There is a lot in the news lately about early education. I just finished reading this article in the SF Chronicle about the decisions to either start your kid in Kindergarten at the age of 4 or "redshirt" a kid until they are six.
You see, Cobalt was born November 10. The current cutoff in California is December 5. That means that, if we want, Cobalt could enter Kindergarten while he is still 4 (three years from now). As far as I can tell, we would have the option to hold him back if we don't think he is ready. Apparently, there is legislation on the table that would move the date up to September 30 by the time he is "ready" to start kindergarten.
Now, I think it's too early to tell whether or not he will be ready for kindergarten in 3 years or 4. But Cobalt is big for his age, seems to be a "nice kid" (at least that's what everyone else tells me) and he doesn't appear to be dumb. However, he is, compared to other of our friends, a late-talker. Just recently he began to use words for most things, and can go through the Richard Scarry books and shout out his words for planes, trucks, cars and even chicken!
Since I've never been around kids of this age, I have no metric for where he is supposed to be, development-wise. So I have no idea if he is actually "smart", "slow" or just plain average. I think we've always assumed that he would enter school early, due to the simple fact that he is so big. Even if he were able to start Kindergarten when he is still 4, he will most likely be one of the bigger kids in the class. If he has to wait another year, he will almost certainly be the biggest.
At this point, it seems almost absurd to think about it, but after reading articles like this, it comes to the front of the mind. Furthermore, we are hoping to start him in preschool next fall, as well.
Only time will tell.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Premature blogging
Well, I guess I spoke too soon. I had nothing to do with his bedding behavior. He woke up with a nasty snotty cold. I guess he was just tired.
Mom is now back and so is the bottle. We'll see how his sleep goes.
Mom is now back and so is the bottle. We'll see how his sleep goes.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
ch...ch...ch...ch...Changes!
Shit, things seem to be progressing fast around here. I posted before about him starting to talk more. But that's not even it. Every thing he does every day seems to be new and improved over yesterday. Let me shoot off a few examples here...
Dogs...Just today, he started to call Teeva, "T.C.", which is what I use sometimes when calling her (it stands for Teeva Chiro). Not only that, we were getting ready to take (all four) dogs out for our evening walk and Teeva was, of course, lagging behind. So he started yelling down the hallway, "TC...cmn", which I translated as "come on". Furthermore, after we got outside and TC was waiting on the top step and Cobalt was half-way down already (by himself and upright, thank you very much) he turned around and went back up and pushed on her butt to force her to get down.
Sleep... I suppose I should mention that Kyle is out of town, working on a courthouse renovation (she's the Project Architect, and defacto PM) in Fresno. (Apparently, they need more courtrooms to handle all the meth cookers in the area.)
Anyway, Cobalt's still been having a hell of a time getting to sleep at night, usually requiring a bottle of two of milk and his father having to put him back to bed a couple of times and/or his mother lying with him in bed until he falls asleep. Well, for the last two nights, it's been dad reading him a couple of stories and then goodnight. Last night, when I went to leave his room, he wanted a bottle (after refusing one 1/2-hour previous). Tonight, when I put the little angel down, he gave about 4 kisses, and as I got up to leave, instead of crying or getting out of bed, he just gave me a little wave and rolled over to go to sleep.
My friends, you have no idea how big this is for us. We've tried a number of things to get him to go and stay asleep at night. First, we tried a "routine"...that didn't last long as neither Kyle, me or Cobalt could adhere to it. Then we found him a new bed on craigslist. Then Kyle made some blankets for him... the first one was great and the second one, well, I really don't know what she was thinking.
So last week we went comforter shopping. After spending nearly an hour and a half in the stupid Bed, Bath and Beyond, we came out of there with nothing, as all they had was either shit or out of stock. I then went to Ikea to pick one up...it was cheaper and nicer. After getting the new comforter, he has slept through the night, without getting up to snuggle with mom, several times. I guess I can't take all the credit for his better sleep, but I'd like to think I helped in some way.
shoes... he has been very unwilling to wear any shoes on his feet for several weeks, or has it been months. We'd gotten him several pairs of chuck taylor's as they seemed to be the best for his high instep. We also have been buying him Teva sandals, too. Both have helped, but for the last couple of weeks, he didn't want the sandals or the chucks. Finally, last week, I took him up to the shoe store on Haight that has the chucks. Even though I hate Haight street, I was already there to pick up some contacts for Kyle, so I figured "what the hell". And I wheeled the boy over to see if he'd be interested in another pair. Lo and behold, he wanted another pair of red high-tops. So I got him a size 8 this time, up from the sevens. He put them right on and wore them out the store. They seemed a little long, but after a few trots, he was no longer stumbling.
