Cold Spaghetti

… is children under the age of 5.

We spent Friday afternoon volunteering in the toddler room at Abeona. The afternoon teacher has a respiratory infection and needs a tonsilectomy; the morning teacher is also un-well. So parents are filling in the gaps as Emmy trains official subs. I took a 3-6 pm shift and Paul agreed to come and do some work around the property and be another deck-on-hand. It was no problem, we had a lot of fun… and left in solid agreement that whatever we pay preschool teachers is absolutely not enough. I thought a day of multiple linear regression and hierarchal modeling could drive a person to speak in tongue. Ha. A room full of tiny kids can bring that out in 15 minutes.

After an unusually fussy night (Kate was still out of sort from her shots, Will was very restless) everyone seemed okay this morning. Will and Paul gave me the morning to rest and went off to the Saturday Market to pick up our knives, hear some live music, and eat popsiscles. They stopped off for some nonperishables at the Evil Empire before coming home to eat a solid lunch before naptime.

Will was a different boy after naptime. Feverish, cuddly, out-of-sorts, tired, no appetite. He had a few perky moments through the afternoon, enough to thoroughly confuse us on the true state of his health. Now he is asleep, breathing in wisps of vapor, Tylenol and Sudafed fighting it out in his tummy. Tomorrow is his first music class for the fall, so we’re really hoping he feels better in the morning.Paul and I are achy and sore. Kate seems to be the only one operating at near-normal. She grunted out two gorpuls tonight and is showing us her pride by being a Very Happy Baby.

I know that it is likely we were all harboring the starts of something (allergens are everywere right now) — but I can’t help but wonder if exposure to young children is what pushed us over the edge? Little buggers.

Weight: 15 pounds, 9 ounces (75%)
Height: 24 1/2 inches* (25-50%)
Head Circumference: 42.5cm (75%)

Two immunizations: DPT and IPV
Mom and Dad: flu shots!

Report: Beautiful, well-proportioned, happy, strong. She’s a keeper!*Her height was actually shorter than last month, probably due to measurement error. The current measure is more consistent with her growth curve.

Kate goes to Abeona on Mondays and Wednesdays during the same hours as Will (7:30-11:45). Like her brother, her teachers collect information about her activites, mood, and general well-being to give to us on a daily basis.

Usually, Kate’s mood is curious, babbly, and cuddly. She was a little fussy one day and she was sleepy another.She takes a bottle of about 3 oz of breastmilk around 10am from one of the caregivers. Only once has she not finished the bottle (the same day she was sleepy). She follows up her bottle with a nap, generally lasting 15-30 minutes. Most days she has one or two wet diapers. Yesterday, she had two gorpul diapers. Whoa.Consistent with the Reggio Emilia philosophy, the babies have exploratory learning activities. Kate came home with purple toes yesterday from their feet painting exercise (very cute.)

Will visits her and the other babies almost everyday. Miss Gladys (Kate’s teacher) says that Will checks on the babies regularly, even when Kate isn’t there.

The baby room typically has 4 babies at a given time and often with two caregivers (one teacher and one person who “floats” room to room to help.) Because the school is small, teachers are able to switch rooms to accommodate breaks for lunch and other things. Parents are also in the rooms at times visiting or helping out.

On Tuesdays, we pick up Will as a family and stop by the Farmer’s Market on the way home. So this Tuesday, at around 11:40am, we walked out the door, locked it, walked to the car and were getting in, when Paul said, “Where’s Kate?”

Oh, that’s right, said my brain, recalling out of the fog, I have TWO children. It’s amazing to me how easily this fact slips out of my mind. Other parents reassure me that they, too, sometimes forget about their second child. So I thought I’d make it official that we also have moments of parental brain damage.

