tooth fairy.

Four days ago, Nate walked up to me and said, "hey Mom! Watch this!" and proceeded to wiggle one of his teeth with his tongue. A ridiculous wave of nausea came over me. Teeth freak me out. I have nightmares about losing teeth, breaking teeth. I think I read a long time ago that dreams about teeth have to do with issues with control. No big shockers there.

But yes, teeth make me sick to my stomach. And I have a little boy -- so I can never, ever let him know. He would go out of his way just to get a reaction, so I sucked it up and got excited.  I'll admit, I did a lot of Googling this week. Is it he too young? Is this the 'right' tooth to lose first? How fast will the new tooth come in? What should we expect? Thankfully, I at least thought of visiting the website for his pediatric dentist which answered all of my questions!

This morning before breakfast, Nate walked down the stairs (of course wiggling the tooth) when it came out. Such a happy and proud little guy!

"Mom, it didn't even bleed! It just fell out of my mouth!"

Surprisingly, Nate knew all about the tooth fairy ... even though we haven't had that talk yet. I guess word travels quickly at school! Too bad the tooth fairy knowledge didn't cover pricing because my kid told me that he wanted his fairy to bring $100. Fat chance, kiddo. To his credit, Nate did ask to brush the tooth one last time before handing it over to his fairy. Nathan even had all sorts of mischief planned to catch the Tooth Fairy in the act!

Once he finally fell asleep, I started thinking of how I could have a way to keep track of this new part of life because I must write down ALL of the things! I found this amazing, free printable online that was perfect! Not only could I write down all of the specifics, but also a note from his fairy. Nate always asks me if his teeth are 'shiny' once he's done brushing so that comment from her was especially well received.

Also, when did the tooth fair acquire a first name? Growing it was always "the tooth fairy" but apparently parents name theirs now. I agonized over names for an embarrassing amount of time before he shot out 'Dorothy' in about two seconds. Dorothy it is! Nate found some money under his pillow and the certificate on the night stand.

Hope he understands that the $5 is essentially a 'signing bonus' and that it's $1 from here on out! :)

father's day.

My husband is a laid back sort of guy and, as such, wanted nothing more than a laid back Father's Day. After sleeping in pre-child style (code for waking naturally), Nathan gave him some sweet gifts that his teachers helped him put together at school.

First, Nate gave his dad a coupon book. It had all of these nice coupons for yard work, making breakfast, doing laundry, etc. As my husband aptly told someone later, these were "coupons for stuff my kid can't actually do by himself". Hysterical! Also, preschool put together one of their famous questionnaire forms. Remember mine from Mother's Day this year? Just when I thought something couldn't get funnier, Nate delivers this little gem:
(hint: see number nineteen)

Oh, this child cracks me up! We also gave Chris a gift certificate for a massage, which he's very excited about. Happy Father's Day!

train festival.

Our city puts on an annual train festival with model trains, yummy fair food, lots of different kinds of entertainment, and train rides. We first took Nate back in 2012 and then in 2013, he rode the train for the first time! No train ride for us this year because N's patience has been more than lacking. The 'are we there yet?' game starts before we've even left the driveway! 

The big hit this year was the Lego model trains. N and one of his friends watched, and watched, and watched. I think we revisited the Lego display about three or four times. 

We got suckered into some moon bounce tickets, too, but the next biggest hit was a hand-cranked train ride. Nate had so much fun on this! 

The train festival was a bit more crowded than usual this year, likely from the fact that a 'retired' steam engine was in town. We weren't able to get too close, but it definitely was the hot commodity at the train festival!

Glad that this little kiddo had so much fun!

climb like a monkey & swim like a fish.

At Nathan's four year wellness appointment, the pediatrician asked me, "so what kinds of organized sports does your son play?" And I started at her dumbfounded -- was she messing with me? Is the typical four year old already over scheduled and in activity overload?! After a lecture about physical activity, coordination, and social skills I left the office with a resolve to a.) switch to a new pediatrician and d b.) take a harder look at what we are doing with our kid.

Between my child's inability to sit still for more than two seconds and the fact that he's been in daycare since he was two, I'm not worried about anything from the lecture. He's a never-stop-moving, friendly kid with catlike reflexes and a sense of balance that makes me jealous. Fast forward almost a year and now I think he's ready.

So for now, we're signed up for swimming lessons for June and soccer for July. N told me that this is the summer where he will climb like a monkey and swim like a fish. And judging from how he's been after his first few swimming lessons, we'll add "eat like a horse" to that list.  He's currently on his third dinner tonight. Can't imagine what the teenage years will be like!

I found a local swim center that came highly recommended in our area. Two lessons in and I can see what the buzz is about! The facility is high tech, the instructors are fun, and I couldn't ask for better class ratios (only three kids in his class!).

Because I am "that" mom, I get my kiddo to pose by the pool for me to take some pictures. He's only little once!

And get ready for some super grainy and fuzzy photos! During the lesson, parents sit in a little cafe area that is separated by glass from the pool. Perk #1: no clingy kids and they engage a lot more in the activities. Perk #2: no overly warm, humid air from the pool. Perk #3: wifi to alternate between checking Facebook and taking pics of my kiddo!

