Halloween 2011

Since when did Halloween become the start of the busy season? Between friend's parties, school parties, work parties, and neighborhood parties, I hardly had time to finish up Kai's costume, let alone sleep. The boys loved wearing their costumes and I loved seeing so many friends. Here is our Halloween, in pictures.

The annual Halloween party with friends. We met through a play group at the neighborhood park three years ago and we're still together.



On Friday the boys didn't have school so we went down to Daley Plaza to watch the Midnight Circus. It was so awesome. Thirty-minutes of acrobatic stunts. Jett loved it so much that we waited an hour and a half to see the second show too. During the bicycling act Jett even covered his eyes because the stunts were so daring. It was already a great day, and then Jett saw kids sliding down the Picasso statue. Bonus! You slide really fast when you sit on your coat.



On Saturday Cultural Care Au Pair held a trick-or-treating event near the zoo for our host families. The boys helped me pass out candy. Here is the only picture of Kai in his Zurg costume. My mom sewed the purple skirt and I sewed the gray banner across his chest. It is supposed to look like armor, but at midnight one night I accidentally sewed the red trim to the wrong piece of his shirt. I spent over an hour stitching that thing by hand at midnight only to figure out days later, after puzzling over it for days, that I sewed the piece I meant to throw away, and threw away the right piece. Honestly, when his whole costume (except the part my mom sewed) starting falling apart at the zoo, I was relieved. His "armor" looked ridiculous. Next year I'll talk my mom into sewing the whole thing!



Sunday was the Roscoe Village parade and another awesome party



and then pumpkin carving at Zack's annual party.



Monday was the big night in Evanston with the cousins. Kai tired out and took to the stroller, but Jett ran the whole way. He ran away from every porch calling out to us what new candy he had. Then when Ellie caught up to him he went back up to the candy bowls with her to see what she selected, give her suggestions, and point out new candy they hadn't collected yet. He was so excited - and very helpful!



After trick-or-treating Charlie told the kids they could only eat one piece of candy.

He was serious.

I am not kidding. I complained so loudly about it that I almost ruined Halloween. But while the adults ate dinner, all four kids watched The Great Pumpkin in silence, eating their noodles and corn bread without complaint. They didn't even dump out their candy on the floor to bask in the glory of it all. I was incredibly disappointed.

However, the next morning the aliens returned my kids to their bodies so after Charlie left for work I let them eat chocolate for breakfast.

I Need a Genie

I entered a very cool contest over at Making It Lovely. I hope I win.

I hope I find a stuffed parrot to sew on the shoulder of Jett's pirate costume.

I hope I figure out a way to create a headpiece for Kai's Halloween costume. Kai is dressing up as Emperor Zurg, Buzz Lightyear's enemy. (Kai is very excited about dressing up as a bad guy). I'm thinking a kid-sized viking hat that I can paint purple. Or a purple knit cap that I can glue styrofoam horns to. How would you do it?

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Kai Making Friends

One unexpected consequence of sending Kai to a (public) montessori school is that most of his school friends are 4 and 5 years old. Montessori classes combine 3 years in to one class. Kai's class is 3, 4, and 5 year olds (preK and kindergarten). Elementary 1 is 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades. Elementary 2 is 4th, 5th, and 6th grades, and then 7th and 8th grades make up the last class. I have no idea if this grouping is more beneficial than traditional grades or not. So far the main consequence for us is that Kai (who I consider a "young" three) is making friends with a bunch of kids who are Jett's age.

He talks about four kids in particular - "his silly guy David" (the only 3 year old he mentions), Sean (4), Charlie (4), and Belicia (5). He wanted his buddy Charlie to come over after school one day, so Charlie's mom and I made it happen. But I knew that if Jett was home Charlie, who is 4, might end up playing with Jett instead of Kai, so I arranged for Jett to go to a friend's house during Kai's play date. Do I have to be this strategic with every play date from now on? Yikes!

Belicia is the classmate that Kai seems to really love. To be honest, I love her too. Those few weeks when Kai resisted walking in to school, Belicia took his hand (or tried to), encouraged him to walk in the door (although he didn't always listen), and played with him on the playground before school. She endeared herself to me the first time she took Kai's hand, weeks ago.



Today Kai's school held a fundraising walk-a-thon during the school day. I was there to help out so I got to see Kai and his friends in action. Oh it was so cute.