Abeona sends home daily notes that record each child’s activities, feelings, friends, and interactions. In the 3 or so weeks since Abeona has opened, Will’s comments have looked something like this:

General Mood/Interactions:
– Empathetic, Social, and Helpful are almost always circled
– Responsive is circled often

Today I…
– Shared, Comforted, and Cooperated (these are almost always circled)
– (note: “helped clean up” is rarely circled)

Fascinations have been:
– reading/storytelling/roleplaying
– gardening
– painting/clay (nest building)
– nature/bugs
– balls/climbing/running
– sand/water
– music/singing/dancing

Special notes have included:
– “picked up toddler who fell, gave kiss, and comforted”
– “nuturing with younger ones”
– “gaining self awareness in group setting”
– “emerging as group leader”

Lunch. Will eats lunch before coming home. Usually, he gets a sandwich cut into little squares, grape tomatoes, fruit (grapes, apple, pear, mellon), and crackers. This was the kind of lunch encouraged at Will’s old school (note: no peanut products, yougart or other potentially messy containers, no juice, and no sugar snacks). I was surprised to find that kids at Abeona are seriously hooked up with meals… kids were eating pasta, soup, eggs, tofu, cookies, juice, and more. And they share. It seems to work quite well (and is darn cute) although it is definitely anyone’s guess as to what, exactly, your kid actually ate. (Not that this matters.)

Learning. The kids are focusing right now on “home” — learning about their homes (they’ve got framed photos of all the kids around the house), who lives in their home, what type of home they have, etc. We’re suppose to supply pictures of our house, our family and pets. The House is partnered with a local architecture foundation who is talking about the types of homes in New Orleans (based on the kids’ photos) and they are renting animal homes (nests, etc.) from the Audubon Society.

Health. Both kids had runny noses for a day or two about two weeks ago. But no sick days for anyone! Staff, on the other hand, has been having a rough time.

Other things. Early on, there were some issues with hitting between the boys (“some alpha-male issues” in the words of one teacher). We worked on it at home. (I say things like “use your words” a lot these days.) We are regularly told that Will does well in using his words, is quick to listen, and is not aggressive. When I pick up and drop off Will, I usually linger and talk to other parents, teachers, check-in on little things, and help out if something is needed. One of the things I like best is when one child is acting out (for example, Will was telling us about getting hurt by another child and we didn’t believe it until we saw Will get head-butted the next day) we know the parents, know what is going on, and know that it will all go away and the kids will still be friends. (Contrast this to the parents that drove me up the wall at Will’s first school — at Abeona it really feels more like a family.) The feel is always welcoming, always causal, always homey.

Bedtime is our favorite time with Will. No matter how crazy he’s been all day, at bedtime, he’s sweet and cuddly. We read stories, sing songs, and talk about his day.

It was in this quiet time moment that Will noticed my wedding rings. “What this?”

“These are my wedding rings. Your Daddy gave them to me on the day that we were married to show me that he wanted us to be a family forever.”

“Oh. My Grandma made them?”

(surprised a bit, and then recovered) “Actually, yes, your Great-Grandma designed this ring.” (my engagement ring)

“May I hold them?”

“Sure. Be very careful with them.”

Will puts my wedding rings on his finger and is looking at them. Then he says something through his binky that I don’t quite understand.

“mumblemuble Aya mumblemumble.”

“What Will?”

“mumblemuble Aya mumbleday.”

I perk up and take out his binky. What was that he was saying? “What Will? Tell me one more time.”

“One day, I give Aya.”

Kate was in a fantastic mood last night. So much so, that we paused Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to focus on enjoying her for awhile.
Following my obsession, the camera came out. It was a challenge: night setting, low-light, infant subject.
I did a couple of different things, but found that what worked best was using a folded piece of notebook paper over the flash on a full-flash setting. At least, I think this is what worked best.
These pictures include a couple of different settings — I tried just about everything I could think of to compare how the camera would handle the light and movement. ISOs vary, as does use and type of flash.
I’m learning a little more each day!Is this girl fun or what?!

Looks like Kate inherited the gene.