Lobbyist

Dear Ian,

You, my boy, are a smart little Monkey.  You work hard to attain your goals, and you can even be a little manipulative.  This assertiveness and determination will take you far as an adult, but right now, as you practice these skills, it's really funny to see how your mind works to get what you want.

Right now, you are working hard on breaking down my resolve as it pertains to a pet dog.  Or puppy.  You don't discriminate.  The other day, you and I had the following conversation:

Ian:  Mommy, we can't have a kitty, because you are allergic to kitties.
Mommy:  Yup, Bear. I'm allergic to cats.
Ian:  But you aren't allergic to dogs, so we can get a dog!
Mommy:  Maybe one day we can get a dog, but they are a lot of work.  There's a lot to do to take care of a dog.
Ian:  But I take care of my fish.  I feed them every day.
Mommy:  You do a great job with your fish.  But puppies need more than food.
*Here I proceeded with a list of puppy responsibilities.
Ian:  I think I can do all that if you help me.
Mommy:  Maybe one day, Bear.  When you are a little older.

At this point, our dog-care conversation ended.  Or so I thought, because that afternoon after nap, you came downstairs with your stuffed dog, Gus.  You told me that Gus had a good nap, but that it was time for him to go potty.  Since it was raining outside, you put him in your bathroom, and then after a bit, you brought him back out, praising him for going potty.

Then, you smart little thing, you asked if we had any "performance dog food" (where in the world did you get that?!) for Gus.  We got him a plastic bowl, and to pass as dog food, we filled it with the colored pom poms from your art cart.  You "fed" Gus, and then when he had finished,  you cleaned up after him.

Gus, eating his "performance pom poms"

At this point, I was completely cracking up - on the inside, of course.  You were so very serious about your dog-ownership responsibilities.  After the pup had eaten, we played, and I figured your dog stuff was over and done.  Nope.  He went to bed with you, and the next morning after you fed your fish, Gus got his performance-pom-pom-dog-food yet again.  Then he went potty.  You are trying so dang hard to show me that you can do this!  And it is absolutely adorable.

I had to sit you down and reiterate that puppy ownership just isn't in the cards for us yet.  I was expecting you to be disappointed, but instead you responded, "I know, Mommy.  I am practicing."

You never cease to amaze me, Little Bear.  I know without a doubt that one day you will make a great puppy parent.  And it makes me so proud.

I love you,
Mommy

Love WAS In The Air

Dear Ian,

I had intended to write this post MUCH earlier in the month, but life just kept getting in the way.  We have been so busy running around that every time I sat down, I either passed out from exhaustion or jumped up because I remembered something else that had to be done.

Regardless, we are at least still in February, so this Valentine's day post is still in the same month as the holiday.

To get you all geared up for the holiday, we decorated our house like all the other holidays.  Your babysitter, Miss Kallie, teased me the other day that coming over here was sorta like Disney; there's always a theme going on here.  Our first decoration was a project that you did at Home Depot Kid's Class.  You made valentine holders!  Daddy and I helped you nail all the pieces together, and then you took it to the painting station and painted it.  We hung it at the end of the stairs on the railing.  It looked perfect there!  I tried to remember to put a little something in your holder every morning to let you know that you were loved.  You had cut out about a zillion paper hearts (we were practicing cutting), so I used some of them.  I wrote a little message on your paper heart, and then I stuck it in your holder.  Every morning when you got up and came downstairs, you would check it for "mail."  I think you really enjoyed it.  The picture of the heart at the very top of this post was one of these special little notes.  And the heart itself was cut out by none other than you!  You did such a great job cutting, and I had a lot of fun coming up with little messages to leave you. 

These two pictures are of a project that I left for you and Miss Kallie to work on while I was out teaching baton lessons.  You had to cut out a heart for each letter of your name, and then you had to write the letters on the hearts.  Then she helped you connect them, and we hung them from our chandelier.  If you notice the picture of the left, there's also a red and purple paper chain on our chandelier.  February was a month of cutting practice around here; you helped but cutting out each and every strip for the paper chain.  It really made our house look Valentine's-Day-festive.  

