He Spelled What?!

My sister was in town this week and we had the chance to play a game of Super Scrabble while Ricky took his afternoon nap. He eventually woke up and sat on my lap to see what we were playing. He asked several times if he could play too and we kept telling him that he can when he learns how to spell. Mind you, he is 3 and a half years old.

Suddenly he said, "Mommy, I can play Scrabble because I know how to spell! I can spell BRA. It's spelled B-R-A and you put boobies in them!! See, I'm a big boy and I can play Scrabble!!!"

My sister and I were shocked and laughed our butts off. I asked my husband and all our babysitters if they taught him that, and nobody is owning up to the deed. I am happy he can spell something, but not happy he is spelling that word. He starts pre-school on September 2nd and I can see the letters coming home from his teacher already. God help me!

Our Toddler Classes This Spring: Little Picassos & Toddler Tumbling

Ricky started a new class yesterday with his friends at a nearby suburban recreation center. I had thought that the class would be more art - and so did my mommy friends but when we attended the class we were pleasantly surprised.

The class is taught by a certified teacher and the room has several stations. One station is Art - there are 2 tables with paper and paints (whatever the art activity of the day) with a teacher there to instruct, a large shelf of various toys (Ricky was taken by the bin of dinosaurs for quite some time), a sand table (which occupied the majority of class time for Ricky) and a carpeted educational-type area.

Of course Ricky didn't want to paint a picture during the class. I was fine with that - after all, it was the first day and he can do what he wants. But after class was over and we were in the car on our way home, he said he wanted to go back to class and paint RIGHT NOW- he cried for a bit. So next week the first thing I will do is try to get him a seat at the art table before he gets captivated by any of the other activities.

Last week was the first day of the new session of Toddler Tumbling - the same class we took in the fall. This time, we have a new teacher and I can't write enough wonderful things about her. Out of me and my 3 mommy friends, I am the only one who is in this class. Michelle and Amy are pregnant with the third babies and watching two kids while your belly is huge would not be fun. Leanne was unable to register - the class was full in the first five minutes it was available online. So I am solo. But that's okay.

The teacher we had last time was very hands-off and it seemed more like an open gym class - and that was fine. This new teacher is very hands-on and engaging and the class seems to have structure. It feels like a class. The stations are different at every class (last time they were the same every class) and she interacts with the kids. There are only two other moms from the last session who are there again and they are so nice. The rest of the moms and dads are nice but not friendly - but that's fine - I have all the mommy and daddy friends I need or want.

As a kid, I never had any classes until I attended kindergarten. I am really blown away at all the activities and classes they have for kids now. That doesn't include the many children's museums and places that target kids. If anything, I hope these classes will help Ricky adjust and prepare him for preschool. I know he is having fun though - and its worth every penny.

Whispers

When I started my part-time job at the library in April, Mark and I were very nervous about how Ricky was going to handle not having mommy or daddy around for hours at a time. To our surprise and delight, it seemed that Ricky adjusted very well. No crying when we left, nothing. He was happy as a clam to have the attention of whoever was watching him that day - be it my mom, my aunt, or my cousin.

For the last few weeks, things have changed. Now Ricky cries and latches onto my leg whenever I leave for work and I can hear him as I lock the door saying, "I want my mommy! I want my mommy!" It really breaks my heart.

Besides the crying, he has started answering back and telling his babysitters really awful things. Here are some examples:

1. Ricky tells my mom, "Come here Grandma - I have a secret." So my mother leans over and says, "What is it?" Cupping his hand, Ricky whispers in my mother's ear, "Get out of my house!"

2. Ricky says to my aunt, "Come here, I have a secret." My aunt leans over and says, "What?" and Ricky cups his hand and whispers in my aunt's ear, "Go to your car and go home!"

3. My cousin is sitting in a chair and Ricky (of course) wants to sit in that very same chair. I tell him to stop pushing her and he sighs very loudly and says, "UGH - I cannot move this BIG ROCK!!!"

