Class Friends

Ryan was moved up to the Preschool Class for Big Boys with his best friends at school. He loves it. We love it too, because we love these boys. 

They have superhero battles on the playground, where the goal is always to run the fastest and get the sweatiest. He has so much fun at school that he becomes practically magnanimous in the afternoon at pickup, saying things like:

• "Hi Mom, how was your day?"
• "Hi Kels, how was (bully) today? Was she mean to you? Did she say you were stupid today?"
• "Mom, did Davis's mom text you about me going to his house to play with his toys?"

In the new class he is learning how to recognize letters of the alphabet, say his ABCs, and count to 10. Mom thinks this new knowledge has given him self confidence. I would argue that he has always been self confident, and now he's just completely full of himself:

• "Mom, we're almost out of yogurt. Remember when you go to Publix to get more. I'm trusting you. Is that a deal?"
• "After nap I want Cheerios and a cheese stick. Ok? And you can get that for me."
• "I'm going poo poo. Gonna stink it up."

He treats everything like a competition. EVERYTHING. He has to be the one to buckle his seat belt first, open his car door first, get to the porch first, touch the front door first. And I have to let him win, or there is heck to pay. Some days I don't feel like catering to his every demand, and those days are the worst.  

He does make me laugh pretty much all the time. So, I try my best to go along with the temporary order of things and keep the peace. Have you heard the expression "Happy Wife, Happy Life"?  Well, when you live with a 3 year old, the motto is "Happy Monster, Happy Life". 

Except when he makes mom bring us animal crackers after school. I HATE ANIMAL CRACKERS.

Boys vs. Girls

One more example of how boys and girls are different. See girl reading book contentedly on couch. See boy smash superheroes: Down Time.

Maggie

Maggie is the perfect dog right now, sneaking up on 13 years old. She is so loving and low maintenance that we want to freeze her like this forever. Ryan greets her every afternoon with a gentle pat on the head and a "Hi sweet gwirl". She is also the source of inspiration for some of my school work. Like, this science journal entry: Dogs Don't Lay Eggs.

My Mom and teacher were impressed with my awesome drawings.

Dogs don't lay eggs. They lay puppies. Just like this.

Sick Days

We survived our first round of illness for this school year! This time it was fever and sore throat, probably strep throat. We'll never know for sure, because our mother refuses to take us to the doctor. It started in my class, so I was the first to get the VIP treatment: chicken noodle soup, Motrin, all-you-can-watch-movies, and a cold washcloth to the forehead.

Then I shared it with Ryan.

And I introduced him to the TLC protocol. I'm a really good big sister.

Dynamic Dolphin

I can't even believe that I was voted by my classmates to be the FIRST Dynamic Dolphin of the school year! They voted that I am the best representative for the character trait Cooperation. I got to be on the morning show! Mom and Dad were so proud. 

We are all loving first grade. At the parent teacher conference, my teacher kept referring to me as her good student. She said I am self motivated, helpful, and kind to my classmates (even the really annoying ones). She loves my writing because I use the best illustrations.

Mom and Dad love digging through my backpack at night because they are amazed at how my little brain is thriving, and how my personality shines in the whimsical drawings.

They are struggling to keep up with my Common Core math curriculum, because even the strategy for solving a problem like 12-7=5 involves 3 steps. It's kind of blowing their minds. They took comfort from my math teacher conference, when she said I am a great "cliff jumper", which means someone who isn't afraid to try, even if it means making mistakes at first. She said that I am very quiet and reserved in class, but I always raise my hand to offer to demonstrate an answer on the board. So, it looks like I'll have to be the one to teach my fancy pants grad-school-educated parents Common Core math!     

Sweet Side

We are delighted to share photographic evidence that Ryan is a sweet, loving boy. For example, he loves his Baby, which is the same baby I used to carry around by the hair patch when Mom was pregnant with Ryan. He sleeps with her, takes her to school in his backpack, and makes sure she is comfortable when she needs to nap.

One day he told us, "I have a baby in my beddy. It's so sweet, you can talk to it. But we don't punch it.". When I asked him how it will come out of his belly, he said "I'm gonna throw it up". We aren't allowed to touch Baby, because, he says, "I'm her Daddy". He even sets up "movies" for him and Baby.

 

He also loves Blue Blanket. There's something about that heavenly soft middle next to the satin border- perfectly cuddly. Ryan says it's good for bedtime because "When we go to sweep, we gwow bigger. That's what Dad told me yesterday".

He's learning to use his words really well to ask for things that he wants. Like, when he brought Mom the box of crackers and said "My beddy wants a snaaaack". When she asked him to please pick out something healthy like fruit, he smartly turned the box around and said, "But these are healthy for soccer".

He is starting to understand the power of his wicked good sense of humor. This picture was taken right after he made his first official joke. He and Mom were smiling at a baby in the restaurant, when that baby gave Ryan the stink eye. So, he turned to Mom and said "Baby be like, huh?" while making the same stink eye face to Mom. She almost died laughing.

He's learning how to set up elaborate imaginative play scenarios, like when he set up a barbershop for Dad. 

He paid close attention to detail, with the precision of an artist. And when Dad got scared, he was very gentle: Kind Barber. 

He's also "reading" books to us, basically paraphrasing the stories as he remembers them on each page: Cutest Thing and Bear Book. We're a little more than a third of the way through his Terrible Threes, and we think he's going to come out of it pretty awesome.

Halloween

Happy Halloween 2014, also known as the Elsa Invasion! I heard the parents talking about something called the Elsa drinking game, where they had to take a sip of their fruit juice every time they saw an Elsa on Halloween.

This year trick-or-treating was crazy fun with our favorite neighbors and friends.

The girls were beautiful princesses, and the boys were pumped up superheroes.

It takes alot of good treats to fuel powerful muscles like this.

We loved how Ryan completely committed to his character, wearing his mask all night, and holding his Captain America shield in the proper position.

But mainly we just loved his little booty in that costume.

Maggie didn't want to come outside this year, said she was worried somebody might try to set off fireworks and give her a heart attack.

She liked hanging out by the window and smiling at everybody. She didn't even bark! We love that old girl.

We started our trick-or-treat march like we do every year, with our favorite neighbor and Kindergarten teacher, the nicest lady in the world.

This year our street definitely won Halloween. San Pedro Street's smug rule as the coolest block in the neighborhood is officially over!

We decided that "Halloween" and "block parties" are just an excuse for all the parents to pretend they are back in college and party outside. We don't have the stamina to hang with the cool kids who were up until 11:30pm. Ryan called it a night at 8:00, saying "I'm tired, I've had a busy day".  

Mom was laughing at how often I ran into friends from school on our walk. Every time she turned around, I was hugging another random kid she had never seen. It was just another shocking reminder that I am growing up really fast.

Then there was Captain America. There has never been a kid who was more excited to experience trick-or-treating.

Except maybe this funny guy.

Ryan was on a mission: get to each house as quickly as possible.

Because strangers are giving out this amazing candy!

The candy was yummy, but it was mostly fun to be Elsa for a day.

I was focused on being elegant and poised as the true Snow Queen, and this guy was focused on freaking out after every house because he got another piece of candy.

This could be Ryan's new favorite holiday.

Best night, ever.