So after all the decorating crafts, it was time time to get started on our actual valentines.  I spent hours on end a bit of time playing on Pinterest gathering ideas for your valentines for the kids in your class, and then you and I sat down and you picked which project you wanted to make out of all of the ideas I had gathered.  You decided on giving your friends a bubble valentine, and they turned out SO cute.  You signed your name on the back of each valentine card, and I was so proud.  You are getting really good at writing your name!  Here's a picture of the valentines you gave your friends.

In retrospect, I probably should have chosen a better background for the red bubble wand.  The red place mat isn't really doing much for it here, is it?  Oh well.  

For my class, I chose a pencil valentine idea that  I used last year as well.  I'm a teacher and all; it seemed appropriate.  Here's my valentine:

For the valentines that we gave your teachers, I got a little corny.  I saw this idea at Lauren McKinsey Designs, and I loved it!  She has the most adorable printables.  I downloaded her "Brownie Points" gift tags, and then we attached them to a box of brownie mix for each of your special area teachers.  Miss Katie and Miss Mallory also got a box of brownie mix, but we also attached a brownie from The Cake Shop.   I think they turned out really great!

Again, you signed the backs of all your cards, and you did a great job.  

Whew!  Making all of those valentines was hard work, but we managed.  A day or two before Valentine's Day, I thought it would be super fun for you to make a holder for all of the treats that Daddy and I got for you.  It would also keep you occupied on a very wet and rainy afternoon.  I took apart the cardboard box that your cheese grits (favorite!) came in and turned it inside out.  You then painted it your favorite color, purple, and then we decorated it with yet another heart you had cut from construction paper.  Then I reassembled the box with the help of some hot glue, and there we had it!  Your valentine holder came out great!  It was the perfect size for all of the treats you got on Valentine's day.  Grandma Davis brought by a couple of things for you too, so on the 14th of February, your former grits box was over-flowing.  

 Before the filling

 ...and after.  Wowza!

And there you have it.  Valentine's Day was an arts and crafts extravaganza.  And it was just another day to show you how special you are to us and how much you are loved.  I hope you know that EVERY day. 

Because we love you!

Mommy and Daddy

Ian-isms

Dear Ian,

The older you get, the more sophisticated you try to speak, and it makes me laugh on a daily basis.  Here's a few little snippets of conversations we've had:

Scene:  Looking for a particular pair of jammies in your jammie drawer.
Mommy:  I don't know, Bear.  I just cannot find your fishing bear jammies.
Ian:  Just move over Mommy, and I will look.  My eyes are better than yours.

Scene:  Leaving the barber shop after getting your hair cut:
Ian:  Mommy, can we go get a milkshake?
Mommy:  A milkshake?!  Just who do you think you are, little boy?
Ian:  A genius. 

Scene:  Going to Publix, again...
Ian: Daddy goes to work to make money.
Mommy: Yes, he sure does, Bear.
Ian: Then we spend it all at Publix.
Mommy: I think you're right, son.
Ian: That means Daddy has to work sooooo hard, because we are at Publix a lot.

Ah, the mind of a three year old.  Thanks for always making me laugh, Buddy.

Love,
Mommy

Works of Art #41

Dear Ian,

Sigh.  I have gotten really bad about cataloging your art.  A small mountain of it was forming on the corner of the dining room table, and it was starting to get to me.  So here we finally have your recent art work:

First up, Miss Katie and Miss Mallory taught a unit on Jan Brett's book, The Mitten, and your class made art to go along with the story.  It's about animals that find a lost mitten in the woods and climb into it to stay warm.  Here are your art descriptions, dictated to Mommy.

 This is the mitten.  We water colored it.

 This is the "hedgie hoggie."  He looks for food under the leaves to eat.  He snuggles himself up in the mitten.

That's the mole.  He snuggle hisself up.

 This is the snow rabbit.  He snuggles hisself up.  We put glue all over him, and we sticked cotton on him.  So he'd be all furry.

He is the fox, and he snuggles hisself up.  We paint him.

