Preschool and Potty Training!

I haven't been posting much the last few weeks. We have been busy with preschool and potty training in our house. Two weeks ago James started preschool at home with me. With my early childhood background, I have been really excited about this for a long time and it's really been good for us to have a little more structure to our days. We are doing most of our preschool time in the mornings. We have a pretty good routine but with enough flexibility to meet friends and participate in other things throughout the week like library time, for example. Our focus is, of course, learning but I am really trying to make everything hands-on, engaging, and fun. James is still so little, but at the same time I know that he would be doing these same things if he attended preschool somewhere. Each week I have planned a different  theme which corresponds with a letter of the alphabet. The first week our theme was "apples" and the second week was "ants." Between pinterest, the library, and some of my early childhood resources from college and teaching it has been pretty easy to pull together. There are so many great ideas and free things out there! We are also  focusing on a different Bible story each week from the Toddler Rhyme Bible and doing corresponding activities. James is having so much fun, and hopefully he is learning a lot too!

Potty training has also been the big thing around here lately. I never intended to take on preschool and potty training at the same time, but it has actually just kind of happened naturally. I started putting him on the potty before his bath and immediately after waking up, and I think the success motivated him to sit on the potty during the day as well. James is now wearing "big boy pants" during the day, but he is still wearing a diaper for sleeping and when we go out. Some days go really well and other days not so much. I have been surprisingly laid back about it and am just taking it all in stride. I don't feel a lot of pressure to have it magically happen over night and don't want him to feel pressure from me either. He can also earn a sticker on his "potty chart" (that we'll use for a little while) for using the potty and that has actually been very motivating as well. I definitely feel very inexperienced in this area, so any suggestions are always appreciated.

Here are quite a few pictures of our first two weeks of preschool. I promise (and I promised James) that I won't be taking these every week, but I was really excited about our first few weeks of this new adventure.

Singing about the sounds that "a" makes

Apple Pie Play Dough with airplane, arrow, and other "a" word cookie cutters

Apple Prints! 

"Ant Hill" Snack!

James' ant friends, A and ANThony! 

Sorting Ants by Size 

Apple Picking!

We are really enjoying our new town. We feel like we're perfectly located between the city and the country, and I love that we get to enjoy the best of both worlds! Saturday we took a 15-20 minute drive to a local apple orchard so James could pick apples for the first time (and Mama's first time too)! We had the best time picking apples and have big plans for all those apples this week...!

What 2 1/2 looks like

This is what 2 1/2 looks like in our world.

It looks like cinnamon rolls and singing "Happy Half Birthday to You" before church. 

It looks like seeing the world from about 36 inches tall and around twenty-"neight" pounds. It looks like size 2T clothing (sometimes smaller pants and sometimes bigger shirts), size 5 diapers, and size 8 or 9 shoes. It looks like an afternoon nap after a morning of adventure. It looks like eating (all the food groups now) and sleeping better than ever! It looks like being very interested in the potty, but just not there yet. 

It looks like a little charmer. It sounds like "Guess how much I love you, Mama?" "How much, baby?" "A lot! A lot, Mama!" Two and half looks like smiling with nose crinkled and eyes squinted in the way that melts your heart (and he knows it too!). It sounds like drawing out the pronunciation of every girl's name in the most darling way: "I want my friend Liiii-ly to come to myyyy house", "I'm going to marry yooou, Maaaaa-ma!", and "I want to play with yooou, Saaaaa-rah" to our sweet librarian. It sounds like saying "hi" and "thank you" to a cashier at every store that we enter and being reminded that "I made her heart happy today." You are sweet upon sweet, little boy!

Two and a half looks like never forgetting anything and always remembering everything. It sounds like full conversations repeated back days later and reciting to us word-for-word instructions given days, weeks, or even months earlier (when we didn't know if he was even listening) about how to hit a baseball or why we never go in the street by ourselves. It looks like knowing all the boundaries, but sometimes still choosing to cross them. It looks like a strong will that I believe, steered carefully in the right direction, will serve him well one day. It sounds like tears, prayers, and "I'm sorry. Will you forgive me?" from both child and parent. It looks like us teaching him, but him teaching us too. 

Two and a half sounds like an adamant "I want to do it by myself." It looks like using a stool (that he affectionately calls his "stage") to attempt to brush his own teeth, wash his own hands, and turn the lights on and off all by himself. It looks like helping Mama in the kitchen with cooking, unloading the dishwasher, and setting the table for dinner. 

It looks like reservation that always warms up to friendly and sweet. It looks like a heart of compassion. It sounds like "That's so sweet!" or "That's so sad!" spoken with so much passion and conviction. It looks like tears streaming down a little face when he feels sad for others. It looks like parents searching for "little Nemo" way past bedtime because "he needs his Mama." 

Two and a half sounds like "Dear God, Thank you our food food and family. Amen!" It looks like a "big boy" that's thankfully not too big yet for cuddling and rocking in his Mama's lap. It looks like running to the door with excitement to greet Daddy after work. It sounds like an unprompted "I love you." It looks like books piled high on the bed and snuggled under the covers between Mama and Daddy as we read "just one more story".

It looks like wide-eyed wonder and endless curiosity. It sounds like a constant chorus of "Why?" and "What's that?" It looks like inquisitive observations and hands-on learning. It sounds like "He sure is a fast bug!" It looks like magnifying glasses, bug catchers, and a pet roly poly. It looks like trains and trucks all over the floor, books about animals open on the couch, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse playing like a soundtrack in the background of our daily living.

It sounds like being able to say just about anything now but choosing to answer Mama and Daddy like Curious George instead (I have lost count of the times we've said "Please talk like a big boy and not a monkey" lately. That's what two and a half sounds like in our world!) It looks like controlled chaos - it's daily blasting off on one wild and wonderful ride!

Two and a half sounds like a life that fills our home with joy and laughter. It looks like loving him more than words could express.

Granddaddy's Boat

Anyone in our family will tell you that my Dad is one of a kind. I really don't know anyone else like him. He doesn't fit into a mold, and he doesn't want or try to either. He is serious by nature, but can be so silly. He is an athlete and a former marine. He is passionate about many things including safety and self-defense, but there is nothing that compares with his passion for Jesus and telling others about Him. He is the picture of strength to me in so many ways. He also has a heart of compassion, and tears flow easily when he is touched deeply. And he isn't ashamed and doesn't try to hold them back either. He is a words of affirmation person, and he uses his words to encourage and bless others - even complete strangers. He doesn't ever miss an opportunity to encourage a coworker, a waitress at a restaurant, or a "young person." When he feels led by the Holy Spirit to speak and encourage someone, He does. It's one of the things that I love most about him. He loves nature and the outdoors. He has such an appreciation for the things that God has created, and I believe that he feels closest to God when he is outdoors, surrounded by the beauty of God's creation. Kayaking/canoeing is one of his favorite hobbies, and a few months ago when we visited I know he was so excited to be able to share that love with James for the first time. My stepmom sent me these pictures yesterday, and I am so glad to have his first time on "Granddaddy's boat," and the first time on any boat, captured on camera. James has a lot of great godly men in his life, and I'm so glad that his Granddaddy is one of them.