Back to School Time - A little preparation for my favorite LP!

Quentin started First Grade about 2 weeks ago. He is doing great adjusting to his new teacher and class.

I think that I posted these pictures last year but the purpose for this post is to share with my POLP (Parents Of Little People) group on Facebook.

I was very nervous last year for Quentin to start Kindergarten in a "real" school outside the safe walls of his preschool, Starbright. I had made an appointment to meet with the principal and the school psychologist at the end of the school year prior to Quentin's arrival. At that meeting we went over what Quentin's needs would be for the following school year - Quentin did not attend this meeting it was simply a brain storming session.

When the teachers and principal returned to school, after summer break to prepare for the school year we once again met with them and brought Quentin along to this meeting. I also had a tape measure and 3M hooks that could be utilized if needed. The meeting took about an hour and half; we walked around the whole school and took measurements and made notes of where stools should be placed - we would return the week before school started to check to make sure that everything was ready for the first day of Kindergarten! I couldn't have been more pleased.
Quentin's teacher was very excited to have him in her class. The school did an excellent job at making the stools and had them in place for him - they were perfect They did much more than I expected, including lowering a swing on the playground for him to reach, as well as making the foot rests for his chair in the computer lab and a bathroom stool in the nurses office when he was out of his classroom at music or gym in case he needed to use the bathroom. They also had a stool at a water fountain by the gym so he could get a drink after gym like the other kids.



Fast forward an entire year to First Grade - when we went to the Back to School BBQ to meet Quentin's new teacher I was impressed when my independent son asked his teacher, "you have my stools from Mrs. Dudley?" his teacher smiled and said yes that everything would be ready for him. I was proud and sad at the same time, he is becoming aware of what his needs are for school, and asking his teacher showed this is something that he feels is completely normal for him.
We had to order a couple of extra stools since Quentin is participating in the before and after school program this year - so there were two more bathroom stools that the school ordered for him.

The new thing we had to work with this year was that Quentin didn't want the "fake" jeans (the ones with elastic waist and no zipper or snap) he wanted real jeans because as he put it "I look awesome in jeans" So I purchased jeans for the boy however I knew that they would have to be modified because he has a hard time still with the snaps and zipper - his reach is just not quite there for him to be able to do this easily.
Sadly when I looked online I couldn't find anything that would easily assist in making this daily task easy for a 6 1/2 year old.
I did find a Velcro button conversion kit, however they didn't look sturdy - so my mom helped me make our own conversion kit.

We bought one package of Velcro and sewed them over the button so he can now button
his pants himself - for the zipper I tried a couple of zipper pulls that I had made from fish line and string - but the eye of the zipper was so small (toddler size pants zippers are small) I just couldn't get the pull to be sturdy enough. I got some jewelry hooks and attached them to the zipper I clamped the loop on the zipper and it worked perfectly!





The look on Quentin's face was priceless when he was able to button and zip his pants himself! I must admit I was pretty giddy myself!!

I know that there will be more adjustments as he gets older but for now I am happy that the little things like fixing the zipper and snaps on his jeans are what makes him happy!!

Summer 2011

I am clearly not doing well on keeping up on this blog. I can't believe that we are end of the summer already. A little update on what has been going on in the Chavez house this summer.

Quentin did the summer program at Starbright, the preschool that he attended - they have a school age program. He went on field trips to different parks 2 times a week and had swimming at a local pool every Friday. He also participated in the summer reading program and completed several book reports! I am so happy that he loves to read!

Adrianna spent the summer days with her regular day care provider - whom she loves and so do I. Adri's big accomplishment this summer is that she is officially a big girl! She is potty trained!!! WOOT WOOT!!! I can't believe that I am totally done with diapers! I am putting the money in a savings account that I would have spent on diapers each month!!!

The kids spent a month with Joe which gave me a lot of "Hope" time. I spent time in Girdwood hiking and biking at the ski resort. We took a mini road trip to Denali National Park where we had planned on hiking around the park however it was pouring down rain so we decided to head up to Fairbanks - just had lunch and decided to keep going to Chena Hot Springs. I LOVED IT!!! I have also continued on the weight watchers program and as of yesterdays weigh in I have lost a total of 34.8 pounds!!




