School part 2.

Antonio still loves school and is doing great! I've had the chance to volunteer in his class 3 times and it was so great to be able to see what (and how) he is learning everything. And to see and meet his friends and watch him interact with them.

Diego, his very best buddy and who he sits next to, is such a sweet boy and so smart. He's a well behaved kid too! The first time I saw him, the first thing he said to me was, "Antonio is my best friend" and he proceeded to tell me about when Antonio fell at recess and how he (Diego) came over to Antonio to see if he was "crying and ok." He said when he saw he wasn't ok (he fell on his face and scraped up his chin, nose and forehead) he ran and got the recess lady. Such a sweet kid Diego is.

I was so afraid Antonio would get "lost" or taken advantage of in school. He is young for a kindergartener and tends to be pretty quiet and reserved. But he is right in the mix with everyone else in his class. He has even told Mrs.Rusher a couple times when someone didn't treat him the right way. I was so proud of him. Another great thing about volunteering is that I have gotten see where is in class as far as academics and he is definitely right in the middle. I wasn't to worried about that when sending him early (5 instead of waiting until next year). There are a few kids higher than him but definitely some lower too. Everyone thinks their kid is smart and so it was a nice reassurance for me.

He still loves the bus and insists on riding it to and from school when I volunteer! :) He is starting to read and I am so proud of him. Every week he gets new books to bring home and read and he gets so excited about it. He is also learning math and oh my gosh, everything is counting and adding. He's constantly quizzing me. "Mama, 6+3=9, right?", or "Mama, 8+2=10, right?". As some of you know, I am terrible at math. I already have to stop and think when he asks me most of the time! Ugh, its only kindergarten; I am in trouble! Thankfully he is loving school and I completely credit his teacher. She has helped him learn to love school and learning! Mrs. Rusher is so great with the kids. She gets so much in, in the short amount of time she has with them without them getting them overwhelmed; it's impressive.

School.

Antonio is a month into the school year and he is loving it! His favorite part by far is riding the bus. For me, that was the most worrisome part. You hear horror stories about (little) kids getting forgotten on busses for hours, getting bullied/picked on etc. Happily, Antonio gets on the bus 2 stops before school and then on the way home it is just Kindergarteners. His bus driver in the morning is great. Every morning when he gets on she says, "Good morning Antonio!". He promptly walks about half back and finds a seat. I had told him the school bus rules before school started, always stay seated on your bottom on the bus and only get off at the school or unless he see's me or Ms Rosemary (he gets off at her stop 3 days). There are speed bumps on the road into the school and he says that his favorite part of the ride because he bounces up and down. :)

He has already made a best buddy, Diego. His other friends he says are Makai, Kennedy and sometimes Grace. But he will correct you if you call them his best buddies too, because they aren't he says; they are just friends. We had curriculum night the other night and even his teacher, Mrs. Rusher, mentioned they were best buddies so it must be a mutual friendship. Happily, they haven't gotten in to any trouble yet.

I had voiced my concern to Mrs. Rusher about Antonio being a summer birthday (just turning 5) and going in to Kindergarten and she seemed empathetic but said he's been doing so well she forgets he is so young. He gets homework 2-3 times a week and he flies through it; it's almost to easy for him. The directions are the hardest part. Ha. He goes every other Friday and on those days he gets to take a lunch which he loves. Every week he does P.E., library and music; he likes the library the best he says. The last two weekends he's come down with a fever on Saturday that wipes him out, even goes to bed early even but Sundays he always wakes up better. We think his body is having trouble adjusting to school a little maybe so we've gone back to insisting he naps.This weekend there was no sign of fever! Yay! He's been napping for at least an hour at daycare too which he had stopped doing mid-summer. I'm glad all he does for extracurricular activities is swimming. So far the fevers/exhaustion is the only sign of him not being ready for school. I'm relieved because I was pretty unsure.

Conferences are at the end of this month so I will be anxious to hear in a little more detail on how he's doing. I'm also feeling better about his teacher. In my opinion, it was a little bit of a rocky start in the sense she seemed to have a lack of confidence in what she was doing. Antonio seems to really like her (and school) and she even remembered I was Antonio's mom at curriculum night after only meeting me once, at the meet and greet before school started. I was impressed. :) My mom is planning on volunteering in his class this year and is already scheduled to go starting this week. Antonio is so excited to have her there and I am excited to hear her feedback on the school, classroom, teacher and Antonio in class. I trust her opinion and instincts on it all since she's taught Kindergarten (and other grades) for so long.

I hope Antonio continues to love school through the rest of the year and I can't wait to see how much he learns.

Kindergarten

I officially have a Kindergartener now!

Whoa.

The first day went well. He even got a call from Ms. Rosemary while he was getting ready to wish him a happy first day of school, love her! Parents were encouraged to meet their kids at school that morning join them in class for the first 30 min. So Albert was able to get a couple hours off to join us! He got home right before it was time to go to the bus stop. So the three of us walked to the corner to wait for the bus. There were 2 other moms and maybe 7 or 8 kids. When the bus arrived they all got on, then so did Antonio. He got on without any hesitation. The bus driver asked him his name and he promptly told here, Antonio. I was so proud of him. 

 waiting at the bus stop.

 still waiting

 about to get on the bus

Getting on the bus! :)

Once he was on the bus, Albert and I got in the car and went to his school to meet him. All the younger kids, (K-maybe 2nd) meet under the covered play area in lines with their class. When we got there I didn't see Antonio yet, so of course I started to worry but sure enough he came walking over. Happily, a boy form his bus stop, the one getting on in front of him, was walking over to the covered area with him. I was so thankful for this. Antonio was smiling the whole time. Once I saw him, the kid went off to his classroom and Antonio and I got in line. Of course we got in the wrong line but once we figured it all out all was good. A few min later, Mrs Rusher came over an walked his class to the room. One by one they all went in. 

