Pre-K

Kai began a Pre-K program at our local elementary school on August 23rd.  His program is 4 days a week, 2 and a half hours a day.  There are 16 kids in his class and he has 3 teachers.  He had been looking forward to it for most of the summer.  He picked out his clothes for the first day of school himself and doesn't he look handsome??! 

In his classroom.

The playground for the preschoolers and Pre-Kers.

I will confess to being nervous and emotional surrounding this day.  I was concerned about how he would behave in class, if he would make friends (aka. be nice to his classmates), if it would be too much for us 4 days a week, etc.  But I needn't have been worried.  Kai loves going to school and is having a great time.  My one-on-one time with Finn has been great.  I was worried we would be bored, but we have had such a good time together.  I forgot how much I really enjoyed focusing on just one kid, especially at this fun age.  It really has been a good thing for all of us.  I've found that on Fridays when Kai is home in the mornings, I am more patient with him.  (although admittedly today seemed like the longest day ever!)  I'm even finding that school isn't taking our whole day like I had feared.  We still have time to be together and play together in the afternoon.

Finn has had a bit of a different reaction to Kai's absence, but I'm sure it'll change eventually.  The first day we dropped Kai off, as we were heading to the car, Finn started yelling out for Kai.  When I told him that Kai was staying at school he said "saaaaad".  The second day we dropped Kai off Finn kicked and screamed and did not want to get in the car.  So I bribed him with a trip to the park.  At the park he found other 3 year-old boys to follow around.  Poor thing really misses his buddy.  In fact, I was worried that picking Kai up right before Finn's nap time would be a problem.  I was afraid that Finn might fall asleep in the car and totally ruin his nap.  But instead, the excitement of getting Kai has Finn awake the whole time.  When we get close to the school Finn will start yelling and pointing.  He sure does love his buddy and is happy to see him.  The third day we picked Kai up, Finn began bouncing and squealing in his stroller when Kai came out of the classroom.  For now it's a good thing that Kai is gone for just half-a-day!  I love that my boys love each other.  And I love that Kai is loving Pre-K!

Hide 'N Seek

Our boys are getting so good at playing together.  Finn worships Kai and wants to do whatever he is doing.  In the mornings Finn is normally the first one up, but he doesn't really smile until he sees Kai, and then his entire face just lights up.  It's so cute to see them together.  Honestly, it makes my heart smile.  Cheesy, I know, but true.

Yesterday Kai needed something upstairs, but Finn didn't want to come with us.  So after Kai went up the stairs, I covered my eyes, started to count, and then shouted "Ready or not, here I come."  Finn was all over it!  He started yelling "Kai!" and raced up the stairs to find him.  I loved that I got them both up the stairs willingly.  So this morning when we were having a repeat performance, I tried it again.  Again, it worked like a charm.  And once we got upstairs the boys continued the game on their own.  Finn doesn't understand hiding yet, but he sure does love to seek.  Here are some clips of their game.  I love just about everything in these videos!  (Note:  Finn says "da, da, da" for counting and "go" for "ready or not".  You may need to turn up the volume just a bit to hear it.)

Life's About To Change

For the last 4 years and 3 months I have been a stay-at-home mom with a stay-at-home kid.  And for 22 months it's been two stay-at-home kids.  The reality is that the world as I know it is about to change and I'm still not sure how I feel about it.  Next Tuesday I'll drive Kai to the local elementary school, walk him into his classroom and say goodbye.  The funny part is that he isn't even starting Kindergarten, just Pre-K, but it sure does feel more like Kindergarten.  His Pre-K class meets for 2 and half hours a day, four days a week.  Just a half an hour a day (and one day) shy of Kindergarten.  I feel cheated out of the "preschool" experience but, when looking at all of our options, this program made the most sense for our family at this time.  I just hope that I continue to feel that way throughout the year.

Kai has had his ups-and-downs with the idea of preschool.  He is more than ready for it, but I do know that he is a bit nervous and has made many comments about wanting me to stay with him.  He has always been super-affectionate and lovey, but even more so lately.  Although, who's going to really complain about comments such as "You're my favorite mom ever!" and "Mom, I love you" or the random "Hug!" requests.  Seriously, this boy is going to be one sweet husband one day.  He is normally the first one to comment on my outfits and he has told me that he likes Sundays when I wear dresses and am pretty.  He tells me which shirts are his favorites and will even help me get dressed if I let him.  (I don't really do that though!)  Anyway, I digressed, but my point was that I think he might initially have a hard time letting go.  But I do know that he is going to love it and I don't think it'll take too long (crossing my fingers).  As a mom, my worry is more about getting replaced.  Why can't I always be the "best mom ever" or Kai's "best friend".  Seriously, I'd love it!  But I guess these boys have to grow up, I'm just not sure I'm ready for it.

Today I took Kai out for a little one-on-one time.  I had been wanting to take him to Mr. Bigg's for awhile and just had never gotten around to it.  Today was the day.  I was surprised by how completely empty it was this afternoon and at first was concerned that it wouldn't be much fun without some other kids around.  Instead it provided some great quality one-on-one time for us.  I got to help him pretend to fix a car, feed a pet, put out a fire, and more.  We started out slow, but by the time we got settled in I had a hard time dragging him a way.  The highlight of the day for me was seeing him finally jump in a bounce house and enjoy it.  When I saw the bounce house I knew that I had to find a way to get him in there.  So after several bribes, lots of building it up, and 45 minutes, I finally got him in.  I held his hand at first as he jumped and then slowly he was ready to jump on his own.  He discovered the fun of a bounce house!

