Kidspace Childcare: update

(by Pauline)
I changed the room around a little. Ryden was a little confused at first, wondering where all the balls were. He ran around for a minute shouting "ball, ball" It took him a little while, but when he found the bin of ball he was so excited. He took my finger and pulled me over "Balls, balls!". "You found the balls." He nodded his head "yes".

Ryden spent a fair amount of time in the kitchen area. He cornered himself between the stove and fridge. He stood at the sink making water noises "shooosh". He likes to empty the baskets of food, cups, etc. At first Ryden started to throw the plates across the room. I explained to him that plates are for eating on. I grabbed a piece of (plastic cantaloupe) food, "mmm that tastes good!" Ryden said, "mmm good" and laughed out loud.

In the core (all-age play area) Ryden likes to push around the big green exercise ball. This week as he pushed it around he kept saying, "come on, come on".

Greenlake Pool

Ryden and I joined Scott Veirs, Eli Holmes, Alan Haynie and their accompanying sons for dinner at Taco Guaymas and then a swim at the Greenlake center pool. Zander was in New York.

Ryden was so well behaved I was shocked. At the pool he was quiet and observing the other kids playing, but when we got out and I changed him into pajamas he kept screaming and screeching in glee. It was piercing my ears so I finally had to tell him to stop. Very happy baby.

vocabulary; up, down please, boshi (hat), onbu (piggyback), dakko (hug or hold), owatta (all done), no, help, truck, uh-oh, choo-choo, bu-bu (car), empty, full, bubbles, more, cheese, juice, milk, tatsu (stand), doko (where)

Kidspace Childcare: update

(by Pauline)
Ryden's self-help skills; Ryden loves to put away his shoes at Drop Off and when we come in from the outside. He will say, "mine" if I try to help him in any way. Ryden also likes to help put toys away where they go. Balls in the ball bin, books on the book shelf, etc.

In the classroom
Ryden likes to go to the kitchen area and dump all the food out of the basket, making sure there are no toys left in the baskets or shelves. He checks the fridge too, making sure he got everything... totally normal toddler behavior.

Interviewing for a new nanny

Well Doma was only able to give us one week's notice AND her connection for a Nepali nanny fell through. The woman has already found new work. :-( For some reason I was not shocked or devastated when she told me this. Maybe it was the way she delivers bad news, with this beautiful smile and so calmly. The more I got to know Doma the more I thought she epitomized the buddhist spirit. She takes everything in stride. So calm. But I did cry with bitterness when I closed the door behind her for the last time. We watched sadly as she walked up the street to catch her bus.

We did have a moment though, a good laugh together when the second woman, nanny, showed up for her interview . She was severely obese and I was worried that she was going to break the chair. After the calm and pleasant (yes, she was very nice) interview, I was again worried that she would not be able to get out of the chair. I don't mean or intend to discriminate, but there is no way I could feel safe about leaving my child with her. There were so many things that could go wrong. What if she had a heart attack or got stuck somewhere and my child was left to fend for himself. I don't care if there might be people around to help out. It is a huge risk. What if she fell and couldn't get up?! What if she lost her balance and fell forward onto Ryden. I'm not kidding. She could literally smother him, crush him. Who is she kidding?! Maybe with older kids it would be okay. Maybe. I was appalled at her condition. She did have really great references and experience, all the way back to 1986.

I also interviewed Noemi from Hungary earlier and she was pretty excited about Ryden and the nanny position. She really liked Ryden. They seemed to get along fine. Noemi will try us out babysitting on weds, thurs, and friday.

And I interviewed another woman today. Gabriela is from Switzerland. She was very organized and asked a lot of questions about medical insurance, accidents and coverage, taxes and whatnot. I don't know if I should take that as a precursor to how she interacts with kids too, but she did not say more than a few words to Ryden. I hope to see more connecting between them when she babysits for one day next Wednesday. Then I have to decide.

A Milestone of Mood Maturity

Ryden has been behaving so differently the last few days. He is really maturing. His voice tone is changing. He makes great eye contact. He has more subtle moods; shy, demur, flirting, friendly, eager, despondent.

