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The weekend before Joe's first day of school
Today was Joe’s first day of preschool. I’m proud to announce that we all survived.
As a mom who has been blessed with wonderful caregivers and accustomed to a close partnership with nannies, I certainly felt a great deal of trepidation about this whole preschool thing. I wasn’t nervous about how Joe would fare emotionally. He’d adjust. I was worried that he’d be too wiley, too fast, or too out of control. And I’m not the kind of parent who feels guilty about putting him in preschool. If they can handle him, it’ll be really good for him. He needs some structure and socialization with larger groups, neither of which are things that I can easily provide (trust me, I’m a total pushover and need someone else to enforce rules). And, honestly, I’ve been looking forward to it. Preschool is a pretty big milestone.
Today was the big day. Of course, after a week of restless nights, Joe finally decided to sleep well into the morning. We had to wake him up to get ready for school. We were in such a rush that he barely ate breakfast, but we made it out of the house and walked to school. We even arrived on time. Drop off was a bit chaotic since it was the first day. But we made it out of the classroom and Joe apparently didn’t fuss too long after we left.
When I picked him up at 3pm, the teachers had all the kids in the hallway, lunch bags in hand. I heard Joe wailing from the end of the hall. Apparently, the minute they walked into the hallway, some parents were there. When he didn’t see me immediately, he lost it. Fortunately, I got there early today, so he hadn’t been crying for long. Once he turned off the waterworks, he was a pretty happy guy.
We didn't capture the typical first-day-of-school shot we wanted, but here's a glimpse into Joe's first day in the classroom at preschool.
We collected his things and made it all the way across the street before Joe demanded food. So we plopped down right there on the grass and broke out his still-heavy lunch bag. No wonder he was hungry…he hadn’t eaten his sandwich or most of his snacks! (His sandwich wasn’t unwrapped, so I ended up calling the school and got the scoop from his teacher, Miss Bev. Apparently they couldn’t find it under the ice pack, so they didn’t bother feeding him anything but snacks, and he didn’t even eat those.) So, we sat on the grass (well, Joe sat, stood up, ran around, and repeated the pattern several times) and watched the kids leaving school with their parents while he munched on a quarter of his almond butter and jelly sandwich, some cashews and cheese. And then we packed up and headed home. Of course Joe didn’t want to walk, so I had to carry him. Seven-and-a-half blocks is really far when you’re hauling 30-odd pounds of kiddo in the most uncomfortable way.
Overall, Joe had a good day with no “major” problems. Aside from “escaping” 3 times (they caught him halfway down the hall once and in the other 2-year-old room the other times), not napping (and trying to wake up the other kids), and being too “bouncy” to eat his lunch, he fared ok. I’m not sure I can say the same for his teacher, though she did assure me that they would “work” with him. She also said that she might ask me to come in if he doesn’t “stay put” in the classroom. Great. Our little beastie…what can I say?
On the Colorado Trail
We needed to get away from it all and decided to try camping with Joe for a long weekend…on our own. I admit I was a bit nervous about the idea without a support network or Granddaddy Bill’s RV, overnight sitter included. But Dan arranged for us to use his coworker’s permanent trailer, not far from San Isabel National Forest…basically between Buena Vista and Salida. It’s river territory, awash with rafting companies and kayakers, but thatwasn’t an option with our terrible two-ber. So, we decided that the best plan was no plan at all, beyond the intention to do a little sightseeing and easy hiking.
We got a late start on Thursday and left after (instead of before) Joe’s nap. We hit some rush hour traffic, but made decent time. We figured that we’d stop and stretch our legs so that Joe wouldn’t get too antsy. And we had the old standby–Cars–via the portable DVD player we clamped to the back of seat. Joe was cranky about being confined for the “long” car ride, which put everyone on edge, but we made it all the way to the Colorado Trail without stopping. We decided to go for a hike despite the drizzle and muddy path. It seemed like a good idea until Joe tripped over a tree root and the mosquito swarm started. We didn’t make it far before we headed back to the car. With overcast skies, we realized that the light wouldn’t last long, so we blasted through the rest of the drive, stopping only once for gas and to grab a pizza slice in Fairplay. We made it to the trailer just in time to get set up for evening.
Hanging at the river in Salida with daddy
Of course, nothing could be that simple. Joe had energy to burn and wanted to run around. He didn’t go down easily once bedtime came (Dan ended up singing him to sleep), and he woke up in the middle of the night frightened by new surroundings. Not realizing the time, I tossed him in a too-cramped-already-for-us bed, and he kicked and kneed us, and generally did somersalts for the rest of the night. By the early morning hours, we were all pretty bleary-eyed and cranky. We decided to spend our first day scoping out the scene, especially when we realized that Joe had a fever (which somewhat explained his foul mood), so we drove through Buena Vista, infusing ourselves with caffeine (and yummy scones at Bongo Billy’s) and made sure that Joe had a solid dose of kiddo Tylenol. Joe fell asleep in the car, so we headed over to Salida. He woke up by the time we got there (we went the long way) and he played near the river for awhile, climbing on rocks with Dan and slapping the water with a stick. Boy, I had forgotten how cool it can be for a two-year-old to watch leaves float down a river…We walked around town, where Joe tried to open every door and really wanted to check out the “tooools” in the hardware shop. We finally landed at the local toy store and Joe found a super cool large die-cast “tuck”–which, I might add, did not leave his hands the rest of the trip (without a fight). We ended our tour of Salida with a quick lunch at a cafe on the water.
