Ever since I went on a PAT nature walk with Baby Girl this past spring, and we did our little craft project, I have been saying I want to do more crafty things with her. We bought some playdoh, crayons and a drawing pad, a doodle-pro, a little tykes art desk, and a playdoh desk. So I have made progress. However, I wanted fun things like paint, glue--all those messy thing. But I never got around to it. So this summer I thought I would look for an art class for her age. The Magic House has monthly themed classes during the school year that I kept meaning to try, but never did, so that has to wait until September. Everything else starts around age 3.
I'm impatient--I want to play now! So I did what I never thought I would do, and called Gymboree Play and Music. They have classes for babies starting at 18 months. Now I have never heard great things about the programs there, until recently. A few moms have been talking about how much fun the kids have going there. So, I figured I would try it.
Disaster. Apparently two teachers were out with the flu--no big deal, this happens, and with a 9 am class, that can be hard to schedule around. However, if you can't properly run a class, cancel it--don't fake it. I would not have minded at all to have had a early morning call stating the class was off, or even have been told that once we arrived.
The class began by moms/dads and babies sitting in a circle on the floor with a cafeteria tray and a ball of playdoh. After a few minutes the teacher brought out cutting tools and molds. Now I have read lots saying that this age group is too young for molds because it takes away creativity--I don't know, but it was clear that neither did the teacher. So, you would think she would have known how many balls of dough to prepare (they had name tags pre-made for all child/parent partners in the class) Each time a new baby came running into class, the teacher went into a tail spin trying to get more dough out. We were the 3rd pair there--so I witnessed this about 8 times.
There was no direction as to how long we were supposed to play with the dough--after 15 minutes of class time and 5 before class time (so 20 minutes total) I was about to leave head to MoBot to go to the Children's garden. Just then the teacher walks over and says that they usually do a gathering song first, then 10 minutes of dough time to help the children learn about texture and shapes. But she did not do the gathering song, because she needed to figure out what was going on for the day. My thoughts--do the gathering song, let people know there is a delay, and then figure it out. And stop saying you don't know what is supposed to happen. It is a standard curriculum, printed in a book. If you are teaching the class, you should be qualified enough to follow the directions. A substitute teacher does not spout off all day that she/he does not know what is going on because they just walked in. They read the plan and go. It may not be perfect, but they make the best of it. Seriously, these are infants, hand them a paint brush, tell the parents what to do, and show the example.
Ah, the example--there was not one. Not even a picture of one. The teacher left mid-day yesterday after getting sick at work, so someone maybe should have looked ahead and set her stuff up for her. I would say this falls on the owner, who was there, working very hard to sell me the package today, but not helping his employee at all. I get that the sale was important to him, but his priority should have been the 40 children coming in today to do different art classes. As we did the craft, the teacher never once talked to any of the children or parents, aside from stating if we needed more wipes we could ask for them.
Add to all of this, the ac was broken in the room (which was all windows on two full sides), there was no cute background music, the craft involved sunflower seeds, which Baby Girl wanted to eat, the smocks that they offered were t-shirts that may have not been washed in years (could be why 2 teachers and several children from yesterday have the stomach flu), and the room doubled as the music play room, so there were fun music things in plain view all around the room. Baby girl was much more interested in pulling these down to play with them. Following the pathetic craft, the teacher pulled out a "tactile table" --This was a covered table with black beans in it, and a handful of shovels, one plastic turtle, and a tiny plastic snake. Again, I am no expert, but shouldn't a tactile table involve feeling items--and potentially feeling items that are different from one another.
I have never really cared for the marketing Gymboree Play and Music uses--they focus on the fact that we live in a competitive world and that enrolling babies in the various programs will help them succeed. While on a basic level this makes sense--as parents Mark and I do try to help Baby Girl and the unknown one, have every opportunity, which we hope will help them later in life. I take my prenatals, avoid alcohol, nitrates, sushi, etc. We have Baby girl in music classes, and Little Gym--I'm in playgroups and moms clubs. We take her to zoos, art museums, kids museums. We limit tv and play and read to her lots. I know all of these things are good for her, but we also know these things are fun, and she enjoys her days when we have these fun activities. We don't want her in Kindergarten at 4, or skipping grades, or graduating college early. We want her to be successful and enjoy life.