Quentin started First Grade this week - I can't believe he is in First Grade! Adri will be 3 in two weeks, which I am also struggling with. She will be starting at Starbright on the 12th of September, which is hard for me to wrap my mind around, she was born the week after Quentin started at Starbright which seems like just yesterday .





Other than playing outside and taking bike rides when the weather was great - we are now gearing up for winter. The kids and I are all going to take ski lessons at Alyeska this winter! We are looking forward to it, can you believe that I just said I was actually looking forward to winter...but I am in we are less than 80 ish days away from opening day of ski season!!

Sleep Training Continued

I made it through the first night so the second night couldn't be as bad as the first night of listening to 2 hours of ear piercing screams.

When I picked Adrianna up from day care Jessica (the best day care provider EVER) had made a chart for sleeping in her own bed - she gets a sticker for each day she sleeps in her own bed, Adri was VERY excited about this...Jessica did this all on her own, which I thought was AWESOME!!!

OK so Wednesday night's bedtime routine went much like the previous night, books, jammies and teeth brushed. Before we even made it up the stairs she was crying and clinging to my neck. I kissed her and put her in bed said good night and closed the door. Before I even made it down two steps she threw her water cup...the crying wasn't as violent and ear piercing as the first night. She was first calling for me and when I didn't respond she started to call for Quentin - after 20 minutes right before she stopped crying and fell asleep she cried out "anyone" which made me totally crack up!! After I stopped laughing I realized that she had only cried for 20 minutes which I thought was OUTSTANDING!!! Both kids were asleep by 8:45 - which meant I had a little time to myself!

Night 3 and 4 the same routine although the screams have been reduced to fussing and less than 10 minutes!!

I am feeling very successful in that I didn't cave and give in. I have had 4 nights in a row of very restful sleep in my own bed that has lasted all night!!

Next on the agenda with the girl is potty training - which she is ready for so I am hoping that this milestone also goes very quickly!

Sleep Training 2 year old aka Sleep TORTURE

Up until the last several months, both of my children have been great sleepers. In bed and sleeping by 8:30 pm - and not a peep from them until the morning. Which also means that I had a little unwind time in the evenings to get lunches packed, clothes ironed and set out for the next day or just watching a show that I have dvr'd.

Adrianna has decided that she was no longer going to be a good sleeper and that she was going to wake up in the middle of the night sometimes several times, or that she wasn't going to sleep in her bed. I at first thought this was due to the transition of sharing time with Joe and I - he has them every other weekend so I was giving her the benefit of the doubt - but now that it has been several months (4 to be exact), I want to sleep in my own bed and not on the couch or recliner with a toddler clinging to me.

Last night was the night I decided to start the sleep re-training for Miss Adrianna. I picked her up from day care and warned the provider she may be grouchy for the next couple of days as tough love night was starting - at this point I was still half thinking to myself I hope I make it I am such a whimp when it comes to letting my kids cry it out...BUT then Adri decided to tell Jessica (the most awesome child care lady EVER) how all she has to do is "jump and cry in my bed and mommy comes and gets me"
I just looked at Jessica and said "OH MY GOD, she totally has me pegged" well that was it; this was a challenge at this point - and anyone who knows me I don't go down easily when a challenge is presented.

So the time came - I purposely started the bedtime routine early as I knew that the ear piercing sounds that were to come out of the room were not going to be good and that they would last for a while -

Jammies on, teeth brushed, books read, water cup filled - kisses to Quentin and then Adri and I started upstairs, she told me all about being a big girl and sleeping in her bed all night - until we walked into the room then the crying started. I told her it was night time and that it was time to sleep. I also told her that once I left her room that I would see her in the morning and she needed to be a big girl and go to sleep. Put her in her crib and the SCREAMING promptly started, I told her I loved her and see you in the morning...the time was 7:37 pm.

Quentin and I sat on the couch and he held my hand and told me it was going to be ok - he is such a sweet kid.