 Walking to his classroom

Waiting to go in. (probably the youngest in class, but the same size!)

Once in, they all got seated and started coloring a picture. Then they all sat and listened to a story, The Kissing Hand, before heading out to recess. During recess is when the parents left. Surprisingly, I had no tears. I think Pre-k last year helped me with that. I was definitely sad but no tears. When I got home I went on a run to try to calm my nerves, which I think helped. At 12:25, I went out and waited for Antonio's bus to drop him back off, due at 12:27. I was so excited to see him. There was one other Mom waiting so that was nice to see but of course she didn't speak much English and well, my Spanish is awful, so there wasn't much conversation. However, when 12:40 rolled around and the bus hadn't shown up yet she asked me what time they were supposed to be dropped off, in case she had it wrong. I told her, no they really were that late. She promptly called the school and sure enough the bus came around the corner about 1 min later. We were both relieved! Turns out the little girl is also in Antonio's class!

Antonio happily got off the bus and proceeded to tell me how they went all over, through the nursery and by daycare! He said, I wish I could be on the bus all day long. To which I respond, it felt like you were not he bus all day long! Then he told me the bus didn't have a potty and that he needed to go because he held it the whole time. :)

Every friday his school has a half day so he will go to school every other friday. So yesterday (last Friday) he went. On half days, school gets out at 1:35 (instead of noon for AM Kinder on regular days) so he got to take a lunch. He was very excited about this! He also got to take the bus from Ms Rosemary's with all his daycare friends. Rosemary had already asked the bigger boys, William and Marquis, to sit with him on the bus and help him find the right line when he got there. William seemed very anxious to help Antonio. :) All must have gone well because Rosemary texted me at 2:30 to let me know Antonio got off the bus safe and sound. Phew....

Rosemary also mentioned that a little girl form his class gets on and off there too. So both bus stops he will have a familiar face. Antonio said he had a good day. He ate most of his lunch and said he even went potty at school! (big yay since the day before he hadn't). I was telling Albert tonight that since Antonio is going early (just turned 5 versus just turning 6) he will probably "grow" so much this year. There were a couple kids in his class that looked 6, or even almost 7 but most of the kids looked about the same. Mrs Rusher, his teacher seems very nice but not very confident which concerns me. We found out that she taught Kindergarten last year but not until November, so she has never started a year with Kindergarteners. I then wondered why November and turns out the original teacher last year suddenly resigned, and they brought in Mrs Rusher. So I guess if she can come in in the middle of the school year and keep it going well then she can't be all that bad. I just wish she appeared a little more "with it". Hopefully she'll grow on me.

He has a nice size class, 18 including Antonio. I just pray all goes well for him this year. He seems to be really liking school though. Monday starts a full week of school (minus friday), so hopefully all goes well. I guess as a Mom we always worry about our kids; I just hope this anxious, over the top worry subsides soon. My mental/physical health can't take much more. Regardless, I am proud of him. He is starting out on this new adventure and appears to be conquering it just fine. 

Article from The Huffington Post as mentioned in previous post.

Here is the article from The Huffington Post:

**grab a tissue or two**

To My Fellow Moms, on the First Day of Kindergarten

Dear New Kindergarten Mom,

This morning, I bundled my boys into the stroller and went out for one last impromptu morning walk. Max will be starting kindergarten next week, and the days spent hanging out in our jammies and meandering to the nearest park or Starbucks are almost over. My best friend texted me a picture of her own 5-year-old a few minutes later, standing in front of his new elementary school. "How did we get here?!" I texted back. It was yesterday that we were pregnant together. Visiting the fire station with toddlers together. Welcoming second babies together. "How did we get here?!"

Well, Mama, I want you to take a break from packing lunches and tucking pencils into binders. Click out of Pinterest for a minute, and stop reading the list about the Top 10 Lessons You Need To Teach Your Kindergartner. Put down the chalkboard frame that you're making for the perfect first day photo shoot, and listen up. This one is for you.

Kindergarten might be the beginning for our little ones, but it's a graduation of sorts for us.

How did we get here?

We waited and we worried, reading the BabyCenter emails each week that compared our rapidly growing babies to kiwis and oranges. We mourned losses and said goodbyes to the babies who grew in our hearts, but not our bellies. We labored and breathed and screamed and prayed as our littles made their way into our arms. We ate celebration dinners in hospital beds, or put on our best outfits and brightest smiles as a judge declared us a forever family, or opened our hearts to new dreams as we embraced our partners' children.

We cradled impossibly small newborn bottoms in the palms of our hands, cut hospital bracelets from tiny ankles and learned to swaddle little limbs into baby burritos. We winced at each bad latch, and exhaled with each great one. We filled bottles and emptied breasts, measured milliliters into droppers and g-tubes. We pumped and we mixed and we forgot to feed ourselves. We fed our babies with love.

We rocked, we paced, we sang. We woke every three hours, or every three minutes. We shushed and we danced and we dozed. We may have spent more time awake than asleep.

We cut grapes into tiny cubes. We cleaned pasta from the carpet and yogurt from their hair. We made sure that the green veggies weren't touching the orange ones.

We were Batman and Thomas and a dinosaur and a policeman and a princess. We stepped on 47 Legos and built 72 towers and 298 spaceships. We hid in blanket forts and behind closet doors. Sometimes we hid in the bathroom, because it was the only quiet place we could find.

We drove to preschool and playdates. We practiced our goodbyes and perfected our hellos. We caught slippery bodies at swim lessons, and twisted perfect topknots for ballet. We played the tambourine at music class and sang the "Hello, friend" song at Mommy and Me 341 times.

