A Very Busy Month and a Half

I can't believe it is October and I haven't signed in since I went back to work!

August ended quickly with a great visit from my cousins Tami and Jesse. We had a great time taking the boys to Legoland and just hanging out at their hotel pool. That was also my first week back at school for my prep days. And so the adventure begins. Upon deciding to return full time this year, I was bumped from my position at my old school. My new school is only about a mile away and so far everyone has been great. But after 7 years in 5th grade in the same classroom, at the same school, the adjustment to everything has been a bit overwhelming. I am now teaching a 2/3 combo class and although I am enjoying the new age group, it is a lot of new curriculum and behaviors to familiarize myself with.

Additionally, Nate has gone back to daycare fulltime. We decided to switch him to a family daycare closer to the house so Bob can pick him up whenever possible. We are really liking his new school. They are doing a lot more "preschool" type activities and they have a HUGE yard with lots of fun stuff. Nate seems to enjoy going and is beginning to make some friends his age. We are having on and off struggles with sharing, hitting, and grabbing, but he is 2 so that is not too surprising. He loves having daddy pick him up in his trup (truck) and the 30 min. to an hour they have together before I can get home. I miss seeing him and spending such quality time with him, but we are trying to make the most of our evenings and weekends. Nate is talking up a storm and his new funny line is "That's what I said! or I said _____!" when I don't understand something. He also gets frustrated and just pulls my hand and says, "I show you!" and leads me to what he is trying to say!

We had a fierce battle with the stomach flu that seemed to come and go and then come and go again for over a week. We are finally well again and I can almost see the light as we are entering October and I am getting a handle on things at work. After our Legoland trip, Nate has been even more facinated with firetrucks and "fireguys". That is what he wants to be for Halloween. If you ask him what a fireguy does, he says they put out fires. If you ask how, he repeats what the Legoland fireguys said in their show, "Put the wet stuff on the hot stuff, and put the fire out!" It is pretty cute! He is also becoming a big football fan. I got Nate and Bob matching Steelers jerseys and he loves to wear it like daddy and yell, "Go Chargers!" Wrong team for the jersey, but he is working on "Go Steelers!" He likes to procrastinate at bedtime a bit more by asking for more stories. I made the mistake of reading him There's a Nightmare in my Closet one evening by request, and we had a hard week at bedtime after that. Nightmares and closet checks every night. He now says when we check the closet, "No monsters, just clothes." We have put that book away for some time!

Other news:

We just said a sad farewell to "Auntie" Stephanie and wish her the best of luck on her new chapter of life. We will miss her tremendously!

My dad celebrates his 60th birthday this weekend and will be coming down to spend the day with us. He called today to say he found Nate a "fireguy" costume for Halloween. I will post pictures of that soon.

My sister, Cristina's husband, Juan will be returning from Mexico next week, just in time for her baby shower and the their Nov. 4th due date! We are prepping Nate to meet his new baby girl cousin very soon! How exciting!!!

How Is It That Summer Is Almost Over?

I can't believe how quickly summer has gone!

I was attempting to clean the house the other day and found Nate's 2 year doctor's appointment information from the end of June and realized I never posted it. Nate has finally climbed out of the 20% weight percentile and moved up to about the 35%. He now weighs in at a wopping 27.4 lbs. Still a light weight, but healthy as can be. He is 36 inches tall (which has been great since 36 inches is the height requirement for the only rides he can go on at the amusement park outside swimming class). His head remains large...but we will continue to support the "big brains" theory. Other than that, he is on schedule and the doctor said he looks good and seems developmentally on track. What more can you ask for?

Summer has been busy! I decided to sign Nate up for 2 sessions of swimming lessons, so we schedule both Monday and Tuesday mornings around swimming lessons. I am glad we did though because his comfort level seems to have increased quickly. Since no one else signed up for the Tues. spot, he gets private lessons for the same cost! What a bargain. I really like the instructor and feel they are much more competent and prepared than where we went last summer. Nate has perfected his "balloon face" and likes to dive (with assistance) to the bottom of the pool to pick up rings. He also likes to swim through the "hoop of fire" but continues to resist floating on his back a bit, since he doesn't like the water in his ears. At home this all translates to "Maniac in the water!" It has been hot so we have his blow up pool filled. He jumps and falls in with reckless abandon when the pool is uncovered, and dives and stunt rolls across when the cover is on. He has also continued his gym class, but moved up to the next level class, which we are both enjoying. His buddy, Chase, moved up so after a few classes with Nate looking for him, the instructors asked if we would like to move up as well. It has a little more structure and Nate has always liked being with the older kids, so it has been nice.