This is the owl.  He gets in the mitten, too.  Of course.  We made him out of  a plate, and we put one nose on him.

This is the bear.  He snuggles up, and he makes the mitten all stretched out.  Then there's a mouse on the bear's nose.  We didn't make a mouse.

There you have it;   The Mitten, by Ian. Sort of.

Next we have a bear book that you made:

 This is the bear page.  I colored it purple.  I wrote my name!

 That's my black bear.  They hibernate.  We put glue over him and we used black tissue paper.

 That's my polar bear.  He lives in the cold, cold, cold.  He hibernates, too.  In the cold. 

This is my bear claws.  We stamped them, and we put fingerprints.  The claws are toothpicks!

And now for some random art:

 That picture is my snowman!  We made him in art.  We used toothpicks and the scarf from the house.  (we had to supply things to decorate your snowman, and I cut this piece of fabric for a scarf.)

 I wrote my name!

 Mommy here:  this is Painting in the Round, like Michelangelo. 

 That's my snowflake.  We put glitter on it with Miss Mallory.  "No glitter on Miss Mallory."

 You started to lose interest in dictation here, so I am just going to say that this some marker art that you drew.  You are getting so good at writing your name!

 Here's a cute snowman that you made in your classroom.

 More marker art.

And one last piece to round out this collection.

I love seeing how your art is progressing.  And like I mentioned before, I am really impressed with your name writing as of late.  It's really coming along!  

I love you, Bear!

Mommy

**  It's been a good long while since I asked for votes, and I am currently not even ranked!  Please help a mommy out and click this big ol' button for me :)  Thanks!!

 

Superstar!

Dear Ian,

Recently your class started a new activity, and it's one that you were really excited about.  Miss Katie and Miss Mallory announced the start of Star of the Week!  You were slated to be the star of the week for the week of January 21st (yes, Mommy is behind AGAIN!), and we got right to work getting ready for your week.

First, Miss Katie requested that we bring in pictures or a poster of pictures of you and things you love.  You had a blast getting this part ready.  We went through a TON of pictures, and you selected 10.  They were pictures of you at all different ages, and there were a few of the three of us.  Then, after we printed them, you helped me put them on coordinating pieces of colored card stock.  At first you wanted every one of them to be backed on purple paper.  But with some encouragement, you finally branched out and used different colors.  Then we stuck them on poster board, and Mommy wrote a description under each one.  Our finishing touch was two purple stars to which you added glue and glitter.  The final product was super, if I must say so myself.  And you were so proud of it.

You and your poster

We took it to school on Monday, and you were really excited to show it to your teachers.  And thus, we kicked off your Superstar week.  Miss Katie and Miss Mallory had even put up a sign on the door announcing the Superstar of the Week.  And of course, your nutty Mommy had to take a picture of you and the door sign...

The look on your face was all, "Geez Mom, take the thing already...."

Anyhoo....  Superstars of the Week are also encouraged to bring in a special snack to share with the class, and you requested that we make chocolate chip cookies.  Not one to turn down the superstar, that's exactly what we did.  We also sent in some craisins, too, so it wasn't all terrible for everyone.  Fruit is good and all. 

On your last day of your Superstar week, you got to bring in something special to share with your class.  What did you want to bring?  One of your pet fish.  And I had a time trying to convince you to do something else.  It took me until 7:15am the morning of your share day to change your mind, and in the end, you took your John Deere 40 and a trailer to go with it.  I used the tactic that your poor fish would be so cold if we took him out in the chilly weather we were having.  It won you over, and Miss Katie and Miss Mallory were able to avoid having one more live thing in their classroom.  

Throughout the week, you also got to do other special fun stuff, like being the line leader and getting to wear a special Star Student necklace.  It was really neat to get to see you leading your class around school, and I got to see you in your necklace during your visit to the lab classroom which is right next to mine.   

My superstar in lab class

So there you have it, little man.  Your very first Star Student experience.  You, your Daddy and I are so lucky that you have such a great school and amazing teachers to go with it.  They are really helping you get off on the right foot when it comes to loving school. 

We love you!
Mommy