Although quite funny, it is really bad. He shouldn't be telling his sitters to go home and answering back. Like everything else with him, I am hoping this is just a phase that will last for a few months and change. Until then, I guess he will just have to suffer through all the time-outs!

Accidental Co-Sleeping Hell

We have a huge problem. For the last 3 months or so, Ricky has been getting up in the middle of the night - usually between 12am and 2am, and yelling, "MOM-ee...mom-EEE??" over and over again, until I go to his room, pick him up, and bring him to our bed.

He has his own room and his own big boy bed. However, over the summer, Mark and I have been guilty of joining Ricky for his after-lunch nap and inviting him to share our bed. So much so that gradually Ricky has come to view our bed as *his* bed and has been expecting to come into our bed every night since. So this isn't partially our fault - it is completely our fault.

We have a queen size bed, so there's not a whole lot of room, and I typically lose - with only a few inches on the very edge to my name. Ricky is a swatter, kicker, and puncher in his sleep and I have awoken several times to believing someone was attacking me.

This really sucked over the weekend. I worked Saturday and am still sick and Mark did lots of work at my mom's house and was just tired. Ricky came in our bed at midnight and proceeded to whine and talk and would not go to sleep and this went on and on throughout the course of the night. Not only are we sleep-deprived but this has impacted reproductive chances. You can't have sex when your toddler is in bed with you and if you do, then you are a sick mf-er!!

We decided that enough is enough.

Last night, when Ricky called, I sat at his bed, stroked his head and back and stayed there for as long as I could until he fell asleep. I have to wait until he is in deep sleep, you see, because our hardwood floors are the creakiest things in the world. One loud creak and I am up shit's creek!!

I think we will have to purchase a gate for his room as well. Since he has a big boy bed, he can just waltz right into our room or go into any room in the house. There is a paranoid part of me that does worry about not being able to get to him in the event of a fire, but what is the difference if he were still in his crib like his other friends? This has to stop. I am so tired all the time!

Toddler Tumbling Class

Before I started working at the library in April, I had Ricky taking toddler classes three times a week since last year. He had an art class, music class, and a playgroup at the Chicago Park District. Nowadays they have all kinds of classes for humans starting when they are in the womb! I didn't attend any type of formalized class until kindergarten - I just stayed at home with my Grandma, watching "One Life to Live" and "General Hospital" and learning about my world via the television set. So I guess it's not crucial that Ricky attends classes, but I suppose it can't hurt.

I signed up for this class along with 3 of my mommy friends and it has been a great way to get together every week. We did do playdates over the summer at people's houses or at the park, but now that it's getting colder and school has started, we are all a little busier.

This class is offered through the Chicago Park District and only cost us $45. It has 20 toddlers in it and they put out various stations that the kids can use as well as general open gymnastics equipment. The teacher does round us all up to do stretches (photo) and we also do the parachute thing-y which Ricky just loves. In the beginning I was freaking out because Ricky did not want to do what all the kids were doing - he would wander off if he was bored with the activity at hand (ie stretching) but now I don't care.

Mark took Halloween off - so he was able to attend the class with us and see what Ricky's class is like. I took the opportunity of this help to take some snap shots of the class.

I Love My Cubs Hat

Ricky is absolutely obsessed with his Cubs hat. He had been wearing it off and on but since it's summer and I want to keep his perfect complexion perfect, he's been wearing it a lot more. He's become so fond of it that even when we're just hanging out at home, he refuses to remove it.

He sometimes asks to nap with it and has slept a whole night wearing it. I hope it doesn't do anything bad to his hair, although my sister tells me he will become bald if he keeps wearing it. She also pointed out that we need to let him know that he can't wear it when he starts pre-school next year. So far, I think he gets it. We went to a wake yesterday and he didn't complain that he couldn't wear his Cubs hat.

Oh and did I mention that he loves to sing the "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" 7th inning stretch song?