Kai's teacher had the kids walk (outside around the school) in pairs. I don't know if she assigned partners or if the kids picked their own, but Kai and Belicia were walking buddies. They walked for 30 minutes and held hands the entire time. At one point another girl joined them, so Kai held her hand for a while. But even during the last block, when I walked with Kai, he kept holding hands with Belicia, even while holding mine. Tonight at dinner when I asked Kai what he was thankful for he said he was thankful that he got to walk with Belicia at school. I think I have another play date to set up.

A Letter to Charlie

Dear Charlie,

If you thought we could go to Michigan this week and not turn in to Lions fans, you were wrong!



You know the boys look awesome in blue. It is their color! And the name on the back of Jett's jersey is Johnson! It's perfect! Plus considering their record over the last number of years, the Lions are really an underdog team compared to the Packers, and I know you love rooting for the underdogs. So go Lions! Here us roar!

OK, ok, settle down. Jett said that even though Uncle Rich turned him in to a Lion's fan, when the Lions play the Packers, he will root for the Packers. Yes, yes, I'm sure this is true. Sit down, sit down. I am sure this is true. Here's why:

One our drive to and from Michigan we saw a lot of green-leafed trees turning yellow. Jett and Kai call these trees Green Bay trees.

As we drove down Western Avenue today I listened to the boys identify stores as we drove by them. The only stores they identified were ones that had signs or awnings with green and yellow on them. Those were the "Green Bay" stores. The boys kept shouting, "Green Bay! Green Bay!" block after block.

Even this evening, when you insulted Jett's intelligence and he rolled his eyes at you, he was just defending his Packer expertise. Yes, he rolled his eyes at you. I have never seen him roll his eyes before and he did it tonight, for the first time, at you, HIS DAD. I always thought it was the moms who inspired eye rolls, but tonight it was YOU. This is what happened:

The boys and I were at the dinner table and out of nowhere Kai calls out, "Go Green Bay Packers!" Jett replies with confidence, "Go Aaron Rodgers!" From the kitchen, in disbelief, you exclaim, "Nice one, Jett! I didn't know you knew Aaron Rodgers or that he plays for the Packers!" Well. Jett turned toward you, lowered his chin to his chest, and hid his eyeballs in his forehead. It was hilarious.

So no, I don't think you have to worry about Jett's allegiance. Maybe the eye-rolling though....

Love your tolerant wife,
Amy

Cheering for Motown from the hometown

Go Tigers!



Even if I didn't grow up with Sparky Anderson's voice drifting into the house from my dad's radio in the garage, Jett and Kai would root for Detroit just because their cousins do. Wouldn't you?

Wedding!

Uncle Dave and Aunt Megan got married on Martha's Vineyard and we all flew out there to see their first wedded kiss. Just getting there was part of the adventure, as it required a car, escalators, elevators, a plane, a bus, a car, a ferry, and a car all in one day. The boys loved it. I somehow came home without one picture of the bride and groom and no pictures of Charlie and I. But I made up for that in pictures of the kids. Here are my favorites:

On the plane. Notice that I am the lucky one with the seat across the aisle.

We were lucky to get a direct flight to Boston AND that our friend Pete woke up at 4:30 am on his birthday and drove us to the airport. Thanks, Pete!

Hallelujah! Papa has arrived!


Cousins striking a pose, and then a hug at the "welcome to the island" cocktail party.



A horse ride at the rehearsal dinner!


Who can resist a little girl with flowers in her hair? So pretty.


Never dress a kid in khaki pants for a wedding. It's like begging for grass stains before the walk down the aisle. Orange bow ties are perfect though!


Throwing rocks into the water at Aquanah Cliffs.


The entire week was wonderful, but I think my favorite part (besides the reception, which included babysitters!) was staying at this house and letting the boys tumble out barefoot onto the grass every morning and wrestle around like puppies half the day.


It was glorious. What a wonderful way to start. Congratulations Dave and Megan!

Victories

1. The toilet paper dispenser at Jett's school has been lowered so the 5 year olds can reach it now.

2. For the first time in three weeks, Kai walked in to school without crying.

3. I made a friend - a friend! A FRIEND! at Jett's school who has offered to watch Jett on the playground after school until I arrive from picking up Kai at his school, which ends at the same time and is 6 blocks away. And even if she didn't offer to watch Jett on the playground, the fact remains that I made a friend! At our new school! A new school friend!

4. I got both boys to school on time.

5. Jett is starting to read!

6. Both boys let me brush their teeth tonight.

7. I bought a great dress at Akira.

5 yrs and 2 months

You know what else happened this summer? Jett turned 5. Five!