I do have one good outcome. Gymboree has a new magazine--Hybrid Mom. The magazine is tying way to hard to include SAHMs and WMs; it almost has no focus. It is not terrible, but not great either. The articles were so-so, the layout was average, but the ads were really great. I actually found myself more drawn to the ads than the articles and I found some fun sites by looking at the ads in the back of the magazine. I'm sure it will do well. Gymboree has a loyal following, for both clothing, and play and music. But I am happy to say, I'll stick with just the fashions, and skip the play and music.
So, this is a long post--but I wanted to write down all my complaints so that when Allen calls to see what I thought, I'd have a guide to go from. I'm not about to spend $70 per month to play with dough for 15 minutes, do a 5 minute ugly craft, and have Baby Girl dig at black beans.
So, I think I will talk to some moms I know, and start having a craft day at the local park. Maybe once the weather gets bad, and my basement gets cleaned, we could do it at my house.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Sunday, June 10, 2007
still hiding
This little baby is giving us such trouble. He or She is still hiding. Maybe this means we can expect a shy, gentle, sweet little baby that colors and sits still to play with toys. There is probably no chance of that once the baby starts trying to imitate our sweet little Baby Girl. I just hope the baby moves before 32 weeks. I really don't want a manipulation--that sounds painful. Although labor sounds painful too, and that was not bad.
In fun news, we bought our double stroller. We took it out for a test today and it was so nice. We got the Maclaren Twin. It is a side by side stroller and I was concerned about fitting through doors, but never had any trouble at the mall. Baby girl of course wanted to continuously switch sides, but that will end once the new baby is beside her. I'm guessing we will need to wait about 4 months before we can actually use this stroller for both of them since it can't take an infant carrier, but that is not a problem because I will just sling the little one and keep using our single stroller. I just did not like the idea of the front and back seats. With most only one seat reclines and then once the baby in the back can kick, the one in the front will be frustrated with getting kicked, and I just don't see these as practical past the infant stage. Also, they are really difficult to steer. I like that the Peg Perego has a child tray, and the wheels seemed a bit bigger and less likely to get kicked since there are fewer in the back, but I have heard they fall apart easily. I have heard much better things about the Maclaren. I'll just buy some sort of activity bar for the front of the stroller.
We really only need a few things for the new baby--clothes if it is a boy, a bouncer because Baby Girl did not have one, I want a hotsling and a Maya wrap, and a bumbo--babies look so cute in these. Oh and I do want a new tummytime mat. I love the new rainforest Fischer Price one--and that is the bouncer we want too. We have everything else--we just need to set it all up again.
We need a few things for Baby Girl too-- a twin mattress for her new bed, a potty seat, a step stool for brushing teeth, and booster seat. She is quickly growing tired of her highchair, but she is too wiggly for the regular chair. Even when she is hungry and eating well, she moves around with such excitement that she has fallen out of her seat on occasion when I let her sit at the table for a meal. I can't believe she is getting so old.
I also bought some really cute outfits from Gymboree today. I love the new line. If you have a little girl, you need to check it out. We don't usually buy so much from one line, but we just could not resist--it all looked so cute. We of course had to wrestle her into the clothes in the store. At one point she was running loose in just a diaper. She did not get far, a sweet little 10-year-old girl helped us entertain her between outfit changes.
Well, I am up way too late. I must get to bed. But the laundry had not been put away in weeks, so I have been hanging and folding, and now I only have Baby Girl's clothes left to put away. We even carried up the rest of our summer clothes from the basement and put those away. I'm hoping to have the rest of the basement organized in the next two weeks.