Bob and I enjoyed a rare mini vacation up to San Francisco in late July and Nate spent a wonderful weekend with Popah and Momom. He was spoiled rotten and we enjoyed dining out, walking around the city, and sleeping in. Nate had a little spill at the park and scraped both his knees, and immediately said, "I go call Da." So we got a teary phone call and then he bounced back. What a treat it was! We will have to do that more often!

The following weekend Nate and I flew back up to the Bay Area to visit my good friend, Alison, and her family and to celebrate the soon-to-be addition to Laura and Thang's family. That was my first flight with Nate since last summer, and although he did great, it is a challenge traveling solo with a toddler and all the extra stuff. Since he is now 2, we did have to purchase him his own seat and carried on his carseat. That and a DVD helped keep him settled for most of the flight. My mom flew up for the baby shower as well, so that helped when we arrived. We spent a nice day with Alison and her girls, Violet and Greta, and then were joined for dinner by the Toledo clan. We spent Sat. morning at the Oakland Zoo, followed by a very special trip to the Oakland Fire Station, to see Dan. We not only got a tour of the Fire House, a hat, the opportunity to climb in and around the fire engines, but we got a ride in the fire engine around the block! Nate has been addicted to the show on PBS Kids called "Fireman Sam" ever since, although he was a huge fire truck fan before the trip. We has a great time seeing Laura pregnant and spending time with the whole Wilson clan. We had a busy trip, with late nights and short naps, so we were exhausted by the end but had so much fun!

Then home and trying to get back on schedule. We also decided to switch Nate's daycare closer to home and were able to find someone less than 5 minutes away who has space for him come the first of Septemeber. Since I am returning to full time work, this will give Bob the chance to pick him up on days when he is off before me. Additionally, it will be nice for Nate to start making some little friends near where we live. His new daycare will have 6 kids, four of them will be 2 year olds. We have visited several times and I think he will be happy there. She has a HUGE yard. So although we could have a tough first few weeks of school due to all the changes, I think it will work out for all in the end.

I had a work meeting and Popah was nice enough to take 2 days off to come stay with us and take care of Nate while I went to work, since I don't have care for Nate until next month. He took him to swimming lessons and they had a fantastic time together. I think they were both exhausted by the end of each day, but they sure had fun!

Now, we are entering our last week of vacation, swimming lessons, gym class and mommy/son freedom. I am excited to be teaching 3rd grade next year, but the reality of going back full time is starting to hit me. Although Nate stays up a little later these days...7-7:30 (mostly because it is summer and why not?) I have a feeling he will crash out earlier once "school" starts and it gets dark earlier, so I won't get to see him very much. But my plan is to work late Mondays and then leave earlier and earlier as the week progresses. Nate will be my reason to stay focused and get things done so I can get home to see him.

We are excited to have Tami and Jesse coming to visit in a week! I will post more soon!

Hope you all had a wonderful summer!

Summer is Here!!!

Wow! Time sure flies! I can't believe we are into July already and I haven't posted on here since May! After Nate's birthday we hit June running, literally! I am proud to say I completed the Rock and Roll Marathon San Diego, all 26.2 miles, in 4:18 minutes! Family and friends came out to support those of us running, and although a proud accomplishment and awesome experience...I do not have the need to do another. I am planning on running America's Finest City 1/2 Marathon in August...figure I should try to keep in shape after all that effort!

