Fun over break

It's my spring break and we're doing mostly a whole lot of nothing!  Which is still exhausting because for us, nothing just means a LOT of kid related activities!

Elliott at his new school 

Preschool

Schools

What to say about schools...stressful!

I thought we liked Giving Tree Montessori but due to a HUGE oversight on my part in reading the payment plan forms it turns out we would be paying 3,000 over summer that we wouldn't even be in session, and I would pay double in June (almost $2,000 for one month!) because I'd actually NEED daycare and would be paying tuition for the school plus daycare for somewhere new.  It would be about $10,800 for the year and 3,000 of that would be paying for summer months that we wouldn't even be receiving daycare services for.  Wowza.

SO

We think we have finally found a place.  I have heard really good things about it.  Ironically it is the place we first were interested in but I swear the woman at the open-house told me they had no openings for a year out.  Then I make my last-resort begging phone calls today and find out that they have no idea where I would have heard that.  Of course.  So long story short, we are thinking Assumption Nursery School is going to be "it".  It's a school that is loosely affiliated with Assumption Greek Orthodox church but it has its own separate school building and everything.  Finding a school that doesn't cost an arm and a leg for full time toddlers under the age of 3 is like finding the holy grail.  But I think this is a good in-between place.  It's not as educational as montessori I've been told from local friends, but they learn alot of social skills and they've seen good development come from their kids who went there so I think he will like it.  He was having a blast he didn't even notice when I left the room which is unusual these days.  They have their own private playground for each age group, and a BIG fenced in grassy area with a walking path that they can use.  They also have a big open gym that each age group uses twice a day.  It's not as cramped and basic as the daycare he's at now, which has none of that.  Plus it's local so I can come home to study and swing around the corner to pick him up instead of sit on campus studying for hours.

For (mom) people who might be interested, here is the website for the school:

http://www.assumptionnursery.org/index.html

He would be in Room 9 for toddlers.

People are shocked when I tell them I currently pay $800/month for daycare 4 days a week right now.  At Assumption I will be paying about $900/month.  So, more than our mortgage.  But honestly it's a pretty good deal in comparison to other places I've found!  And they seem flexible.  Thank goodness.

Hopefully (!!!!!!) the search is over.  Every time I go through this I say that a few times before it actually comes true so I'm not holding my breath but I'm hopeful.

Montessori and molars

These molars have been a NIGHTMARE so far!  He is not himself at all and sometimes makes such screeching noises when I try to put his pjs on, or give him a bath, or feed him, or put him down, that I swear he sounds possessed or like a rabid animal!  Tonight after bath he normally isn't too excited to get out (he usually loves baths), but it's typically just a little whining here and there quickly solved with some music or a book distraction.  But tonight he cowered in the corner on his side on the floor and screamed and screamed because I had to : put his diaper on, put some lotion on him, and put his jammies on.  What torture, right?  I am trying everything from the typical stuff to the more voodoo stuff (amber beads, hyland teething tablets, etc) in desperation.  Thank goodness he is still sleeping fairly normally or I'd really want to rip my hair out!  He still sleeps through the night, although he's been tossing and turning early in the morning lately because of pain, and he still naps fine with rare exceptions.  Yesterday he took a 3 hour nap (his longest EVER), and today he took slightly over 2 hours I was told!  One molar down, 7 to go...

Today I checked out the Montessori preschool around the corner from us because I am going to start him there in the fall.  It should be great and I think he will respond really well to the program there.  He likes his personal space so I think the way they encourage individual play as well as group activities will be good for him.  He also likes to do everything on his own, and they emphasize that as well - washing their own hands, letting them choose their activity, being able to go into the little fridge and get their lunch themselves when it's time.  He has responded well to the ability to put himself down for nap at the daycare right now; they just go get their little blankets and lay on their mats for nap in a group.  It is the same setup here too, but they expect the kids to do things on their own like this in more ways, such as getting their lunch boxes themselves.  I will hopefully be filling out paperwork and have his days blocked in for September at some point this week!  Preschools are competitive around here...some friends have been on waiting lists for the Grosse Pointe Public school system preschool for over 3 years!  I'm lucky to find even ONE place that has openings for this year without having to be on a waiting list for several years.  And it is only about $858 a month for 5 full days (7a-6p), which equals about $43 a day.  That's actually $3 LESS than what I pay right now for his regular daycare and he would get much more learning at the preschool.

Very late christmas!

Finally getting around to posting some Christmas photos.  These are from the holidays up until recent weeks! (17 and 18 month photos)

But first, word list that I can think of, many I've mentioned before : Hot, down, bath time, no, hi, bye-bye, mama, dada, daphne/dog, roar, more, mouse, banana