Parents As Teachers Balloons

A few weeks ago we had a visit from our Parents As Teachers person. I've discussed them in length in other posts. Alyce has graduated from that program now that she is in preschool and and soon to be kindergarten. That doesn't mean she doesn't have anything to offer our big girl.

The visit with her about Luke went just fine. Luke seems to be progressing just about right for his age. We don't have any concerns about him. She gave Mom some ideas on how to help with some motor control skills. Skills such as hitting something with a racket or bat or throwing and catching a ball.

For the former she set us up with two balloons on strings. The kids are supposed to use either their hands or a racket to keep the balloons aloft. They've been a huge hit. So big a hit that they were taking up room in our living room for a few weeks. After a while the tape holding them gave way and we disposed of them while the kids weren't watching. For the later she gave Mom instructions to create yarn balls for the kids. They are pretty simple affairs. The balls are easy to catch and easy to throw. Since they are made out of yarn they don't do any damage if thrown in the house.

St. Patrick's Day

Last Saturday we took to the kids to the St. Patrick's Day Parade. This is our third year attending and probably the best weather we've ever had. The kids are big enough now that they could walk from the parking lot to the parade route; a trek of about 6 or 7 city blocks.

Our friends Ted and Molly carve out a little section of the parade route to create our own little party zone. Even though attendance was greater than expected we had plenty of room to move, cook, and converse. The kids took up location on the curb to get the occasional bit of candy or string of beads that would come our way.

About halfway through the parade a group of bigger boys joined our group. They were welcome guests of Ted and Molly's but still they succeeded in pushing our kids out of the way a bit. Alyce seemed a bit disappointed in the additional competition for the goodies but she had enough and didn't need anymore junk cluttering up our house.

Luke seemed to be enjoying himself. He spent some time sitting in our laps and on the curb. He got a few pieces of candy but didn't compete for much of anything else. Rather than fighting for the scraps Luke attacked the main course the snack table. On multiple occasions he pulled me over to the table and pointed at crackers, pretzels, or cookies for consumption.

As the parade was winding down some weather was moving in. We decided to pack it in to avoid walking in the rain. The kids again traveled to the car without any fuss. Their maturity was awesome.

The Aftemath

A few days have passed and it's time for a post big boy bed recap. Luke's transition to a big boy bed has gone better than we had expected. The first night was tough but every night since Luke has gone down as easy as when he was in his crib.


Luke hasn't quite mastered sleeping in a bed. When he lays down his head is at the foot of the bed and his feet are on his pillow. I think he likes to look at the door and that position makes it easier. Just tonight I was able to get him turned around. When Mom checks on him tonight it will be interesting to see if he is still situated right.


Nap time is the one sticking point. Instead of taking naps Luke is having a ball. Instead of quiet time it's party time. Also he keeps asking for Mom's attention. He has plenty of toys. I think he needs to learn to entertain himself. In time.

Big Boy Bed

For the last few weeks we've. Been working on getting Luke's new room ready. His new room is bigger than his old. It was always the plan to put him in there but needed the time to get it ready. And ready it is. The hard part was yet to come. Getting him out of his crib.

All this week Mom, Alyce, and I have been building up the big boy bed. Friday night we disassembled his crib and turned it into a toddler bed. Better to rip off the bandaid than to keep the crib as an option.

When it was time for bed Luke wanted his old room but after seeing his crib was gone he accepted his new room. Mom had to put in some time to get him settled and to stay. But after a little more than a half an hour he was out. He was laying kind of weird but he was asleep none the less. When Mom checked on him later his head was half hanging off the bed. She nudged it back on and he slept through the night.

The next morning we heard him awake however he didn't come out of his room. Mom checked on him and he was playing with some trucks on the floor.

Tonight is my turn. I'm hoping there is some improvement so I can spend maybe 15 minutes and not 30.

Well Behaved Kids

Today we took Alyce and Luke to the movies. We saw The Gruffalo. A short movie based on a book of the same name.


We also went with a lot of neighbors from the neighborhood with their kids. All the kids behaved fairly well. About as good as you would expect 5 year olds to behave. But Alyce and Luke both are perfect. They didn't get up, make noise, Or need to be disciplined. In almost any situation in public our kids are the best behaved.

