preschool tour: glenridge co-op

We have begun looking for a preschool for Luke. In San Francisco, this is not such an easy proposition, as there are more kids than preschool openings, and the market imbalance has caused a sort of frenzy and nearly all schools have waiting lists. Dada and I are determined not to stress about it, but even without the stress, finding a preschool and enrolling Luke is going to take a fairly major investment of time and energy. We have identified about 10 neighborhood preschools, and for each of them, we have to visit without Luke, with Luke, then submit an application with a nonrefundable application fee. All told, lots of $$ and lots of time. (Thank goodness preschool in the 70s didn't require such organization and advance prep, or poor Dada and Mama would still be waiting for a preschool experience!)

I'm going to try and use this space to capture some of my impressions of each school, particularly as the visits become fast and furious and the sites start to blend together. On Saturday, we visited:

Glenridge Cooperative Preschool



Impressions:

• Amazing, peaceful and unique location in Glen Canyon
• The program would support our entire family (monthly parent education events, connections between families, ability to participate in the classroom and really share Luke's preschool experience)
• Warm, sensitive and developmental approach to preparing kids for kindergarten.
• Luke would thrive here.

The Facts
Web site: www.glenridgecoop.org
Location: In a slightly dilapidated Parks and Rec building in the middle of Glen Canyon (approx. 10 minute hike into the Canyon down a fire access road)
Start/end times: 1/2 day program (9:30 to 12:30 or 12:30 to 3:30)
Class size: 25 in the morning; 19 in the afternoon
Student/teacher ratio: 6:1
Parent participation: Significant. Parents work 1 day a week alongside teachers, parents must do a school job, and attend monthly parent education/general meetings
Facilities: Beautiful indoor play-stations (art, manipulatives, dramatic play) with ample materials. The outdoor play area is the whole Canyon, with daily hikes and nature trips like picking blackberries (rain or shine).
Likelihood of getting in: Slim. We figure there will be 120-130 applications for approximately 10 open spots.

Downsides
We'd have to find a creative care arrangement for the other half of Luke's day. Spare time is hard to find now, and the requirements for parent participation (outside of classroom hours) are significant.

mamas & babies

Luke is fascinated by recreating the mama-baby relationship with his toys. Many of his Schleich animals are now mama and baby pairs. Many of his favorite books are about babies looking for and then finding their mamas. One of them, called Hug, is about a little monkey named Bobo who wants a hug from his Mama. After some searching, eventually they find each other and have a big hug. A few weeks ago, we were at the California Academy of Sciences museum store (during a member's only preview), and Luke saw a larger monkey with an uncanny resemblance to his own, small stuffed Bobo. He immediately declared "Bobo's Mama!" So Bobo's Mama is now part of our larger menagerie of mamas & babies.

Here's a quick photo of our Scheich animal pairs: panda, polar bear, giraffe, cow, tiger, and sheep (in fairness, we have called this dada & baby).

potty tales

It's probably because I have an uncanny ability to avoid poopy diapers, but, potty training just hasn't seemed all that important to me. Luke will turn 2 next week, and a number of his buddies have already done some business on the potty. But for us, eh, not so much.

Sometime mid-summer, Dada went to a presentation on potty training (from the same amazing sleep consultant whom Mama consulted way back when), and we decided to take a temperament-based approach and wait until Luke showed readiness signs. Neither of us wants to butt heads with our little guy or try and force the potty training issue, so we're being relaxed (for us) and following Luke's lead. This summer, Luke and I went to Babies R Us, and he selected a potty. We have a couple of books about the concept, which Luke is fascinated by. He occasionally puts his animals on the potty, randomly declaring either, "Good job!" or "Next time!" And, every once in a blue moon, Luke will deign to sit on the potty without his diaper. Unlike the trains, however, Luke doesn't have much patience for the potty. He sits for all of 3 seconds, and then is off to another activity.

This weekend, however, was a bit of a mental breakthrough. Luke's buddy, River, is nearly completely potty trained at the age of 2 (being the younger of two children and having the benefit of watching his 3 1/2 year old sister use the potty). River and family were visiting us, and River used the potty! Luke was amazed and fascinated, and we could just see the wheels turning. That night, he sat on the potty for about 3 seconds again, but with a renewed sense of purpose.

Dada is convinced that Luke will keep studying the books and observing his buddies for a little while longer and then, one day, he'll just start using the potty.

wordless wednesday: my little engineer

poor momo

Poor Momo, Luke's faithful and constant companion. He has to endure indignities such as the salad spinner.

playtime

language explosion

In what feels like the space of 24 hours, Luke has burst through to a whole new level of language skill. Up until Monday, he was talking – and talking a lot – about things and events, giving orders, and expressing desires. He was even putting together little 3 and 4 word sentences. But on Monday morning, he woke up with the ability to express more complex thoughts. Some samples from our day: When we called Dada (who is traveling this week), Luke offered, “Miss you!!” Later, during our morning walk, Luke said, “See puppy far far away! Puppy happy!” This morning, Luke (clearly remembering our weekend trip to the zoo, where the sheep at the petting zoo bumped – and scared – him) said, “Luke grumpy a’coz ‘a the sheep!”

