Pre-K Graduation

OK, my first thought (and maybe yours)...is this really necessary? Pre-K Graduation? But it was very cute and his last day as a preschooler, so I suppose it can do no harm. Each child got to come up and share something special. Wyatt shared his state quarter collection and his Hot Wheel collection. Then Teacher Debbie read a paragraph about each child and tried not to cry. I copied Wyatt's below. Now on to KINDERGARTEN!!

"Wyatt is a very quick learner and always has good ideas to add to our class discussions. He loves to entertain his friends and make them laugh, and is excited to participate in every activity. He's very sensitive and likes everyone to get along. When it's free play time, he's at the center of the action and loves coming up with new ideas for having fun. Good job, Wyatt!"

~Teacher Debbie June 14, 2010

Conquering 5-year-old Anxieties

Wyatt has a lot of fears...His biggest are food related, mosquitoes (incl. bees and other flying insects), and lately going to bed on his own. He's always been a great sleeper, but during the summer we fell into the habit of lying down with him until he fell asleep. His 5 year birthday was the cut-off and we've been sticking to it for one week. He's been creating lots of ways to try to entice us back in...including, but not limited to, bugs crawling up through the crack between his bed and his wall, the fact that he's crying and we need to help him not cry, aliens, and the most frightening, robbers coming in to cut off his head. I was a bit shocked by this one and had to hold back the laughter. Tonight he came up with his own solution and

taped it to the front door himself...I guess that is one way for him to work out his own fears!

Oh, and he also recently rode a carousel (on the actual moving horse, not just on the bench for older people) and willingly held this worm. Maybe he's not a lost cause?

If only I could get him to eat more of a variety...

The "Weezers" Biggest Fan

Wyatt gets easily obsessed with things, then he lives, breathes, and thinks about this thing until it has run it's course. It happened with ABCs, puzzles, Curious George and Little Einsteins, The United States & capitals, I Spy books, etc...

A few weeks ago I played the song Island in the Sun by Weezer in the car and Wyatt fell in love. (hip hip) We've now completed listening to each of the six albums we own plus a few of the songs from the new album we found online--with a few edits from Mom. Hash Pipe is not one I want to explain at this point. Thanks to search engines and websites we know more than we ever wanted to know about Weezer, or as Wyatt calls them, The Weezers. I tried to explain the band name concept but he will not accept the singular if there are 4 band members. "Mom, the Beatles...get it?" I've let it go...

Now my days are full of all sorts of interesting Weezer questions.

"Mom, how old are the Weezers? Do they live together in the same house? Are the Weezers cousins, friends, or brothers? Do they have kids?"

If I say I don't know, he makes up the answers: "I think some of them are cousins and some are friends and they all live in their house together so they can all play whenever they want. They are probably 25 and don't have any kids 'cause their too busy playing music."

He's taken to calling himself Brian Bell and playing the air guitar. In the car he wears sunglasses and combs his hair into his eyes in a certain way before playing said air guitar. We've created a monster...

How young is too young for guitar lessons?

A Giving Heart

I’ve been learning a lot from my almost 5-year-old lately. This year his birthday party choices are either to do a small home birthday party with 3-4 friends or a huge jumping party at the local inflatable gym. It seems that my busy schedule has helped our decision be the latter, since if you pay someone enough, they will do the party for you. Not that Wyatt is complaining. The only caveat is that since he’s inviting close to 20 friends and cousins, we are asking for no gifts, but for a donation to a charitable organization. I wish I would have taped the look of horror that crossed Wyatt’s face when we first discussed it. My feelings tipped back and forth from, “Are we forcing this on him? Is that OK? Is he too young to understand why we’re doing this?” to, “Wouldn’t he have so much fun opening gifts? Should I just clean out his room and let him have a boat-load of gifts?”

Wyatt answered the questions himself. He’s been really interested in Haiti. In fact, geography is his current obsession, so we regularly discuss current events at his level and look for places on the map. He’s really concerned about the people of Haiti. He helped me look up the website to donate some funds and wanted to make sure that we were not going to hand deliver it ourselves. I talked to him about some possible uses for the money and that there are children there who don’t have parents and need all the things parents can provide. After a few minutes he came to me and said that he thought it would be OK to share his room and his toys with a boy (not a girl) from Haiti. Specifically, he said, “He can have my Lightnin’ McQueen blow up bed and then when Jesus makes his parents alive again, he can go back to live with them.”

He might not understand the intricacies yet, but his little heart is in the right place. I think his birthday party will be just fine...

Early Riser

We're blessed to have a child that sleeps usually through the night for about 10-12 hours so I am REALLY not allowed to complain. BUT, occassionally he wakes up at the crack of dawn. He comes in to my side of the bed and stares at me, sighs, breathes loudly (while I pretend I don't notice) and finally sticks his face on mine. Even if it's early, it is quite adorable. I love that it's been cold lately, too, because he will often want to "snuggle" in bed for a while. He's such a lovey, huggy, kissy guy...He still blows me kisses as I drop him off at preschool and runs up to hug me when I pick him up...I just hope it lasts!

Our very own "ghost" friend

As an educator and someone relatively informed in childhood development, I've always thought imaginary friends to be healthy and somewhat cute. Now that Wyatt has one, it is a little more difficult to grasp. I understand the concept, but seeing him actually talk to his friend...full-on conversations...is a little unnerving to me. He calls her his "ghost friend" and her name is Isabella.

Here's what one of the Doctors from that TV show The Drs. had to say recently:

“In terms of imaginary friends, they’re actually a good thing,” Dr. Jim says. “It’s a sign of a good imagination and it’s a sign of intelligence. But I recommend to parents, get to know your child’s imaginary friend.”

Dr. Jim explains that by getting to know the made-up playmate, parents can gain insight into their child’s feelings. To do so, he recommends asking questions such as what he or she looks and acts like.

Dr. Jim also advises holding the child accountable if he or she does something wrong and blames the invented sidekick by explaining that they are still responsible for the friend’s actions.

Wyatt has yet to try to blame anything on Isabella. If he does...I'll be ready!

This is currently Wyatt's favorite picture of himself. Looks like he's seen a ghost, perhaps?

Our Little Poser

I asked Wyatt to pose for a few fall pictures at St. Edward State Park a couple weeks back (before the rain) and he really did! OK, so I bribed him with lunch at a certain fast food restaurant, but I was still very happy with him. The best pic will be our Christmas card, but here are a few others and a few that are uniquely Wyatt. He makes the silliest faces!