First Day of Preschool!

Fletcher had a great day at preschool! He walked right in, greeted his teachers, said goodbye to Mommy and started playing with play dough! When I picked him up, he was happy and excited to tell me about his day. So proud of my boy!

Where do Babies Come From?

Yes, I was asked this question last night while giving Fletcher his bath. This has never been a taboo subject at our house: we call things what they are and always answered questions and talked about things honestly and as straight-forward as possible in the most age-appropriate terms. But this was the first time that Fletcher just came out with the question " Where do babies come from?" Thankfully we had recently had a wonderful book from the library called When You Were Inside Mommy by Joanna Cole that is perfect for this age. I'd also recommend Who Has a Belly Button? by Mary Batton which describes what makes us mammals. I discovered this one when Fletcher asked over a year ago "Why do we have belly buttons?" and "Do cats have belly buttons?" I still have to paraphrase this one a little while reading, but it's good. Last night, Fletcher also wanted to know if a Mommy and Daddy could choose a boy or a girl and was excited to know that it's always a surprise!

A Few of Our Favorite Things

Thought I'd share a few of our favorite things in hopes that all of you would share, too!
Books for Mommy: mysteries by Janet Evanovich, Lawrence Block, and Dick Francis.
Books for Fletcher that we just discovered: Mr. and Mrs. Green books by Keith Baker, non-fiction about how things are made from the Start to Finish series by Robin Nelson, and A Boy and His Bunny by Sean Bryan.
Music: Hit or Miss Band (NC bluegrass band that I discovered last fall. They will be playing live the first Saturday in October at the Orchard at Altapass in Little Switzerland, NC and I'll be there!), Firecracker by Wailin' Jennys, Go Baby Go by Baby Loves Jazz, Dan Zanes (funky, folksy, children's music), and Roger Day (fun, intelligent lyrics that even parents will find themselves singing along with. I turned Tonya and her kids on to Roger Day and now they love him, too!).
Software: Tonka Construction and Tonka Firefighter have been popular at my house for several months now.
Can't recommend any good videos. We watch the same things over and over, so I'd love some recommendations in that area!

First Day of Preschool?

Well, can you believe that we missed the first day of preschool this year? Fletcher started coughing and had a fever Tuesday night. I could have cried when I realized he was getting sick. We had so much illness last school year to last us for a while! We headed to the doctor yesterday and Fletcher has the croup.

Wikipedia defines coup (sometimes referred to as croup syndrome or laryngotracheobronchitis) as a respiratory disease which afflicts infants and young children, typically aged between 3 months and 3 years. The respiratory symptoms are caused by inflammation of the larynx and upper airway, with resultant narrowing of the airway.

Croup is characterized by a harsh 'barking' cough, inspiratory stridor (a high-pitched sound heard on inhalation), nausea/vomiting, and fever. Hoarseness is usually present. More severe cases will have respiratory distress.

The 'barking' cough (often described as a "seal like bark") of croup is diagnostic. Stridor will be provoked or worsened by agitation or crying.

Yes, that's exactly what he has. We're hoping to be doing better in a few days and back to school on Monday.

Beginner's Day

Today we visited St. Alban's for Beginner's Day for the 2007-2008 school year. Fletcher did well going in to the school and classroom, hugged Mrs. Meg, entered his classroom and greeted the teachers and his friends, found the potty, and played in various centers. He especially liked the kitchen area and the construction play mat. Hopefully, he will do as well tomorrow when Mommy and Daddy aren't there with him. We headed over to the Sandlot afterwards and played with school friends.

Labor Day by the Lake

We spent another day by the lake on Labor Day. It was warmer than the past few days, but still very pleasant. We had a picnic of sandwiches on the grass, played in the sand, swung in a swing by the lake, played "I Spy with my Little Eye" for things on the water, walked along the 'beach' and had some nice family time. Fletcher enjoyed collecting sticks and then he and Ed pretended to build a campfire and we all 'roasted marshmallows.'

Park, Pizza, and Ice Cream

Fletcher and I were inspired by our outing yesterday and headed back to the lake this morning. We went to Jetton Park and played in the sand near the water, built with sticks and rocks, played pirates, and just enjoyed the scenery and being outdoors. The weather was perfect this morning: upper 70's with a slight breeze. So glad I left my weekend job! This evening we met the Harrington's for pizza at Brooklyn South in Cornelius and then we went for a scoop of ice cream at Carolina Cones in Davidson. Great Saturday!