In other news, Luke officially gave up the bottle this weekend. We hung onto it for probably too long. Our lovely little guy, who is so easy in so many ways, just loved his night-night bottle of milk, and Mama didn’t have the heart to stop it. But, when Luke can talk about his feelings, I figured it was time to at least give our little man a chance to say goodbye to the bottle. We bought a funky book called “No More Bottles for Bunny,” read it a few times, and then stopped cold turkey. Luke studied the book very seriously, no doubt understanding the subliminal message therein. When we told him that it was time to say bye-bye to the bottle, he was totally cool with it. On Saturday afternoon, he even threw his bottle in the trash (just like bunny). And, this morning, I asked Luke, “Who’s my baby?” and he replied, “Luke no baby! Luke big boy!”*

*but he’ll always be MY baby.

the boss

I've written before about our little bossy boots and Mama's suspicion that it's equal parts genetic and "terrible twos." Luke's nanny, Jackie, is an extreme pushover and the situation has quickly evolved into Luke truly becoming her boss. She laughs about it, and indeed Luke's string of orders are pretty funny. But, it's less amusing when he refuses to come home from the playground or the zoo, and then arrives home too exhausted to eat lunch. He says to Jackie, "No vamanos casa!" (Or, in toddler speak, "Hey Jackie, I don't wanna go home right now and you can't make me!")

We're a bit perplexed about what to do, because we don't want a little dictator. Indeed, he rarely pulls this nonsense with us (thanks to a judicious use of the timer to signal an upcoming transition or the more serious use of the naughty chair). But he feels quite justified, and is indeed rewarded by, pulling these shenanigans on Jackie. We've gotta toughen up that lady.

making friends

Luke and I were at the bookstore yesterday, and while I was searching for a book for myself, Luke and a 4-year-old made friends. This young man declared that he was going to read a book to Luke and teach him about Spiderman. I heard snippets like, "This is Spiderman! He wears a red suit. See?!" Luke was very curious, not so much about Spiderman (because, after all, trains rule), but about the fellow little guy. Luke's two book picks, by the way, were Freight Train and Inside Freight Train. That's my boy!

the naughty chair

Luke is now an official although thankfully infrequent occupant of the
naughty chair. From 5:00 to 6:00 pm, it's really tough for Luke to
control his desire to push Le Chat (the cat), hit Le Chat, pull Le
Chat's tail, or otherwise scare the bejeesus out of Le Chat in order
to make the cat run away in a scurry -- and thus make Luke laugh
maniacally. This brings us to the naughty chair. Luke gets 1 minute
per year -- or 2 min. and so far he's able to sit on the chair for
that long, waiting for the timer to signal his release. He sits there
and repeats to himself, "no naughty chair, no like it." It's
impossibly cute and very hard for Mama and Dada not to laugh. And, Le
Chat has been getting extra dinner rations for all that he is enduring.

speed demon

Luke riding in his "car" with his girlfriend, Yuba. This ride is for the 3-4 foot tall set at the Oakland Zoo. It's a bunch of cars that go around in a circle. It's not super fast, but does pick up a little zip. Luke was driving English-style (on the right) while Yuba checks out the scenery. Yuba's brother, River, is in the back seat.

it's hard to say bye-bye to a wonderful long weekend

We had a marvelous holiday weekend. For the first time in I don't know how long, Dada didn't need to work. And, wow, did we three play this weekend. Saturday was full of yummy food -- a trip to the farmer's market, big family lunch, crepes in the afternoon with Luke as assistant chef and chief crepe eater. Sunday, we went to the Bay Area Discovery Museum and romped on lily pads, helped the fish "swim" upstream, and rang the bell on the shipwreck. Monday, we connected with Sandrine, Yuba (3 y.o.) and River (2 y.o.) at the Oakland Zoo to view the alligators, sheep, goats, tigers, giraffes, and ride the train and cars again! Luke wrangled his way into the big bed every morning for snuggle time, and he earned his new nickname, Snuggle Bunny.

The weekend was so marvelous that I forgot how difficult transitions are for our little guy. I was a bit sluggish getting ready for work, but I know It Must Be Done. Luke, though, had a mini-meltdown when it was time to say goodbye and start our "regular" week. No Mama go to work! No Nounou coming over! Dada no work! My poor little man.