pronounced bi-noc-ee-yars)! He has a suitcase!" He had a butterfly flying around the plastic trees to all of the flowers and was calling out, "He's pollinating the flowers! Even the cute, little flowers! He's pollinating every flower!" The thing about those toys is that I have a ton of fun with them.

I also got him his first set of Legos to see if he could handle them. Ever since he hung out with his older cousin, Brandon, Linus has asked us several times if he is old enough for Legos. I got him a beginner set of Freestyle Legos and he was bursting with excitement when they came in the mail. Getting them was a very important moment in his life, which became apparent to me when he said, in a reverential tone, "It's my first Legos." Matthew and I both enjoy building with him.

As one can see from his quotes, much of what he says is an exclamation. What an amazing time this is for him and for us to witness.

1st Day of Preschool

Linus enjoyed preschool, but he hasn't talked about it very much. On our way there he kept running ahead and then running back to me. He said, "I'm running because I'm so excited to go to preschool!" I allowed just the right amount of time to get there. Even with a stop to open acorns under an oak tree, we got there in time to take a picture and get him up to class. He was definitely nervous with all of the parents and kids waiting outside the classroom door. I tried to occupy him with finding his cubby and Chase's as well. Only half the class had Wednesday as their first day and Chase wasn't starting until Friday. I underestimated how much that mattered to him. Heidi and Laura had the kids sit on carpet squares to start the day. When Heidi asked if everyone was there, Linus called out, "Chase isn't here!" He seem troubled by this. I told him that Chase was starting on Friday and then class started and I left.

The house was so very quiet without him there. I didn't get much of anything done because I was thinking about him growing up so fast. I felt a bit competitive about sharing him with his teacher. He's mine, mine, mine! But I knew he was having fun. On a whim I stopped by a bakery and picked up a little cake to surprise him with after dinner. We celebrated with him and watched Obama give his health care speech to Congress.

When Matthew asked him about preschool he said, " "We made marbles. We did red, blue, and pink. We had strawberries and fish crackers. We ran around. And Heidi said we were the best cleaners!"

Pending Preschool

We baked cut out cookies this week. We haven't done that in many months and Linus has gotten quite good with the rolling pin and cutters. He chose to make lobsters, fish, ducks, and two styles of hearts. I focused on making Shakespeare cookies with this cool, wood cookie mold.


Linus starts preschool on Wednesday. We haven't had to hype him up for it because to him it is normal and a given. This is yet another milestone that he glides right into with no trouble. We'll see if that is still the case after a few days of the program. I've also been fully prepared. A couple of weeks ago we attended his class lemonade and I got to meet a number of his classmates' parents. The experience felt like one of those speed dating events where one spends five minutes with each person. While the parents chatted, the kids ran around the play ground and had tons of fun. Many of us had to haul our kids off crying to head home for the evening. None of them wanted to leave.

Heidi, his teacher, visited each child in their home for about a half hour. The point of the visit was for the child and teacher to get to know one another. After we let her in the door and Linus led her off to his room, I went into the kitchen to put away dishes and eavesdrop on their conversation. She talked to him about painting and asked if he likes to make a mess. He said, "No. Sometimes I do and then mama has to clean up after me and Matthew." Ha!

Before having children she was a first-grade teacher in the area. After her children attended preschool at Montview, she liked it so much she decided to teach there. I like her a lot. She and her assistant, Laura, have beautiful smiles and I think all of the kids will love them.

I also attended the Parent Orientation. Here we learned about our helping days, the kinds of snacks to bring, labeling clothes, the day-to-day routine in the classroom, and were warned that the kids will have runny noses from October to March. I got a bit emotional when I saw his cubby.

My third meeting was to learn about my specific parent job, which is being a Curriculum Parent. Another parent and I will do things to lighten the workload that Heidi has to take home, like cutting out things for projects, making play dough and gak, gathering materials for projects, etc. Heidi pulled me aside and asked if I could organize the pictures for her two classes this year. The pictures will be used for posting on a bulletin board so parents can see what the kids have been up to. At the end of the year each kid will receive a book with photos of their time in the class. I was relieved to receive this job and to not have to be on the fundraising committee. I have skills that could be useful on any of the committees, but I'll have the most fun with this one.

