5 years, 7 months/3 years, 5 months.

These 4 besties are frequently mistaken for siblings.

5 years, 7 months/3 years, 5 months.

Getting older but no less snuggly.  When we're reading, Connor always asks me to "put your arm around me."  He has also crawled into bed with us around 6:30 am a few times recently.  He stands right in front of me until his stare wakes me up, waits for me to open up the covers, and then climbs in for a cuddle.

5 years, 7 months/3 years, 5 months.

Clown car at the 3rd St playground!

5 years, 7 months/3 years, 5 months.

Graham and Lily have a lot to discuss after a long day at school (sitting 10 feet apart), but Graham saved a little bandwidth for helping Connor get a drink.  Graham's strengths: leadership, helping; Graham's corresponding weaknesses: giving people space and independence.

5 years, 7 months/3 years, 5 months.

Graham asked today if he is old enough to learn to ride a bike without training wheels, so we gave it a try.  We didn't get very far, but spirits were high and no knees were skinned, so will call it a win.  

5 years, 7 months/3 years, 5 months.

Another good game for the Penguins!

Therese's e-mail of the week, entitled "Hands and feet feel":

Hi all,

We continue our All About Me unit this week by measuring everyone's
height on our growth chart. During circle when we read One Boy, we
noticed growing flowers similar to the flower on our measuring chart.
People were excited to see how tall they are.

We talked about the weather Monday and listened to see if we could
hear the rain. Since it was still raining we decided much to
everyone's delight, to play in the big room. The children got to
choose what they wanted to play: climb on the jungle gym, ride or push
wheels, care for the babies, ride in the boat, or bounce balls.

The classroom puzzles have been getting plenty of use. The big
airplane puzzle is especially popular. Some of the children told us
they've been in real planes!

Speaking of growth, we traced everyone's hands and feet this week.
Some people are ticklish. They colored them in, using crayons,
markers, and pencils. We made hand prints and foot prints using paint
too. After stepping in paint we walked across a big mural to leave our
tracks. We also walked barefoot across different textures to see what
we could feel with our feet. The children described feeling scratchy,
sticky, soft, fluffy, like a blue net, and rugby.

Friday we had our first fire drill after reading and re-reading
several books about the fire station. We left the building quickly and
quietly. One person said she has been to a real fire station before
and someone else told us, "Fire is hot!"

It was a busy week.

Next week we will paint watercolor pictures and do mini interviews to
create Me books. We will also begin working on our body tracings.

See you all Monday,
Therese

5 years, 7 months/3 years, 5 months.

Connor, Jacob, and Graham used Jacob's wood-building set today.  A uniform was apparently required.  Graham's sweatshirt is Will's, saved by Nana from his kindergarten days.

5 years, 7 months/3 years, 4 months.

Granny Annie came to visit!  We got pizza and went to the Bronx zoo, where we watched the polar bear play with his toys.  It was a great trip, except that we learned a valuable lesson: Graham, fruit, and cars do not mix.  Thanks for spending the afternoon with us, Aunt Mary Ann!

5 years, 7 months/3 years, 4 months.

Soccer season started today.  Graham is on a team with his friends Honor, Archer, and Lily, and a couple other kids.  The team is named, at Graham's suggestion, the "Penguins."  The kids seem to have a better understanding of the game than last year and everyone participated enthusiastically, so we're off to a great start.

Therese's e-mail of the week, entitled "Hokey Pokey and buzzing bees":

Hi mamas and papas,

We began our week using ABC stamps and white paint to decorate our art
folders. We also sang the ABCs, and noticed some people's names begin
with A. We sang Way Down Yonder By The Apple Tree and sang each
person's name. We pretended to put apples in a basket. We read and
reread Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready For Kindergarten and saw that she
was wearing an apple necklace.

We played with shaving cream on the table top. People made circles,
large and small, drew with two hands, their fingertips, and scratched
with fingernails. The next day we did it again but added food
coloring. The children said the shaving cream felt smooth, soft,
sticky, squishy, and like rubber. During circle we sang the Hokey
Pokey. That is what it's all about!

On the way out to the yard we are buzzing like bees or riding on the
little red caboose. In the yard, we have been swinging, digging in the
sandbox, sliding, playing house, and steering the jungle gym.

We have also been taking photos all week for our cubbies and the
attendance chart. The children are helping decide which photos they
like best. We almost have sixteen pictures, but not quite.

