fifteen, ten, and twenty-five

this is a diet post.  

as of this morning, i have lost 15 lbs, with 10 more to go before i reach where i was when i got pregnant with owen.  25 more lbs. to go before i am at my goal.  once i'm there, i will allow myself a 5 lb. window for some wiggle room.  i don't ever want to be above 140 and not be pregnant again.  i was so excited to step on the scale and see it at 160.  i honestly couldn't believe it.  granted last week was that week.  i'm hoping not to gain too much this comign week when i'm in denver/keystone, co for my sister's wedding.  

I'm calling it done!

potty training (at least during the day) and owen is done.  officially.  he has told me several times today that he had to go, once included pooping!  it's unreal that we're done.  and it's only taken us nine and a half months.  he's such a big boy!!!!  i really can't believe we're finished!  "follow the child" really works.  

jeff is working at the fair tonight.  last night this year for that.  owen has emptied an entire sheet of stickers from the Highlights for Children magazine thing we go onto jeff's side of the bed.  won't daddy be surprised?  ;-)

o and i are both sick.  my cold is getting started and i'll need medicine for this week, not to mention for on the airplane tuesday night.  in one week, marcus will be able to yell, "hey, wife!" at my sister.  i could really use someone to take care of me tonight instead of being the care-giver.  alas, i'll take care of myself after owen gets to bed.  

guh-aa-puh

that's what owen did this morning at his fridge phonics word whammer.  sounded out his first word, totally unprompted.  i was amazed.  that's two major things within about 12 hours.  

tonight was the first swimming lesson for the session.  jeffy took owen in today, and owen cried and clung the entire time.  hmmm...sounds like the the first lesson last session.  hopefully thursday will be better.  

i found out today that as of next week, i will no longer be traveling between my two current schools on tuesdays and thursdays.  i found out via an e-mail sent to the entire staff explaining the new classrooms and the trickle-down effect that would be creating at my second school.  i have no official word from the district on anything.  in fact, i was the one who informed my principal at my main school.  i e-mailed her to ask what she knew and her response was, and i quote, "HUH???????"  we'll see when i find out anything at all.  the principal at my second school advised me to stick around at my main school on tuesday if i don't hear anything from the district.  maybe i'm missing something, but i fail to see how switching things up like this after school has started is the best thing for the kids.  i get that smaller classrooms is good, by how can switching whole teachers' schedules (and in this case, there are two of us who are being affected.)  we'll be essentially a month behind with our new assignments, which is detrimental not only to us but to the kids as well.  i'll be starting all over again next week with a new group of kids.  getting expectations established, routines, etc.  at least my main assignment won't be changing, unless it goes from .8 to 1.0 (that would be 4 days a week to 5 days a week).  it's frustrating to say the least.  this is the worst possible week for the switch to be happening, too.  i'm out of town w-f of next week for my sister's wedding.  guess a sub will have to do the new stuff for day 2.

HE DID IT!!!!!!!!

And yes, I'm shouting!!!!!!!  Owen FINALLY pooped in the potty - and he initiated the whole process on his own!!!!!!!  I wonder how close to being totally trained during the day we are?  Time will certainly tell. 

swimming lessons - session 2

owen is in advanced kippers.  lessons are t/th 5-5:30.  guess i'll be taking a snack for him after daycare those days.  we'll come home hungry, that's for sure.  speaking of daycare, owen has been dry all day, save for one mini-accident.  i took him potty right before we left daycare today and it worked!  what a great kid!

growing up

the fair was great.  owen loves the rodeo.  and scones.  neither jeff nor i could finish a scone without out being mooched off of.  that's ok, though.  we didn't take any sort of restraint for owen.  we barely even used the straps in the wagon.  owen did a beautiful job of staying nearby and walking with us, holding hands or staying within a foot or two.  i am just in total awe.  he also told me once today that he had to go potty.   he got a sample of fudge for that success.  the lady who was sitting next to me at the rodeo today asked owen how old he is.  he put his finger to his lip, had a pensive look on his face, and then answered, "two." and held up two fingers.  she asked how close to three he is.  i'm amazed that he will be three in one month and five days.  how in the world did that happen?!  when did that happen?!

