In the kitchen sink

Ivan developed a pretty nasty diaper rash, so I decided to put him into the sink to soak his bottom with warm water which somehow seems to work wonders. Besides, there is something so darn cute about a baby in a sink. Vic was in the other room pretending something or other and when he came in to the kitchen and discovered his baby brother in the sink... well, he just couldn't resist getting in on that sort of crazy thing.  I have never seen him undress so quickly.

Excuse the cluttered mess that is my kitchen. Most of the bathroom (toiletries and such) is still being stored in there.

Update

Sometimes I hate when I am right. Yes, things have progressively gotten worse with Victor and preschool. When I pick him up, his teachers Mrs. Maria and Mrs. Debbie, looking slightly weary, have both let me know that young boy has been crying a lot throughout the three hours that he is there. Today was by far the most traumatic drop-off session. Usually he gets weepy and clings on to me a little right before I split, but today, oh my word, he was hysterical and was trying to escape, while screaming "Please take me home, Mommy. Help me! Take me home, pleeease!" over and over. It was absolutely awful and I wouldn't wish this experience on my worst enemy (not that I really have any, but you get the point).  He was seriously acting as if I was taking him to a torture chamber.  It was outrageously dramatic to the other moms and teachers, but so heartbreaking to me.  I somehow forced myself to walk away, turning my back on him, when all I really wanted to do was scoop his little body into my arms, dry his tears and tell him that he didn't have to stay. Believe it or not though, when I came to get him, they said today was much better and my poor baby only cried for about a half hour rather than an hour and a half like the day before. I'm thinking he used up too much energy in the first five minutes. The crazy thing about all this is... I did the same exact thing to my mom when starting kindergarten. In fact, I remember actually managing to flee from the classroom into the hallway, desperately chasing her down. Sorry about that, Mom. Now I know how you felt.

First Day of Preschool

So, today was a very momentous one. Our first born has started his school career. He will be going to a local rec center for preschool three days a week for three hours a day, which I feel is the perfect amount of time for him at this point. If we had the option of a half-day kindergarten next year, then I probably would have skipped preschool all together, mainly because I really enjoy having him home and I feel he gets a great education outside, exploring the world. Unfortunately, our city has a law against half-day kindergarten, which is so annoying to me, therefore we have to prepare him for a full day of school, five days a week, next year. The very thought of him being away from my side for such long periods of time makes me shudder, but I am hoping that this year of preschool will help me get used to this fact.

Anyway, the first words out of his mouth this morning were "I can't wait to go to school today!" which thrilled me to no end. You see, the past several weeks have been full of reminders and explanations of starting school, so he obviously had built up some anticipation for the big day. 

Above you can see that his breakfast was a special one. Usually, I serve him whatever I am in the mood to make, but today he was allowed to request whatever he wanted, which were pancakes and eggs. I went a bit overboard but surprisingly he ate it all (just not in one sitting). 

I was pretty much a ball of nerves the entire morning and during our walk to the center, which is several blocks up the street, I started to feel pretty emotional and had a hard time talking. I asked him how many hugs and kisses he wanted before I left (thanks, Nicole, for the suggestion) to which he answered ten. He remained pretty chipper but as we approached the building, he said "I hope I don't cry." I told him that it was okay if he does. Here he is in front of the building. I love the hands in this shot. To me, they are symbolic of my child breaking away from home.

 
As we entered the classroom, his positive attitude went right out the door.  His eyes instantly filled up and he began to hold on to me, saying he didn't want me to leave,  nor did  he want to play with any of the toys he saw. He even begged me to let Ivan stay with him.  I told him that Ivan and I would go home and stare at the clock, waiting to pick him up in three hours. He liked that and made me repeat it several times. So, I waited until almost all the other parents had gone so that his teachers were able to give him the attention that he needed.  I gave him his ten hugs and kisses and left as he cried big sad tears. Broke my heart.