In fun news, we bought our double stroller. We took it out for a test today and it was so nice. We got the Maclaren Twin. It is a side by side stroller and I was concerned about fitting through doors, but never had any trouble at the mall. Baby girl of course wanted to continuously switch sides, but that will end once the new baby is beside her. I'm guessing we will need to wait about 4 months before we can actually use this stroller for both of them since it can't take an infant carrier, but that is not a problem because I will just sling the little one and keep using our single stroller. I just did not like the idea of the front and back seats. With most only one seat reclines and then once the baby in the back can kick, the one in the front will be frustrated with getting kicked, and I just don't see these as practical past the infant stage. Also, they are really difficult to steer. I like that the Peg Perego has a child tray, and the wheels seemed a bit bigger and less likely to get kicked since there are fewer in the back, but I have heard they fall apart easily. I have heard much better things about the Maclaren. I'll just buy some sort of activity bar for the front of the stroller.
We really only need a few things for the new baby--clothes if it is a boy, a bouncer because Baby Girl did not have one, I want a hotsling and a Maya wrap, and a bumbo--babies look so cute in these. Oh and I do want a new tummytime mat. I love the new rainforest Fischer Price one--and that is the bouncer we want too. We have everything else--we just need to set it all up again.
We need a few things for Baby Girl too-- a twin mattress for her new bed, a potty seat, a step stool for brushing teeth, and booster seat. She is quickly growing tired of her highchair, but she is too wiggly for the regular chair. Even when she is hungry and eating well, she moves around with such excitement that she has fallen out of her seat on occasion when I let her sit at the table for a meal. I can't believe she is getting so old.
I also bought some really cute outfits from Gymboree today. I love the new line. If you have a little girl, you need to check it out. We don't usually buy so much from one line, but we just could not resist--it all looked so cute. We of course had to wrestle her into the clothes in the store. At one point she was running loose in just a diaper. She did not get far, a sweet little 10-year-old girl helped us entertain her between outfit changes.
Well, I am up way too late. I must get to bed. But the laundry had not been put away in weeks, so I have been hanging and folding, and now I only have Baby Girl's clothes left to put away. We even carried up the rest of our summer clothes from the basement and put those away. I'm hoping to have the rest of the basement organized in the next two weeks.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Happy Memorial Day--a bit late
We hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday weekend. We attended a few parties and had a good time. Baby girl got to go swimming for the first time this season. Even though she went every day last summer, it was a bit of an adjustment getting in again this time. I had intended to take her a few times over the winter, but just never got it together to go, so now we need to make a big effort before heading off to Florida for Mark's conference. If I can't entertain her at the pool, the days will be very long. Sleeping in the hotel room watching Price is Right, Ellen and Oprah will not have the same appeal as it did last year when we went to Florida with Mark.
She did have one big fall this weekend. She was sitting in a little chair, reaching for pretzels on the table--never mind she already had about 5 in her hands, and the chair tipped forward, causing her to hit her head right on the metal outdoor table. I was sitting right behind her and as soon as I picked her up, her head was blue in the center. I placed her on my shoulder and then pulled her back to look again and a huge bump had already started to grow. My mom went to get my cell phone and another person went for ice. By the time they got back--less than a minute--she had already stopped crying and was searching for more pretzels. I called the doctor anyway, and just watched her the rest of the afternoon, but she seemed fine. Another mom there had a friend who is a nurse and the nurse suggested putting Vaseline on the bump to reduce bruising. It worked. The bump was nearly gone the next day and the bruise is fading quickly too. I have heard of this for cuts on the head, or witch hazel pads for stopping bruising, but maybe there is something to this too. I am always amazed at how fast babies heal.
She did have one big fall this weekend. She was sitting in a little chair, reaching for pretzels on the table--never mind she already had about 5 in her hands, and the chair tipped forward, causing her to hit her head right on the metal outdoor table. I was sitting right behind her and as soon as I picked her up, her head was blue in the center. I placed her on my shoulder and then pulled her back to look again and a huge bump had already started to grow. My mom went to get my cell phone and another person went for ice. By the time they got back--less than a minute--she had already stopped crying and was searching for more pretzels. I called the doctor anyway, and just watched her the rest of the afternoon, but she seemed fine. Another mom there had a friend who is a nurse and the nurse suggested putting Vaseline on the bump to reduce bruising. It worked. The bump was nearly gone the next day and the bruise is fading quickly too. I have heard of this for cuts on the head, or witch hazel pads for stopping bruising, but maybe there is something to this too. I am always amazed at how fast babies heal.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Giving up on Flickr for the moment
So, since Mark is in charge of Flickr, I am giving up on it for the moment. Hopefully I'll get it together soon, but in the interim I have posted recent pics to Walgreens. Here is the link.
http://photo.walgreens.com/groups/hendersonfamily
Email me (ehenders@gmail.com) for a password if you want to see pics. You can even order them if you have a Walgreens. Once we get Flickr set up again, you'll be able to order from there too, through Target. They just announced the partnership this week.
