Pre-school?!?

It's time for my little man to go to school. Well, almost. And although we may be talking about pre-school, it's a placement I'm taking quite seriously. There are so many choices; making this decision is quite overwhelming. How many days a week do I want him to go? Is socialization more important than learning? Should he stay for lunch? Does it need a playground? What teacher student ratio am I comfortable with? Do they welcome parent involvement? Is it important that they offer Spanish, French, music, yoga, art, fitness...? Is it calm? Will they discipline my child? Will there be students of mixed ages? Where will he be successful, happy, and have a positive school experience?!?!

So far I've been to the South County Montessori school twice, the Cornerstone Montessori School, the North Kingstown Co-op, the Goddard School, and I've called three others. Exhausting. And after all this work, I am left more perplexed than when I began.

I wonder if I'm setting unreasonably high expectations?

Remember when kids were sent to the only pre-school (aka nursery school) in their neighborhood?

Dean at 7 months

My beautiful baby is 7 months old...already. This age is particularly joyous. I do remember thinking the same thing when Drew was 7 months; and I also remember thinking it got better and better with each passing month (until we hit 2.5!). I am delighted in the good times we're sharing and excited for many more months of fun. Dean sits up by himself well, loves to be the center of activity & play, smiles constantly, and loves his mommy.

Here are some 7 month stats:

height: 27+ inches
weight: 15.5+ pounds
teeth: 2 on bottom, 1 on top - 3 more coming in!
naps: two per day (total of 3 hours)
night-wakings: 1-4 (in 12 hours)
meals: 3 solid feedings, nursing @ 6 times/day
foods: pears, peaches, prunes, apples, banana, avocado, squash, sweet potato, green beans, peas
finger foods: cheerios, tofu, peas
favorite toy: anything that fits in his mouth!

Sleeping through the...

Night?!? First of all, the idea that anyone sleeps through the night is a farce. So to think that an infant sleeps through the night is really absurd! The question is how long do they sleep...and can they soothe themselves BACK to sleep.

At the young age of 7 weeks, Dean began sleeping 8-10 hour stretches IN THE SWING. He was probably waking several time a night and found himself soothed by the constant motion. Gotta love that swing. Oh, how I miss those nights. He slept in the swing til nearly 4 months of age - when we decided sleep training was a necessity.

Sleep training went really well for us. Dean quickly learned to soothe himself (sucks his fingers...so cute) and he became a real crib-lover. He naps well and usually falls asleep within 5 minutes of being put down - anytime of day. I'm lucky, right? So why am I so tired?!?
Dean has never really slept through the night...not since his early swing days. So when he awakens, we ALL awaken. I've tried letting him cry for periods of time, tried just rocking him a bit, tried sending in Daddy...but the only way to really calm him so he can fall asleep again is to nurse him. This will happen anywhere from once (YaHoo) to four times (ugh!) each night.

He usually goes to bed around 7pm and sometimes as early as 8pm he's up crying. Why?!? We think maybe he's teething -he has three teeth now and two more emerging- or maybe he's going through a growth spurt -he gained 1.5 lb. in the past month- or maybe he's wet, rolled over, feels sick... Not that it matters WHY because I end up going in, nursing him, rocking a bit, and putting him back in the crib. He smiles, turns to the side, cuddles his blanket, and falls back to sleep. This repeats at 10pm or 12pm or 1:30am or 3:15 am ... you get the idea.

All I can say is that you should never ask a mother of an infant if she is "Sleeping Through the Night" because the answer is NO!

Drew

Drew

Dean

Dean!

One thing I love...

...about Drew is how he finds everything to be "amazing" "incredible" "beautiful" and sings his praise with such happiness!
...about Dean is how no matter how miserable he might feel, he always manages to crack a smile - with huge chipmunk cheeks that make you melt immediately!
...about Chris is how he will randomly belt out "Wishy, washy, wee" or some other toddler tune (as if it were the Allman Brothers)
...about Rhode Island is all the amazing Mom-friends I've found here. What an incredible group of supportive, loving, fun women.
...about my mom is that she will do anything for her family - including coming over every day when everybody is sick to make dinner, clean up the house, and give me some rest. What a sweetheart!
...about Dean is how easy-going he can be. He will sit and watch Drew play for hours - and he also falls asleep as soon as he is put down. What a guy!
...about Drew is how he really cares for his little brother. He actually asked me to turn Dean's high chair last night because he couldn't see Dean! He is always filled with love and empathy for Dean ("What's the matter Dean?" "Don't cry, Dean...we're coming!" "Good morning, Dean! Did you have a nice sleep?" "Dean, want to go downtairs and play?")
...about my brother Alan is that no matter how busy our schedules may be, we find time to dine together each month and catch up - just the two of us.
...about my father, Pop, is that he gets down on the floor to play "trucks-n-cars" with Drew.
...about Chris is that he comes straight home from work every day - only to be handed two kids and a lot of responsibilities...and he STILL comes home every day!
...about being a mom is that when someone doesn't feel good, they turn to me for comfort.
...about my in-laws is that they set up a generous college account for the boys!
...about living in Rhode Island is that the cost of living is low enough that we can survive on one income.
...about about my life is being a part of such a loving, supportive family where lots of laughs are shared!

5,4,3,2...

...well, almost! Although everyone left the party before midnight, we had our own "countdown" celebration anyway. Impressively, many guests stayed past 10pm and even more impressive was the amazingly good behavior exhibited by all the kids. They enjoyed running around, playing with trucks & cars, jumping, and celebrating with their mommies and daddies.

There was some silliness happening post-bed time

(Can you blame them?)