Cal had his first day of joy school last week and totally loved it!
I had two different groups of friends wanting to do a preschool co-op this year, so Cal actually goes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9:15-11:15am. When we first started planning I was worried that maybe this was too much to pack into Cal's week, or maybe I'd just want "down days" to hang out with my little buddy. I also worried about how he'd do with leaving me, but it has seriously been so awesome!! Cal is super social and loves being with friends! And he loves feeling like such a big boy! Seriously, what a treat to get to pack up his back pack and go off to "school" like his sisters!
I taught the first Tuesday (just cause I was worried) and it really couldn't have gone any better. I was so amazed at how well these 2 year olds did during circle time. We sang songs, read stories, identified different letters and numbers, and they all sat there, totally enthralled! There were a couple incidents with Cal not wanting to share his toys, but he's pretty easy to reason with and we quickly got it all worked out. In both groups, the kids are all second, third, or fourth kids so they all know how to clean up really well. All I had to say was, "it's time to clean up" and they all went into action and cleaned the entire room! Awesome!
Cal's become such a big boy lately! It's killing me how fast he's growing up. He has something to say about everything and our daily conversations constantly have me cracking up. Cal's super obsessed with chewing gum (if he's not eating, drinking, or sucking on his binky, he wants gum in his mouth), and lately he's been having a little too much fun with that gum of his. While we're out running errands he'll tell me to take out my gum. Then he takes out his and has his gum talk to my gum - "Hi gum! How are you gum? I'm a little gum." His gum is usually named penguin though so while holding his gum he'll tell me, "Hi! I'm penguin!"And said in his little munchkin voice always makes it so much cuter!
I actually prefer taking Cal on my errands with me because he's so entertaining. While in the shopping cart, and usually totally out of the blue, he'll say, "I'm cold... hug me, hug me mom!" Then he'll wrap his arms around me and give me giant hugs around my neck while I maneuver our cart around the store, loving every second of it!
He's super quick to say sorry and give hugs and kisses. I've found that certain things get easier to teach with the more kids you have and this is one of them. He's also really great about saying thank you- and for little things. He'll thank me for buckling him in his car seat, for getting him out of his car seat, for getting him a snack, for reading him a story, for getting him out of the bath, and even for changing his diaper. Sometimes it totally takes me by surprise for the little things he'll thank me for. It's a great reminder- to be grateful in all things, especially the little things.
A couple of other things about Calvin I don't want to forget:
* Whenever I'm changing one of his stinky diapers he always tells me, "Say EW mom, say ewww!" Which I do and then he laughs and laughs and tells me to say ew again.
* He makes really tight fists before he gets ready to run fast.
* Cal loves to sing and always tells me to clap after he finishes his song.
* He's very sensitive and gets spooked really easily. For instance, doesn't like loud scary noises, especially growls - he gets freaked out just looking at the lions in the zoo. The other night he requested I read, "The Scardy Cat" (a Usborne book we'd checked out at the library), and halfway though the book he got really freaked out, started crying, and then didn't want to go to bed. I had to read a dozen or so nursery rhymes before even trying to lay him down again.
* He's very empathetic and if someone gets hurt he's always the first to ask, "are you ok?" Then he makes sure they get a hug. He's such a sweet little guy!
One other funny story . . .
The other night, while Spencer was out of town for work, Cal woke up in the middle of the night. I went in to check on him and he hysterically insisted that we "snuggle in daddy's bed". At 2 am I wasn't gonna go there so I layed him back down and told him it was night time and to go back to sleep. That didn't work, so I found myself back in there 5 minutes later rocking him in his chair. I was exhausted and only lasted maybe 5 minutes before laying him down again. He was quiet for a bit. I think I even escaped into dreamland when all of a sudden Cal starts crying super hard again. Ug! I took my time getting out of bed, trying to listen to see if he was going to calm down. Then all of a sudden, after a really loud cry, he yells out, "Once upon a time there was a little fly... and mommy shooed the fly out of the home." Between cries he keeps repeating the same story, adding more details each time. I got back into bed, totally laughing, and wrote down his awesome story on my phone. I fell asleep listening to him telling stories. What a funny kid!