Everyone is still learning each other's names. We are reintroducing
people, singing names, spelling names, looking at name cards, and
looking at the photos so far, to see if we can remember the names to
faces. Slowly but surely. These first few weeks, in addition to
learning names, we are all adjusting to the routine, figuring out our
way around the classroom and building, exploring our space, figuring
out what circle time is about, learning to sit criss-cross applesauce,
and how to stick to the peanut butter wall. Among other things.

We are also learning about taking turns, waiting for a turn, giving a
turn, and what exactly it means when your turn is over.

We read My Five Senses and used the Feely Box. It is a box which
allows the children to feel an object with their hands that they
cannot see. After reading the book someone said, "We are using our
sense of touch!" The guesses for the object in the Feely Box were
Lego, roller coaster, cookie cutter, numbers, I don't know, a piece of
metal, and a shirt. During snack the children said they were using
their sense of taste. The children said the apple crisps tasted chewy,
sweet, crunchy, like candy, and like rubber.

We had a great week! It is a pleasure getting to know your lovely children.

Next week we will measure everyone's height to chart growth. We will
also take our first tree picture to begin recording the seasons with a
tree in our yard.

Have a relaxing weekend,
Therese

5 years, 7 months/3 years, 4 months.

One last treat before Grammy heads home: Ample Hills ice cream!  We asked the kids whether they wanted to take a short walk for regular ice cream (Uncle Louie G's) or a long walk for great ice cream (Ample Hills) and they made an excellent choice.

Thank you for coming to visit and help us get through this crazy first week of school/holidays, Grammy!  Come back soon!

5 years, 6 months/3 years, 4 months.

Beautiful weather for one last trip to the beach for the summer!

And happy slightly belated birthday, Will!  41 and still boogey boarding (and running 8 minute miles), not bad.

Therese's e-mail of the week, entitled "Play dough and play":

Hi Everyone,

Welcome back! And welcome to Old First Nursery School!

It was great to see returning faces and meet our new friends. The
first two days went off without a hitch! We had a tiny bit of
separation anxiety but it was mostly left in a cloud of dust.

We spent our time drawing, painting at the easel, working puzzles,
squishing play dough, and coloring our new placemats which will be
used for snacks and lunch all year. We are learning each other's names
singing the Good Morning song. One of the first words most children
read is their name. We are encouraging this by giving each child their
name to put on the attendance chart during circle each day.

We are practicing hand washing skills- after the bathroom and before
eating, pushing our chair in when leaving the table- a great upper
body strengthening exercise, saying please and thank you when asking
for snacks, and cleaning up after ourselves after snacks.

We are working hard at lining up, walking down the stairs, and holding
the rail on our way out to the yard. We did enjoy the yard both days.
Everyone got a turn to use their core muscles on the swing, some
climbed the jungle gym, many slid down. We opened the sandbox too.

Our two first days were successful and we are looking forward to a
great year of learning and growing together.

Next week we will sing some listening songs and decorate our art folders.

Have a fantastic weekend,
Therese

5 years, 6 months/3 years, 4 months.

Beautiful weather for one last trip to the beach for the summer!

And happy slightly belated birthday, Will!  41 and still boogey boarding (and running 8 minute miles), not bad.

5 years, 6 months/3 years, 4 months.

First day of school!  Graham is off to PS 321 for his first day of kindergarten and Connor is going to Old First Nursery School for his first real day of preschool.  (Last year, at just 2 mornings/week felt like a warm-up.)  Both boys enthusiastically raced off to school.  Connor kept that enthusiasm going through drop-off but Graham started feeling some trepidation when it was time for parents to leave.  Poor Graham had a fever last night and isn't feeling great today, but we didn't want him to miss his first chance to meet his teacher and new school friends after a summer of anticipation.

5 years, 6 months/3 years, 4 months.

First day of swim class at the YMCA!  The boys are both "Eels."  They absolutely loved class and had huge smiles on their faces the entire time.

Happy birthday Nana!  We love you and are thinking of you and hoping you feel better very soon!

5 years, 6 months/3 years, 4 months.

Find the fourth kid!

Grammy flew in yesterday to help us with the coming crazy week of school holidays and half-days.  Oh, and it's her birthday, too.  Thanks for spending your birthday with us, Grammy!  We love you!

5 years, 6 months/3 years, 4 months.

The biggest birthday week of the year is this week--time to make some cards!

5 years, 6 months/3 years, 4 months.

Connor helped me mop the floors this morning while Graham taped all the relocated chairs into a giant "trap for catching robbers."  Then they read the paper at the bagel shop.