Wonderful World of Preschool

Connor has been in preschool now for about two months and OH the the improvements and changes we have seen in our little guy! For any mom out there that questions the value of finding an excellent preschool, let me be clear: it is totally worth it!

As a stay-at-home mom, there was definitely some question as to whether of not we really needed to enroll Connor in a preschool. After all, we were going to Gymboree, the play room at the gym, and now 2-year-old soccer play where Connor gets plenty of interaction with other children. However, even the best mom with the best kids needs a little break in the action every now and then.

Once decided to pursue the preschool option, we quickly found the perfect fit. Out wishes were pretty simple: non-denominational, an actual school setting (NOT a daycare), and offering options for a young 2-year-old without potty training expectations. Since most preschools in our area are either run through a daycare facility or church, it made our search short and sweet!

The first day he brought home his bookbag filled with arts and crafts and paintings, I was so proud my heart almost hurt! I am just so proud of my little boy! And, the best part, he absolutely LOVEs his 6 hours of mommy-free time at school (and so does momma!)

Yesterday, he brought home a progress report from his teacher in preparation for our parent/ teacher conferences next Monday. (I guess "progress report" is the new lingo for a "report card" ;) A preschool report card is truly hilarious, but so on the money regarding their specific development areas and benchmarks. Criteria include things like the child's ability to dress themselves, wash & dry hands, sit still, follow one and two-step directions, etc.. Each area has 2 options for a "grade": developing and usually.

Most of Connor's checks were in the usually column, with a few in the developing column (and a couple of no's written in... specifically in the "dressing one's self" which he does not do! :) The teacher's complimented him very much and suggested that the best way we can help him as parents right now is to let him do more activities such as eating and hanging up his coat and bag on his own to build self-confidence. (Apparently, Connor uses the smile-and-flirt-to-get-adults-to-help-me tactic at school, just like at home! I taught him well! haha ;)

We couldn't be happier with Connor's progress in school so far! Especially as the very youngest kid in his school, as he just made the October 1st birthday cut-off by 4 days! We are also thrilled with our choice to enroll Connor in preschool at two, and with the school we picked! I'm having a fun time meeting other parents, volunteering on committees, and even hosting our Parent's Night Out at our house next month (since I'm a room parent!) We've really jumped right in!

As a bonus, a couple of ME days a week are nice to have. Simply having the time to shower and blow-out my hair, or vacuum or scrapbook is great! I can appreciate the luxury of being able to try clothing on while shopping, I can actually walk past the toy/sports section of Target without spending an hour explaining that we "have all of those things at home .... they have to stay here!", and I can hop in and out of the car to run about 10 errands in the time it takes to run 2 errands with Connor in tow!

I'll post more updates regarding our school experience as the year progresses!

I leave you with a couple of pics from our trip to the Louisville Zoo last week!!

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure!

Pictures from my race last week in Downtown Louisville! I beat my goal time by quite a bit, finishing the 5K in about 28 minutes! Then, today, I ran in The Hunger Walk and improved my time by a minute! Yea!

Sorry for the lack of posting recently! Too too busy!! More to come...

The entire crew!

Just after the race!

Me and my baby!

What a Whirlwind!!!

I honestly don't have a lot of time to write at this moment, but I'm going to get some pictures out here before more fun things keep happening and I just get further and further behind. (which reminds me that I need to start focusing a little bit more on my scrap booking since I just got all the supplies out recently and I realized I am only just getting to when I got pregnant with Connor ... holy crap, that was 3 years ago!!!)

This upcoming weekend will be nothing short of another hurricane of events, followed by the same the next weekend! But for now, I'll stick with the last couple of weeks!

University of Kentucky day at Mike Linnigs with my mom's side of the family - this was a special night because we just flew back from Florida, but our entire family was able to meet up at the last minute! On the far left is my cousin who was on a 2 week vacation home from Iraq, and the man next to him is my uncle who is going through intensive chemo right now to fight a late stage cancer. I'm so glad we were all able to meet up (although not everyone got the memo about it being UK night - hence all the red clothing!!)

