We made a family decision recently to take Emily out of Lil' Squirrels, her current preschool. There has been a really high turnover in the teachers there, we aren't fans of the owner, they are closed almost 4 weeks a year for Spring Break, Christmas, and other in service days, and we haven't heard great things about the 2 year class there. Let me say that we have had an amazing experience with the teachers that Emily has had so far. We love love love Miss Holly, Miss Stephanie, Miss Keia and Miss Melody, her infant and 1's teachers. They have been amazing and have been an integral part of Emily's development. We just no longer feel comfortable supporting the owner of the school and how poorly she treats her employees.
About 2 months ago, we got news that Miss Holly was planning on leaving, followed by Miss Stephanie. Zig and I spoke a while ago and had ultimately decided that if we were to grow our family, we would want our new baby to be in Holly and/or Steph's care, so we had decided to stay. Since they both were leaving, we really had no loyalties to the school anymore. Stephanie approached us to let us know that she was planning on starting an in home preschool from her house and offered us the opportunity to go with her. It was a really easy decision for us, because, as I mentioned, we LOVE Steph. We had been hesitant about an in home school because we were worried that Emily would no longer be in an learning environment, and that socialization would be an issue. When we first signed on, it was going to be Emily, a 13 month old Nicolia, and her sister Lexi who is 2. I had absolutely no doubt in my mind that Stephanie would continue to teach and develop the girls from her house. She has over 13 years experience in child care and specializes in early childhood development. She has lesson plans and some excellent ideas. Plus, she will serve lunch to the girls, which is huge because Emily will be getting a much more balanced meal this way. I still worried a little bit about socialization, but we decided that if we noticed Emily having issues, we would just make sure to take her to more classes and expose her to more kids. Stephanie would only close her doors one week a year and on major holidays, and her sick policy was much more lenient. We just had an agreement with the other parents that if one kid was sick, they would be separated from the group as much as possible, but would stay at school unless fevers were really high or they were clearly really sick. If Emily does get sick, Steph gave us the opportunity to work out bringing her on a Friday, so I could work. Couldn't be more perfect.
Today Stephanie called me with even better news. Two more little girls (Jessinia age 2 and Jissella 3 months) will be joining the bunch, as will another teacher from the school. (The owner is going to die when she finds out, but it serves her right. If she treated her employees right and wasn't so strick on her policies and overall rude, this would never have happened.)I am so excited! We really trust Stephanie and are so happy to support her in her decision to leave the school. Adding 2 more kids and another teacher has made it even better. Handling the sick kids will be easier, if Stephanie gets sick, she will still be in ratio and the other teacher can handle the class room. Vacations, same deal. Plus with 2 more, I have much less worry about socialization for Emmy. She will be registered with the state and licensed as well. It's really a great decision for us, and could not be a better opportunity.
Emily's last day of school at Lil' Squirrels will be July 14th and then she will start with Stephanie on July 18th. These next few weeks can't go by fast enough. She lives very close to where the school is now, so we won't have to commute any further. It's all around perfect. I will keep you updated on how it all works out.
And here is a promise for you all. I have really been slacking on taking pictures these days, so I have set a mini goal for the summer for now, to take my camera out as much as possible and keep you all posted more often! Things have been crazy busy, but that is no excuse to miss out on capturing some memories. Stay tuned!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
1.5
That's right people. My child is a year and a half old, 18 months, are you kidding me? Her personality EXPLODED over the last few weeks too. She amazes me every time she opens that little mouth of hers with all the stuff she knows. Blows my mind. I couldn't even begin to tell you all the words she knows. We can't keep up. She will repeat anything that you tell her, which has been dangerous lately because Zig and I both have the trashiest mouths ever. We don't want to be THOSE parents with THAT kid who is teaching all the other kids cuss words, so we have really been watching it lately. So here are some of my favorites and what she is up to:
Emily:
*Weighs 22 lbs 4 oz and is 31.5 inches long. She gained 2 1/2 lbs and grew 2 1/4 inches in the last 3 months. That is huge since she hadn't gained any weight between 12 and 15 months. She is a total chunker and has become a pretty good eater especially if we give her pasta or "pizza" (cheese quesadilla with veggies. No clue why, but she thinks tortillas=pizza)
*Still in the same sizes for clothes(12&18), shoes (4) and diapers(4).
