Fundraiser

Ethan's school is selling Toledo Zoo fudge for a fundraiser now through Nov 26. If you are interested in buying some fudge please let me know what you want and I will put you down for it. I must have money in hand to be turned in by Nov 25 so he can turn it in on the 26th.

Here is a list of what they are selling and a price list.

Chocolate
Chocolate Nut
Vanilla Nut
Peanut Butter
Snowman
Cashews
Saltwater Taffy


Prices are as follows
$7.50/8oz Fudge
$11.00/12 oz Fudge
$14.00/16 oz Fudge
$17.00/ 1 lb Gift Tin of Fudge
$7.50/8oz Snowman (Chocolate or Peanut Butter only)
$10.00/8 oz of Cashews
$18.00/16 oz Cashews
$21.00/1 lb tin of Cashews
$4.00/8 oz Salt Water Taffy
$7.00/1 lb Salt Water Taffy


Please make checks out to: Precious People Preschool

Again I must have the money in hand by the 25th so he can turn it in on the 26th. Orders will be delivered on Monday Dec 17. If you are interested please let Matt or I know.

Loving School

This is Ethan's 2nd full week of school and he is having a blast. Last week they were working on finger paintings and when he came out today he handed me his painting and told me that he had made it especially for me. I of course hung it on the fridge the moment we got home. His teacher, Miss Tiffany, told me when she brought him to the car today that they were doing a project on the light table that involved shaving cream. Ethan went hog wild. She had fun cleaning him up but she warned me that I might find shaving cream on him LOL. I told her if it involved being allowed to make a massive mess Ethan will be the first one in line. He definitely had fun and he smells like shaving cream LMAO.

Last week Ethan started feeling sick and he ended up not being able to go to school on Friday because he was running a fever. He was very upset that he couldn't go. He just loves his class so much that not being there made him sad. I am so glad that he is having fun.

PreK

It's official! Ethan is in PreK. His first day of school was yesterday. I walked him in and helped him find his cubby and empty his book bag then I let the teacher take over. It was a quick hug and kiss and I walked away (crying). Ethan on the other hand barely noticed that I walked away. There was so much going on he was too distracted. When I picked him up and his teacher brought him to the car she said he did fantastic that there were no problems at all. She mentioned that as they were packing up to leave he told her that he was starting to get bored and wanted to go home. She told him that was good because they were packing up to leave. He was just bored because the teachers had stood them in line under their name tags in the hall and made sure that the right book bag was going home with the right kid so they weren't doing anything. I guess he asked her one time where his mom was and she just told him that his mom would be there to pick him up soon and then directed him to an activity and that was that. He had no tears when he realized I was not there he just accepted it. I tried to get him to tell me what he did in school but he said he couldn't remember LOL. The only thing he told me was that he played on the swings and that a boy hit him and Miss Tiffany put that boy in time out. I have no idea what was going on when the other kid hit him and we aren't making a big deal out of it. I have already told Ethan that Friday when I take him to school I am just going to go through the drop off line that his first day was the only day I was going to walk him in. The school is in a church and the hallway to the preschool part is narrow so they don't want much foot traffic going through it for good reason. The way the drop off line works is the parent pulls right up to the doors and one of the 3 teachers will come out and safely take the child into the building. At the end of the day they look at the number that parents were given at the parent/teacher meeting a few weeks back and match that number to the number attached to the childs book bag and bring the child out by the hand and put the child in their seat. The only thing they ask of the parents is if the kid needs help getting buckled just pull the car down the driveway and off to the curb so they can keep the line moving. They don't want the line to get too long and possibly block up the church parking lot. It works out very well especially if you have another child with you. That way you don't have to get them out and then back in. I liked it yesterday because Finlay was sleeping so I didn't have to disturb his little nap. It's a pretty efficient way of keeping the kids safe. Ethan will only be going 3 days a week (MWF) and class is from 9-11:30. There are 2 classes one for the 3/4 year olds and the other is PreK for the ones who will be going to kindergarden next year. They fill that 2.5 hours with a lot of activity at 9 they go outside to play to help burn some energy then at 9:15 they do hand washing and snacks. The rest of the time is filled with story time, song time, news time (where kids can share any interesting things they want), they do an experiment, play with a purpose, and finally clean up and pack up. Each segment lasts about 15 minutes because at the age of 4 that's about the length of their attention span. It helps keep them from getting bored. Also twice a week each kid will get one on one time with the teacher where they will work on skills they need to have for kindergarden. At the end of the year the teacher will do a mock kindergarden readiness test and if there is anything they are struggling with then she will work on those skills and make sure they can do everything proficiently. He is going to have a fun year.

