Friday, September 19, 2014

Kindergarten (Mommy's version)

My big boy started Kindergarten on September 4th. It's bittersweet for me. I am proud of the wonderful boy he has grown into but I am sad he is not my little baby that I could hold with one arm anymore.  Time passes so quickly!  On to new adventures and my hope is that Casey will enjoy Kindergarten.  It started out a little rough.

The first 2 days of Kindergarten are shorter days then on Monday, the 8th he started his full day.  Here is a brief re-cap of Casey's feelings after each day.

First Day:
Mom: How was your day?
Casey: Good
M: What made you happy today?
C: Lunch
M: Hmm, did anything make you sad today:
C: Yes, the teacher read 2 stories instead of just one.
M: You didn't like having to sit still for 2 stories?
C: No!
M: Anything else make you sad?
C: No recess.
M: What? You didn't get any recess? (I was shocked, I didn't expect the teacher to keep them in the whole time.)
C: No!
M: Sorry bud maybe tomorrow.

Second Day:
M: How was your day?
C: Okay
M: Anything make you happy today?
C: No
M: Anything make you sad?
C: Yes we had to do art and we had no recess again.
M: Hmm, well on Monday you will have a full day so I'm sure you'll get recess on Monday.

Third Day: (first full day)
Mom's thoughts: Oh I hope they get recess today but it was raining during the night and morning so we'll have to see.

We arrived at school early so he could play a little before class began.  His teacher came out to round up the kids because they were going to have "rainy day schedule" which meant no recess.  Oh NO!  Well, hopefully tomorrow will be better.  I explained to Casey that they would have some play time in class but not outside. He was sad but accepted it.  So Sydney and I left Casey at school and walked over to the YMCA for Sydney's tumbling class.  We were sitting at a table Sydney having a snack and mommy filling out school papers while we waited for Sydney's class to start. Casey's class starts at 9am.  Shortly after 9:30am I get a call from the school nurse. Uh oh!  Casey had fallen, hit a table and split his ear lobe.

Off go mommy and Sydney walking as fast as Sydney's tired little legs could go home to get the car. Casey doesn't look too bad when we get there, a few specs of blood on his shirt and 2 small bandages holding his ear together.  Off we go to the ER, his pediatrician's recommendation.  ER is not too bad, they got us in pretty quick and the nurses and doctors were all nice and great with Casey.  Casey was really scared, he didn't want stitches so he kept crying a bit repeating "I don't want stitches."  Luckily, doctor just used glue.  The most painful part was when the nurse had to clean the wound by squirting water in it.  At the end, Casey and Sydney both got Popsicle's! Before getting to the ER Casey said he wanted to go back to school.  After he was ready to go home.  So home we went.

Fourth day: (second full day and no rain)
M: How was your day?
C: Good
M: Anything make you happy today?
C: RECESS
M: Yay! You got recess!  What did you play?
C: I played basketball!
M: Did you make any new friends?
C: No
M: Anything make you sad today?
C: Art

Fast forward 11 days.  Casey's ear has healed well and the glue is almost gone.  After about a day or two the bump and bruise behind his ear stopped bothering him.  He has also made friends and is always smiling when I pick him up at the end of his day.  He had his first week of homework which has gone well, not too much fuss. Plus, for the past 2 or 3 days he digs into the art supplies at home and draws and colors pictures.  He is also proud to show me what he has done at school each day.  My baby is growing up!

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

The Letter S

Casey is now in kindergarden. Each week, they learn a new letter. This week, it's the letter S. He learns how to write it and what words begin with S. At home, the letter S comes up. He's asked what he is sitting on... "Sofa". He is asked what he is wearing.. "Socks... Shirt". Then he pulls up his shirt, exposing his underwear, points and says, "Sac". Oh Sh!t, apparently he knows his anatomy.. and the letter S.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Father/ Son Olympics

Casey and I participated in the Father/Son Olympics held by the YMCA. The minimum age requirement was 5 years old. We decided not to go the route of the Chinese gymnastics federation and enter Sydney under a false age. Sydney attended, and assisted, but was not a fully participating member. Casey and Daddy represented the ummmm 'country' of San Diego. Our first task was to construct our flag. Casey was the chief flag designer, and he included an ocean, a gorilla, a tiger ( in honor of the SD Zoo and Wild Animal Park), and portraits of Nai-Nai and Ye-Ye ( residents of the 'country' of San Diego) on the flag.



There were 8 events.

The Paper Airplane Design and Toss: Daddy was the head airplane designer. I tried to incorporate as much of my graduate level fluid dynamics engineering education in my airplane design and construction... And I failed miserably. We took turns flying the plane, and the longest recorded flight was a whopping 5 feet! I'm pretty sure we set a new Olympic record for futility.

The Potato Sack Race: We each had to hop in separate Potato sacks; then Daddy had to drive Casey the wheelbarrow; and the last leg was a three-legged hop, with one of each of our legs tied together. The race went relatively smoothly with the exception of Daddy landing rather hard on his tailbone when trying to 'exit' the potato sack.

Photo is a little blurry, but I LOVE Casey's expression. Warms my heart!


Rock Wall Climb. Each father and son climbed the rock wall separately and recorded the cumlative time. Casey went first, and after he made it to the top of the wall, Daddy had to man up and climb to the top too. Fortunately, I didn't injure myself and, eventually, I made it to the top.

The Memory Challenge: There were playing cards turned upside down, with one heart card in each row. The task was to find, and remember the path of hearts. Sydney helped his older bro and Daddy, and together we completed the event. It was apparent that all the matching games we play around the house helped both boys. They were pretty good at remembering the location of cards.

Casey's concentration face!


Ping Pong Ball Toss: Think beer pong, minus the beer. Casey and Daddy each contributed one made 'basket' in this event.

Block Building: Essentially Jenga. The goal was to stack the building blocks as high as you could without the block falling. Again, I attempted to use my Engineering skills. I designed, and Casey and Sydney built the tower. Apparently, I should have been a civil engineer, because my building design skills were better than my airplane design skills.

Team effort!


Ring Toss: The goal was to toss hula hoops around traffic cones. With one round of practice, both Casey and I went a perfect 3-3; and as a team, we scored the max of 6 pts.

Action Shot!


Bean Bag Toss: Throwing bean bags thru holes in a target board. Getting strategic, I noticed all the holes were the same diameter, but were assigned different point values. So, we aimed for the holes with the highest point value, and both Casey and Daddy scored well. Sydney got in on the fun, and moved closer to the target. That handicap aside, he managed to throw 3 bean bags through the holes as well.

After the events were completed, lunch was served followed by closing ceremonies. It was a fun event, and cool to see the development of Da Boys.



The scores that are circled denote the highest score in the event!!