he's asleep now, fell asleep during lullabies at the end of story time tonight.  I think he fell asleep during the second verse of the second song.  all i know is that all of a sudden, his head turned to the left and that was that.  he woke up very slightly as i moved him more to the middle of his bed, but went right back to sleep.  what a good boy!  i'm not sure i've ever had him fall asleep during stories before.  granted, two days with maybe a total of 20 minutes of napping will make any little boy tired.  

the first week

so glad it was a short one, at least with kids.  i've come home fully exhausted each day this week.  last night i was actually in bed (but not asleep) before owen.  i've seen all but one of my classes (i think...)  my annual favorite is last.  i've already had to call and have one student removed from my room.  this kinder decided that because i wasn't letting him yell (disruptively - not over-enthusiastic singing), roll around on the floor, and was actually trying to make him follow directions, that he would kick me in the leg as he was sitting next to me.  i was monitoring but not verbally acknowledging his undesirable (and attention-seeking) behaviors in the hopes that he would stop when he wasn't getting the kind of attention he wanted.  i called the office and told them that this student had kicked me and therefore needed to be removed.  our principal came up to get him.  that was another ordeal.  as he left, it was kicking and screaming.  

currently, the bug is standing on the arm of the couch, counting down from 3, then jumping onto the couch.  he certainly is all boy, isn't he?  today we're going to the puyallup fair and the rodeo.  jeff  went to the opening day and parade yesterday.  while i was at work.  the bum.  

first day

it was a good first day.  kids were singing beautifully!  they remembered a bunch from over the summer.  3:00 came (our dismissal time until this year) and it felt quite odd to be in the middle of class.  owen had a great day at day care.  stayed dry all day...until we got into the car, that is.  the lesson learned from that is to take him potty as soon as i pick him up.  

my mom had surgery today.  two weeks ago she was diagnosed with breast cancer.  her lumpectomy was this afternoon and was a success.  i spoke with her not too long ago and she sounded great. 

i'm about to crash here.  being awake for several hours in the middle of the night was not a good thing.  thank goodness jody across the hall had coffee (as usual, actually).

we won a battle of wills with owen tonight.  we made grilled cheese (velveeta) for dinner.  he refused to eat it.  demanding, "pbj!" the whole time.  we told him that he needed to eat the grilled cheese.  he refused until just a few minutes ago when he decided to eat it.  he's finishing the last bite as i type.  score one point for the parents.  

too early

it's 3:50 by my computer clock as i begin writing.  that's 3:50 a.m.  way too early to be awake. between the first day of school today and some stuff going on in my personal life (more details on that at a later date) it's an early morning.  not by choice, though.  i could very easily be asleep right now.  i'm wishing i were asleep right now.  

owen is growing up so fast.  in just one short year, he'll be getting ready to start at my school.  i've had people ask me already this year if owen is coming to my school this year.  i'm glad for his october b-day.  he's not ready for formal school just yet.  i'll bet that in a year he will be.  last night we played a board game for the first time.  it's based off of two of his favorite eric carle books.  it's a matching game, which he easily mastered.  remember playing "memory" as a child?  it's basically the same thing, but you have to pick the cards up and match them to spots on the game board.  we played three times.  the first time was just to show him how to play.  the second and third times were for real.   he legitimately won both of those times.  then i brought out the pink material (part of the montessori language materials, three letter phonetic words to match to pictures, mounted and laminated on pink paper) to start on.  i got a large set of that material from one of the teachers at school who is replacing it with newer pink material.  she asked me if i wanted it to bring home for owen.  of course i said yes.   i think i'm going to get the book from her and see exactly how i'm supposed to be teaching this work to him.  i have some ideas, but i want to make sure they're appropriate before i get too far in to it.  we're going to start with initial sounds, i think.  put out three pictures cards that start with different sounds (pin, dog, box) and have him figure out the first sound and then find the word card to match.  he showed some interest last night. i'll follow his lead, though.

ok.  i'm yawning again.  i think i'll climb back in bed and try to get a little bit more sleep.  the alarm goes off at 6...i need to be able to get up then.