I really believe that Sora-kun, his new Japanese friend (two and a half years old) is influencing him in a very good way. He is teaching Ryden to share and wait for things, to not cry as a way to communicate, but rather to try to use words and signing and eye contact.

I love Ryden so much I keep giving him little pecks on the cheek and worry that I might be smothering him with my love. I've been making more of an effort to be there for him, to get down on his level so he can see my face better.

Ryden has started playing make-believe. Last night we were at the restaurant Julia's having dinner with Kay and Peter. I brought over some dolls to the table and he started moving them around and pretending the dolls were talking to each other. It was so amusing to watch.

Sharing his binky

Ryden was so cranky yesterday. It was unbelievable. I know it was because he was very sick and probably had a pounding headache. I felt bad for Doma. Nothing she or I did would console him. Speaking of Doma, sad news for us.... she has gotten a full time position at the new Whole Foods opening downtown. I am so distraught by this change of events. I tried so hard to get her more work; nannying and even work at Quiznos down the street. She sort of flaked out on the interviews and following up. She had one gig babysitting for Eva, but alas they were uncomfortable with lack of English speaking skills. So I was unsuccessful. The frustrating thing is we passed up a full time opening at Kidspace childcare (where he attends on mondays and tuesdays) and also passed up the option to switch days so that Ry might enjoy their music teacher on thursdays. I'm happy for Doma but sad for us.

A few weeks ago Ryden did something very sweet. I was really upset one day about... about something silly basically and was sitting in the kitchen shedding some tears. Ryden for some special reason (feeling sick) had a binky in his mouth and he took it out and offered it to me. It was so obvious by the look on his face that he wanted me to suck on it and be consoled. Amazing that he thought of offering it to me.

He now officially has a memory

Ryden's memory is getting better, stronger. We were playing in the bathtub and early on he tossed the rubber ducky over the side of the tub, out of view. Then about ten minutes later he decided he wanted it back so he pointed over the side and made the sign for help. Very impressive.

On wednesday I took him to the doctors because he had hives all over his body. They said it was probably a histamine reaction to either a virus or something he ate. I was so worried. That night I kept thinking he would swell up and not be able to breathe. Whenever I heard him try to cough I practically sat upright in bed. Now it seems he is just getting a bad cold. He slept four hours today from 11:30 to 3:30. Crazy. He has been very quiet all day. I ran into Kumi at Whole Foods. She is kind of irritating, her loud voice and demeanor or shall we say demeaning way of talking to babies. Zander has been at the Seattle Coffee Fest all weekend so I'm on my own again.

Week of October 2nd, 2006

In the Classroom
Ryden likes to go to the top of the climber and look out the windwo. Sometimes there are kids out on the playground and other times Ryden may spot a crow on the fence or a big truck going up the hill.

Ryden likes playing in all the areas around the room. In the kitchen area he grabs food and places it into a pot or pan. Sometimes he walks around the room with a spatula or a spoon.

Ryden enjoys the open shelf. Lots to choose from; trucks, cars, pop-up pals, shape sorters and farm animals.

Outdoor Adventures
Ryden can't wait to get out on the playground. He likes the push toys, lawn mower, shopping carts and ride-ons.

Ryden likes to watch the older kids (Apples from the Apple Rm) They go really fast down the hill with their push toys. He watches them with a big smile, then walks away to find his push toys and runs with it.

Ryden played near the sandbox where there was sand in a sensory table, shoveling sand out of the table at first and then into a small stacking cup.

Kidspace Childcare: Ryden's assessment

Our daycare does this as part of joining the Willow room.

Physical skills
Large motor: crawling, climbing, sitting, squatting with knees bent to play, standing, falling, throwing, dancing, pushing, pulling, and picking up objects wihtout fallling.

Fine motor: increased eye-hand coordination, feeds himself with spoon or with fingers, finger foods, grasping, hand to hand transfer, pointing, pincher grasp & movement, developing flexor muscles (flinging toys), scribbling, clapping, increased control of touching gently.