I have no idea why they are so good. We don't raise them very strictly or let them get away with everything. Maybe being in the middle plus them being predisposed to be good is all we need. In any case I was real proud of them.

Luke's First Movie

Today we took Luke to his first movie. It was The Guruffalo. It's a short movie based on a book of the same name.


Luke did very well during the movie. He got fidgety towards the end but he didn't talk, cry, or get out of his seat. I'm not sure he's ready for a full movie yet. Maybe it needs to be something super entertaining. We tried the movie Cars a few weeks ago and after 40 minutes he left to go play with trains.


Luke was a fan of the popcorn. It was kind of odd eating it at 10:00 am. Popcorn is an afternoon and evening food.

No More Baby Gates

Last week took down our last baby gate. We haven't needed it for a long time. Luke has been traversing the stairs for months without incident. We kept it up as a means of keeping Luke upstairs when we needed him there. Also we used it to keep the dog from going upstairs while we are out of the house.

Anyway we took down the baby gate. It had outlived its usefulness. We ended up selling it to some neighbors who have a baby that is starting to roll around. This isn't really something that even needs to be written about.  I guess I am just lamenting the fact that we don't need a baby gate anymore. Ever. We aren't going to have any more kids (knock on wood) and it's sad to see the door closing on that part of our life.

Left Handed or Right

Luke is taking his time figuring out which hand is going to be his dominant. Just today our Parents as Teachers lady asked Mom which hand Luke favored and we thought it was his left. He eats with his left and throws a ball with his left, and yet he can still use his right hand pretty good too. Tonight he was eating applesauce with his right hand with great precision.

I guess when he hits preschool and starts writing his letters we will figure out which one he'll gravitate towards. I kind of hope that he's going to be a lefty. He would have a rough time living in a right handed world but maybe just maybe he could have a future has a Major League pitcher.

You never know.

Birthday Bowling

For my birthday, way back in December, we went bowling. I thought it would be a fun way to spend the day before New Year's. We picked up a good deal at the local Brunswick where for $60 6 people got two hours of bowling, shoe rental, a pizza, and unlimited soda. We thought we'd invite Gideon and his dad to join us to make 6. We also invited them so Gideon's Mom would have the house to herself and Sylvie so she could clean for the New Year's Eve party they were hosting later that night.

To make the bowling experience as fun as we could we had bumpers setup in the lane. The bumpers keep all of the balls in the lane and out of the gutter where balls usually go when kids are bowling. Josh being an old pro at this also brought over a bowling ball ramp. This ramp will allow the kids to put the balls up high enough that the ball has some decent speed when it hits the pins. The increased speed keeps the action up and the kids interested.

Even with all of that Luke's interest waned about 3/4s the way through the first game. Both he and Gideon thought the circular ball racks would be more fun than bowling. We made Luke finish his game and after that one of us bowled in his place. He didn't seem to mind. Luke was also a big fan of the ball return. So much so that he wanted to stick his hands down the hole. We had to explain to him a few times that it would be really bad if he left his hand where it was. Luckily he did figure it out without having any pain inflicted. Normally he has to learn the hard way.

Alyce did well. We thought it was going to be just normal bowling but instead it was Cosmic Bowling. Cosmic Bowling is when they turn off all the lights except for black lights and other special effects. Add in some music and you have a party; if you're a teenager. We thought Alyce with her delicate sensibilities would freak out with the instant darkness and noise but she handled it like a champ. Even last year while on vacation she was very fragile when her environment changed. Since then she has been able to handle that stuff a lot better. It's amazing how things change and so quickly.

I Love You Too

Today Mom was hanging out with Luke while Alyce was at school. While watching a show, Luke went over to Mom, and gave her a few kisses. Mom said to Luke "I love you". Luke replied "I love you too Mommy".

Heart melted.

Not Ready For The Movies

Tonight Luke made it obvious he isn't ready to go to the movies with us. After dinner we put on Alyce's favorite Cars. It has Luke's favorite character too, Lightning McQueen. We thought Luke was old enough to sit through the whole movie. We thought wrong. About 15 minutes in Luke got up, went into the dining room, and started playing with his trains.

At least he didn't need us to play with him. I will say this. Luke is much more independent than Alyce. He is content to play all by himself without a lot of parental involvement. The only time he really needs us is when he's disconnected a section of track.