Ever since all of our pictures look like this. I may never take a family Christmas photo again.


One of his favorite presents was the web shooters. First they shoot silly string. Then we've you've used up the silly string, you can shoot water. As soon as he opened the shooters he donned his Spiderman costume, put Kai in his super hero cape, and talked Charlie in to taking him outside. They boys used up the silly string in 30 seconds, almost before I had time to run outside after them. We put on quite a show for all of the church-goers who attend church at the school across the street. The trees over there have never looked so colorful!





Jett wanted to go to the zoo for his birthday, so we did. We had a hard time tearing them away from the ducks on this pond, but we eventually made it around to see all of the animals on Jett's list and ride the carousel too.





a proper birthday lunch

We couldn't avoid a stop at Chuck E. Cheese. He did turn five, after all.


It was really one of the best days of summer. Happy Birthday, Jett! We love you!

School is Hard

The toilet paper dispenser for the boys' bathroom in Jett's school is attached to the wall outside of the bathroom. If you need toilet paper, you have to get some from the dispenser before you walk in to the bathroom.

Below is a real email conversation I had with Jett's principal today.

Dear Miss XYZ and Mr. ABC,

My son is too short to reach the toilet paper dispenser that is outside of the boys' bathroom at the bottom of the stairs near Miss XYZ's classroom. Today I sent him to school with toilet paper in his pockets. Not all of his shorts have pockets, so.....can the toilet paper dispenser please be moved lower so the five-year-olds can reach it? Until it can be moved, can you please, today, make sure that those students who can't reach it can still get toilet paper when they need it? Maybe you can put a step-stool or chair under the dispenser for a short-term, immediate solution.

Also, until today [9 days in to the school year] my son did not even know where the toilet paper dispenser was. I had to walk down to the bathroom with him this morning and we looked for it together - it was not that easy to find. Can you please make a point of showing the new students where the toilet paper dispenser is in every bathroom that they might use during the school day?

On a side note, Mr. ABC, I hear that you are working to make pick-up and drop-off less chaotic and safer for the students on the playground. I really appreciate that. Thanks.

Thank you.

---------------------

Hello Ms. Johnson,

Thank you for your email. I will touch base with Ms. XYZ to make sure that all of her students are aware of where the washrooms are located, as well as, the dispensers. In addition I will let her know to keep an eye on your son to make sure he has what he needs in order to use the restroom. I will also talk to your son and reinforce the idea that he can always ask his teacher for assistance.

Thank you for the feedback on pick-up, its still a work in progress, but I am confident we will get it down to near perfection very soon. Thanks.

Sincerely,
ABC

---------------------

Thank you, Mr. ABC. It still seems there must be a way to make the toilet paper accessible to all students without the students requiring special assistance from their teacher, but as long as someone is available to help him, I guess the problem is mostly solved.

Jett really enjoys being in Ms. XYZ's class. We are enjoying it too.

I thought pick-up today was a huge improvement. Thank you!

See you at school,
Amy

PreK Wrap-Up

Jett had a homework assignment last week, which I remembered on Sunday, just in time. He needed to make a collage about himself. The idea was to include things like your favorite color, favorite book, what you like about school, etc. I wish I had taken a picture of Jett's collage before he brought it to school today. The things he put on his collage were:

1. His favorite color - green (heavily influenced by the Green Bay Packers).

2. His favorite TV show - Wild Kratts.

3. The names of everyone in his family (Jett, Kai, Mom, Dad). I ordered him to write our names on his collage in red and followed by a red heart.

4. A photo of him playing his favorite sport, soccer.

5. A photo of him and his friend taken at preschool last year.

6. A photo of his preschool class from last year.

He also asked me to print out a picture of his preschool teachers, although in the end he decided not to add that to his collage.

The end of preschool was sad for me, but not as sad as last year. Last year I was sad because it looked like he and his friends, although returning to preschool, would be in different classrooms, and our first year together had been wonderful and we wanted the second year to be the same. In the end we got all of the kids back in class together and had another terrific year together. This year, although all of the kids were "graduating" from preschool, I wasn't quite as sad, because we were all getting scattered to the wind, split up among various elementary schools. Somehow knowing that almost everyone is splitting up wasn't as hard to take.

Anyway, the last week of preschool was filled with parties, treats, and special events. These are some of my favorite pictures from that time.

Dress Up Day

Another spirit week day - I think it was dress like your favorite decade day.


Counting on the abacus.

Working Hard

Performing one of their many dance routines for the last time (sniff!)


