Where's the Manual?

You know, the manual that should come with your child? Why isn't there one of those? A book that answers all the big questions and helps with the big decisions.

I wrote not long ago about how we went and toured a preschool. We loved it, Bailey loved, we thought everything was great. The director even agreed that Bailey would be well suited in the three year old class, even though she misses the cut off by 8 days. Well, as we read through the handbook we saw that it says to enter kindergarten, each child must be 5 by October 1st, NO EXCEPTIONS. Humph...what would happen if they made an exception for Bailey this year but wouldn't when it came time for kindergarten?

After talking to the director today, she informed me that, yes, they could make an exception for her this year, but that would mean that she would need to repeat the three year old class again next year to "get back on track". If that's the case, why would we put her in there at all this year?

So now the question is, does she need  three years of preschool? We're just not really sure what to do. I know she wants to be around kids her own age so bad, but do we want to add another year of "school" to her? Are we making her grow up too fast? And next year my nephew will be in a preschool program three days a week, which takes away a good portion of the little bit of kid interaction she gets.

Any words of wisdom for this confused mother?

What Happens...

when you leave a toddler alone with a fresh set of stickers?

Preschool

Preschool.

The word still feels foreign on my tongue. I'm trying to get used to saying it, but it feels so...so...strange. How can my baby be ready for preschool?! Even though I'm not quite ready to let go, we went and toured a preschool this morning for this coming fall. While I must admit that I'm a little biased, Bailey is a very intelligent child. She loves learning and I want her to be pushed to excel. She also craves interaction with other children. She spends time with my nephew a few days a week, but that's the only real playtime she has with anyone her own age. We'll go to the park and she'll say two words to a little girl, and for the next week that's her best friend. She'll be talking about someone at home and I'll ask her who she's talking about and she'll say, "That girl in the blue shirt from the park mommy. She's my best friend." It absolutely breaks my heart. She's a social butterfly and needs to spread her wings.

Today went really well. We were able to sit through their chapel time and Bailey tried to sing along with the new song they learned and she prayed with them. Then we got to go into one of the 3 year old classes and she joined right in with their circle time and participated with what they were doing. I was so proud of her.

My favorite moment today was when the director came and met with us when we first arrived. She walked over and shook Nick's hand and then mine. Bailey stuck her hand right out to the lady like she knew exactly what she was doing. The lady asked her what her name was and she replied, "Cinderella." That's my princess!

There's some question as to which class she will be in. The cutoff to be in the 3 year old class is October 1st, and she will be 3 on October 9th. The lady said she felt comfortable with Bailey attending the 3 year old class because she did really well today. I'm not sure how that will work once she hits kindergarten though, if they'll continue the exception or not. I understand there has to be a cutoff point, but 8 days is so close, and I really think she would be better off with the 3 year olds. That's something we've got to figure out, but we're definitely enrolling her in the school. I guess this begins yet another chapter in our lives!

Happy Easter

What a beautiful Easter weekend! Despite a short time of rain on Saturday, this weekend was absolutely gorgeous! Here was our Easter weekend in photos...and some text :)

We went to the Scott County park for their Easter egg hunt on Saturday morning. It was more than a little disappointing. There were only a few eggs in each age section that had tickets you could claim for prizes. Other than that, they had just thrown candy all over the field. Not really an egg hunt if you ask me! But...Bailey had fun, and that's all that mattered.

It was a little windy.

Sunday morning after church we went looking to see if the Easter bunny had left anything. Sure enough, Bailey found a basket full of goodies in her room. She was so excited to find a little Ariel doll!

 

I hope everyone had a great Easter!

Accidents Happen

Everyone knows that accidents happen. If you have a toddler, you have probably learned this lesson over and over again. Tonight was just another lesson for us in the Maxwell house.

After dinner we thought we would walk to the little ice cream shop in our neighborhood. It's a pretty decent walk from our house, but we thought it would be good for all of us. We thought we had all the bases covered when we left the house. Alarm on? Check. Got money? Check. Have Bailey go to the bathroom? Check.

About half way there Bailey started acting really weird. She kept complaining and wanted to be held. We just thought that meant we needed to get her out walking more. She kept asking how much further the ice cream place was. We just chalked it up to a toddler really wanting her ice cream. Then it started.

"Mommy, I want a blue circle."

Blue circle is still Bailey's code phrase for I need to go to the bathroom. We asked her if she could hold it until we got there and she said yes. We kept walking. I thought she was probably okay, since she had just gone before we left the house. Then she started getting really whiny. Nick carried for a little bit and then she wanted me to carry her. No big deal. With her on my hip we got closer and closer to the the ice cream. Then, the accident happened.

The next thing I know there is pee running down my leg. Lots of pee. Bailey was crying and apologizing for peeing in her pants. We told it wasn't her fault, accidents happen. Nick decided to run back to the house to get the car. Bailey and I started walking back. After a couple of minutes she started running. I asked her why she was running.

"To get away from the pee-pee."

And about 30 seconds after that, she peed...again. All over herself and the sidewalk, right in the middle of our neighborhood. I felt so bad for her. She was just crying and apologizing over and over again. Daddy pulled up right after the second accident and we all loaded up to head home. Accidents happen.

The good news...we all still ended up getting ice cream.

Fun in the Sun

With our recent warm weather, we've been trying to make the most of every bit of sunshine! Last weekend we ventured out to the park to let Bailey run around and play. I also had my wisdom teeth taken out last weekend. I'm not sure if I just had the best doctor ever, or if I was just really lucky, but I didn't have any problems at all! I had them removed Friday afternoon and negotiated a contract for a client that evening (with help from my great husband!) and we were at the park on Saturday playing! During my first round of Percocets, I guess I felt like I needed a picture to show how little swelling there was. The slight puffiness you see is just from the gauze. This was about 6 hours after the procedure.

Now, onto the park...I have to admit, I'm a bit of a Nervous Nellie. I get nervous when Bailey goes up to the big blue slide all by herself now. I get nervous when she's walking around the platform, you know there are open spaces. I see other moms sitting on  the bench talking to a friend and casually glancing to make sure their children are okay, and I sort of envy them. Now, most of these mothers have more than one child, so maybe by the second I won't be so nervous over every little step she takes?! Anyone out there with multiple children, feel free to assure me this will happen!

While we were there this little guy came over to us.

I've mentioned before, I'm NOT a cat person, but I'm an animal lover none the less, so I always worry when I see a stray animal. The more this little guy was around, we realized he had an open wound on his back leg, so I ended up calling our local animal shelter and someone came out and got him. Hope you're feeling better and have a new home kitty!

Back to that whole Nervous Nellie thing...this is Bailey's newest feat that has me using every bit of self control I have not to keep my hands right behind her.

After about 40 trips down the slide, Bailey finally wanted to go swing. She used to love swinging, but has been so fascinated with the slides the last few times that she's completely ignored them. This time we made our way over to them, and I think she had forgotten how much she enjoyed it! I just love to hear a child laughing, best medicine in the world.

In case you weren't sure, your princess purse is a must when traveling to the park.

Along with some stylin' shades.