Ethan started the Fall session of gymnastics last week. They had a week off between the Summer and Fall sessions so he was excited to be back in the class. His Fall class is huge. We counted 11 kids. Because there are so many kids there are 2 instructors for the class. One instructor runs the warm ups on the mat and then they split up the kids into 2 even numbered groups. Fortunately Ethan ended up with Rob who was his coach over the summer. When I signed Ethan up for the Fall I was very specific in making sure that Ethan stayed in Rob's class. We like the way he runs the class and Ethan responds very well to him. I am thinking that the office worker made a note of that to Rob so that when the class got split he took Ethan into his instruction. Ethan likes Rob, if Rob has to yell at him to get him to do something right Ethan gets upset because he doesn't like it when his coach is upset (too bad he can't have that attitude at home). Between gymnastics and school Ethan is going to have a fun filled year.

Summer Living

Summer is definitely Ethan's season, you can tell by his tan! He has been spending a lot of time outside this summer playing and swimming in the pool. He's been in the pool so much I swear he is going to turn into a fish! He went over to Uncle Brian's a week ago and he was all about diving under the water and showing off his doggy paddling(which he taught himself). By the time he got out of the pool he was nothing more than a giant prune. I bought him a pair of swim goggles to use in our pool, as he likes to dive for his toys, and he will put them on his forehead and tell me that is how the swimmers wear theirs (he watched the Olympic Trials) and that he has to wear his the same way. 

Last week he finally got to start gymnastics. His first 2 classes were cancelled due to the extreme heat. He had been watching the gymnastics Olympic Trials and so he was super excited about starting gymnastics. We did try to tell him that he was just in a beginners class and that he was going to be learning tumbling. He did so-so at his first class last week. It's a 45 minute class for the 3-4 age group. They start the class with some simple stretches. Ethan had never done them before so he had no idea what to do he just kind of stood and watched. The instructor tried to help him but Ethan didn't totally trust him and he was all about wanting to go on the bars and the rings (all set for the small children). After the stretched the instructor took them to a low bar and had them work on hanging while lifting their feet off the ground. Ethan did not want to stay put and he was asking the instructor a lot of questions. Then it was on to doing some forward rolls, hanging on the uneven bars (just the lower one) and walking a balance beam. Ethan did not want to stay with the class and twice the instructor took him aside to remind him to do what the class was doing. Then it was off to the parallel bars, jumping from one colored square to another, a backwards roll and finally the trampoline. Ethan again was not listening and was reminded to stay with the class and the instructor pointed towards the door (we think he was saying either listen or leave). Finally it was a log roll to a balance mat to a backwards roll, to a head stand and then the rings. Ethan did the rings once while the others did them a few times. He was skipped because he wouldn't stay in line. Towards the end of the class we think it was more because he was just getting too hot. We noticed he was wiping at his forehead a lot and his cheeks were very red. He was slowing down too. After class ended the kids all get a stamp on their hands (just something fun for all their work) and were given a paper with some simple things they can do at home. We have been working with Ethan on his exercises every day so that when he goes to his next class he will know how to do them. He said he thought the instructor was mean but we could see the instructor and he never yelled nor showed impatience with Ethan, he just wasn't happy that he couldn't get his way. This is Ethan's first structured class and he was just overwhelmed with the things to do. While we watched the class we spoke with a mom whose daughter has been doing this for a few months and she was saying that her daughter was the same way her first few classes and by her working with her on the exercises at home and sticking to the classes she settled into the routine. We have been talking to Ethan about listening to the instructor and letting him teach him the proper ways of tumbling and how he needs to do what the rest of the class is doing. We are hoping that he will settle down more now that he knows how it all works and that he has an idea of what to do. I think he was also a little disappointed that he wasn't going to be flipping and tumbling on the bars and beam. He thought he was going to be like the Olympians he saw on t.v. We did try to prepare him that it wasn't like that but for a 4 yr old that's a hard thing to grasp. 

