School/Gymnastics etc

Hi all,

we've been reminded by many a folk that we have not posted much lately. Sorry. Life is getting into a routine. Ellis started a pre-k program at the daycare at the university where Amy and I work. He has been loving it. There is a hedgehog, fish, tadpoles and insect carcasses in the class. But more importantly there are trains to play with. Ellis loves both of his teachers and seems to be getting along well with all of his fellow Supernovae(class nickname, goodluck teaching them to spell it). His teachers stress a lot of independence and the kids are encouraged to do many things on their own. Which includes pouring their own beverages and serving themselves their lunch and snack. I am glad I am not there to witness that chaos. But they all learn a whole lot. Zoe went to the same daycare for a year before she started kindergarten and we were amazed at what she was able to learn by the time she left. Pre-school teachers are amazing. Recently they were learning about planets and the universe. Now they are learning about rocks. Cool. The had a balance scale set up in the classroom this morning when we dropped him off. Comparing the weights of different rocks. Now I know many of you are thinking what I am. 3-4yr olds in a room with lots of rocks. Who's gonna lose the eye. Well no one from the daycare has called us yet so I assume he has neither been hit nor has he hit someone else. Zoe and Ellis are working out their relationship with each other and it is coming along well. I'm still waiting for the knockdown drag out fight that is inevitable with siblings. Zo i think is still figuring out how to answer some of his litany of questions without feeling like she has to answer all of them. She's getting a little taste of what parenting is like. Overall they are getting along great. Last week Ellis started gymnastics at the same gym as Zoe. He really likes it and has asked about it everyday since the first class. Not sure if he actually did anything in the class that was what he was supposed to do but he did enjoy running on the trampoline and on all the mats. What kid wouldn't? Zo was trying to teach him a forward roll yesterday. He's got a long way to go. Foods he likes : mangos, yogurt, bananas, grapes, pizza, meat, grits, oatmeal, cereal, spaghetti and meatballs, nachos, lemonade(tries to have it for breakfast every morning). Foods he doesn't like : curry (this one hurts, maybe he will change later), granola. The things he doesn't like list is much shorter. We're working on that with him. We think he is very eager to please so he is more likely to say he likes something than not to make us happy. We're actually happy when he tells us he doesn't like something but I guess he wants to make sure we like him. Its hard to imagine he's been with us for almost 6 weeks. Everyone is still figuring out our relationships with each other and as a collective. We just keep reminding ourselves that its a short time (well at least Amy and I do and we remind Zo). Ellis still has a long way to go before he can feel like this is the last stop. It will be something that we can't do for him directly but something that he will come to on his own. He's never had stability so to say this is forever is not something he can understand at 4. We see him getting more comfortable each day. Hence why we are glad when he says "no" to something or tells us that he doesn't like something. Its weird to think of defiance or resistance as a good sign but for him it will be. It will let us know that he trusts us enough to not worry about getting us upset or angry. But from all of our trainings and work with our caseworker this is what has to happen and there is no timeline on when it just starts feeling "normal" for everyone. We will all get their on our own and together at different times. I know it sounds like a calculus question from high school : Four trains are leaving from different parts of the country all headed to the same city traveling at different speeds, leaving at different times, making different stops and potentially crossing tracks along the way with. One train leaves San Francisco on a Thursday traveling 100mph, another leave Seattle on Sunday traveling at 120kph(yes I know its metric do the damn conversion yourself), the third leaves Miami on Tuesday traveling 300mph and the last leaves Boston on Fridaytraveling at 176kph. All four trains are heading to Calgary, Alberta. At some point all four trains will be on the same line but heading in different directions. When will all four trains arrive in Calgary. Enjoy!