With the marathon over, I headed into my last month of school. Nate and I managed to fill our days off with fun excursions to the park, zoo, aquarium, and SeaWorld. Meanwhile, I was trying to figure out what I was going to do next year. My plan to go back full time wasn't working out and neither was my search for a new jobshare partner. After several disappointing interviews and rejections, I was fortunate enough to interview with a new principal at a small school in our district near where I have been for the last 7 years. It was an instant match! I am excited to say that I will be teaching a 2/3 combo (most likely a straight 3 eventually). I was ready for a change from 5th grade and my school in general. I will be very sad to have less mommy/Nate time, but we will make the most out of our time off!Nate is talking up a storm these days and is piecing together sentences and new words daily. He is a true joy, although very repetitive and stubborn at times. He has become very good at t-ball and soccer, so next summer should be fun when he is old enough for YMCA sports. He finished up daycare for the year and will return full time in September. So, our plan is to fill our summer with fun stuff! We are starting swimming lessons on Mondays and Tuesdays for the whole summer, Bob and I have a mini San Francisco vacation planned so Nate will spend a weekend with Popah and Grandma and be spoiled rotten! Then Nate and I are heading back up to the Bay Area to visit friends and family. We are excited to be able to attend Laura Wilson Ho's baby shower and to have a new addition to our extended family. Then Tami and Jesse are hopefully heading down at the end of the summer for a visit, and to help welcome the newest soon to be member of Cristina and Juan's family...baby girl Herrejon! We are talking to Nate about the baby and how he will be the big cousin! Family gatherings will only get more fun!

Nate loved the Park and Petco Park and playing T-ball in the little diamond. Definately something for us to do again!
We spent a great day at the Del Mar Fair with Suzanne and Brian. Nate has been talking about it ever since! He got to ride on a double decker bus, ride a pony, an elephant, pretend to drive a school bus, go on fire truck and helicoptor rides, eat junk and crash out hard. Oh what fun!

We hope you all have a wonderful summer and will try to add posts throughout the summer!

Welcome to Two!

From Easter to Nate's Birthday was a bit of a blurr. On May 8, one week before Nate's 2nd Birthday we decided to get Nate a big boy bed.

I found this great race car bed on Craigslist, and although bigger than I thought, I couldn't resist. He was starting to resist the crib and climbing out of the pack-n-play at daycare...so we figured it was time. Due to the way my testing schedule at school worked out, I was had a week and a half off, so I thought if he had trouble adjusting, it would be best to make the transition while I wasn't working. He loved it when he saw it! The first night in his big boy bed he only broke out of the room one time and cried for about 10 minutes before he gave up and crashed out. He slept the whole night in this new bed! We were so proud of him. Naptimes were a bit more difficult and he sometimes ended up falling asleep next to his bed, but by time I returned to work he was a pro! Hardly any fussing! We did have to put a latch on the door after the 4th night as he began showing up earlier and earlier in the morning in our room with an enthusiastic, "HI!"

Nate and Bob got me beautiful flowers for Mother's Day and we spent the afternoon relaxing at the beach. I then spent most of the week cleaning and planning, since Nate's birthday was on Tuesday, Bob's mom Sharon arrived on Thurs. evening, and we had his party scheduled for Sun. Nate and I spent his 2nd birthday at the zoo and then met G-Mot (Lowell) at work and took Nate to McDonald's for lunch. He really was mostly just interested in the toy. Sharon was thrilled to see and spend time with Nate, and I took advantage of that! I spent the whole day Friday doing errands for the birthday party...with an hour time-out for a much need massage. Saturday Sharon and I took Nate for a big boy haircut and then Bob and I left Nate with Sharon again and headed to his end-of-the-year soccer party. That evening we got to go out to dinner with friends, a nice treat since one of them is usually babysitting and we can't go out all together. Sharon said her visits are getting more and more fun! Nate is so interactive and warms up quickly, especially to people he remembers. He is working on naming people and Aunt Suzanne is Suz, Brian is Yeah Yeah, Grandpa is Popah/Papa, Grammy was hoping for (and may have gotten) a name, but most of the time if he isn't sure what to call someone he calls them "You."

Sunday we had Nate's birthday party and although we don't know very many little people, friends and family came to enjoy a relaxing day at Dinosaur Park. I will post birthday party pictures when I get them back. Suzanne's friend at work made Nate and awesome CARS cake and he got tons of cool stuff! Lots of Disney CARS and sports equipment. He had a great time, even though he was exhausted and face planted on the cement at the beginning of the party. He had a nice knot on his forehead for the remainder of his party and for the week.

