Leaf walk

A few weeks ago, Silas' class went on a leaf walk, then put all the leaves up in the windows. The idea must have struck him as a good one because this evening, he asked us to go on a leaf walk with him. The above picture shows the results of that walk. We have a pretty long fall here; plenty of time to add to our leaf collection.

I'm still working on putting together a pumpkin post. It will happen. Soon.

A house for Hermit Crab

Well, I'm not keeping the identity of my son's Halloween persona a secret this year. He quite firmly decided several months ago that he wanted to be a hermit crab. Actually, he started out by saying he wanted to be a ghost hermit crab monster, but I think we talked him down to just plain old hermit crab.
Have you ever tried to make a hermit crab outfit before. No? Really? Well, neither have too many other people apparently. I basically went out on my own here, designing first the mitts and then the hat.
He likes to pretend to pinch things with his mitts. He will grab on to my hand, and gently press down, and then say "See, I'm a nice crab."
We are still searching for the perfect house (i.e. shell) for this Hermit Crab. I'm leaving that mainly up to Drew to take care of. We have some ideas, and some time. Hopefully it will all come together by the end of the month.

If it's autumn and you love it...

This is my favorite time of year: harvest festivals, crisp cool days, falling leaves, pumpkins, Halloween. We are enjoying all of the above here at Planet Silas. Silas got to ride a pony at the Johnson Farm Harvest festival. He rode the land slide, too, just like last year:
Yesterday, we went to the Fire Station's pancake breakfast, skipped the pancakes, and headed straight for the line to ride on the fire trucks. Unlike last year, Silas changed his mind about 10 minutes in and decided there was no way he was going to ride that truck. He still got a chance to show off his firefighter jacket, however.
On one of our last truly warm days, we had a picnic supper with friends along the Hood Canal.
It was lovely:
I'm planning an Autumn-themed week here on the blog. We've got pumpkins, pumpkins and more pumkins as well as a sneak peak at Silas' Halloween costume. Stay tuned!

Preschool: the continuing saga

We are now in week three of preschool, but let us backtrack to week two. Last Tuesday morning, Silas told his dad that, and I quote "I'm just not interested in preschool." He told his teacher the same thing, several times. When I question him about this, he says that there are no interesting toys to play with there, but will also say that the school bus toys they have are his favorite. When I ask him what he likes to do there, he'll say "nothing" but when I ask him if he had fun doing art he'll say that art was fun. When I ask him if he liked his snack he will answer in the affirmative, and so on. He also talks about several of the kids in his class constantly and I have no clue how much of what he says is real and how much is made up, but at least he's showing an interest in the other children.

On the downside, the teacher mentioned that he seemed sad the whole time. That was a particularly rough day, as was Thursday. On Thursday, he cried at home before leaving for preschool, he cried all the way there, and he cried when being dropped off.

It's the anticipation that's the hardest for him to deal with. When all of this was brand new, he'd wake up and ask if he had to go to preschool that day. I'd say no, and then the subject was dropped. Now, he wants to know days in advance when he will have to go to school so that he can gauge how nervous he should be that day. And he asks over and over again.
Do I have to go to preschool tomorrow?
No.
Do I have to go to preschool after tomorrow (meaning the day after tomorrow).
No.
After that?
And so on. Last week on one of his school days, he woke us up at 4 am to tell us that he didn't want to go to preschool. He reiterated this statement countless times, our patience disintegrating with every repetition.

We have tried many different tactics to ease his separation anxiety. I knit him a little bracelet, which he keeps in his pocket so that it doesn't get lost. I told him that I knit all of my love for him into it and that if he keeps it close, my love will be with him as well. I've read him books about starting school, about dealing with separation anxiety, etc. We got him a little pocket picture album and printed pictures of everyone he cares about, so that he can keep that with him. We try to be very positive. I tell him daily that I think he's a smart, kind, and brave kid.

"Not so brave, " he'll say.
"Brave," I'll respond " because being brave means doing something, even if you're afraid to do it."

We encourage him to interact with the kids and the adults in the classroom. Despite his fears, he did select some shells from the beach last week and brought them in to show Teacher Debbie:
That was week two. We are now in week three: one day down, one to go. Today, and I say this with cautious optimism, was a bit better. He cried, but not so much. I had a long discussion with him about his day when I got home from work. We talked about what he did at preschool (painted a leaf, played outside, played train tracks, etc.) and then I asked him if he felt sad when his daddy left him there.
"Yes," he replied, "I felt sad. But then I felt better." I gave him a big hug and told him I was proud of him and how very brave he was. This time, he did not disagree.

Golden

Our twelve foot tall sunflower, and it's slightly shorter neighbors, finally decided to open a week or so ago. The bees are happy about it, and so are we, but they took their merry time. I seriously thought we'd have a hard frost before they bloomed.

And here's my little preschooler, climbing in our lilac tree (or magic beanstalk, as Silas calls it).
So, there's a bit of sunshine for you to start your week off with :)

The big P-S

My baby started preschool this week. Here he is, above, just before we left home (I took off of work, naturally, cuz there was no way I was going to miss this moment), and here my boys are on the steps to the school. Silas loves their big flag.
We actually didn't expect him to start school this week. He was on a waiting list and I didn't think there would be an opening till about mid-year or so. But on Sunday I got the call. They had an opening for Silas in the Woodpeckers class (his age group), effective immediately (this is the first full week of school). On Monday afternoon, we filled out a bunch of forms, signed a check, and most importantly, met his teacher. I can't say enough about her. I knew right away that she would be patient and caring with Silas. Separation anxiety is a big deal for us. Silas is used to being with us ALL of the time. If not us, then with Patrick or his grandparents. We've never had him in daycare, never left him with people he didn't know well. Although his class is only two hours long, we knew he would freak out when we didn't stay with him.

