Our friends, Maggie and Scott, recently visited from Long Island with their nearly 2 year old, Lola.
We've been fortunate to see each other a time or two each year, but it's never enough as Maggie is one of Mindy's oldest and dearest friends, and those months between visits translate into big milestones for the kids.
Lola is now a walking and talking little girl and Jack is a rambunctious toddler -- much different than the last time when we met up last Christmas. They had fun having free reign of the house, playing bubbles, and having Stella at eye level. Stella loved the attention of our equally dog loving friends. And we always enjoy the company of Maggie and Scott and missed them all as they fly away back East after a too short trip.
Jack just misses the age cutoff for preschool this year, but we wanted to build on his social skills and felt he was ready for a more structured learning environment. So, we decided to enroll him in a PRE-pre-school of sorts. In this transitionary school, he will be in a small class of 12. There are 2-3 teachers each day that lead the kids through circle time, daily science/art/music/cooking activities, outdoor time, and naptime. We've brought Jack over a couple of times for a half day at his new school and he's taken to it very easily. The kids each have a mat for naps in the afternoon -- we opted for this cute sleeping bag with built in pillow. Jack already loves his sleeping bag. Hopefully, the transition from Nanny to school will be just as easy.
As many of you know, we have a wonderful nanny (Alessandra) that takes care of both Jack and another little boy during the day, Wyatt, who is the same age as Jack -- a "sharecare" arrangement. Wyatt and Jack are like two peas in a pod, running around all day, sharing and fighting over toys, and then starting the day excitedly to see each other again. Jack will be starting pre-pre-school in the Fall and it will be interesting to see the adjustment from being with Sassa and Wyatt each day to a more structured day with a dozen classmates.
Jack often bursts out in "song" with a mashup of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and the Alphabet song, with a sampling of his 1-2-3's. Here's a few videos of Jack babbling.
We have been to Sonoma dozens of times but have never stopped at Traintown until this weekend.
We thought it would be a fun diversion to spend a night in Sonoma and indulge Jack's interest in trains so we took a roadtrip this weekend.
Traintown has a fun miniature open-seated train that travels through wooded areas, tunnels, over bridges, and stops at a mini-Western town that's complete with a petting zoo. Afterwards, there's a carousel, ferris wheel, and other carnival rides for more fun.
After Traintown, we took advantage of Sonoma's real summer weather, leaving San Francisco's typical fog and 60 degree "summer" temps behind. We ate lunch al fresco and swam in the hotel's pool until the sun starting setting.
CLICK HERE for more pictures of our trip to Traintown.
Over the long Fourth of July weekend, we celebrated independence not from the British but from the Binky.
The dentist noted that Jack's bite was significantly off and believed that continued use of the Binky would exacerbate the problem. Since Jack uses the Binky only for naps and nite-nite, we decided to go cold turkey and take advantage of the long weekend in anticipation of the sleepless nights ahead.
We talked to Jack a week beforehand about the Binky Fairy. How we would give all of our Binkies to the Binky Fairy and how he would get a toy in return of his choosing. Five days till the Binky Fairy. Four. Three. Two. On the big day, we took Jack on his first ferry ride across the bay to the seaside town of Sausalito. We walked straight to the toy store and let Jack choose some stickers and a little toy car. When we got to the register, we pulled out our Ziploc bag of Binkies and had Jack give them to the Binky Fairy behind the counter -- a somewhat apathetic high school kid in a black concert t-shirt. We quickly made an exit and distracted ourselves with some Passion Fruit sorbet next door. That weekend, Jack didn't nap because he couldn't fall asleep without the comfort of his Binky; and he stood up in bed and screamed horribly for it once we shut the door at night. A day or so later, it was hardly better. But today, Day 5, he went right to sleep. He's either exhausted himself over the past few days, or hopefully we can close this chapter.
After a lazy couple of hours in sunny Sausalito we headed back home on the ferry. We enjoyed the rest of the unseasonably warm weekend at Stinson beach and Chrissy Field's beach. The combo of sand and water kept Jack, and us, entertained for hours.
Here are some pictures of our weekend (click on a picture once or twice to make it bigger):
By the fountain in Sausalito
At Stinson Beach
At Chrissy Field, with Golden Gate Bridge in background