*Lives to be outside. If she hears you open the sliding glass door she comes running. This last weekend she literally spent the entire day outside, other than her nap. And she absolutely loves her new outdoor toys (sandbox, water table and cozy coup)
*Says "meet you" and shakes your hand if you tell her "it's nice to meet you"? Freaking adorable.
*Would spend hours in the bath tub if you let her.
*Is pretty good about saying please and thank you. Better about please, but if you ask her to say thank you she will right away. She even said "welcome" the other day after I told her thank you.
*Still very into playing with babies. She loves to feed them, hug them, kiss them, and put them night night.
*Knows and can say all the names of the kids in her class and even in other classes.
*She knows and for the most part can say all the names of her family members. If she can't say it, she definitely knows who they are and will point to them. We are still working on Grandma (Zig's mom) and Auntie Koley (she says Kole). My new favorite is how she says Uncle Bob. She just points and says Bob, very matter of factly.
*She runs everywhere and plays so good with the other kids. We spent time with our friend Brayden and she just thinks he hung the moon.
*She loves her daddy and loves it when he kisses her neck and tickles her. I swear she has a huge smile on her face any time she is around him and constantly giggles and squeels with delight.
*Still goes to bed at 7, but since we stopped with the paci, she will talk to herself and her animals for a good half hour before she goes to bed. When she wakes up she will talk to herself for a while, which I used to let her do, until I went in on Saturday and noticed she started chewing on her crib. Not good. She seems to enjoy that alone time though, so I put a rail guard on for her. I will just remember to check the monitor and see what she is up too every so often.
She is just so much fun to be around. I know I say it every month, but this age may be one of my favorites. :)
And this is what our sun has looked like for the past few days. It is so smokey here from the fire in AZ. We haven't been able to go out and play. It's werid. It's nice during the day and then as soon as we get home, the smoke rolls in.
Emily:
*Weighs 22 lbs 4 oz and is 31.5 inches long. She gained 2 1/2 lbs and grew 2 1/4 inches in the last 3 months. That is huge since she hadn't gained any weight between 12 and 15 months. She is a total chunker and has become a pretty good eater especially if we give her pasta or "pizza" (cheese quesadilla with veggies. No clue why, but she thinks tortillas=pizza)
*Still in the same sizes for clothes(12&18), shoes (4) and diapers(4).
*Lives to be outside. If she hears you open the sliding glass door she comes running. This last weekend she literally spent the entire day outside, other than her nap. And she absolutely loves her new outdoor toys (sandbox, water table and cozy coup)
*Says "meet you" and shakes your hand if you tell her "it's nice to meet you"? Freaking adorable.
*Would spend hours in the bath tub if you let her.
*Is pretty good about saying please and thank you. Better about please, but if you ask her to say thank you she will right away. She even said "welcome" the other day after I told her thank you.
*Still very into playing with babies. She loves to feed them, hug them, kiss them, and put them night night.
*Knows and can say all the names of the kids in her class and even in other classes.
*She knows and for the most part can say all the names of her family members. If she can't say it, she definitely knows who they are and will point to them. We are still working on Grandma (Zig's mom) and Auntie Koley (she says Kole). My new favorite is how she says Uncle Bob. She just points and says Bob, very matter of factly.
*She runs everywhere and plays so good with the other kids. We spent time with our friend Brayden and she just thinks he hung the moon.
*She loves her daddy and loves it when he kisses her neck and tickles her. I swear she has a huge smile on her face any time she is around him and constantly giggles and squeels with delight.
*Still goes to bed at 7, but since we stopped with the paci, she will talk to herself and her animals for a good half hour before she goes to bed. When she wakes up she will talk to herself for a while, which I used to let her do, until I went in on Saturday and noticed she started chewing on her crib. Not good. She seems to enjoy that alone time though, so I put a rail guard on for her. I will just remember to check the monitor and see what she is up too every so often.
She is just so much fun to be around. I know I say it every month, but this age may be one of my favorites. :)
And this is what our sun has looked like for the past few days. It is so smokey here from the fire in AZ. We haven't been able to go out and play. It's werid. It's nice during the day and then as soon as we get home, the smoke rolls in.
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