Celebrating our 3-Year Anniversary at Hotel Nightclub on 4th Street in Downtown Louisville! We made a night of it, and ended up staying at the new Marriott Downtown! Fun night!

HUBER'S ORCHARD AND WINERY PICTURES!!

Biiiggg tractor at Hubers!! Doesn't Connor look tiny on that thing?

Feeding the ducks on deck at Hubers!

My little punkin'

Yummy roasted corn for lunch!

BETHANY'S WEDDING PICS!!!

The bridal party enjoying champagne and getting our nails done!!

At the rehearsal dinner!

AFTER the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, we all went out .... for several hours. This is just evidence of one of the many reasons we all felt so spectacular the next morning!!

Myself and the gorgeous bride!!

Good Night!

Just Too Much to Blog About... but a Fabulous Website

I am working on getting all the really great pics from the last couple of weeks ready to post on the blog! We have been running around like crazy people celebrating Connor's 2nd birthday, being in an out-of-town wedding for our very good friends, and our annual Huber's trip to drink wine and pick pumpkins!! Seriously, we are so not even close to being recovered from the last couple of weeks!

Connor at Hubers!

But for now, while I have a minute, I want to share a great website with you! A neighborhood friend of mine has teamed up with a friend of hers to start their own embroidery business! They craft so many cute, useful, and unique items! There is something for every occasion and age, and you can customize most anything!! Think: birthdays, weddings, bachelorette and bachelor parties, bridal party, Christmas, family reunions, school spirit, sports teams, new baby, etc... there is truly something for everyone!!



Please check it out when you get a chance! They are currently offering free shipping and a free gift with orders placed by October 15th!! Check it out now!!



http://shopmandn.com/



Thanks!

Cracking Me UP

Connor showing off his "Birthday Hat" he got at preschool yesterday!

Connor has changed so much just since he started his 2-Day Preschool. We've noticed him becoming more patient, self-sufficient (as far as playing alone, getting the toys he wants off the shelf, etc...) and more vocal and social (which we didn't really think was possible!). It kind of makes me wish we had started him in the 3 or 5 day program, but we can still do that next year when he is in the 3's class.

I attribute a lot of this immediate improvement simply to the fact that he is 1 of 8 at school, but at home, he is getting constant attention. His teachers are amazing. That's right, he has TWO teachers for just 8 kids... which is why it might be hard for us to ever switch over to public school later on! From what we have witnessed so far (which is actually quite a bit with the volunteering I've done, conferences, parent night, etc...) the entire staff at Chance School is freaking amazing! They seem to be "on" all the time - and that's difficult to fake! I also LOVE the liberal attitude the school takes toward school and discipline. It's not like they're running around wild, but they use positive reinforcement and direction to correct behavior, plus teach a LOT of self-reliance which promotes self-confidence.

So the reason I'm cracking up today is this: when we got home from the gym this morning, I sat down at my computer (standard) and Connor ran off to make chaos in the family room (also standard). It wasn't 2 minutes after I sat down that he came up to me and started pulling at my leg.

"Watch TV, please mamma. Watch TV, please mamma." (a little louder the second time, of course.)

{And, for those of you who may not have a little one, at two years old, everything is repeated over and over and over and over again consistently without fail until you not only respond, but do whatever it is they are asking. FYI. ;) }

"Sesame Street, on? Sesame, on?"

So, we make the journey into the family room where I put on Sesame Street. Connor sits in "his" chair and then goes on to say:

"Crackers, apple juice... crackers, apple juice..."

HAHAH! I wonder where he gets this?? Sitting in front of the tube eating crackers!! LOL! Hilarious! Connor knows what he want .... and generally he wants it right now!

Now he's sitting in his highchair here next to me and I'm watching him pick every single veggie out of his bowl of pasta before he will eat it. He even says: "No" every time he finds a piece. This little mannerism I'm going to attribute to his dad!!