I called a friend who gave me a pep talk and told me that this was necessary and that in the long run it will be good for everyone in the house. He also told me that I had to be strong and that I could make it. I played a couple games of Angry Birds...I looked at the clock and it was only 7:47 pm. TEN FRICKING MINUTES is all that had passed and I was already wanting to throw in the towel.

I set up the tent in the living room for Quentin - we watched a little TV ... after an hour of listening to the non stop calling for me and screaming the crying started to slow down surely she was tiring herself out - Quentin was done with listening to the crying at this point and said "mom can't you hear her calling you" I told him that she had to learn to sleep in her bed and that this is how she was going to learn.

Then it happened - it was quiet - I looked at the clock it was 9:28 pm she cried almost 2 hours and then gave in - I cried a little bit because I felt like the worst parent in the world that I hadn't comforted her to sleep and I could hear her on the monitor with the little whimper that all kids do after a hard cry -I went to bed myself because I didn't know what the rest of the night would be like...she slept all night not a peep from the room.

I left for work this morning before she woke up but have asked Jessica to make a BIG deal out of the fact that she slept in her bed all night like a big girl...

Hopefully tonight won't be so bad, I know there will be crying but am hoping (wishful thinking I know) that the crying doesn't last 2 hours again...

Final Weight for March

I weighed in yesterday I was expecting the scale to groan. MY week has been filled with stress and I dealt with it by making not so good food choices or keeping track of my points completely. I waited in line and then it was my turn the receptionist said "how are you today" my response was "I will tell you after I see what the scale says" so I stepped on the scale and waited to hear the groan...there was no groan I actually managed to loose a pound - not the 2 pounds that I needed to lose in order to meet my goal but none the less it was a loss when I was expecting a gain. I received my 25 pound loss medal - which will go on the key chain that I receive when I hit my 10%. I will make my goal next week for crying out loud it is one pound. I am happy to report that I have purchased a smaller size in both jeans and slacks - I was told by a co-worker this past week that my pants looked awful and they did look pretty bad, they just hang there. I will post a picture next week when I have reached my goal! I continue to be excited as I proceed on this journey.

Weigh Day

Wednesday's are my normal weigh in days for Weight Watchers. I was actually not confident about today's weigh in, I made OK choices this weekend, however had a girls night which included dinner and drinks with a girl friend (she is also on program).

I grabbed my card and stood in line, waiting for my turn on the dreaded scale. It was my turn I stepped up signed in and onto the scale I went. The gal who weighed me said "WOW you had a good week" I thought she was going to say I had lost a pound - but my total weight loss for the week was 4.2 pounds!!! So today I reached the 20 pound loss mark! I have 6 more pounds before hitting my 10% I will for sure hit this by my goal by the end of March

Cooking dinner has become such a chore...

The past couple of months I have found myself in a food rut. I take the samething in my "food bag" everyday to work..yogurt, fruit, and salad. For dinner I also find that we are in a rut, I feel like I don't even need to make a grocery list when I go to the store.
So this weekend the kids have been with Joe and I have actually been home all weekend, which is the first time since November that I have had so much time on my own. I am not complaining, I did help my mom host a surprise baby shower for a good friend, got a pedicure and managed to sleep in.
I also decided that I am going to expand our dinner menus for the week. I made a menu (which I usually do) for each day of the week, made my grocery list accordingly for the items that I didn't have in either the freezer or the pantry. I have also gone a step farther and decided that the meals that I have planned for the week can mostly be made ahead of time or at least started and put in the freezer so that all I have to do is pull it out and heat.

So what is on the menu you may be asking...

Taco Soup - this is a crock pot meal which is so easy just open the cans of ingredients dump in the crock pot (I LOVE MY CROCK POT) I will put the canned stuff together the night before put in the fridge and the morning all I have to do is brown the hamburger add to soup mix and turn on the crock pot - when we get home from work, school and day care it will be all ready!

Sticky Chicken - another easy crock pot meal...season the whole chicken the night before and let it sit in the fridge pull out the next day put in the crock pot and let it work it's magical powers! It will be ready when we come home. I will put together a green salad and make some rice to go along with the chicken!

Chicken Tacos - using left over chicken from the night before
Spaghetti -
Lasagna -

Planning and preparing meals ahead will also make cooking dinner less of a chore.

Let