Our little explorer

"After tomorrow, he'll change forever," said the person who's usually the least dramatic in our family, last night.

Today, was Aidan's first day at Little Explorers preschool. It was quite a nerve wracking experience.  But not, so it seems, for the little guy. 

At breakfast, you could tell Erin and I were nervous about his first day, getting him out of the house and drop-off, as we didn't stop asking him questions and talking to him - desperately trying to make the time go quicker so we could see what was going to happen.

Aidy pinches his mum's breakfast to get ready for his day at school

At the open evening, a couple of weeks ago, we were given a checklist of things we had to take on his first day.  It was more than some take on a two week cruise. 

When he left our house this morning, his backpack was full of shorts, shirts and undies; his dummy, blanket and bumblebee pillow. Then there was his sleeping bag - an alligator which eats him up before he sleeps. And lastly, there was his bag with his binder, sunscreen, insect repellent, wipes and morphine for his teachers (OK, no morphine). 

I checked all three bags threes times. Looks like Erin did too as there were a few different things in each times I checked.

We drilled him on potential questions

It was my drop off today and that's been Erin's job until now. But as the place is near my work, I get that pleasure. I'm used to Erin telling of an often clingy little boy. So to say I was wracked with nerves is kind of an understatement.

Well, at 7:30 - 15 minutes before planned - Aidan and I set about our merry way. We didn't sing nursery rhymes as I'm sure some parents make their kids do, but we listened to NPR's headlines for a bit, just in case he was asked about what was going on in the world.  And if he was, which he didn't seem to be (standards must be slipping in schools these days), he would have been able to say that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is going to free some US hostages, Obama was on the campaign trail and Wisconsin has sworn in their new Democrats.

After that we talked about school, looked for trucks and buses, and he counted from 6 to 11, adding twenty for a final touch.

When we got there, Aidy dragged his sleeping bag to the entrance and I dragged the other two. All was going well until we entered the classroom and there was no-one there. His hand gripped me harder than ever and I could hear his mind ticking, thinking - you're not going to leave me here are you?

The class was next door waiting for everyone to turn up.  And when they returned, so did Aidy's smile and colour in his cheeks. He played a little with the kids on the sensory table and gave his sleeping bag to Miss Julie saying, "it's an alligator."

He seemed fine.  I on the other hand, had to be guided to his locker, find out where to put his binder and almost put the sunscreen in the wrong place.  I was becoming a bit of an awkward mess at this stage.

Aidy then spied the box he'd played with last time containing trains and cars. That's when I new drop-off was going to be a success. I said bye and he didn't even notice. 

The last moment of drop off - you can't see, but we're both smiling

After that, who knows what really went on but he came up with a great report card:

He had a great day! He happily went through the day enjoying the new toys and reading stories. Very talkative and a real joy to have in class :)

At least he didn't get the old "could do better" like the old man often got.

Erin picked him up.  She got there just as the other kids were preparing to go out on the slide.  This was possibly the first time he didn't have a beaming smile for her when he saw her, "but we go outside on the side, mama," was the reply.  After a little whining he got in the car and went they home.

I put him to bed tonight and it took a few times of me returning to him for him to calm down. But on my last chat with him he told me about his new best friends, Ttttoooooeeemms, Urrssssssleee, Aaannnnnoooaaa - I'll get the correct spellings later.

His story went a bit like this:

Urrssssssleee new best friend. Fun but she cry. Miss her mummy. I say I miss mummy too. Boo hoo. Then mummy pick me up and happy.

Great bedtime story.

Tractors and trains

On Sunday, we went to seth and Alissa's for breakfast then the boys (and Amelia) set off to go to the Threshers train and tractor fair in Edgerton. It's only a few miles away so wouldn't take 10 minutes to get there.

An hour and half later, due to cars getting stuck in the mud, we arrived.

It was quite the exhibition of all things steam and combustion. Needless to say we got covered in soot and the train was the highlight for Aidy.

Aidy at the helm

Aidy and Seth mechanically milling corn

Train rules

Pat and Amelia taking in the view

Aidy practicing his royal wave from the train

A proud moment for the boy

We saw a lot more than this which we preferred to commit to memory rather than photos - that and the chief photographer was out with the girls.

There was even a parade of tractors showing the evolution of the vehicle. For something which is technically boring to me, it was quite the sight.

But the highlight for me was the journey there.  During the traffic jam, Uncle Seth and Aidy would constantly tell Pat to "go faster, Pat," to fits of giggles. While Aidy learnt the term old fogey. But I won't tell you who that was aimed at.

Milwaukee Zoo

This weekend was fun packed, as you'll see in the next few posts. The rain tried, but didn't put a stop to our fun.

We saw giraffes, apes, penguins and wild cats at the zoo but you'll have to wait for the video to be put together for those.

Starting the day with train ride - and a rare family photo

The favor is returned for Pat, Amelia and Roby

The view from our carriage.

Escaping the raindrops we visited the dairy area. It seems that Amelia loves tractors more than Aidy.

Aidan tells daddy that even though it's cold outside, this isn't a Friesian. Pull the udder one Aidy.

Camping

We ventured into the deep dark Wisconsin Dells to Mirror Lake one weekend in August with Pat, Roby and Amelia.

Before

During

Matching camping chairs for the cousins

Batman came too

And we had lots of fun

We did the usual camping stuff: campfire, bbq, got rained on, played in parks, fumbled around getting the tent up, went for a hike and swim, forgot things, ate great food and moaned about having to wash the tent when we got home.  Like I said, it was great fun.

Gardening

This Spring and Summer we put our garden together. My dad built the raised beds when he was over, Erin planted the seeds in March and we have all been watering ever since.

Here's our little garden plot. The peas and beans have long gone. But you should still be able to see the tomatoes, green peppers, cucumber and broccoli - no zucchini (courgette) we failed on that one.

Aidan's not the best eater in the world but he does like anything we pick from the garden.

Split shfts

Aidan wasn't well the other day. He went to bed at night with some Tylenol and was due Ibuprofen at 2am.

We decided to split the nightshift. I took the first half and after a few bouts of crying from him, I went into his room. He had a rough time between 10pm and 1am. But from 1-2 he slept fine,awaking with a jolt at 2 when he needed his meds.

It was a bit of a comedy of errors as I tripped up and bumped into his bed while giving him his dose of Tylenol. He woke further and started asking where my pillow was, randomly. I decided things could get done quicker with the light on. But when it shone he immediately saw his cup with the animals on it and started doing impressions of elephants.

I thought I was never going to get him back to sleep. But after he'd taken the meds and the light was switched off he turned over and found a deep comfort. I, on the other hand, was awake for a couple of hours. He ended up sleeping all the way through until 7 - all of Erin's shift.

Breakfast

The other day, we were a bit busy and Aidy was desperate for his waffles. There was apparently no time for get get to the table. He had to devour them where they were being prepared.