Can't wait to see how he continues to progress with swimming. And soccer? He's stoked! After a free trial lesson through his preschool, he cannot wait to get started.

q & u wedding.

The big end of the year event for Nate's Montessori class was to do a play called a Q and U Wedding. I'd never heard of this before, but after poking around online, it's a pretty common celebration for preschool and kindergarten classes. All of the kids are assigned a letter, attend the wedding of Q and U, and have their own little lines to deliver.

I'll admit that making Nate's costume snuck up on us and before we knew it, it was the night before the costume was due and we didn't have anything. Chris saved the day and put this little gem together. This man sewed, stenciled, and ironed on patches. Lifesaver!

I cry at weddings and this was no exception. I mean, the bride's dad walked her down the aisle! Each kid's costume was unique and they were all proud of themselves for putting together this big thing for their families. So precious! Nate and I practiced, practiced, practiced his lines and he did his part flawlessly. I was so proud!

My gift to you is the letter D and its sound. 
D is for dinosaur
D is for dog
D is for a doll on a log 

Congratulations, Q & U! :)

mother's day.

I'm a sucker for preschool art - especially when it's Mother's Day themed! N couldn't stand the suspense of waiting until the actual day, but instead had me open up his gifts in his classroom when I picked him up at the end of the week.

So proud!

So, here are the goods - an adorable little book that he put together, carnations that he dyed light green, a little photo strip of him spelling out 'mom' on a chalkboard, and a cute little cutout with his little face on there. Precious!

Nate's goofy personality definitely came through on a Q&A all about mom - hysterical!

Oh, this little love :)

teacher appreciation week.

Teachers work their butts off so when Teacher Appreciation Week comes up each year, I always participate and try to do some sweet things for N's teachers to show them how much we love them. Our daycare center participates and usually gives some 'guidance' for parents on how to show teachers some well-deserved appreciation. This year it was:

Monday: a card or note
Tuesday: breakfast
Wednesday: something sweet
Thursday: lunch
Friday: choose your own gift

Well, we participated in four of the five days. I can never think of something to bring for lunch that won't require them to cook, reheat, and put in effort to be ready. Maybe next year. I'll also throw out that none of these are my original ideas. I scrounged around on Pinterest and Google to find some cute, doable things. And I'm all about some cute puns!

Cards & Breakfast: Dunkin Donuts munchkins and handmade cards

Something Sweet: Hershey bars with a little love note

Choose Your Own Gift: Starbucks gift cards on an adorable and free(!) printable

Now, time to start brainstorming for next year!

easter.

I had lofty plans for Easter this year. We were going to dye eggs with the dye kits that I bought on 70% clearance last year. We were going to have an epic Easter egg hunt in which I hid eggs in really hard to find places to really draw out the thrill of the hunt. Nate was going to have an Easter basket that was all about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

And then the migraine hit. They've been bad this spring, worse than they've been in years. Easter ended up being a basket at 8:00 p.m. and seeing the Easter bunny with my parents the night before. Sorry, kid. We'll have that egg wonderland next year.

That being said, I don't think that N knew the difference. He was so excited to see the Easter bunny. So much so that he decided to take along a stuffed bunny, which I didn't even know we had, who N named Jerry.

The basket ended up looking a bit sparse, but it had the beloved TMNT toys and the coveted chocolate bunny, so all was right in the world. It's a nice reminder to me that I don't need to go overboard because he will be excited for just about anything special :)

Happy Easter!

montessori art show.

Nate has been attending the Montessori preschool program at our daycare this year and I've been impressed with both the curriculum and his response to the program. Let's be honest: the first month or so was a bit of a struggle. N didn't understand the ebb and flow of the day and needed some extra hands on direction. He also wasn't the least bit interested in any of the 'work' that was available for him to do. Fast forward to (almost) the end of the year and he's doing really well. He is learning, he is excited to go to school every day, and his behavior has been pretty good!

One of the bigger events that the class does is an art show based on different artists and techniques that have been introduced to the kiddos. Each kid had their own display and N was pretty excited to show it off ... and eat the refreshments served afterward!

Now what to do with all of this stuff?! We currently have his art on display on a table in our house, but how are parents supposed to keep track of all of this? I'm usually the first person to purge, but I can't seem to pare down on anything yet. For now, we'll live with the ever growing stacks of drawings and paintings...and be thankful that we're starting to be able to decipher what he's made because it's more recognizable and that his 'masterpieces' even have some letters peppered in for fun!

sidewalk chalkin'.

Spring means kids playing outside until dinnertime, shedding off our jackets, and bringing out some of our favorite activities that are put away during the winter. N and I have been taking advantage of these longer and warmer days to get some fresh air, vitamin D, and brush up on our sidewalk chalking skills.

We work on writing the letter of the week.

And while I like to draw pretty things like rainbows, N is far more interested in anything that is creepy-crawly, like snakes.

Our common interests include boats, the ocean, and decorating Daddy's parking spot.

But lately, the new thrill is to draw NYC and the lair of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Love how his creative side is coming out! He has the toy version of these things in his room, but usually prefers to draw his own now!