We held chubby little arms and legs tight as the doctor gave each shot. We counted ounces and inches and celebrated each step. We met with speech therapists and occupational therapists and oncologists and radiologists. We elbowed our way down paths that we never thought would rise up to greet us. We fought fear and doubt and guilt. We woke up each day, and put one foot in front of the other.

We yelled at our partners and cried to our mothers and fell into the arms of the friends who became our family. We learned to let other grown-ups love our kids, and struggled to accept a night out or a lasagna or a hug. Or a mimosa.

We worried about TV time and Vitamin D and developmental stages and hearing tests. We celebrated birthdays and did the potty dance and doled out stickers and ultimatums.

We kept going. We got better at it. We surprised ourselves.

We've been exhausted, and fed up, and overwhelmed, and overjoyed. We've cheered for first words and first steps and first date nights in months. We've fallen asleep during Dumbo and memorized Goodnight Moon and Horton Hears A Who.

We've bargained with God over stitches and lab tests and "routine" operations. We've soothed bad dreams and inspired bigger ones.

We've stepped on 4,724 Goldfish crackers and 3,193 Cheerios.

We've kissed scrapes and cheeks and noses. We've bathed squirmy bodies and cut tiny bangs. We've whispered I love yous against giggling bodies. We've hugged and we've helped and we've explained. We've answered 17,000 whys and why nots.

We've made it.

They've made it.

There will be thousands of firsts that follow this one. Our jobs aren't even close to being done. But on this first day, for the hours that stretch between squeezing his little hand goodbye and welcoming him back to the arms that he began in, be gentle with yourself.

In your heart of hearts, you know that he's ready.

But I'm here to tell you that you are, too.

You might think this first day is all about him, friend. But it's also about you.

How did we get here?

You.

You rocked and you fed and you soothed and you worried and you taught and you cuddled and you counted the nap time minutes and added up the ounces and marked the passage of time with pictures and gasps and tears.

So as that brave, crazy kindergarten teacher ushers you out tomorrow and closes the door behind you, be proud.

You did it. We did it.

That classroom of amazing, brilliant, imaginative, loving, self-sufficient (well, sort of), hilarious, unpredictable, completely capable little people? We made them that way. So before you walk away to worry about all of the first days to come and the homework and the life lessons and the setbacks and the TV time and the reward charts... come find me on the playground.

I'll be looking for you.

Let me be the first one to tell you "Good job, Mama. You survived. You watched as your heart grew outside of your body, and then you prepared him to greet the world alone. He is ready, because when they placed him in your arms, you were." For all of the times that we've told them "good job," and "great listening," and "you're so brave," and "I'm so proud of you," not once did we say those things to ourselves. So on that very first day of school, as you take one last look over your shoulder to make sure that your little one is safely tucked into her classroom, and you wipe away the tears as you climb back into your (suddenly very quiet) car, remember this.

You did it. You are so brave. I am so proud of you.

Just look how much you've grown.

Happy graduation, Mama.

Love,

A Kindergarten Mom, bawling her eyes out in the car parked next to yours

**This is such a great, very true article. 

Kindergarten, here we come.

Welp. Its here.

Antonio starts Kindergarten tomorrow morning.

The bus will arrive at 8:57 to pick him up and take him to school to begin a whole new chapter of his life.

Am I ready?

Plain and simple. NO.

However, I think he is. As you know he just turned 5 and the trend tends to be that summer birthday kids, especially boys, wait a year. We decided to go against the trend and send him this year. It was an incredibly hard decision for me, one that I am not 100% sure of yet. Both his Pre-K teacher and Ms. Rosemary seem to think he is very ready. I am sure part of my reasons for not being sure is that he is my baby and well, I am not ready to accept the fact he is going to school because that also means he is growing up and I'm not ready for that either. Another reason is that there are some social skills he hasn't mastered yet but that he can do.

I am sure he will be fine. I trust Ms Rosemary, in fact she is he second Mother in my opinion and if she says he's ready then he must be ready. Its like good cop/bad cop in the sense that I am extremely emotionally attached and possibly not as objective where she is. He loves her and she loves him; I can see it. She knows him and that makes me trust her. She really was a HUGE blessing for Antonio and us.

Anyways, last night was the meet n greet at his school we got to meet his teacher, Mrs. Rusher, who seems nice but did not seem very confident, which didn't calm my nerves. She seemed very nervous too. She will share the classroom with the PM kinder teacher, so she's part time; good for her. Maybe that will benefit Antonio's class later in the year in hopes she won't be as burnt out as other teachers.  I am hoping she will grow on me. She wasn't bad in any way, just not the "strong, yet gentle", confident teacher I was hoping for. We will see. The classroom didn't even seem "ready" either. Or maybe my expectations are to high; his pre-k room was much more "put together". My mom thought that maybe by tomorrow it will be better.

 Antonio and Mrs. Rusher

Today we went back to school for his Kindergarten assessment. From what Mrs. Rusher said it went good. I sat outside and filled out a survey so I have no idea what was asked or done. School had started for grades 1-5 so we got to see other kids walking in lines quietly and kids at recess.

Tomorrow, Antonio said he wanted to ride the bus to and from school. So we will walk to the corner and wait for the bus. I am beyond nervous about this. The whole no seatbelt thing, new faces and nobody he knows makes me nervous. If you know my kid at all, you know he does not thrive in situations where he doesn't know anyone. So thankfully, the bus ride is very short. I'm worried he'll be scared once he's on the bus, not knowing anyone or where to sit. Heck, part of me is worried in the moment he will decide he doesn't want to get on.

The parents are invited to meet our kids at school then all go into their classroom, help them get settled in. I guess Mrs. Rusher will read a story and then ask us parents to leave. I'm sure Antonio will be fine with that but I can only imagine how disruptive it could be. We'll see.