Joe feeding the St. Elmo chipmunks
Joe napped again in the car after we left, so we took a drive to St. Elmo. Joe had a blast feeding the chipmunks…until he decided it was more fun to haul the seeds around in the bed of the truck and make truck sounds while he “drove” the truck all around the boards of the feeding grounds. I’m sure the crowd wasn’t thrilled about our terrible two-ber terrorizing the little rodents, so Dan was able to convincingly lure Joe away from the area to a large rock that was much better for playing trucks. (Whew.) Even though Joe was perfectly content watching the feeding frenzy, he didn’t complain too much about taking a walk through town so that mommy and daddy could see all the old buildings and take some much-needed breaks.
Joe and Dan walking through St. Elmo
If you can negotiate your way past all the ATVers (well, mostly their trucks and trailers) on the drive up the dirt road, St. Elmo is worth the visit. It’s a ”ghost” town that is in the process of being restored and claims to be in the best shape of all Colorado ghost towns. (But it’s still pretty well inhabited, so that had me scratching my head a bit. There’s even a nice guesthouse right when you drive up.) I get the impression from the hundreds of private property/no trespassing signs that the local community has a love-hate relationship with its historic “attraction.”
We ended the day with another round of pizza, but this time it was the good stuff (a yummy veggie combo from family-friend Moonlight. Heads up: their “breadsticks” are like loaves of bread…for a buck). We even managed to enjoy a microbrew on tap before Joe began to totally break down…despite the box of sidewalk chalk they loaned us to keep him busy on the patio. The day ended with all of us collapsing for a decent night’s sleep…and Joe stayed in his own bed until 7am (hooray).
"Hiking" with dada on the Agnes Vailles trail
By Saturday morning, Joe’s fever was still teetering on the edge and his mood was sour, so we decided to do one quick hike before heading back on the road. We loaded up on caffeine and yummies, then went for a hike up the Agnes Vailles Fall trail. We were excited to arrive at the trailhead early, with only two other cars in the lot. But, by the time we unloaded Joe, nine additional cars had pulled in and the hoards (and their dogs) spilled out. Fortunately, we were slow enough that we ended up walking in a lull between crowds. You see, despite the fact that he seemed exciting to go “iking wif dada,” Joe absolutely, resolutely refused to walk. And every single person in those nine carloads (plus several others who pulled into the lot afterwards) knew exactly who we were by the time we reached the end of the .5 mile trail, thanks to Joe’s protests and vocal “exercises.” Dan ended up letting Joe ride on his shoulders (a compromise, since Joe onlywanted to be carried in Dan’s arms). This short hike ended up taking us about 2-1/2 hours, with several stops (in part due to the fact that mommy, in her haste to pack the day we left, forget her inhaler and wasn’t sucking air as quickly as needed). But that also included a long pause at the end of the trail, where Joe scrambled over rocks on his own, once he saw all of the other kids there. Joe napped while we packed up, so Mr. Cranky was very awake by the time we got on the road. Aside from a quick stop at Al’s Pit BBQ (somewhere east of Fairplay, can’t remember the town), we hauled home as fast as speed limits (and really bad drivers) would allow.
Everything seemed “normal” after we arrived home and Joe went down easily, but he just woke up at 10:30 screaming like crazy and in pain. Wish us luck and Joe a quick recovery from whatever this is. You can’t get hand, foot, and mouth disease twice in a row, can you?
Mr. Fixit tightens the leg on a chair
It has been pretty firmly established: Dad is where it’s at. Everywhere I go, everything I do, Joe is following right along and wanting to get involved in some way. If I have a drill out for something, I have to give him his own drill (he has several plastic tools) and allow him to help get the job done. He helps with gardening, laundry, cleaning, checking email, and any attempted home repairs. He wants to do everything just like “Dada!”
This really is an amazing time. He’s beginning to recognize and explore his autonomy (and yes, exerting his will). We’ve known for some time that he’s exceptionally strong and fast! But now his fine motor skills are developing to the point where he can manipulate objects and come close to using things as they’re intended. And to my delight, his imagination is emerging so that he can use things as they’re not intended just as well! As home-fixer-uppers, we’re ecstatic to see Joe reaching a point where we can give him some instruction and modeling and he can occupy himself imitating us while we tackle some of the things we need to accomplish on the house (for at least a couple of minutes at a time). He’s even starting to take these chores and turning them into his games.
Joseph Daniel Snow Removal, Inc.
Our first foray into sledding this past weekend is a perfect example. We got several inches of snow followed by some crazy low temperatures. The snow on the roads was tightly packed and nice and slick. It was perfect for a trip out with the new pull-behind sled that we bought to take Joe snowshoeing after Christmas. He had a blast. Shortly afterwards, he had almost as much fun as we learned to shovel snow. ”Push, push, push, push, stop. Dump!” (This last part set him to giggling every time.) All of this activity set him up for a day with Mommy today.
Shannon has been doing an occasional childcare swap with the mother of a little girl. Maggie’s and Joe’s birthdays are a day apart. They are so alike in many ways that it can be surprising.
Joe and Maggie sledding
Perhaps it’s her more advanced vocabulary. Perhaps it’s Joe’s helpful nature. Whichever the case, she can boss him around to the point where he’ll fetch toys on command! Today, Mommy and the “twins” went out onto the neighbors’ driveway to play with the sled, and Joe (always ready to move, lift, drag, hoist, or carry anything) got the chance to play draught pony to Maggie’s delight.
Sweet little Maggie has our little Joe whipped. It seems that Joe has an Alpha Woman in his life…just like “Dada!”
Click on the picture for a video snippet
it’s late and you’re too lazy to take the little squirt to the changing table, so you use your bed like usual. But when the kiddo aims for your freshly laundered bed linens, you and your spouse look at each other, shrug, and say “well, it’s only a little pee,” then climb into bed for the night.
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