Holding up a piece of the car

Fixing the car

Buying a puppy--He's been asking for one a lot lately.  Yikes!

Checking out the babies at the "hospital"

Legos!

The sand ROOM

A bounce house IS Fun!

Launching the air cannon on the boat

On our way out we saw this easel in the library.  Kai couldn't pass it up!  Maybe we need to tell Santa....

I'm so proud of Kai and the kid that he is becoming.  I'm looking forward to seeing him blossom over this next year and hopefully come out of his shell a bit.  I love being his mom and hope that, even with all of the excitement of new friends and new adventures, he will still be happy to come home and share all of those with us.  We sure do love you, Kai, and we're so glad that you're a part of our family.

Moves

Finn is the funniest little kid.  He certainly has no inhibitions.  He is quite confident with everything he does--including standing at the top of the stairs and just jumping!  (One of these days no one is going to be there to catch him.  That scares me to pieces!)  He also loves to dance.  While at the zoo with his cousins a dance party commenced.  Here is just a little clip in which you can see that Finn is quite comfortable.  I wish we had more of it, but I think we realized what was going on a little too late to catch most of it.

Here is another clip taken last weekend.  About a month or so ago, Finn began doing seat drops on the floor.  I've been trying to get a video but have failed every time.  We finally got it!  If you want to fast forward to the end of the video, that's where it is.  Finn loves the beginning of this video, though.  Every time Kai sticks his face right in the camera Finn laughs so hard he turns blue.  I love his laugh!

Finn's First Movie

Yesterday I took Finn out for his first movie in a movie theatre.  We choose Winnie the Pooh as he loves Pooh Bear and the movie was listed as 70 minutes long.  At first we thought Reid would be able to join us, and then he wasn't going to make it, and then he was, and then finally while standing in line to buy tickets we found out he wasn't coming.  I was anxious about handling the two boys by myself, but it worked out well.  We bought popcorn and a drink and then settled ourselves in.  The movie actually seemed even shorter than 70 minutes and we were really only there for about 80 minutes total (previews included).  Finn did really well and sat on my lap for almost the entire length of the film.  The last 15 minutes or so he decided he needed to stand up and so he did so, but he continued watching through the cracks in the seats in front of him.  He was also pretty quite (for Finn) and only exclaimed once during a scary part.  Of course, after every preview he would turn to me and say "What's that?", but that stopped once Pooh Bear came on.  Overall, it was a really good experience and I would even consider doing it again.  It would just have to be the right movie.

At the movie.  Don't mind me, we ran out of the house so fast I didn't have time to do my make-up.  Also, what color would you say Finn's eyes are?  You can see that I have brown eyes and in Kai's picture you clearly see blue.  But what color are Finn's??

Kai enjoying his popcorn.

Belleview Park

On Monday we went back to Belleview Park for another fun excursion.  We always have a good time "adventuring" with our friends and Monday was no exception.  For whatever reason, the train and petting zoo are not open on Mondays, so we just played on the playground and watched as the kids splashed in the water.  We spent at least 3 hours at the park which made for a full, fun day.  Finn even joined in on the sand fun for just a little bit and then he decided he'd rather hang with the moms on the blankets.  Of course, the minute I put his regular shoes back on (instead of his water shoes) he decided he wanted to go wading in the stream.  Silly kid!

It's so fun to look at last year's pictures and then this year's.  These kids have certainly grown-up!

This year Kai was even willing to get IN the water!

This was Kai's silent protest on the edge of the stream.  He didn't want the kids to play in the little harbor they made, but instead wanted it all to himself.  I think preschool is going to be a good lesson in learning to play with others.

The End of Soccer

For the past 8 weeks Kai has been enrolled in a soccer class.  After the roller coaster ride last time he took soccer, he decided that really did like the sport and wanted to play again.  Unfortunately, the YMCA wasn't teaching soccer this summer so we went in search of another program.  Overall, I was happy with the program we found and would consider it again.  There were definitely several things that I didn't like either, but I guess there's no such thing as a perfect situation.  This program was much more geared toward the younger crowd.  There were A LOT of pretend games.  The funny thing was that with each game they played the objective remained the same:  kick a soccer ball from one net over to the other.  They did it to feed hungry hippos or to keep balls away from aliens, but no matter what you called it, it was the same thing.  There was one week that they got to do an obstacle course and Kai loved that.  He really looked forward to going to soccer each week and even told me this morning that he couldn't find his jersey.  He was getting dressed for soccer all by himself--amazing!  I told him that once we start school and get a feel for it, if we still feel we can handle soccer we'll look into then.  Until then, it's the end of our soccer season.  Here are some pictures from Kai's last day of class (note that Kai is in the tan/khaki shorts).

Doing the "magic name ball" to start the class

Get the balls in the net

Preparing for races

Coach Bethany said freeze.  Kai was the only one who took this seriously.

Bouncy Balls

There were so few kids at class this day that Kai got to play with 2 purple balls.  This is the same kid who asked me to make him some purple pants this morning when I told him that they don't sell purple pants for boys.

Approaching the net

Making sure it really did go in the goal!