But here he is after school holding his art work that is now hanging on the fridge. So happy and proud of himself. We made it through the first day!  Even though I have a bad feeling that things may get worse before they get better, I am confident that we will both get used to this whole school thing.

Monkeys

There is this tree in the backyard of  the beach house  in which the children practically lived for the five days that we were down the shore.  It is the perfect height, high enough to make them feel like adventurous tree climbers but low enough to the ground that we didn't fear them breaking any limbs if anyone happened to fall off it. I am telling you, almost every second of daylight , when we weren't at the beach or off on some exploration, was spent playing happily in the branches. Every now and then, there would be some squabbling over a certain prime location, but most of the time the kids were perfectly content in their arboreal worlds. Even lil' Lily ventured up there. Her big sister, Carolynn, shocked and bursting with pride over the fact that her two year old sister could perform such a feat, said "we should call the newspapers!"

"Hey Ivan, Wait up...Gotcha!!!

Last week, we went down the shore with my sister-in-law and her three kids. What a perfect way to end the summer!

Here we are on the observatory third floor of the Atlantic City Aquarium. The weather was absolutely sublime and we were all super happy (except for poor Suzie, my headache-prone sister-in-law). 

It was really a lovely moment. And for once, Ivan was ahead of the crowd.  As you can see, his cousins adore the baby of the family, constantly trying to hug and make him laugh. And he eats it right up, of course.

Adventure by a Stream...

 So, here we are this past Labor Day weekend, taking a walk in the woods by a babbling brook. It was a beautiful late summer afternoon, full of glorious sunshine. We took a little hike and then explored the stream for a bit. Victor, with the help of Bry, found a bird's nest, an exoskeleton of a cicada, and a dead milipede. He was delighted, to say the least. With these things and the three horse shoe crabs from Atari, he has now started his very own nature collection, just like his pop. He is quite proud of his collection and stops to admire it many times throughout the day, making sure it is in a safe spot, out of the baby's reach.

Ivan seemed perfectly content in the backpack for a while, his head turning this way and that, trying to soak up all the gorgeousness around him. But by about half way  through the hike, he started squirming around, wanting to get down and walk himself. And when he did, oh man, there was no stopping him. He was off, on a mission to explore. At certain random times, he would plop down and start running his hands through the dirt, staring at all the tiny pieces of organic matter in his chubby palms... then he'd get up and start quickly waddling down the path again. It was so wonderful and fun to see him completely stimulated and absorbed in the natural world.

All in all, I would say it was truly a perfect family outing. 

This modern child...

Victor started up his first blog this morning. Go, check it out at victorblogofscience.blogspot.com.

He is all excited about it and wants all his friends to come over so that he can show them. I guess he doesn't really get it. Anyway, I have a feeling that he is going to be obsessing over this for a while so get ready for some serious creature fun. 

Wanna be a cowboy?

This past weekend, my parents treated all their kids and grandkids to an overnight stay on a dairy farm in Lancaster county. We all had a really wonderful time, especially the children. We were able to feed all the different animals and even milk a cow, which Vic decided against at the last second. I think the overwhelming smell of manure made him grossed out. Anyway, above you can see Victor and dear Aunt Rachel checking out the bunny house. And below is Victor, looking a little scared, with some big momma cows walking behind. 
Ivan smiled like this practically the entire time we were on the farm. I think he liked the fresh country air, but I know his favorite moment was getting a fistful of horse poop and squeezing between his fingers before I had a chance to stop him.  Nasty.
Pat the bunny. (One of his favorite books at the moment actually.)
Nana demonstrates for her boys how to feed Brown Sugar, the cute and very hungry goat. 
Here are Daddy and Ivan, witnessing the rooster and geese feeding session.
Uncle Jon assisted the children.
Vic with Brown Sugar again.
More tire swing action.
A peaceful moment with my babies. 
I don't know. I'm pretty sure they liked it here. In fact, Victor has not stopped asking when we were going to go "back to the farm."