I loved all of that singing and dancing. Do you see Kai in there?


The last day of school they took a walking field trip to a nearby park.

We loved preschool!

First day of School!

I know it's the middle of summer, but Jett and Kai started school today. Kindergarten and PreK! Don't the boys look great?

They are both in (different) public schools. They are both Track E schools (which start in early August and have longer breaks throughout the year) and they both require uniforms. I am not a fan of uniforms but there is something a bit charming about the white and navy look.

Charlie took the day off of work today to help with school pick-up and drop-off, so the 4 of us piled in to the car at 8:30 this morning and drove the 1.5 miles to Jett's school. Parking was an absolute circus. I know parking is an issue for most schools everywhere, but schools in the city don't have parking lots, so I think it must be even crazier here. Thankfully Charlie could just hop out with Jett, and Kai and I could be on our way.....

...and 6 blocks down the street is Kai's school. By the time I parked (with flashers on, in front of a fire hydrant), Kai and I only had 5 minutes to spare. Thankfully he had stopped crying ("I want Daaaaaaddy to take me to school!") by the time we got out of the car. He put on his big backpack, grabbed my hand, and walked me across the street to school. We made our way through the chaotic playground of older kids and parents, and found the door where the three-year-olds enter. The door was open, kids were inside, so he dropped my hand and walked in. Just like that! I had to ask his assistant teacher to bring him back to me so I could say good-bye and give him his backpack (which I was now holding). Kai dutifully walked back to me, put his arm around my neck, and let me hug him and kiss him. Then I handed him his backpack and he walked back to where he was supposed to sit. He is so CUTE.

Where he was supposed to sit was on this very high bench in front of the drinking fountains. I know you can barely see him in this picture, but if you can make him out, look how small he looks! Three year olds are amazing.

middle of the picture, on bench, white shirt

So all of the kids sit on these benches, organized by classrooms, and wait until it's time to go to class. Their teachers are with them. Parents are not supposed to go in to this room - we say good-bye at the door. The doorway, of course, was crowded with parents taking pictures, peeling off their kids, teachers coaxing children in, big bags of school supplies being handed over....I hovered there for a few minutes and then spent the last few minutes squinting into the room through a dark window. I saw Kai line up with his backpack on and walk out the door with his class, and then he was around the corner and out of sight. I tried to picture which window was his and I couldn't and I felt a little sad. Then I remembered that I had parked in front of a fire hydrant and rushed to move my car.

Charlie dropped Jett off and was walking to Kai's school to meet me, so I walked back to the playground and stood by myself amongst many small groups of parents talking and laughing together. I busied myself with my cell phone and thought about my preschool mom friends and wondered how long it would take to make friends at this school. Then a mom walked over and introduced herself and her three friends and I felt like a puppy waiting for adoption. I hope they come back and buy me tomorrow.

Now Charlie and I are home and the house is wonderfully quiet and it's already 11:00 and the day is going by so fast already and I hope it's going by fast for the boys too and I hope Kai isn't hungry because he barely ate breakfast and I hope Jett isn't sweating because Charlie said his classroom was really warm and I hope they both eat a good lunch and aren't disappointed that I didn't put a cookie in their lunch bags but they only get 20 minutes to eat and I was afraid that if I put dessert in there they'd eat it first and wouldn't have time to eat the healthy stuff and how am I going to make the most of the few hours I have left because I'd sure like to relax and Charlie and I want to go for lunch and I should get some groceries and unpack from the weekend and clean out their toys and organize the closets and look for some freelance editing work and update this blog with a million more posts about the summer and and and but wait. They go to school every day. Every. Day.

Whoever invented school was a genius.

Friday Freakout: Full-day Kindergarten

You might think that since I haven't posted on a Friday (or on any day) in so long that I have nothing to freak out about. Oh, but you would be wrong. I have a million things to freak out about: Jett's graduation from preschool, his 5th birthday, his soccer team, Kai's total disinterest in potty training, his upcoming full-day preschool, their school uniforms, oh the list goes on and I'll post all about it soon. For now though I'm freaking out about kindergarten.

In the fall Jett will start kindergarten at a public school not too far from us. Like most elementary schools in Chicago, they accepted 40 kindergarteners but then were funded for only one teacher. Thus kindergarten is shortened to a half day - one morning class and one afternoon class. This is disappointing for a lot of reasons, mostly because there are so many academic benefits to full-day versus half day kindergarten.

