New nanny

After a week at an inferior (to say the least) childcare, they kids had their first day with their new nanny. Cody of course being the social butterfly (or should I say moth?) that he is - would rather be at any childcare.

I however can breath much easier, don’t have to cry on the way to work and worry about my kids all day. I was able to get all of my money back other than for the week they were there. Over $600 in fees I was able to get refunded thankfully.

What a week the past one was… this one should be better especially since the kids get to see grandma this weekend.

Update

Well last month the dogs went to live with their new wonderful, home all the time - family. The kids still mention them every once in awhile. They miss the dogs and wish they were here.

The school year ended last week and here we are in the middle of summer again. Yesterday was our first day at a new childcare and it was not good. In fact, it was so bad that we are looking for a nanny. It is too late to get any spots in another childcare for the summer so we are interviewing a whole bunch of potential nannies and hopefully we can limit their childcare time to just this week.

It is quite depressing and stressful. I really wish I could just take this week off so that yesterday was the only day they would be attending that childcare.

Anyway summer is here and hopefully we’ll survive and make it to the school year. Summer sucks.

What they are in to

These days Cody loves to ride his bike. He also loves Pokemon. He has hundreds of cards that he and his friends trade and “battle”. Cody is also a skilled Lego builder. He and his friends build elaborate Lego communities.

Madison likes to do whatever Cody is doing, but she also likes taking care of stuffed animals. She enjoys dress up and playing house but really loves to build with big blocks.

They both enjoy coloring and cutting up paper into different creations.

Cody is 7 now

At the end of last month, Cody turned 7 years old. For 7 years he has been the center of our world. It hardly seems as though it has been nearly a decade since we started down this path.

We spent Cody’s birthday at Chuck E. Cheese - for a nice quiet evening. Nothing unique but just us and grandma hanging out and having fun. It was relaxing and nice. The next evening we took Cody for his traditional toy shopping spree.

In about 35 more days Cody will be done being a 1st grader and start preparing for 2nd grade. Where has the time gone? Cody has grown up so much. He is so great at everything he does. He is wonderful, smart, and helpful.

We are pretty lucky to be his parents.

Lottery Results

Madison got into full day Kindergarten at the Spanish Immersion School! Yay! So glad we have one less thing to worry about (well other than all of the childcare and tuition expenses are that are going up a total of $300 a month for next year).

We are anxious to find out which teacher she’ll be with. We loved Cody’s K teacher, so I would be thrilled if Madison had the same teacher.

Photos

I’ve posted a bunch of new photos of the kids at Flickr. If you have a Flickr account - let me know so I can add you as a contact so you can see the photos. Otherwise email me so I can send you a pass to see them.

Excuse Me

The dogs are always in our way, especially Talus because he is so big loves to be right in the middle of everything. Talus understands “MOVE!” so we’ve instructed the kids to tell him to move instead of standing there crying about they are in the way. Mad is so funny though, she says “Excuse Me” when Talus is in her way. It is funny to watch and listen to. 

Yay 5!

Mad turns 5 tomorrow but since we had the day off - we celebrated today. It was not formal, really planned or anything.

She got to sleep in, go to the children’s museum with her family, eat out, dress up like a princess in her new dress from grandma, get a couple new presents, beat a pinata to death, eat some candy,  eat a cupcake and sleep in mommy and daddy’s bed.

It was a nice relaxing day. I’ve always made a big deal of birthdays in the past, but work and school continue to kick my ass year after year so the least amount of work involved is really ideal for me.

I’ll post a couple pictures in Flickr sometime before her next birthday.

Winter

Well it is still winter here. We’ve had a snow day as well what is more appropriately named an ice day but still better than last year at this time though.

The Kindergarten lottery started yesterday and we’ll know by mid March which if any classes that Madison got into. We are hoping for full day Kindergarten. As we can see from Cody - the full day kids have a much easier time in first grade than the half day kids.

Cody is doing so freaking fantastic in school this year. I am hesitant to register him for the GATE program yet though because next year they will start learning to read in English so next year may be very different.

We are not doing any sports right now because I have class in the evenings after work and with Chris starting work at 4am and not getting off until sometimes 4pm - there just isn’t anyone who has the time or energy to take either of them to sports right now.

The kids go to a really great childcare right now but unfortunately it follows the school district schedule so there are many days that we do not have childcare. We REALLY need a live in nanny but the downstairs is not done yet so we don’t have room for one right now and as the kids get older it is more and more difficult to find nanny’s for older children.

January 2008

Well we are well into the new year. We have to get Madison registered for the lottery for her Kindergarten. She is really on a different academic level than Cody. I don’t know if it is something I haven’t done with her or if it is just who she is. I know that I need to work on some Kindergarten preparation with her though. Hopefully she too will make it into the full day Kindergarten class. She has a better chance being that she is a sibling of an existing student.

Cody is doing really well this year, not only academically but behaviorally as well. I need to find another sport for him to play because he has so much energy and is bored very easily. It is difficult to find time for anymore activities though because we are already so busy, all of us. This is where a nanny would really come in handy, but unfortunately the downstairs is not done yet.

I continue to notice behavior issues related to particular foods in both children though. On a positive note though because of what I am learning in my Nutrition class this quarter, I am also able to better monitor their macronutrient intake. Just attempting more balance in meals has made a big difference.