I found this tear-jerking, heartstring pulling article on Facebook from The Huffington Post and found it perfect. I will re-read this tonight and possible tomorrow after I come him from his school. In the off chance the link doesn't work I will post in in the following "post" to read.

Stay tuned for a follow up to his first day of school! :)

Camping

We went camping, just the 3 of us, for the first time last weekend. Other times had always been with others (our friends the Eberlein's). I checked my lists more times than I can count, we had no one to "lean on" so I wanted to make sure we had it all.  Happily we did!

We went to Kayak Point County park in Stanwood, about 30 min from our house. It was great, we felt like we got away for the weekend yet barely left Marysville. :) Antonio had a blast. We had a great campsite, the campground was very family friendly and there was a short hike down to the beach. It was a pretty step hike down, maybe a quarter mile but as you know, if we go down we have to come back up! Antonio did great. He did the trip at least twice each day we were there. There were lots of families with kids. In fact, next to us was a group with a baby (ugh), maybe a year old, across from us was a family with a couple kids and down from us was another family with kids, all about early elementary age or younger. The ice cream man even made rounds both nights we were there!

Our campsite.

We had a lot of good family time. Albert and Antonio took a trip down to the beach Monday afternoon to playing in the water while I chose to stay back at the campsite where it was much cooler. The tree's kept the campground mostly shaded, which kept it cooler.  It was still pretty warm but I was glad to be camping, outside, and not at home stuck in a hot house. We played Alphabet Bingo, a game similar to Memory and Antonio learned to play Go Fish; which he loved. Albert made a great fires in the fire pit both nights, which was a feat since Albert was a first time campfire builder. The forest night took a couple tries but once he got it, he got it! :) We were luck to be able to have one since as were leaving we heard the the DNR was extending the burn ban to campfires as well!

Proud fire starter! 

The first night we were there we went down to the beach to try to take pics of the sunset, Super moon and stars. The moon was so big and so bright we could barely see the stars and in fact saw our shadows on the driftwood! When we got back to our site it was surprisingly quiet. We crawled into out tent and all fell asleep. Albert and I were awaken by our neighbor baby crying. I figured it was the middle of the night but it was only 11:30! Surprisingly the campground was silent, except for the baby crying. I was shocked. You would've thought it was more like 2 am it was so quiet. The next night not so much. We only heard some people for awhile but that wasn't the worry, it was more the thunder and lightning! It was so loud and seemed to stay right on top of us for forever. Antonio was so tired from the day he fell right to sleep as it was getting close. He slept through the whole thing, I was shocked. By the time the storm passed the campground was pretty quiet!

Eek!

We knew the storm was coming, so before we went to bed we put everything in our car in case it rained a lot. I was glad we did. It rained but you could barely tell the next morning since the trees protected us so much. The next morning, since it was on the chilly side, we got up, had breakfast and packed up. We were home before 11; it was great!

We seemed to have camped through the two (preferred) camping extreme's this year. When we went with The Eberlein's in June, it was cold and rainy the whole time. This time it was hot and had a thunder/lightning storm. Our tent held up really well for both. We are thinking about getting a bigger tent but I hate to get a different one since this one is so good. It would be so nice to have a bigger one so we could move around a little easier and weren't so cozy. We currently have a 4-person tent and would love a 5-6 person tent so not a lot bigger but bigger. If you have any suggestions on brands, I'd love to hear them.

Since our trip was so successful we plan on doing it again next year and probably to the same place.  We might even try out another one that is pretty close too. Antonio is such a great camper. He loves helping with the fire, having s'mores, sleeping outside and exploring the campground. He only "bit it" once, granted it was a good one. He scrapped the heck out of his elbow, knee, chest (yes, chest too) and ended up with a mouthful of dirt. Poor kid. After listening to so many kids around us, fussing/crying, and flat out talking very loudly, I counted my blessings that he is so well behaved, 90% of the time! ;)

Happy boy with a s'more! 

Antonio turns 5.

Wait, what?

FIVE?!?!

I've never been good at math, in fact I usually passed my math classes with a "C", "C+" if I was lucky. So I could be wrong here but I'm pretty sure he really is 5.

I'm not really sure how it happened but here we are at 5. I took the day off for Antonio's birthday with it in mind that we would have an "Antonio day" where he got to pick where we went and what we did. Turns out I had some party prep to finish up so I felt bad, like he got a little jipped on his day. We did get up and got out for a donut for breakfast. He got to pick out which one he wanted, he picked a chocolate bar and ate it right up. He then proceeded to ask if he could have a bit of my apple fritter. After the errands we did, he chose to go to the new spray park in town. It was hot so I was good with that. We spent a couple hours there and came home just in time for lunch and a snooze. He got to pick what we had for dinner, he picked pizza of course. After we ate we called Albert's family to FaceTime for cake and presents. It was great. Singing happy birthday with two other people on two separate FaceTime calls is hilarious. Regardless, Antonio loved it. He was happy. He said, " I am so happy Mama."

Can't beat that.

 The audience 

 Thinking of a good wish

Then Elise sang, "Everything is Awesome".

Today was his birthday party day; he had requested a purple party. He was up at 6:30 ready to go. After breakfast he asked, "Are my friends going to be here soon?", he was a bit excited. :)  Finally 11am came along and everyone started to show up for the party, Antonio could hardly believe it was finally time. I chose to have a smaller, immediate family party this year instead of the friends/family party and I think I prefer it. It was nice to be able to "enjoy' the party more. Antonio was hoping to have some of his friends too but by the time his cousins showed up he forgot all about it. We were lucky enough to have Ms. Rosemary come by for long enough to finish watching Antonio open gifts and have a cupcake. Antonio was happy to see her; he loves her as do we.

The kids had fun. Everyone (kids) got a water shooter to take home and within 10m, they were squirting each other with water. The kids were wet but happy. Poor Grassy came trotting over to the fence and got a rude awakening; 4 boys and a girl all shooting her with water through the fence slats.