Language & Early Communication: Baby/American sign (more, eat, and all done) body language, waving, crying, vocalizations, eye contact, facial expressions, listening, understands more than he can say, (second language Japanese) and occaisional babbling.

Emotional/self esteem: Stranger anxiety, separation anxiety (both expected at this age), shows frustration, expanding attention span, very curious and can seek comfort from others and objects.

Self-help Skills: Ability to start making choices, i.e., where to sit and the table, pointing for what he needs or wants. Feeding himself with his fingers, utensils & sipee cup. Pushes away for something not wanted. Ryden is learning to put his shoes away after he comes in from outside.

Pushing

I had a weird evening. Zander is out of town, in Copenhagen. I'm still not feeling well and especially doing poorly since I got this cold from Ryden/daycare. Anyway Kevin Flick called earlier to invite me over for dinner. It was very kind of him. I made an effort to be there on time. That went well considering I've been having a hard time getting Ry and myself out the door on time. Actually everything went fine until after dinner. Things were winding down and Ryden was playing with their kid easel and magnet letters. Then little Lola (14 months old) appeared next to Ryden. She was using the easel to balance with and hold herself up. And for probably the seventh time that night Ryden pushed Lola. He was obviously trying to push her away and down. It wasn't a game. He wanted her away from him. Lola fell over and she hit her head on the easel then the floor. I felt utterly mortified. Now I know this sort of thing happens, but I was upset with Ryden's behaviour and so embarrassed by Ryden's constant pushing. I hadn't seen that behavior between Ryden and Sora (Ryden's 2 year old Japanese friend). I had seen it a little with Dylan (friend of same age). I actually had to choke back tears. I was upset. I think I was tired too. Kevin & Melissa reassured me that it was very common behavior and not to be upset. Maddie (4 years old) gave Lola a hug and I said thank you to Maddie. It was 8 pm and definitely time to go home. On our way to our car in the driveway Maddie came out on the porch and held up one of her dolls, asking me if I wanted to borrow one. It was so sweet.

Ryden is signing a lot more. My efforts are paying off. Yesterday he signed for 'help'. It is great because I'm understanding his needs better and Ryden get less frustrated. Tonight Ryden did something peculiar. He was in his crib and I was saying goodnight to him and of course he didn't want me to go. He grabbed my hand and then opened his hand trying to get my fingers to lie or touch his palm and then he started to giggle. He was trying to get me to tickle the palm of his hand. So then I did over and over again. Maybe Doma taught him that. I am pretty sure he understood that I was upset earlier because of the pushing incident. He's a sensitive little toddler. I love him very much.

Ryden Starts Daycare

This is a brief note that Ryden is enjoying his new daycare at Kidspace. I love that they send weekly updates. They say that Ryden enjoys reading! His buddy of same age, Dylan Hampden, is attending the same daycare so it is nice that they are getting to know each other well. This week's report was more general but still fun to hear about:

Willow room news; This week the Willows enjoyed building towers with colorful bricks and had the thrill of knocking them over. We tried storyboard again. This time we sang the Wheels on the bus, the Itsy Bitsy spider, Tiny Tim and Old McDonald had a farm. their expanding their attention span.

Movement with Diana: The Willows really opened up to Diana. She brought her dancing scraves and her big white sheet, The Willows were a little hesitant about at first. diana and I starting playing peek-a-boo with the colorful scarves it made the willows feel right at home. The willows took turns riding on the white sheet and swining in a sheet hammock.

Additionally on Monday, there will be a "Brief discussion on agression, biting and why they do it." Very interesting daycare center I must say.

Dry run

Yesterday Ry practiced peeing in the toilet. He was very cooperative. Today after I smelled that he had poo'd in his diaper, we went over to the toilet. We set him up on the Bjorn mini toilet we recently bought and he just sat there calmly looking down at his penis. Very matter of fact about it, but alas no action this time.

Seattle Tilth Festival

Ryden accompanied me to the Seattle Tilth Festival at the nearby Good Shepard Center. It's mostly a food, music and gardening thing. Lots of all three for very cheap. I carried Ryden in the Kelty backpack and he was a good boy and didn't cry. He really liked the chickend and roosters there.

