Rainy Days

It has rained cats and dogs for six straight days in Northern Virginia, and it's about getting Noah's Ark up in here.

Do you all know what to do with your kids in this situation?  Because I am running out of ideas!  Here is how we've spent our time so far...

We watched the rain.

We fingerpainted with pudding.



Bitty had the time of her life for five minutes.  Then she crawled into the pudding, and started slipping and sliding on the floor like a drunken sailor on ice.  She didn't think it was fun anymore.

We trained Lucy to run through the tunnel.

Then we trained Riley.

It still rained.

We hit the bottle.



Wait a minute...I think there's something in the sky...it's big and glowing and yellow and seems oh so familiar...

An Empty Classroom

Bitty and I went with some other mom and baby friends to a spraypark today.  The littlest ones splashed in the bubblers and water tables, and the walking ones happily declared war on the sprayers!  We packed a lunch to eat in the picnic area, and it was probably my most favorite afternoon of the summer. 

Water tables make Bitty just want to DANCE

On our way home, we went by an elementary school.  Today must have been "meet the teacher" day, because I saw lots of parents and kids on the sidewalks; girls marching along in their skirts and mary janes and the boys in their jeans and collared shirts.  As we drove past, I found myself with tears in my eyes, reminded of the excitement and anxiety that I always felt on open house day. 

Except not this year. 

One of my favorite parts of the school year is the "getting ready" part.  Unpacking boxes, things seeming so new and clean (because I had gone to such painstaking lengths as I packed them away in June);  it's a new beginning, a fresh start. Usually, throughout the summer I had researched and thought and planned and daydreamed about the changes I would make for this year.   It was exciting to prep for the "new thing" that I was convinced would engage and enthuse my new students. 

Except not this year.

I miss my old profession.  Clearly. 

Yet, I am reminded everyday of why I made the decision to stay home with Bitty.  Such as the look upon Bitty's face when she climbs up and reaches the top of the stairs.  I think of opening the door to her nursery and seeing her awake from her nap, pulled up, and smiling over her crib with a look that says "Come and get me, mama.  I'm awake!"  Just today, she crawled through the unlatched baby gate into the kitchen, and then sat up on the other side, and closed the gate behind her, before continuing on in her pursuit of....well, who knows what.  Probably the trash can.  It was one of those moments that I realized, Ohmigod she's watching our every move.  She shut the gate just as we always do.  It was a moment that I wouldn't give anything for;  a moment that I again realized, I need to be here.

My teacher friends are all starting school next week.  They are all setting up their classrooms, attending the newest motivating inservice, and prepping for the school year (or at least grading period) ahead.  They are organizing their classrooms in such a way to serve as a "second teacher" and planning their directed lessons in a differentiated way so that they appeal to all of the students...The enhusiasm, the hope, and the potential of a new school year...of a new class of students...is exciting. 

And I miss it.

I write this, again, with tears in my eyes, of the tug-of-war struggle within me.  I love being with my own sweet baby, yet I love teaching your babies, too.

I'm honestly not sure how to end this post.  Except to say love your baby's teacher.  Because she loves your baby, too.

It's For the Greater Good

Bitty participated in a study called the Georgetown Early Learning Project this week.  A graduate research assistant came to our house armed with a video camera, two puppets, a barnyard play set, and various paperwork.  First, the researcher showed a pink bunny puppet to Bitty, which she of course loved because Bitty is obsessed with puppets.  The bunny had a pink mitten on one hand which the researcher took on and off a few times to show Bitty that it could be removed.  Then, we were both videotaped playing together with a barnyard play set for a few minutes.  In the final part of the visit, the research assistant took out a grey bunny wearing a mitten.  The purpose was to see if Bitty would generalize what she had seen from the pink bunny to this new grey bunny, and try and remove the mitten.  Initially, she went for the mitten, until she caught a glimpse of the person behind the puppet, and then spent the remainder of the time trying to get that grey bunny out of the way so she could see the researcher.  It was interesting to see her interactions with the puppets and the new person, and I wasn't surprised by her reaction since she always prefers studying people and eliciting their attention to toys.  Although, I'm not sure if her reaction was helpful to the study!

This project is in its 10th year, and children aged six months to two and a half years can participate!  Here is the link.

Namaste, Baby

When I was pregnant, I thought, November will be a good time to have a baby.  I probably won't want to go out with her much while she is itty bitty, and that will be during the chilly winter months when I won't really want to go anywhere anyway.

But I was wrong about that.  When you're home all day just you and the baby, you need to get OUT!  Which makes those chilly winter months problematic.  Cooped up indoors all day does not actually work for me.

Bitty and I went to Mommy & Me yoga this week.  It's supposed to be bonding and relaxing, right?  Sounded like a perfect mama-baby outing to me.

Everything started off just fine.  Bitty was content in her car seat during the drive (she has recently decided that she hates the car).  She was fed and appeared to be in a good mood, despite the pathetic excuse for a nap she took that morning.  I got a good parking spot, and I even made it there five minutes early.  I got us all set up--my yoga mat unrolled, Bitty's stack of blankies arranged at the top.  She laid peacefully kicking and punching away on her blanket as we waited for class to begin.  All of the babies were as relaxed as could be.

The instructor began class with a series of Oms as each mama held our babes seated in our laps.  That's when it got a little ugly.  Bitty did not want to be held in my lap.  She did not want to be held in front of me, or against my shoulder.  She only wanted to be cradled--left side only, definitely not the right--and rocked from side to side.  Once I got her calmed down, I tried to rejoin the class in the poses; baby on my belly, while doing a bridge; baby held in front, while doing a lunge.  Bitty, however, was having none of this.  And naturally, she expressed her displeasure with dire urgency.   This set off something of a chain reaction.  Soon, half of the babies were fussing and crying away.  The instructor shouted out directions over the wails, in vain, as the majority of moms could not do the poses while attempting to soothe their babies.

This continued throughout most of the class.  That is, until the very end, when the instructor banged the gong.  All the babies became silent, entranced by the vibrating sound of the gong.  It was amazing, and got me thinking that maybe I should get my own gong for home use.  It would be like a call to sanity when things get a little hairy around here.

The gong banging went on for about five minutes, signaling the conclusion of class.  Predictably, as soon as the ringing ended, Bitty made it clear that she was ready to go--NOW.  She apparently had things to do and there was no time to dawdle.  So we hightailed it out of there and I was once again reminded of who is in charge in this family.



P.S. As I am writing this post, Bitty is napping IN HER CRIB!!!  She's never slept in there before!  And she has been sleeping two hours!  I am feeling like a super awesome mom with this crib transition thing.

Happy Halloween!

I forgot to tell you about this cuteness...someone in our neighborhood initiated this festive Halloween fun...

One morning I awoke to find one of those plastic pumpkins filled with candy, this "We've Been Boo-ed" sign, and Boo poem.  It's like a chain letter idea--someone starts it, "Boos" two neighbors, who in turn "Boo" two more, etc. etc.  You post the sign on your door once you have been Boo-ed.  Soon, all your neighbors(or the ones you like, anyway) are joining in on the festive fun.  Cute, isn't it?  Guess I'm sharing a little late to start one in your neighborhood, but maybe next year.

You can find the printable materials here, at Organized Christmas.