Even Grandpa joined in the fun.

We had hot dogs, watermelon, red grapes, chips and salsa, and grape juice. Finished off with a purple #5 cupcake cake.

Antonio got so many great gifts for his birthday. After each one he said, "Its just what I wanted!" and indeed, he had said he wanted it. Happily, the heat wasn't to bad and us adults were able to stay in the shade while the kids stayed cool enough by soaking each other. Once the last people left Antonio was very sad. He told me, "I don't want them to go..."; he's never been good with goodbye's. After helping us clean up, he went through all his gifts again, opening each one to finally get a better look. He was still content. We even played a very quick round of golf in the living room, something that will later be an outside toy only. 

Antonio is the best little boy I could ask for. I am one lucky Mama and he is one lucky kid to have so many people who love him. Technically five years in the book for him (& us). We are looking forward to what his 6th year brings. New friends, Kindergarten and more. 

Summertime

Summer, summer, summertime

Time to sit back and unwind...

Or something like that. Summer is in full swing here. It's June 24th and we've already been camping, camping in the living room (multiple times), swimming in Grammy & Grandpa's hot tub (twice), to the beach (twice also), a parade, watched fireworks, and planted veggies. Not to mention all the yummy food we've consumed: hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, s'mores, popcorn, ice cream and donuts; oh and we've enjoyed our first backyard grown carrot. So far, I'm guessing it's Antonio's best summer yet.

He still gets to enjoy a trip to the ocean, 4th of July, his birthday, day camp, baseball games and another camping trip! I have, however, decided to opt for a low key, small birthday party for Antonio this year. I hope he is ok with that. I figure this may be my last chance before he makes new friends at school and wants them all over for a birthday party. He'll get his birthday party at daycare that Rosemary always throws for each kid for their birthday, so he'll get to celebrate with his friends there.

Meanwhile we are still trying to prep for Kindergarten. I am still not 100% sold on him being ready but I am having faith; and its still only June. Usually people say, "a mother knows her child best" and thats probably true with the exception of Moms like me. I am a terrible, decision maker; probably the worst. And I second (third, forth and so on) guess myself all the time. It's terrible and I hate it but I do. That probably goes hand in hand with my anxieties. :/

Moving on.

So he might just be ready like both his Pre-k teachers and Rosemary say but I am just not sold on it and probably won't be until the school year is done or at least half way done and we've gotten a good feel on his he's doing. In the meantime, we are trying to get him as ready as possible. He is going to be the kind of kid who refuses to do homework but does the work at school, no problem. When I ask him to practice writing him name he comes up with every reason why he can't. Claims he doesn't know how even though he wrote it twice a day during school. And getting him to write letters or practice sounding out words is impossible but on his own he tries to sound out words a lot. Sigh....

Next up on our summer to do list is a trip to Ocean Shores. We are so excited. Antonio has never been to the ocean except for in California and well, as most of us know, that is completely different! So rain or shine we are excited, well I'd take clouds or blue sky.  Just no rain please, we had that camping. :)

Camping

We went camping for the second time with Antonio this weekend, and once again it was a succeess. We went again with my friend Erin, her husband, Pete, and their son, Jack, who will be 6 in October. The boys played very well together and happily there wasn't any "fighting". :) We went to Ike Kinswa State Park which is down by Centraila so it is about as close to "in the middle" for both of us as it can be. The weather was cold and wet but we had a great time.

Last year, we went in August and there was a burn ban so there were no campfires...at all. It was weird. Happily, Antonio didn't know the difference since it was his first time camping but hot dogs, s'mores etc were done over the camp stove. :( And after, it was dark it was weird without a campfire. Happily it wasn't cold too. This year, there was no burn ban so we were able to enjoy the fire, and s'mores. Antonio's favorite part was roasting marshmallows; he loved it. He also enjoyed helping Pete tend to the fire, whether Pete wanted him to or not. ;) Pete was a good sport about it.

We were there Saturday - Monday which turned out great. Saturday was crowded, every site was full, but the majority left Sunday morning. On one side of us was a baby, young baby. It cried most of the evening/night Saturday night. I felt bad for them yet was so thankful they were leaving the next morning! We all were. I verified their reservation was over the next day and it was. Sunday it rained off and on all day so most people left earlier on (checkout is 1:00) and by noon we were one of maybe 5 or 6 site filled. The closet one to us was around the corner and 3 or 4 sites down so it was nice. We all appreciated the lack of neighbors and decided we should always plan it this way. The boys ran around exploring, finding (and creating) new trails and making noise, which was fine since we didn't have any close neighbors. We were very close to the bathrooms which we also appreciated and since the sites are around a loop there were many ways to get there. Sunday over to Monday we maybe saw 2 or 3 people walking to the bathroom, again, so nice. This years site seemed much bigger than last years and after looking at last years pictures, I am pretty sure it was. Much more room!

The only thing that would've made it better was warmer weather. However, with the colder weather we stayed close to the fire most of the time which in turn allowed us to spend more time together. Last year it was much warmer and we were inclined to go off and explore more; I'd take somewhere in between. When we leave I always wish I had more time with them, especially Erin because for some reason I feel like we never get any good chatting time in. Oh well. All in all, our 2nd annual camping trip with The Eberlein's was a good one! Already looking forward to next years!

The boys last year, August 2013

The boys this year, June 2014 (still silly as ever)

My little family in front of our tent!

The last day.