Ryden the Jokster

Ryden is quite the jokster. For example, he pushed me over when I was sitting down, on purpose! I didn't understand why he was pushing me so hard so persistently until after I fell over and Ryden started to laugh with utter glee. Couldn't believe it.

Also Ryden gives me kisses when I say, "chu". He often does it open mouth! But he only gives kisses sparingly.

He is enjoying mopping, sweeping and walking around with Z's golf driver.

It's Still Summer in Seattle

Ryden is walking 90% of the time. Everyone says he has great balance. He is a much happier baby now. He was well behaved at the Japanese playgroup today.

I met two Japanese women on the way to Wallingford playground/wading pool. It is still very hot and perfect swimming weather. They were both young, long hair, hip. Hiroko with 2 boys and Noriko with one. Then at the wading pool I met a woman married to a Japanese man. Her name was Mary her daughter is Aya who obviously is half Japanese. I hope to run in to them again soon.

I also ran in to Sarah and Josh who live nearby somewhere. I remember Sarah from watching Riot play at various ultimate tournaments. They have a 13 month girl. Maarti (also Riot) still has her son Brody at Able Child.

Doma Sherpa is doing great. She is full time nannying for us until Sept 18th and then Ryden starts at Kidspace on Mon & Tues. This will overlap with Dylan Hampden's time there so it will be great for them to get to know each other and to be comfortable with each other.

Aqua Adventures

Zander and I went snuba diving this morning. The boat took us out to Molokini crater. Then we went over to turtle island. Saw trumpet fish, box fish, coronet fish, angel fish, grouper, moray eels, sea turtles and more. On the second dive no one else wanted to go down so we got a private guide and the cameraman came along. We put in an order for the video when it gets done.

Ryden talks so funny. It sounds like chinese, I swear.

Maui: Second Week

Our second week has been as amazing as the first. Z and I had a nice dinner over at Cafe de Amis in Paia. Felt good to get off the 'reservation' as we are calling it. Kandra, Ryden and I went to the aquarium. They had a glass tunnel where you could sit and watch the sea life swim around you. So cool.

Have been surfing three times now. The coral has finally worked its way out of my feet. Went hiking on wednesday over along the Hana Highway. It was an all day trek. Visited an arboretum with huge palm trees from all around the world and eucalyptus and banyan trees. Ryden was pretty good in the car even with all the twisty roads.

Ryden is getting cuter by the day. His facial expressions are so adorable, especially when he shows all his teeth. He is much more friendly to other people and seems to smile a lot. He is walking around with a lot more confidence.

Yesterday we were invited over to the Grand Wailea where the Dolens are now staying. The resort has a lot of things, water slides etc, for kids to do and even a baby pool with a fake beach so that the babies don't have to deal with rogue waves. Ryden really enjoyed splashing around.

The Salvatti's leave today. They emptied out their fridge and gave us tons of food and beverages.

Tomorrow we go out on a boat and go snorkel and snuba.

Maui: First week

The vacation has been amazing. So much more enjoyable than last year. It's been great having Kandra help us out with Ryden. We have more time to go do stuff and go out at night and just sleep in in the morning every few days. We rotate the early mornings between the 3 of us.

Went surfing last week with Daniela and her daughter Kendle and caught a bunch of waves. Fun!

Many of the DPR families are staying an extra week. Jimmy and Bo and family are moving over to the Grand Wailea. It's more fun for the kids.

Ryden is making some big developmental leaps these past few weeks. He is walking now. His facial expressions are so expressive and he mimics are words more and more. So darn cute. Will have to post some photos.