This past weekend, on our shopping excursion to the gap and old navy, namely for jeans for me and pj's for him, Kyle found some high-tops on sale that were even better for his high instep than chucks...they lace down just as low, but they are more wedge-like than ankle-fitting, so his foot doesn't get smooshed. After two days at school, he reportedly has only taken one shoe off once.
Geez, I wonder what he's going to do tomorrow...start drawing?
Dogs...Just today, he started to call Teeva, "T.C.", which is what I use sometimes when calling her (it stands for Teeva Chiro). Not only that, we were getting ready to take (all four) dogs out for our evening walk and Teeva was, of course, lagging behind. So he started yelling down the hallway, "TC...cmn", which I translated as "come on". Furthermore, after we got outside and TC was waiting on the top step and Cobalt was half-way down already (by himself and upright, thank you very much) he turned around and went back up and pushed on her butt to force her to get down.
Sleep... I suppose I should mention that Kyle is out of town, working on a courthouse renovation (she's the Project Architect, and defacto PM) in Fresno. (Apparently, they need more courtrooms to handle all the meth cookers in the area.)
Anyway, Cobalt's still been having a hell of a time getting to sleep at night, usually requiring a bottle of two of milk and his father having to put him back to bed a couple of times and/or his mother lying with him in bed until he falls asleep. Well, for the last two nights, it's been dad reading him a couple of stories and then goodnight. Last night, when I went to leave his room, he wanted a bottle (after refusing one 1/2-hour previous). Tonight, when I put the little angel down, he gave about 4 kisses, and as I got up to leave, instead of crying or getting out of bed, he just gave me a little wave and rolled over to go to sleep.
My friends, you have no idea how big this is for us. We've tried a number of things to get him to go and stay asleep at night. First, we tried a "routine"...that didn't last long as neither Kyle, me or Cobalt could adhere to it. Then we found him a new bed on craigslist. Then Kyle made some blankets for him... the first one was great and the second one, well, I really don't know what she was thinking.
So last week we went comforter shopping. After spending nearly an hour and a half in the stupid Bed, Bath and Beyond, we came out of there with nothing, as all they had was either shit or out of stock. I then went to Ikea to pick one up...it was cheaper and nicer. After getting the new comforter, he has slept through the night, without getting up to snuggle with mom, several times. I guess I can't take all the credit for his better sleep, but I'd like to think I helped in some way.
shoes... he has been very unwilling to wear any shoes on his feet for several weeks, or has it been months. We'd gotten him several pairs of chuck taylor's as they seemed to be the best for his high instep. We also have been buying him Teva sandals, too. Both have helped, but for the last couple of weeks, he didn't want the sandals or the chucks. Finally, last week, I took him up to the shoe store on Haight that has the chucks. Even though I hate Haight street, I was already there to pick up some contacts for Kyle, so I figured "what the hell". And I wheeled the boy over to see if he'd be interested in another pair. Lo and behold, he wanted another pair of red high-tops. So I got him a size 8 this time, up from the sevens. He put them right on and wore them out the store. They seemed a little long, but after a few trots, he was no longer stumbling.
This past weekend, on our shopping excursion to the gap and old navy, namely for jeans for me and pj's for him, Kyle found some high-tops on sale that were even better for his high instep than chucks...they lace down just as low, but they are more wedge-like than ankle-fitting, so his foot doesn't get smooshed. After two days at school, he reportedly has only taken one shoe off once.
Geez, I wonder what he's going to do tomorrow...start drawing?
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Ham and Potatoes
Last night, after putting hime to bed, Cobalt got up and started crying. We were in the backyard, enjoying the clear skies and fresh air. We put him back...he got back up. Turns out, he had a poopsie-diapie.
While I was changing him, and we were holding our noses and saying, "stinky! stinky!", I asked him what he had for lunch that made him so stinky. Well, he started to mumble and I could swear that what came out of his mouth was that they had ham and potatoes and that it was "mmmmmmmm".
Now, maybe I was halucinating or just had wishfull thinking, but I think he really did make that statement...of coarse, it could have been hamburgers with tomatoes, too.
While I was changing him, and we were holding our noses and saying, "stinky! stinky!", I asked him what he had for lunch that made him so stinky. Well, he started to mumble and I could swear that what came out of his mouth was that they had ham and potatoes and that it was "mmmmmmmm".