We tried Picasa--googles image catalog system--wow--powerful, but a bit too much and somewhat confusing with the way we have our pics backed up and organized, so we are staying with Flickr.
Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend. We are going to a barbeque, cleaning and hanging pictures--it will look like a real family lives here.
We have so many pictures framed, and many empty frames that have not been put up in years, so it will be so great to get our house together. On the first floor we only have one room left to paint, and then we move on to the bedrooms upstairs. We have the designs picked out for the baby's room (well, two designs at this point--one girl, one boy) And we have decided on a design for Baby Girl's room too. I can't wait to get started. And we are going with the same green for our bedroom. So the hard part is done for us, the painting will be eaiser than the selection of design. Look for pics sometime in july.
http://photo.walgreens.com/groups/hendersonfamily
Email me (ehenders@gmail.com) for a password if you want to see pics. You can even order them if you have a Walgreens. Once we get Flickr set up again, you'll be able to order from there too, through Target. They just announced the partnership this week.
We tried Picasa--googles image catalog system--wow--powerful, but a bit too much and somewhat confusing with the way we have our pics backed up and organized, so we are staying with Flickr.
Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend. We are going to a barbeque, cleaning and hanging pictures--it will look like a real family lives here.
We have so many pictures framed, and many empty frames that have not been put up in years, so it will be so great to get our house together. On the first floor we only have one room left to paint, and then we move on to the bedrooms upstairs. We have the designs picked out for the baby's room (well, two designs at this point--one girl, one boy) And we have decided on a design for Baby Girl's room too. I can't wait to get started. And we are going with the same green for our bedroom. So the hard part is done for us, the painting will be eaiser than the selection of design. Look for pics sometime in july.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Baby Girl gets a tricycle
I never really planned on getting her one this year. She has a little ride on princess toy that she loves and rides it all around the house. We bring it outside too now that the weather is nice. However, she loves to get on the neighborhood kids' tricycles and bikes when we are all outside.
So I figured I would go tricycle shopping. She got a cute little radio flyer tricycle that is purple, pink and white. I was looking for something more gender neutral, so it could be used for a boy and girl, but no such luck. I can't believe all the character bikes now.
We bought her a little Disney Princess helmet and it came with knee pads and elbow pads. And it is a good thing it came with those. She started out great. We pushed her and she knows right where to put her feet and how to hold on. Then the grandparents show up, and granddad pushed her down the driveway hill without holding on. So, of course she fell over-even though the hill has a tiny incline, she's 19 months-she can't steer or stop- and her love affair with her new tricycle ended in that second outing. We even caught it all on tape. After 10 minutes outside and placing her baby doll on the bike she was more interested in getting back on, but she quickly got off. So we will see if this toy stays or gets put away until next summer. No telling at this point if she was bored, or just did not like it anymore. I'm thinking she will like it again, and be out riding it all this weekend.
So I figured I would go tricycle shopping. She got a cute little radio flyer tricycle that is purple, pink and white. I was looking for something more gender neutral, so it could be used for a boy and girl, but no such luck. I can't believe all the character bikes now.
We bought her a little Disney Princess helmet and it came with knee pads and elbow pads. And it is a good thing it came with those. She started out great. We pushed her and she knows right where to put her feet and how to hold on. Then the grandparents show up, and granddad pushed her down the driveway hill without holding on. So, of course she fell over-even though the hill has a tiny incline, she's 19 months-she can't steer or stop- and her love affair with her new tricycle ended in that second outing. We even caught it all on tape. After 10 minutes outside and placing her baby doll on the bike she was more interested in getting back on, but she quickly got off. So we will see if this toy stays or gets put away until next summer. No telling at this point if she was bored, or just did not like it anymore. I'm thinking she will like it again, and be out riding it all this weekend.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Boy or Girl??