Thankfully there are some energetic kindergarten parents at Jett's school who have started a fundraising campaign to raise the money to hire a second teacher (so there would be two full-day kindergarten classes). We need at least $85,000. The school and the fundraising committee already donated $30,000 to the cause, so the parents of the incoming kindergarteners are left to raise the remaining $55,000 +. The money needs to be raised by June 28th. We found out about this last week. Amazingly for a school with a poverty rate of 83%, we have raised the majority of the money in a week. We still have about $15,000 left to go.

This process of having to raise money for kindergarten leaves me frustrated. But I'm excited that Jett will be going to this school that seems to have such committed, action-oriented parents. We'll know by June 28 (the deadline for raising funds) if we've raised enough or not, and then I can really start freaking out (or hopefully not). Either way, you'll hear all about it!

If you'd like to donate to full-day kindergarten at his school you can do that here.

Time Out Just Got One Minute Longer...

In other words, Kai is three!

That belly, that hair, those eyes, those legs, that squeal, that look. Kai has Three perfected. I mean, just look at him.

He's one big bundle of Little Kid. He doesn't want me to push his tricycle up the curb, but he wants me to carry him up the stairs please, and thank you very much. He doesn't want to go to bed, but three hours later he crawls in to my bed. He doesn't want to take a nap, but he will if I lay down with him. He'll eat blueberries (frozen) and pears and maybe peas. He opens up his peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and licks all the good stuff out. He wants to go to school without me. He pushes the kitchen chairs into the kitchen, crawls onto the counter top, opens the cupboard door, pulls out the cereal box and pours himself a bowl without spilling it - while I'm in the shower. Some of these things I could do without.

In the last couple of months Kai's language has exploded and every time he speaks to me I give a silent cheer. He speaks in full sentences, two or three or four in a row and it's thrilling to finally know what he wants and what he thinks and where he wants to go. Usually he wants to go to his friends' houses, his grandparents' houses, McDonald's, or home.

Kai is taking a gymnastics class with Jett. It's his first class without me. I park right outside the building and I let Jett and Kai run in with the other families while I pay the parking meter. When I get in the building, 2 minutes later, they both have their shoes off and stored neatly under a chair and Jett is usually in the process of helping Kai get his coat off. When their instructor opens the door for class Kai runs in after Jett without a glance back at me.

For his birthday he requested dinner at McDonald's with his friend JP.

He still does his fair share of waiting for and watching Jett. He sat in my lap for an hour once a week, watching Jett learn how to swim. Jett sat on the side of the pool and kicked his legs, while Kai sat in my lap and did the same. Jett moved his arms in circles along side his body, and Kai did the same. It was awfully cute. Kai is awfully cute.

He plays with the big kids. When Jett gets out of school and his preschool class runs to the playground, Kai does too. Sometimes the preschoolers make Kai the "monster" and pretend he's chasing them, which he is. Kai loves it. Sometimes he pushes the preschoolers (in play) and sometimes they push him back (gently so far) and he laughs and laughs.

Kai laughs and laughs and laughs. He sneaks a treat and giggles. He runs, screaching, out the door instead of waiting. He pulls his diaper off and collapses with belly laughs. He splashes me from the tub and guffaws.

He likes to snuggle by holding my face in his hands. He still likes to sleep with his arm around my neck. Sometimes he falls asleep after we drop Jett off at preschool and he'll stay asleep when I transfer him up three flight of stairs and in to bed, then 2 hours later he continues to sleep while I transfer him back to the car, into the school, and out on the playground. He'll stay sleeping in my arms, his head on my shoulder. Holding him hurts my back and ruins his bedtime but that kid is heaven in my arms.

His favorite song is "I've Got a Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas and he walks around the house, sits in the grocery cart, sits in the bath singing, "Tonights gonna be a good, good niiiight."

Dancing at music center in Jett's preschool classroom on Sibling Day.

He likes to spit. He's started biting. He won't stay in time out. He whines and whines and whines. But he's started doing Jett's old puzzles, and he sits by himself and looks at books and builds block towers that he is so proud of. He walked around all week singing "Happy Birthday to Kai-eye-eye." Best of all he treats his brother like his best friend.

Here is Kai on his birthday. Jett is showing him how to open his new Batman water bottle. He's wearing his new Spiderman shirt. Spiderman is his favorite super hero. He requested a "Spiderman Birthday Party". We didn't throw him a party, but nearly every present he got had Spiderman on it. He loved it!

He's full-on three and we love every bit of him. Happy Birthday, Kai. We love you!