Now, maybe I was halucinating or just had wishfull thinking, but I think he really did make that statement...of coarse, it could have been hamburgers with tomatoes, too.
Monday, September 11, 2006
More Opera
This past Sunday was Opera in the Park. I forgot my camera, so forgive me for not getting any pictures up. The weather was fantastic, I even ran around showing everyone my big fat white hairy belly. Cobalt was fantastic! Only ate (or tried to eat) the neighbor's picnic food twice. He had no tantrums, was very quiet the whole time, and learned how to buckle the buckle on the stroller. I couldn't have asked for a better day out of the kid.
A strange thing, though, happened as I took him for a walk around the park during intermission. You see, he and I went barefoot. Well, we are in SF, and it was a beautiful day, and well, have you ever tried to put shoes on Cobalt when he doesn't want them? Anyway, we were walking around like a couple of hippies, just enjoying ourselves and the little bit of excercise and minding our own fucking business. A number of people we passed, however, made snide remarks about his feet beeing cold, or careful of the grass, etc. Fuck them! It's my kid and if he wants to walk around barefoot with my permission he fucking can. He's not cold, he hate's shoes and has leather soles, and mind your own fucking business.
Sorry about the rant.
Next stop, another ball game on Wednesday. I think he's really going to enjoy the slide this time...
A strange thing, though, happened as I took him for a walk around the park during intermission. You see, he and I went barefoot. Well, we are in SF, and it was a beautiful day, and well, have you ever tried to put shoes on Cobalt when he doesn't want them? Anyway, we were walking around like a couple of hippies, just enjoying ourselves and the little bit of excercise and minding our own fucking business. A number of people we passed, however, made snide remarks about his feet beeing cold, or careful of the grass, etc. Fuck them! It's my kid and if he wants to walk around barefoot with my permission he fucking can. He's not cold, he hate's shoes and has leather soles, and mind your own fucking business.
Sorry about the rant.
Next stop, another ball game on Wednesday. I think he's really going to enjoy the slide this time...
F***ing Dogs
Ok, so we got asked on Labor Day to dogsit a coupld of dogs that we've sat before. As it turns out, we have these dogs for almost 2 whole weeks! We've taken these dogs in before, and always have little problems with them, but we can usually deal. This time, however, I think the problems are getting bigger and I don't know if we can deal anymore...
Dog A, who has bitten my toe before and sent his mother for stitches twice, bit Cobalt the other night. The dog was lying on Cobalt's bed and Cobalt went over and gave a pat and he put a whole in the kid's hand. Nothing bad, but there was blood and this is entirely unacceptable. This dog has a 4 month old baby at home, and once the kid get's into the discovery age...look out! I hope he doesn't lose any digits.
Dog B, whose only usual problem is pissing on furniture or the floor, has taken to eating the back door. Now that we have a yard, we've been putting the mutts in the back yard during the day with Teeva, so as not to cause any distress or destruction. Well, the door is fuct but fixable (I hope) and I've installed some gurads to hopefully prevent it from doing any more damage.
I fucking hate small dogs!
Dog A, who has bitten my toe before and sent his mother for stitches twice, bit Cobalt the other night. The dog was lying on Cobalt's bed and Cobalt went over and gave a pat and he put a whole in the kid's hand. Nothing bad, but there was blood and this is entirely unacceptable. This dog has a 4 month old baby at home, and once the kid get's into the discovery age...look out! I hope he doesn't lose any digits.
Dog B, whose only usual problem is pissing on furniture or the floor, has taken to eating the back door. Now that we have a yard, we've been putting the mutts in the back yard during the day with Teeva, so as not to cause any distress or destruction. Well, the door is fuct but fixable (I hope) and I've installed some gurads to hopefully prevent it from doing any more damage.
I fucking hate small dogs!
Thursday, September 07, 2006
The next time we fly
I heard this story on Marketplace on the way home yesterday. It's a new seatbelt-type thing that just got approved by the FAA for flying with a toddler.
It looks just like a half-way normal seatbelt that converts the airplane lap-belt into a 5-point harness. It's just $74.95, which I find a little steap for what it is. But compared to lugging a carseat along, it's gotta be worth it.
It looks just like a half-way normal seatbelt that converts the airplane lap-belt into a 5-point harness. It's just $74.95, which I find a little steap for what it is. But compared to lugging a carseat along, it's gotta be worth it.
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