Today was the last day of school. Well, technically yesterday was since today was just an all school puppet show, no class though. Regardless, his very first "school year" is in the books and he absolutely loved it. He loved his teacher, he made new friends and just plain loved school, which in turn, made me happy. Albert and I loved him being there too. The school is so small and faith orientated which, in my opinion was perfect for Antonio.  It has 2 Pre-K classes, 1 preschool and 1 kindergarten class. Small yet it was more of a "school" than some in the sense there were other classes in the hallway, they had to walk down a hallway in line and there different ages at recess. Where I went to preschool there was just my class in 1 building and I know that type of set-up is still common. Hopefully all that will help Antonio transition to an actual school with a lot more kids and classrooms.

I know when next week, or maybe even not until the following week, Antonio will realize school is over. He knows today (yesterday) was his last day of school and said he was sad about that but I wonder just how much he really realizes that. When the puppet show was over, we got up from our seats and just walked out, just like the end of a movie. It was weird; I'm not sure why but it was. There was no grand farewell or anything, we just left, so matter-of-factly. We did see Mrs. Cunningham as we were leaving and Antonio wanted to say goodbye again to her. So sweet. I got choked up leaving. Yes, I know, I tend to get over emotional, wear my heart of my sleeve type but it was kinda sad. Since we don't go to church there (yes, I know we could), we may never go there, or see those people, ever again and that is sad.

We got all of Antonio's school work that he did during the year, including both evaluations from September thad then now, in May. He did so good. Well the educational part, knowing his shapes, colors and numbers he knew in September so there wasn't much "improvement" there. But everything else he did great in; social development, language development, work habits and motor skills. I was/am so proud of him. The one thing he needs to work on: "standing up for his rights". His teachers say "yes" he does that but added "sometimes needs teacher support".  So I guess we need to teach him to stand his ground better without making him "mean".  It seems he is a good, kind, smart boy. I already knew all that but it is so nice to see others outside of family, say the same thing.

Up next is Kindergarten. Antonio seems excited and claims its in two weeks. Obviously we also still need to work on the "time" thing with him. Ha. I keep telling him its 3 months but he insists its 2 weeks. :) I have already decided when we find out when the 1st day of school is I am going to take the day off from work. I will be such a ball of emotion that there is no way I will be able to go to work the same day. In fact, I am sure I will be that Mom that sobs uncontrollably when Antonio climbs on the bus or walks in to school. I am leaving it up to Antonio on if wants to ride the bus to school or have me take him.

Ending this chapter is so bittersweet. My baby boy is growing up; he will be 5, FIVE, in July. It truly is amazing how incredibly fast it goes. No matter how many times people tell you to enjoy it because it flies by, you don't truly understand it until you are in it.  I am so incredibly proud to be his Mama.

Brave boy.

Antonio did great. He got to lay back, put some headphones on, watch a movie and breathe in the "good oxygen". They did the whole thing in a matter of maybe 2 min; I was impressed. The dentist said, " you might feel a little pull but it's ok" and about 15sec later Antonio said, "owe" and that was it. No tears, no fuss, nothing. He was so brave. I was so glad to have it done. They applied gauze to stop the bleeding and then handed him an otter pop. He was content.

I, on the hand, was not. As soon as I saw the blood it was over. I became very dizzy, nauseous, shaky and sweaty. It was awful. They turned the ac up in the room me, we had a private room, and told me we (Antonio and I) could stay as long as needed. Antonio happily, was content with where he was so I could "recover". What am I going to do if he breaks an arm or leg? Or falls and gets cut? Or something worse? I told Albert he is in charge if anything other than Antonio falling and skinning his knee or arm happens. I've now learned I may not do so well.

Maybe having just one kid is good.

For 24hours he was restricted to a "soft" diet. No seeds (strawberries, blackberries, etc), crackers, chips or anything he'd have to "bite" into and no sucking through a straw or sippycup type cup. So he had a bunch of watermelon, 2 banana's, scrambled egg, bread and 2 popsicles the rest of the day. Then the next day, oatmeal, more banana, french toast, scrambled egg, string cheese (cut into bite sized pieces), spinach leaves, more watermelon, blueberries, and apples (cut into bite sized pieces). Today, Rosemary (daycare) wasn't sure what he could or couldn't eat so she planned to have, waffles, applesauce, mac n cheese, yogurt, pudding and another popsicle. He's had the best foods the past few days.

He's got a pretty big lisp right now and I am really hoping as he gets used to talking without 1 front tooth it will gradually lessen. It makes me sad to see him smile with a missing tooth. :/  Today on the way home from swimming he said to me, "my grown-up tooth is taking a really long time to come".  Poor guy. I pray he gets used to it because Dr. Lugo warned it could be a couple years before it grows in. Imagine not having one of your front teeth, and trying to talk and eat like "normal". Thats what he has to deal with for a couple years. My poor sweet boy.  I know its better that it's gone so his "grown-up" tooth can grow in properly and the infection (from when he fell and the tooth was pushed up) is gone but it still makes me sad for him.

A pulled tooth

When Antonio was still a baby (he still is in my mind but back when he was 1ish) he would put his blankie in his mouth, managed to get one of the strings that was also looped, all of them were, around his front tooth and pull on it. He did it all the time, I guess it was an alternative to sucking his thumb. Once all his teeth were in, I noticed that one of his front teeth was out further than the other. No big deal but I brought it up every time we went to the dentist, it bothered me. I was always worried that it meant when it fell out, the permeant tooth would grow in crooked. The dentist, Dr. Lugo, always said not to worry because the permeant one most likely would grow in fine. Then we got his X-rays done once he was old enough and sure enough, it looked like it was growing in the right spot, phew.

