Oy Vay! The Teething!!!!

Poor little munzie!!! He seems to be teething ALL the time, but no teeth are popping through! He is constantly gnawing on me, frozen washrags, and just about any item in his reach -- his favorite being the remote. Drool is all over the place. Constantly fussy and is waking up at night more than usual. Poor baby! When will the teeth pop through and he can get some relief??

Sugar and Spice...

...and everything nice...thats what little girls are made of. I told Maggie that after Sean was nibbling on her, and she had told me that she tasted good to Sean. :) Then I asked her what little boys are made of. She said "milk and beans". :lol

We made sidewalk chalk "paint" today out of equal parts cornstarch and water and some food coloring. Maggie had fun painting it on the driveway. And when it dried, it really looked like sidewalk chalk.



Had a lazy Sunday. Took a walk to the pyramid. Maggie rode her bike, Sean rode in the ergo baby carrier. Our house was cut off from the rest of the town because of a marathon. Roads were closed all around us. This often happens as its nice for the runners to run around Papago Park and then down Scottsdale Road. It makes it hard to do the grocery shopping though. I had to wait until 4:30 before the barricades on Scottsdale rode were down so I could get to Safeway. And Sunday afternoon is NOT a fun time to shop. The store is crowded with college students who shop in packs, block the aisles, and don't know where anything is. It makes it hard to get in and get out quickly.

Ok...now its Sean's turn for a video clip....

First call from Yavapai...

Maggie and another little boy were fighting over a pencil today and the boy took it and stabbed her with it. There is a big scratch on her eyebrow. Thank goodness it didn't get her eye! Yipes!!! Everyone is treating the incident as if it was all this little boy's fault, and Maggie is some sort of innocent victim. Obviously what he did was wrong, but I'm sure Maggie did her share to provoke it. She can be pretty stubborn.

News from Sean's world...Sean is now 7 months old and he has successfully eaten mashed pears, sweet potatoes, and avocado. I really don't want to feed him because I feel it marks the end of his little baby era. Now we move into big baby era...then next thing you know its toddlerhood! I'm not ready for little baby era to be over yet!! :( I'm sure I could put it off another month or two if I wasn't working, but I worry about Sean never eating at daycare. Perhaps he will eat this stuff there even though he still refuses the bottle.

I'm a bit nervous about tomorrow. I usually pick up Sean at 12:30 and immediately nurse him as he refuses to drink from a bottle. But tomorrow I won't be there until after 2pm. I'm taking a bunch of kids to a math competition. Sean has had a bit of baby food, so I'll send some of that with him. Hopefully he won't be too starved and grumpy, or sleep deprived when I pick him up. (He hasn't been napping well lately either.) Wish us luck!

Yipes! School is Starting!!!

And we aren't ready! Glen is frantically grading finals, I am frantically putting together lessons and activities for my new astronomy 2 class, and Maggie isn't ready to go back to Kindergarten, and I am guessing Sean isn't ready for daycare either. Waaaaah! No matter how long vacation is, its never long enough.

We haven't been too impressed with Maggie's school. Its seems worksheet and homework heavy, both things I would expect in the middle and upper grades, but NOT Kindy! So we have been looking around for schools for next year. We ignorantly missed open enrollment cut-off dates last time around, and were wait-listed, so we are busy getting in applications early this year. First choice is Villa Montessori. Open enrollment lottery is February 11th. Pros: Its on the way to work, its free for K-8th, it goes from Toddler to 8th Grade, beautiful campus and a good vibe. Cons: Huuuuuuge wait list. Probably won't get in. Toddler care is an arm and a leg, and maybe the other leg too.

Second place is Montessori Academy. Open Enrollment is the first week of March. Pros: Its right down the street from home, its free for K-8th, and we actually have a chance to get in!! Sean can attend at age 2, which is when Maggie woul be starting 2nd grade, at the same price as the preschool he is currently at. Cons: The school is less than pretty from the outside. Its a hodge podge of houses connected by a paved, or sandy, outdoors. Not a lot of plantings, no grass except in the toddler though age 5 yard. The inside is great though.

Third place is Khalsa Montessori. Open Enrollment is in July? Did I read that right? Crazy! We haven't been able to tour this one yet, so all I know about it is through there website. We hope to set-up a tour in about 2 weeks. Apparent Pros: close location to Xavier although far from our home, which could be a pain when Maggie has school, but Glen and I don't. Free for k-8th, and has a toddler program for Sean. Apparent Cons: Toddler and Pre-primary classes are in a different location than the elementary school (that means 2 drop offs ans pickups), open enrollment on lottery method (which we don't have good luck with) which means there is probably a large waitlist and we won't get in. After our tour, this may change either up or down in the rankings.

Down at the bottom of the list is Hopi Elementary, another public school in our district that is closer to Xavier and has afterschool care, Children's House Montessori, which is a private school (bad since we don't want to pay) and northwest of Xavier (toooooo far) but does have a guaranteed spot for Maggie, and finally, sticking with her current school, Yavapai, which we don't like because of the hours, size, curriculum woes, and location. We really need Maggie to be in school until 3:30 or 4pm so Glen can pick her up so I don't have to rush all around, as next year Sean and I will probably still be on the early release plan, although not as early as this year. He will be in the 1-2 year old room next year, and they have a scheduled naptime from 12-ish to 2:30-ish. Since the earliest I can leave is 12:30, when Sean is napping, I plan to let him nap stay at Xavier until 2:30, and then pick him up. At Maggies current school, the bus drops her off at 2:30, soooo....thats not going to work. Also, Glen and I will always be working during her fall and spring breaks (1 week each semester) and its hard to find someplace for Maggie to go during that time.

Well...I'm sure this isn't very interesting, but writing it all down helped me to sort it all through my brain...

New Skates! New Camera!

Got a new camera for Christmas so I've been experimenting with the movie mode. Here is a video of Maggie putting on a roller skating show. Its amazing how much she has improved since I took this about 5 days ago. She really has the skate and glide motion down. I'll have to do an "after" video for comparison. :)

Starting Solids!

Sean is having a good time in his new high chair. He loves to chew on his spoon. We tried a little pear today on the spoon, and he sort of ate it. Not bad for a first try. Nothing came back out and he tolerated it quite well. He prefers the spoon without food on it though.

It looks like Sean may have a sensitivity to wheat. I let him try some zweiback toast over Christmas and he promptly broke out in hives. I later found out that the eczema on the backs of his legs and tummy may be wheat related as well, so I have cut out all wheat from my diet to see if Seans symptoms improve. Sean won't get wheat at one year old (which is when you are supposed to first sample it) and will have to wait until 18 months or 2 years of age to try again while his gut unlearns the allergic reaction to it. If he is still allergic then, he will likely have to avoid wheat his entire life. :( Lets hope he outgrows it.

Isn't that a cute little bib Sean is wearing? With cookie monster on it? Well, I washed it tonight and it is now pink! Grrrrrr! I washed it with the evil red tablecloth that dyed another load pink earlier this month. Why can't I learn??? All my Christmas towels and kitchen cloth like hotpads, etc, are now pink. This tablecloth is headed to the Goodwill.

Is it just me? or.....

...do these kids have all the same expressions??

No denying they are siblings!

Merry Christmas everyone!