I have him super excited about the Olympics and how we are going to watch the gymnastics and cheer on the USA. I am looking forward to watching it with him this year. The last time the Olympics he had only been home from the NICU for a few days. This means a lot that I get to watch with him this time. I think he will enjoy some of the Olympics. 

Slap Happy

We took Ethan to see Cirque Du Soleil Quidam on Friday. He loved it! In fact I have never seen him so slap happy (literally). There was this one act where the guy is a mime and the first time he was on the stage he brought a red rose and gave it to a girl in the audience. The whole plot of this act was to woo her.   Ethan was laughing so hard at him that he was rocking back and forth slapping himself on the knees. I'm not sure which was more humerous the act or my son. In the second half of the show the mime was back and this time making a movie using audience members. Ethan about laughed himself off the chair. He was slapping the arms of the seat and himself. I have never seen him think anything was that funny but I found him so amusing (of course the act was hilarious too). It was so much fun taking him. We saw in an advertisement that Barnum & Bailey: Dragons is coming to the Huntington Center in Oct so we are planning on taking him to that too (hope there aren't any clowns they are creepy LOL).

Ethan had a ton of fun at his birthday party last week. I think the highlight of it for him was the turtle that my brother found in the road. He had a blast playing with the turtle and his cousins. He just loves the things that he got. We've been working with him on how to swing his baseball bat so he can hit the ball and Matt has been trying to get him to not swing his golf clubs like a bat LOL. He likes to follow Matt around the yard with his wheelbarrow and help weed the yard with his gardening set. It's really super cute when he does that. He just loves working with his daddy. We gave him his fire truck power wheels after we had dinner later that day. He loves it. Unfortunately we discovered that the siren doesn't work, the radio was broken, and the water pump doesn't work. I contacted the manufacturer and they are replacing all those parts. I have the siren and water pump already but the radio is on back order so as soon as it comes in they will ship it to me. That's what I get for having to buy a floor model. They are no longer making the fire truck so the stores only had the floor models left. I was desperate to get him that truck he's been wanting it for a while now. We've taken him for some walks around the area and to Fritzie Freeze in his truck to help him learn to get a handle on it. I have him practice in the driveway during Finlay's naps. This morning he was driving Finlay up and down the driveway (it was cute that he did that for his brother). I think he ended up have a great birthday this year.

It's still hard to believe that he is 4 already. In a few months he is going to be starting school. He is growing up so stinking fast.

Happy Birthday Ethan!!

Dear Ethan,
     4 years ago today you made your way into this world. It was 5:30 in the morning when I was headed to the hospital with you in labor at only 30 weeks pregnant. At 10:02 at night you graced us with your presence weighing a whopping 3lbs 9oz and you were only 16.5 inches long. In the last 4 years you have become an amazing little boy. You have brought so many smiles to our lives and so much joy. I can't believe that you are now 4 years old it doesn't seem like that much time has gone by. I hope that you had a great birthday and that we made all your birthday wishes come true. Happy Birthday my Angel Pie we love you so very much.


Mommy & Daddy

For my Mom

Hey Mom!!

     For Mother's Day I decided that we were going to take you to "Pancake Warehouse." I worked hard on convincing daddy that that's where you wanted to go. I wanted to do something special with you. Thank you Mom for putting up with my orneriness and my temper tantrums. I love you so much mom you are the best!!

Love your favorite older son,
                 Ethan