Frolicking at the Beach

Ocean

While we were out east for a family wedding, the three of us drove up to Maine and had a chance to take Linus to the ocean for the first time. He was most taken by the sea gulls. He became giddy watching them. He thought the waves were interesting, but he didn't trust them and got freaked out by them a few times. He thoroughly enjoyed a tidal pool, though. The water was warmer and the size of it was more manageable for him. He got coated in sand. I think the pictures from this visit tell the story better than my words can.

Rainy Camping Trip

Last weekend the three of us went camping at around 9000 feet in State Forest Park. The campground we stayed in was gorgeous and just how I envisioned camping in the mountains. We were surrounded by tall, tall trees and ground squirrels scampered about. The park is also home to about 400 moose. Several things put us at a disadvantage:
1. I forgot to pack a flashlight. Fortunately, I realized this before we drove through the last major town and we stopped to buy one. We ended up getting a two-pack and Linus had fun playing with his in the car. He insisted he needed it to see moose. In a whisper he would tell us, "I'll hear a moose. Then I'll turn on the flashlight and see it." He was adorable about his quest to see a moose. He learned this animal tracking method from the Owl Moon book from Peter and Betsy.
2. The pump for the air mattress didn't work. That wasn't such a big deal, but it worked when Lyz was here in July. Matthew made a valiant effort to blow it up himself, but then I reminded him that at our high altitude there wasn't as much oxygen. He stopped blowing and when he stood up he felt lightheaded.
3. It kept raining on us. Rain shower after rain shower came and went. At times they were accompanied by lightening. If there is one thing I've learned very well here is that lightening is very dangerous at high altitudes. So I'd tell everyone to get into the car. Linus was troubled by this a bit. It was difficult for me to prepare dinner in these conditions. I finally decided that the hobo dinners could just have the rainwater in them!
4. The water jug leaked in the trunk. Apparently the seal is no longer any good. We were relieved that nothing important got wet from the leak.
5. I realized I hadn't packed diapers for Linus to sleep in. Uh, oh. The low that night was going to be in the high 30's and one doesn't want to get wet and risk hypothermia. We tossed around the idea of wrapping his lower half in an extra plastic bag I'd brought along.
6. We were rushing to make s'mores before it started raining again and failed. It was dark and the rain started coming down hard. We dove into the tent with the graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows. We sipped the hot chocolate we'd managed to make and ate the individual ingredients. Things weren't too bad until I felt rain water leaking onto me. Our bedding started to get wet and then Linus wet his pants. We had to make the decision to sleep in the car. Matthew slept in the driver seat, I slept up front with him, and we tucked Linus into his car seat. Part way through the night, Linus woke up crying and ended up sleeping the rest of the night with Matthew. The two of them were wedged into the steering wheel.

When we got up the next morning it was quite chilly and it felt good to stand by the fire. Rain showers continued to come through and we decided we had to head home instead of staying for a second night as we had planned. Before we left we attended a talk about moose and drove around a bit in search of one. We did get to cook our hot dogs on the fire, but had to eat our lunch in the car because it started raining again.

One thing I will say about us: we are really good sports and quite good at maintaining a positive attitude. I'm going to figure out how we can weatherproof our tent some more and I think we'd like to rent a cabin there next summer.

Soccer

Soccer has ended for the season. Linus enjoyed it for the most part. The coach for his team bailed out on the kids and didn't show up for the final three games. The parents stepped in and coached them. My contribution was to tell each of them how they were doing great. For the final game, the staff person from the Y asked for a volunteer to distribute the participation medals. I jumped at the chance. I greatly enjoyed putting them around each child's neck. So far the only thing that Linus seems to have learned from the experience was how to blow bubbles with his spit and have them stick to his lower lip. He learned this from Isis, the girl in the middle of the team picture.