Walking progress and "ana"

Ryden looked like he was about to attempt taking his first unassisted steps and then decided in the end to crawl over to Peter. He walks well with the help of a finger or two. He is very cautious and just doesn't want to fall, ever. He doesn't mind plopping himself down on his rump with a thump, but it all has to be controlled. Today I bought him a Radio Flyer mini tricycle. He watched very closely as I put it together. He noticed that I had to use 4 different tools and he tried to emulate what I was doing. He didn't get too angry when I had to take what he was playing with. He was more interested in the whole process.
Ryden is still very fussy at daycare compared to the other babies. He just cries very easily. I don't see the babies playing together or next to each other very often. I wonder if that is intentional. Ella and Rumela are very good at soothing him, but he definitely takes up more of their time. He's been also skipping his afternoon nap.
Yesterday Ryden said his first Japanese word. Kay had bought me some beautiful yellow and fuscia colored flowers and Ryden noticed them on the dining room table right away. At first he was even seemingly afraid to touch them, as if in respect for them, he kept his distance. I encourage him to touch with his finger, but he just babbled and awed over them. Then yesterday morning both Z & I showed him the flowers while saying "hana" and then to our surprise he said, "ana". so cute! Thrilled.

Playing with other babies

Ryden is surprisingly good about not stealing toys away from other kids. Almost all his friends do it, but Ry doesn't seem interested in that game... at least not yet. And when other kids take his toys he usually just cries, but occaisionally he will try hanging on and pulling it back. It is funny how both other babies can't seem to help themselves from zooming in on their little visitor and taking away whatever it is he is playing with. Ryden is also extremely good now at playing by himself or just focussing at length on one toy. He is showing an interest in music and wil dance bobbing up and down to the rhythm.

Happy about his penis

Ryden really is happy about his penis. Whenever I say "Ryden no chinchin doko?" he gets a big smile on his face and looks down and grabs his penis.
He loves to play and roll around on our bed. He always gets happy if we put him on the bed. Part of it is because we often toss him upon the fluffy down comforter. And there's lots of pillows to roll around with.
I have taken him to the local wading pools 3 times now and he enjoys it. He is still very clingy and doesn't want to get down on all fours or on his belly.
He had his annual last week and we were surprised to discover that he has yet another ear infection in his left ear. So yet again he is on Amoxicillin 400 MG for 10 days. ug. Dr Risse said if he's not walking by 18 months that we should consider taking him for physical therapy. Hmm, maybe we should just start now. I want him to walk. My tendonitis is killing me.

Self feeding

Ryden hit a milestone today. He fed himself a piece of banana with a fork! Z & I both got to see him do it! We were so proud. He took the fork in his left hand and stabbed the banana slice and just slowly brought it up to his mouth. When he did it both Z & I said, "Wow" and then we enthusiastically applauded Ryden. A huge smile came across his face and you could see this big piece of banana in his mouth. Then he joined us in clapping.

Little Ry Napping

I couldn't resist taking this photo of him napping. He is so adorable.

Sleeping on his stomach

Since a week or more ago Ryden has been sleeping on his stomach! He can totally roll over. It is great news because he feels more in control and is more in control He can move himself onto his side, stomach and into more comfortable positions. It is so cute the way he sticks his butt up in the air.

Ryden has been very sick this past week with a stomach virus called Rota virus. The telltale sign is extremely stinky diapers. Like we had to open windows. And yes he was sick all through christmas. Sad. His screaming and inconsolable-ness was a real test on our nerves. We had a full house too with Stacey, Tristan, K, P, Grndma Grace and Susan visiting. It rained the whole time they were here. I hardly noticed Ryden got hooked on PediaLyte and wouldn't take formula this morning. Sheer torture with his screaming tantrum. Sick for about a week.

Sunshine in Seattle!

We finally wake up to sunshine this morning.

Went to a very inspiring lecture by John Perkins (author of What is an Economic Hit Man?) at the Univ Bookstore last night. Maybe 300 people were there. He was interviewed on NPR yesterday. His main message was that we, citizens, can't be intimidated by corporations and their power to control so much of our resources. We are surrounded by appathetic media coverage of what is really going on so we need to educate ourselves and take action in whatever small way that we can. We are all so busy with work and paying the bills that we forget to write that email or call that senator or politician to let them know how we feel about so and so corporation or deal that was made. Am I being vague enough?! I think you get the idea though.

I hope to post photos of our life here.