Oh Well

School is finally going well! Patrick made it through the day on Tuesday with minimal tears and made it to the end of the day, whoo hoo!

In other news, has everyone seen all the hype regarding the new Elmo TMX doll? It's the 10th anniversary edition of Tickle Me Elmo. Patrick has the original TME thanks to a generous hand me down from his cousin Michael, and he thinks it is hilarious. So I pulled up some video footage of the new Elmo TMX to show Patrick and see what he though. Patrick watched the video of Elmo laughing and rolling around and seemed very concerned. He said "Mama, why is Elmo crying?". Ha ha! I tried to explain that Elmo was laughing but Patrick seemed suspicious and was worried about Elmo all day. Guess I won't be running out and getting in line to buy him one for Christmas.

The School Boy

Things are looking up on the preschool front! On Tuesday I left Patrick for an hour, his teachers said he did well while I was gone, but when I picked him up he pretty much lost it. He wouldn't stop crying and had a gigantic tantrum in the sandbox. When I decided he had enough and took him to leave a little early, he had a second melt down about leaving. Sometimes I cannot figure that kid out. Today the plan was to leave him for the full 2.75 hours. He cried when I dropped him off this morning, and I was expecting a call to come pick him up early but he made it all the way until 11, his teachers asked me to pick him up a little early because they worried the whole pick up process with all the other moms might agitate him a little. When I picked him up he was sitting in the lap of one of his teachers and was sniffling a little bit but he was OK. He was happy to see me, said his goodbyes, and was happy to leave. So I considered it a HUGE step forward and I'm certain he'll adapt very soon (of course we leave for vacation next weekend so that may throw him off a little). After school we went out for a celebratory pizza lunch and met up with some friends where Patrick seemed happy and content. It was a good day!

It's Not So Bad

Preschool is not going well. At all. Patrick is suffering from major separation anxiety, even though I have yet to actually separate from him yet. Last Thursday he cried and cried and we were actually asked to leave because he would not calm down (even though I was with him the entire time). Tomorrow is the first day we will leave him at school, Tom is going to do the drop off with me in an effort to ease Patrick in (since he knows Daddy goes to work and always comes back). I am totally dreading it. In preparation we've been reading a lot of I Love You All Day Long, where I generously add in the word "school" when reading it aloud.

I am dreading tomorrow.

Shark Attack

This afternoon we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium to check out the new baby great white shark. Patrick was way more interested in his favorite jellyfish than the new shark (which apparently doesn't like camera flashes, thus the slightly blurry picture below). Monterey was super busy, but we still had a great day.













Patrick goes back to preschool tomorrow so I am hoping we have a better reaction. He hasn't wanted to talk about it all weekend, and when I told him tonight that he had school tomorrow morning he responded with "No more school!". Sigh...

School Days

Patrick had preschool orientation this morning, it went fairly well (but could have been better). As soon as we pulled up Patrick asked to go home, not a good start. He took a long time to warm up and get interested in playing. At one point the kids were served a snack and all of the parents went inside for a little meeting. When we got out 30 minutes later Patrick was crying and being held by one of the teachers, he was the only kid who had a melt down. It makes me sad but I know school will help him get over his separation anxiety. After school we went out to lunch with some friends. Patrick and Calvin decided it would be a good idea to run after each other in circles, which was fun until there was a small collision. I often find myself wondering what is going on in that boy's head!

Long Time Gone

Oops, I haven't been a very good blogger. Patrick doesn't sit still for more than 2 seconds so I don't have any pictures to share. We haven't gone anywhere exciting or done anything particularly interesting, just normal stuff like trips to the mall, Target and the grocery store.

The big news around here is that Patrick starts preschool on Thursday. We've been talking about it and he says "I love going to school" but I really don't think he has any concept of what it is. I'll be attending with him for the first two weeks and I am really hoping he gets over his separation anxiety quickly. Patrick's friend Connor will be in his class so that should help. Tune back in on Thursday to hear how it went!

I Love

Patrick has started saying he loves things, which is cracking us up. Just today, he proclaimed his love for the following...

"I love cheese!"
"I love the car wash!" (even though he cried there)
"I love fish!" (watching, not eating)
"I love chinchillas!"
"I love green Play-Doh!"
"I love milk!"

Life

I haven't had much time to update this blog recently, life just seems to be keeping us busy. Here are a few pictures from the last week or so. We went to the San Francisco Zoo and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Plus see how Patrick can fit in dad's guitar case!

Gravy Train

On Friday we went to Roaring Camp for a special ride on Thomas the Train. Patrick, who seems obsessed with all things train related, seemed pretty underwhelmed by the whole thing. In addition to the train ride, they had all sorts of little activities set up around the place. Again, Patrick was pretty disinterested. What amazed me most is how much money someone is making off of this little Thomas gig. Train tickets were $19 each (Patrick had to have his own ticket), each train ride held several hundred people, and the trains left every hour all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Thomas engine travels across the country repeating this all over the country. I need to come up with a great money making idea like that!

About 10 years ago we took Louie to ride the train at Roaring Camp. He loved hanging his little head over the edge of the train to catch the breeze. Patrick did the same thing, it made me smile.

Twinkle Toes

I could also title this one "Why Patrick doesn't need to have his toenails clipped". Ewwww.