Then it was back to work and daycare for a long week and a half stretch. Nate managed to fall and hit his eye on the corner of the coffee table on his 3rd day back at daycare and had his first black eye. Looked like it was going to get worse, but he seems to recover quickly. Carron said he cried for a few minutes then said, "All Gone" and went off to play. Welcome to two!!! Two bonks in a week!

We had a nice Memorial Day Weekend, spent a day at the beach and a day cleaning up the backyard, getting all Nate's new toys set up and Barbecuing (Thanks Suzanne and Brian!!!). Sure is hard to get things done with a little helper!

We are looking forward to summer and only have 4 more weeks of school. I am still trying to figure out what I am doing exactly next year, full time? job share? grade? but know everything will work out. And after 22 weeks of training I am hoping I am ready to run the Rock and Roll Marathon (my first and last) this Sunday. It has been an interesting and rewarding experience, but it has taken a lot of time and I am looking forward to having my weekends back. Wish me luck!

Spring Break, Cars Obsession and Easter

Nate has officially become obsessed with the movie Cars. Only moderately interested at first, he now requests it on a daily basis. He also sleeps with and totes around his Lightning McQueen toy car at all times. The repetitious twos have already begun.

Nate and I have spent the last 2 weeks on Spring Break which has been fun...and exhausting. He is a kid who doesn't like to sit still so we are out and about much of the time. We spent the first 3 days of our vacation up visiting Grandma and Grandpa. Nate did much better sleeping there than last time...which was nice for me! He also wears himself out completely playing with all the other kiddos at Grandma's school. Nate officially named Grandpa and although it still fluctuates a bit, it looks like he is going to be Popah or Papa (stress on the last syllable). As you can imagine, my dad was thrilled to have been named! Aunt Suzanne had the honor of being the first named person. He calls her Suz (sounds a bit like shoes...but she'll take it!). Two weeks ago Bob and Nate saw Suzanne and Stephanie at the beach on our Saturday training run and all he kept saying for the rest of the day was Suz and doing the running sign.

We have kept busy with all sorts of fun things to do around San Diego. We have frequented the zoo, aquarium, SeaWorld (twice), dinosaur park, nameless other parks, beach, and gym class. Nate has truly become a climbing, jumping, falling maniac. His fearlessness frightens me a bit, but I love his adventurous spirit. He is big on hugs and kisses these days and likes to wake a pretend sleeping mommy with a kiss...and sometimes a little kick...right G-Mot?

He has really started expressing his anger and dislike...typically with arms crossed and a growl, but he has recently added in sticking out his tongue and/or trying to spit. This has resulted in our first real "time outs." I put him in his chair in his room and ask him to come out and see me when he is done making mean faces and can keep his tongue in his mouth. He usually returns within a minute and when asked if he is all done, replies in typical Nate fashion with "Yeah." The other day he came out and I asked if he was ready to be nice. He yelled, "Uh Uh!" and then ran back to his chair and did a few fake cries. He then returned and said, "All done." He amazes me every day and although I can foresee we will be heavily tested over this next year, I look forward to seeing him grow, change, and come into his own.

We had a dreary day for our Easter BBQ, but it was nice to have family and friends here. With such tiny houses, being out of the house is pretty much the only option when the Claremont crew come to town. Suzanne celebrated her 29th birthday on Thurs. and G-Mot (Lowell) had her birthday on Sat. so it was an Easter/Birthday gathering. That was probably Grandma and Grandpa's last trip down until Nate's Birthday since my dad, Suzanne, and Brian are heading down to Peru in a little over 3 weeks.

We have been spending lots of time with our friends Sandra and James lately since they will be moving to Houston in a few weeks. Nate and James met at My Gym when they were 6 months old and it has been wonderful watching the boys grow up together and become true playmates and buddies. We will miss them tremendously, but look forward to visiting them in their new home.

I am getting ready to head back to work next week and then the whirlwind begins. We are glad to have Grammy coming out for Nate's birthday party this year and it will inevitably be a Cars theme. Still not too many little friends, so I think we will just do a little something at the park where he can run and play, basking in the spotlight of attention. Oh, and if you ask him how old he is or is going to be, he can now proudly answer (and most of the time hold up the right number of fingers), "I'M TWO!"