On Tuesday, we dropped him off, stayed a bit, just like the other parents were, and then attempted to leave. He clung to us and cried. His teacher picked him up and held him and told him he could wave to us from the window. Seeing his sad little face through that window was so very hard for me. I went back to the car and balled. But we did it. We left him in the care of competent adults and then walked to a nearby cafe and and actully had a lovely child-free time. When we returned, we could see from the road that the class was outside on the playground and we searched for Silas. At first, we couldn't see him (we were a good 50 feet away) and I had this fear that he was inside, too traumatized to play. Finally Drew spotted him: "he's there, by the slide. He's having fun." Relief!

At the end of the day, the kids have music time and the parents gather outside in the hallway. The teacher says goodbye to each child individually and they come out one by one. When he saw us, his reaction was, well, nonchalant. Oh, you're back. Okay then.

The teacher said he did very well. He was upset for less than 10 minutes and then was fine. We'll see how he does tomorrow.

Just a few things about the preschool we chose. It's a cooperative school, meaning it's a non-profit and the parents are expected to participate periodically in the classroom as well as be on committees and attend parent classes. Drew will be doing a lot of that as he is the stay-at-home parent, but I will be involved however I can be. I was pleased to see just as many dads as moms dropping off and picking up their children. Times have changed in that regard.

This year, he'll be attending two mornings a week. If we keep him in this school, he'll attend four afternoons a week next year. For now, the two mornings a week is the perfect amount. The curriculum is play-based rather than academic, and that was perhaps one of the most important factors for us when choosing a school. They explore the senses a great deal. For instance, they used paints with various scents, like rosemary and lavender, added to them. The children could then go out and find the plants in the garden with those smells.

To give you an idea of their philosophy, I will end with an excerpt from the Coop's webpage (for security reasons, I won't be publishing the name of his preschool or linking to their webpage, I will simply call his school the Coop):

Research in the area of early childhood education indicates that young children learn best through play. In the process of exploring and manipulating materials in their environment, they gain an understanding of their world. Programs that provide a wide variety of experiences appealing to all of their senses, appropriate to their age and developmental level, are the most valuable. Young children are natural learners. Their curiosity and desire to make sense of their world lead to spontaneous, self-directed learning.

It is for these reasons that a large part of our school day is devoted to free play. We plan experiences to involve the child's senses of sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. The more fully a child explores, senses and interacts with real objects, the more meaningful and long-lasting this learning will be. Our school is committed to developing the whole child - physically, emotionally, socially and intellectually - by allowing space in which each child can explore the environment, interact with peers and adults, and have the opportunity to experiment with materials not readily available at home.

We believe that each parent and child is unique and deserves to be treated with kindness and respect. We realize that the Coop is each one of us individually and all of us collectively. May we learn together, support each other, and may our family lives be enriched from the experience.

a few more

A few more picture's from Grandma G's visit...

At the Poulsbo waterfront.
And here's one for the blooper reel: My silly little bear.
We have something exciting happening this week. I will keep you in suspense for now and will post about it later in the week.

Grandma G's visit

Aren't they a photogenic pair?

Grandma G and Merlin came for a visit last week.
Merlin enjoyed playing with Silas:
It looks like Silas thoroughly enjoyed himself!
Two different pic, two different cafes:


Outside of the Suquamish Museum:
It was a whirlwind visit and Grandma G was gone way too fast. We hope she makes it out to the West coast again soon!

Say "Cheese!"

I have lots of pictures to post, including some from Grandma G's visit. So, stay tuned...

Bloedel Reserve

While my parents were here, we went to Bloedel Reserve, a beautiful 150 acre preserve and garden that we hadn't visited in about 5 years.

Silas enjoyed:

Walking with his grandparents.
Sitting in front of the big house, looking out over Sound, and watching the birds soar.
And exploring the forest.
We saw a big banana slug.
and many other beautiful things.

The rock garden adjacent to the Japanese garden is one of Drew's favorite areas.
and the moss garden is mine.
If you'd like to see more pictures from Bloedel, and from the rest of my parents' visit, you can see some on their blog (scroll down for the pictures).

Garden Prelude

With my slug's pace in posting, it's almost impossible to show you an up-to-the-moment view of the garden. Will you settle for some within-the-last-couple-of-weeks pics? First up, Silas peers out from behind the beans. I just made a been and tomato dish with a few pounds of them yesterday.

Below: Yes, we will have a couple of pumpkins this October!

This is Silas' magic beanstalk. He is pointing up to the clouds in anticipation of how high he expects it to grow.

Broccoli:

This is the as-of-yet unknown flower that cropped up just about everywhere. It looks pretty in this picture, but trust me: it's not that great. The flowers are only open for a few hours in the morning. The rest of the day, it just looks kind of... blah. I think it might have to find it's way out of my garden, though I expect I will never be totally rid of it.
Soon, I will post more pictures of another much different garden that we visited with my parents, who are visiting from Wisconsin. Till then...

New header

For those of you who read the blog through FaceBook and don't actually see the blog itself, this is the blog header I've used since last fall:


And here's my new one:

I love love love the old picture of my boy with his curly blond locks, but it was about time for an update.