A couple weeks ago Antonio slipped on some sand that was on the floor of his classroom and fell. They said he fell and bit his lip, they gave him ice and he claimed he didn't cry. Well of course that was a Wednesday and Albert picked him up took him to daycare and I didn't see him until much later and well, he looked fine when I saw him. He had a little bump/red spot on his lip but that was all; I wasn't worried. Well last week he complained because his lip was hurting, turned out he had a nasty canker sore between his bottom lip and gums. That went away yet he was still complaining of pain on top of his mouth. He pointed to the roof of his mouth behind where his left tooth was. I looked and saw nothing. I assumed he was just making it up. :(  He kept complaining about it every time we brushed his teeth so last Thursday I looked closer and saw this:

It looks more like a long lump on his gums. Not so much round as it looks here. He said it hurt when I touched it and yet still pointed to the roof of his mouth behind the tooth. Then he started mentioning certain foods hurt to eat but never ever really complained about it. I had to cut up apples into bite size pieces because biting big ones hurt. He had his regularly scheduled cleaning next month so I was just going to wait until then.  I didn't think to much of it until I showed my Mom Saturday evening when she was over for Mothers day dinner. She calmly, yet sternly, you should call his dentist about it. She mentioned it looked like the permanent tooth was maybe growing in over it. 

ACK!

That kinda freaked me out. I definitely don't want that to happen. So I told Antonio I would call Dr. Lugo Monday. I did and got him in this afternoon. They took an x-ray and asked if he had had any trauma to it. I said no, then remembered the fall at school. Dr. Lugo said that was probably it. The tooth bit his lip and was pushed up into his mouth just far enough to cause movement. They could also see a small infection starting which was why it was hurting him so much. Dr. Lugo said they would have to pull the tooth, top right (Antonio's top left). That way the other could grow in right and to get rid of the infection/pain. He said he couldn't do his regular cleaning because of the infection so sooner than later. We decided for tomorrow instead of waiting two weeks (after school is out). He suggested tomorrow so we could get it out before the infection got any worse and began to really bother Antonio. :( 

Once the tooth is out he will have a hole there; for maybe 2 or 3 years.  The other tooth should grow in like normal but now be delayed a bit more than normal because it will have to grow through bone instead of the hole of the baby one. The "hole" of the baby one will be long closed. Dr. Lugo did say it looks like Antonio has (hopefully now, had) a slight under bite, his lower jar is out farther than his upper one. However, the blankie thing when he was younger may have corrected that with the other tooth. Yay!? I think. So maybe, just maybe, both upper permanent teeth will come in perfectly after all this! *Fingers crossed*

Antonio will miss school tomorrow but seems ok with it because Dr. Lugo will "fix" his tooth. ;) An hour before we go in I will give him a very small about of liquid valium to relax him. I asked if I could have some too or at least have some laughing gas during the appointment but sadly I was turned down.  Anyways. Once there, we will go in and have the tooth pulled in about 5 mins. Apparently the actual pulling out of the tooth is super fast and easy. Antonio might feel a little discomfort or pressure but thats it. 

Side note: Thats also what they told me I would feel when they pulled Antonio out of me during my c-section. The only little that was involved was Antonio and we all know he was not little. :/ So I'm a bit nervous for him.

Moving forward. They said that he should be fine afterwards, maybe a little drowsy from the valium but fine. In fact they said he would be able to go to swimming later in the day with no problems. Crazy. I imagine a little sore from it too but they didn't think much if any. We will play it by ear and hope thats true. I'm kinda freaking out about it. I know its just a tooth that wouldn't have fallen out in a year or two anyways but still. There will be valium and pulling involved...on my baby boy. 

Yes, I am grateful and thankful that this is the worst that has happened to him in his little life so far. My cousin's youngest just got his cast off after falling off his brothers bed (while playing calmly on it) and breaking his arm. We're lucky its just a tooth but for a year or two there will be a hole in his smile. :(  He's never been big on smiling good in pictures anyways but still...  Please pray for him tomorrow (Tuesday) morning around 10:30. Pray it is fast and painless and that there is no "recovery" needed! :) Also pray that I don't pass out. Lol. I'll be sure to update FB once we are done and home. 

Here are a couple last min full of teeth pictures from this afternoon! Tomorrow's smile will be a little different...

Kindergarten

Next year my baby boy will go to Kindergarten!

Am I ready?

HECK NO!!!!!

Surprisingly, it was a hard decision. First, it was whether he was ready for Kindergarten since he is a Summer birthday (he will only be 5 in July). Then it was weather to send him to the local public school or keep him at the private school he goes to now. We love, love, LOVE where he goes now. The school is amazing. He is learning so much about letters, numbers, shapes, colors, patterns and most importantly GOD. I think one of my favorite things he is learning is about is God/Jesus. He doesn't learn any of that from us, especially since we don't go to church, but I do want him to know God. Now any far away place is now Bethlehem (or Disneyland since we've now been there). Sadly he won't get any of that at public school. 

Backing up to the original concern, whether he was ready or not. After talking to his current Pre-K teachers he seems to be ready. When I asked if they thought he was ready, without hesitation, they confidently said yes. In fact, they said some things he is one of the best in class on the others he was doing fine on. I asked if they thought he would be mentally/emotionally ready since he is a Summer birthday (boy) and they thought so. Since he is so "even keel" they thought he would do fine.  I've heard from a few people, my Mom in particular, that sometimes boys who have Summer birthdays (ones who have just turned 5) going into Kindergarten have trouble at first, no matter how smart they are; they just aren't mature enough. So of course I was concerned. Both Antonio's Pre-K teachers and Ms. Rosemary (daycare) think he is ready so we are trusting them. 

It will be hard for me since, whether we/I admit it or not, we judge our own kid in one way or another (against other kids and other people judge kids against kids, subconsciously) no matter how hard we try not to. One of Antonio's cousin's is in Kindergarten now and reading; full on reading books. It amazes me. Then I worry, in a year Antonio should be reading?!?! No way! Then I remind myself, he (the cousin) is 6 as of January and this time next year Antonio will barely be 5 1/2.  His other cousin will be in Kindergarten next year too but she turned 5 last October, so 9 months older than Antonio. Antonio will be a young Kindergartener and next year when other Kindergarteners are "ahead" of him  I will have to remind myself, "It's ok, he is a young Kindergartener.".  We all want our kids to be at the top of the class but there will be a chance Antonio may not be at the top, and that is ok. :) (Remind me this next year!)