We are still waiting to find out. The little baby is proving to be less cooperative than Baby Girl. This one is breech, sideways and legs crossed. Baby Girl was head down and ready to go from my ultrasound at 20 weeks. Of course she was still 8 days late. Bonus--I get another ultrasound through insurance because the tech could not get good spine, lip or heart pics. Everything looked good from what they saw, so that is always nice to hear.
So, you should be getting our moving announcement cards in the mail soon. We took that picture in January and I had the cards in February, but yeah--printing the labels took forever. So, I made it just in time before stamps went up, which was a good thing because they were already stamped and I did not want to spend the time to put extra postage on all of them.
We've been busy lately with the good weather. We've been to the Zoo, Grant's Farm, lots of parks, and Mo. Botanical Gardens. I gave Mark a GPS system for his birthday, so we are planning on starting GEO CASHING. Should be fun and get us out exploring the city.
Baby Girl is growing so tall. She is over 100% in height for her age. She is quite the active little one. She loves Little Gym and now swings from the even and uneven bars. She also discovered the fun of jumping a few weeks ago. so now rather than jumping from one object to another, she jumps on the ground, much safer. She is starting to recognize her letters. We play with a puzzle and she can pick out specific letters when asked, so that is fun to watch. She also picks up new signs every day. I love the baby sign language.
I'm almost caught up posting our pics up online and when I do we will be providing a link.
Hope everyone is doing well.
So, you should be getting our moving announcement cards in the mail soon. We took that picture in January and I had the cards in February, but yeah--printing the labels took forever. So, I made it just in time before stamps went up, which was a good thing because they were already stamped and I did not want to spend the time to put extra postage on all of them.
We've been busy lately with the good weather. We've been to the Zoo, Grant's Farm, lots of parks, and Mo. Botanical Gardens. I gave Mark a GPS system for his birthday, so we are planning on starting GEO CASHING. Should be fun and get us out exploring the city.
Baby Girl is growing so tall. She is over 100% in height for her age. She is quite the active little one. She loves Little Gym and now swings from the even and uneven bars. She also discovered the fun of jumping a few weeks ago. so now rather than jumping from one object to another, she jumps on the ground, much safer. She is starting to recognize her letters. We play with a puzzle and she can pick out specific letters when asked, so that is fun to watch. She also picks up new signs every day. I love the baby sign language.
I'm almost caught up posting our pics up online and when I do we will be providing a link.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Nature Walk at Powder Valley
Baby girl and I went to Powder Valley for the Parents As Teachers Stroll with Me event. We had a wonderful time. They had 5 stations set up--songs and rhymes, viewing station, bubble on the blanket, parachute play, and a nature craft. The nature craft was adorable. She made her first real craft project. (pictures to come) We of course are getting it a frame and hanging it in the office. It was such a simple idea for a various group of ages. I was suprised at how calm the area was and how all of the children were enjoying the craft.
We have had a great year with Parents as Teachers. It is really unfortunate that this program is not available to all families in the US. We have loved every minute of it. We are looking forward to next year's events and repeating favorites with the new baby.
She had her 18 month visit last week and she is certainly her daddy's little girl. Aside from looking just like him, she has his height--over the 100% for her age. She is doing very well with everything and sounds like she will be talking any day now. She has lots of signs and learns new ones as soon as she is shown, so communicating is not too difficult.
We have had a great year with Parents as Teachers. It is really unfortunate that this program is not available to all families in the US. We have loved every minute of it. We are looking forward to next year's events and repeating favorites with the new baby.
She had her 18 month visit last week and she is certainly her daddy's little girl. Aside from looking just like him, she has his height--over the 100% for her age. She is doing very well with everything and sounds like she will be talking any day now. She has lots of signs and learns new ones as soon as she is shown, so communicating is not too difficult.
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