another day at preschool

today was mommy's day to work or "coöp" (to use the lingo ... and the new yorker's style guide) in jack's nursery school.

it was supposed to be the teacher, mommy, and one other mother with 9 kids. 1 on 3. no problem, right?

as it turned out ... one little girl was sick. down to 8.

one girl was crying so uncontrollably the school director had to call her nanny to come be with her.

and that girl set off another girl who was crying so uncontrollably that she had to go with her mom, who was cooping in big brother's classroom. down to 7.

jack was very sweet with the girl waiting for her babysitter. he tried to give her a little hug and said, "you missin' your mama. it's okay." he also patted the head of a little boy who was crying. the class consoler ... though he too would later need consoling ...

so, we were down to 7 kids and up to 4 adults (teacher, cooping mommies, nanny). but it felt like things were still out of control and the teacher's aide also came in to help us. 5 on 7. almost manageable odds.

almost.

we played with peg boards, trains and tracks, sand table, playdough, shopping carts, cash registers, baby dolls, trucks, legos ... and that was just in the first hour!

we also painted (with fingers and at the easel), ate a snack, and enjoyed a reading of "goodnight gorilla" during circle time.

for the record, every single child in the class cried at least once. jack cried when he had to put away a truck and sit down for circle time, though he quickly recovered when he was given the privileged job of sticking a day on the calendar.

later ... outside on the playground ... the chaos continued, as our class was joined by the 3 year-olds and the parking lot turned into a tricycle autobahn.

it was a wild and crazy day and frazzled mommy had to retreat to the relative calmness of a network news organization to catch her breath.

but it was a great day at school! and we hear that it gets much easier ...

by january.

gulp.

think pink

no ... livin' la vida jack hasn't been hacked or hijacked ...

well, at least not in the conventional sense ...

but this blog ... and our lives ... will change in about 4 1/2 months and we've turned the blog pink to announce it to you all, dear readers

yes, at the end of january we plan to welcome our daughter to our family!

we got gender confirmation today, along with the news that everything is looking good ... head, heart, limbs and organs.

we are thrilled and she seemed pretty happy too. in fact, we think she was even smiling at us

preschool, part deux

jack and mommy headed off to preschool again today ... this time for a full session (2.5 hours) with the full class (9 kids).

we had originally thought that the class was 5 girls and 4 boys, but it turns out to be the reverse. apparently "riley" ... whom a certain mommy had pictured as a red-headed, freckled little gril ... is actually a little asian boy. ass-u-me and all that ...

anyway, jack settled in today pretty easily. he marched right in and remembered where his cubby was to put his bookbag inside.

but, he was also a little clingy, emotionally if not physically. he repeatedly asked for "help" with the trucks in the sand table ... which he hardly needed.

but eventually he settled in, played with more toys and when, 20 minutes in, I told him I was heading to work, he hardly seemed to notice or care.

roxana does report that when she picked him up at noon, he told her, "'xana, i missed you all day!" and wanted to hold her hand in the car. she, of course, was thrilled with how sweet he was and made her feel very special and wanted, amid the new "threat" of preschool.

next tuesday will be mommy's first day to work in the classroom, so we'll see first-hand how jack does in action for the full day.

but something tells us he's doing just fine.

a grand time

over labor day weekend, jack's grandma and grandpa (aka "gammagamma") came for a visit and to provide some relief to the solo-parenting daddy.

jack was very glad to see them.



and the fact that they brought fresh ohio corn and peaches was not lost on jack either. in fact, he took the opportunity to have his first corn on the cob. he did pretty well ... if you consider trying to eat the entire cob like a farmed hog doing well ...



daddy and grandpa even got to sneak off for some golf, leaving jack and grandma to find their own activities. grandma scheduled a full day of snuggles ... and jack thought that was a pretty good agenda.


but jack's grands also got to witness him in all his 2 year-old glory -- in action at the playground, endlessly running, jumping off high platforms, climbing precarious ladders, jabbering like a magpie ...

you know -- the usual ...

school daze

the day started just like any other ... milk and chee-chees, blues clues, the trash trucks rumbling by ...

but it was not just any other day.

it was the first day.

of preschool.

*gulp*

so we ate a hearty breakfast of pancakes, bananas, and orange juice ...



got dressed in our first-day-of-school outfit and got our bookbag packed



as we headed off in the car, we felt a little nervous. what would school be like? would the other kids be nice? would the teacher, mrs. guterl, be nice? would we get demerits for not pronouncing her name correctly??



but as we walked up the path to school, the nervousness slipped away and we were eager to get there ...

hurry up, daddy!

once inside, we understood what all the fuss over school was about. this place is great! they have all kinds of toys ...


like a shopping cart and cash register ...

a pretend vacuum ...

and a playhouse with moveable furniture ...

since we only had half of the kids there for half the regular time, mrs. guterl soon started flashing the lights to call us to circle time. we came and sat on our carpet squares and got to put the days onto the calendar. daddy helped stick it on.



then we read a book and sang two songs -- "twinkle twinkle" and "schoolbus tires" (aka"the wheels on the bus"), both of which we sang along with lustily.



after circle time, we washed our hands in a tub of warm soapy water and settled down for ...



snack time!! yummmm ...



with only a little time left until dismissal, we also got in some more time at the sand table ...



and with the playdough ...



when the lights flashed again, we all cleaned up, got our bookbags from our cubbies, and lined up for dismissal at the "flag door" (which door is that, you wonder? well, it's the door with the flag picture on it. duh!).



on our way out, a stop on the playground looked promising, but we are saving that until our full day on thursday, when we'll get to play outside and ride trikes and big wheels too!


oh yeah, we'll definitely be coming back on thursday ...



'cause nursery school is too much fun to miss!!


to see more photos from today, check out jack's page on snapfish:

http://jenningsmershon.snapfish.com/snapfish
and enter room code: jackm

jack's beach party

you know how you usually see the "weekend update" on mondays? well ... not this monday.

not hardly.

we have much to catch you up on ... a visit by jack's grandma and grandpa, jack's beach adventure, the start of preschool (tomorrow) ... so it might be a while before we tell you that we spent a rainy "hannah" saturday buying jack a new pair of shoes ... oh wait, we just told you ...

well, anyway, without further ado, here's the main attraction ... some highlights from jack's trip to the outer banks ... a little montage we call "jack's beach party"

labor day

we celebrated labor day by making jack dig a ditch. he's particularly skilled (practice makes perfect):

hope you all dug your labor day.

we'll have more pictures from the beach this week, so stay tuned ...