As far as public or private. I was able to sit in on a Kinder class at his current school and I was not nearly as impressed with the class as I was/am with the Pre-K class. There were so many other factors involved with our decision (transportation, money, my stress level, etc) but we decided to send him to the public school down the road from us. I think/hope he will be just fine there. Antonio would end up there in a year anyways so it was really just one year he would have gone to the private school. He will be able to be picked up and dropped off at daycare by the bus which will be so helpful. The school recently hired a new principle who apparently is improving the school a lot. I won't be 100% confident in our decision until after we have the first conference in the Fall. ;) 

Phew, one more decision done (thanks to my cousin Suzanne and Renae and my Mom) and is in the books. 

*side note. Antonio's currently doing a fundraiser for his school (mixed bags. reusable grocery, totes, etc.) through Friday, the 7th. His school gets 40% from every online purchase.  If you are at all interested go here. His fundraiser ID # is 89635. No pressure. Really. 

Disneyland

As you know Albert, Antonio and I went to Dinseyland recently and had so much fun! In fact Antonio is asking when we can go back. We also were joined by his Mom, Eva, Nelly & John, Kiana, Abel & Elise (Antonio's cousin) and then the second day Robert and Cammie! It was fun! I've decided 4 (1/2) was a good age. Atleast Antonio was a good age to go. He was tall enough (43") to ride rides he wanted to (& didn't want to) go on.  Turns out 40" is the minimun for rides that require a certain height, some didn't require a height at all, and then 42" was the next step up then 44" and up. We were there 2 days and 2 nights; one night at the Disney Grand Californian and one up the road. The Disney Grand was amazing. If you are going to do it right and have kids it is perfect. It has it's own entrance into California Adventure and another one into Downtown Disney. It was so convenient.  We had an awesome view of California Adventure (CA) so we were able to watch the World of Color (or whatever it is called) after were were in our jammies from our balcony. If you have small kids that may need to nap it is evern better. The other Disney hotels are great too, I assume, but the location of the Disney Grand was ideal. In my opinion, if you are going to spend the amount of money for a Disney hotel spend the extra few for the location. We didn't have to carry a crying, overtired 4 year old (happily we never ran in to this problem, yet he was beyond tired at the end of both days) more than a few hundred feet. Also, if you get to the hotel before you can check in they will hold all your luggage (for free) until you come back to check in. If you happen to buy a bunch of things you can go back and add to your luggage at any time. So nice. We didn't check in until we were done at CA (about 8:30pm). The next morning after breakfast we packed up our stuff and checked out before going to Disneyland, again they hold all of your belongings until midnight the night that you check out. We didn't go back for our stuff until about 9:30 that night! It was so nice!

 I wish we could have had more time at CA because there was so much we didn't see/do. Some people talk down CA because it is not classic Disney, which is true, however it has all the characters that Antonio knew now. Toy Sory, A Bugs Life, Cars, Monsters Inc and I heard a rumor, but never saw, that it had UP too! Anotonio loved it because it had characters that he was familiar with! He spent most of the time walking around with his head up looking at everything! In my opinion, if going with younger kids CA is a MUST. They have a ride there called Tower of Terror, well you have to be 40" to ride on it (an example of just because you are tall enough doesn't mean you should ride) and I knew I wasn't going and offered to stay back with Antonio. But Albert said he'd take Antonio (with everyone else including Elise) I had anxiety the whole time, it is not a little kid ride. Sure enough, Antonio came out in Albert's arms crying because he was scared. :(  To this day, (even before getting into bed tonight) he still talks about how it was a creepy hotel and how it scared him. Poor kiddo.


Disneyland was well, Disneyland (DL). It had all the magic and fun I had remembered. We started DL off with a character breakfast at The Disney Grand hotel, which Antonio had a blast with. It was just another thing that was way over priced but a must! You pay for the fun as well as the food I guess. After checking out we went straight into DL (about a 2 min walk). We first took the train up above DL before actually getting out and checking everything out. Antonio loved that and took convincing there was more to do. After that, he lead the way. We went straight down Main Street to the Castle which if we had only walked in and then out all day he would have been happy! His favorite ride by far was Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. We went on it at least 4 times! There were manny rides he went on and he loved. Sadly, Its a Small World was closed for refurbishment but he went on Dumbo! We wended up having strollers for both kids and I am so glad we did. By about 6 both were starting to break down, Antonio more than Elise. Just when we thought we would be done Antonio decided to stay for the fireworks and I am so glad we did. Antonio thought they were to loud but he's never been a fan of fireworks let alone loud noises. It was by far the best fireworks I've seen! After the fireworks show we were done; it was time to go home (back to a different hotel where everyone else was staying).

Antonio made out with good Disney gear though. He got his Mickey ears from Grandma, a Mickey shirt (from us, it was more of an emotional buy for me), a Bullseye (from toy story) from Grammy & Grandpa (they sent us with some cash for a souvenir) and a Buzz Lightyear hoodie from Uncle and Auntie, which he wears EVERYWHERE! Next time we go we plan on being there 3 days, we easily could have used another day. It was so much fun and Antonio was so good, much better than I expected him to be! He's already talking about the next time!

 All of us in front of the Disney Castle

 My emotional Mickey shirt purchase.

Elise and Antonio with their "ears".

 Elise and Antonio decided where to go next.

A sleepy Antonio with his new friend. 

Check out my FB two photo albums (Disneyland via my iPhone and California Adventure/Disneyland) for more pics if you haven't already!