Precautions

I received an email with this link in it yesterday, advising daycare providers about protecting against the swine flu. I thought it might be helpful to post. We are ordinarily quite diligent with the handwashing and disinfecting, but please be reassured that we are trying to be extra careful right now!

It seems like the symptoms are very similar to just regular flu that would be no big deal in general situations- but please, if your child seems to be feeling off, take them to the doctor as a precautionary measure. And note that it says kids must be kept out of daycare for an entire week *after* the fever is gone if swine flu is suspected or present.

We really need a zero tolerance policy on this issue..... don't travel out of the country or bring us a sick child, please!

Bite Me.

Can I just go on record as saying that biting is my very least favorite of all the bad habits of toddlers? I would rather deal with just about anything else than that.

We haven't had a serial biter here in years. The last one was about five years ago and we ended up having to ask him to leave- his father even came to shadow him for the day and try to redirect him so it wouldn't happen. He was sitting IN HIS DADDY'S LAP and still leaned over and bit somebody on the face.

So. O'Malley just bit somebody. And I think he must have done it once last week too when I didn't catch him. And I can't fire him because he's my kid. Right now I want to though. I HATE BITING. I feel awful. Solitary confinement is imminent. A buckle chair on the sad wall. For a long time.

Messy Boys

I know I just talked about Scamp and Simba yesterday- I try to make things even when I can, but this is funny.

They like spaghetti just a little bit:

Mr. Scamp

Scamp's been here going on two weeks now and is settling in nicely. He's about a month older than Simba and their real names rhyme. It's kind of funny- they're always playing together and they both turn around when I call one of their names because they're similar.

The disney Scamp is the cute puppy of Lady and the Tramp, in case you wondered where I got the name. It's this guy:



I love his eyes and his cute bouncy energy. Reminds me of our boy. :)

Scamp and Simba stuffing coins in the piggy bank and both looking up when I call one of them.


Riding the scooter out in the backyard.


He's got the longest eyelashes I've ever seen on a kid. Totally adorable.

Breakfast

Yum. We agreed we were in the mood for something substantial for breakfast today. Of course, that meant lots of cooking and oven time and we didn't finish eating until a little after 10. Oh well. I made a breakfast casserole with tater tots, bacon, eggs, cheese, and onions. It was very tasty. Ariel and Sebastian picked the bacon out and wouldn't try the rest, but everybody else loved it and there's none left.

The littler "big kids" really got into it-

Scamp had three helpings and ate with great zest. It was quite the job to clean him up after he was done. :)

Aurora doesn't look particularly excited here, but I caught the picture right after she finished smiling. I picked a few plain tater tots out and broke them up for her, along with some chunks of apple. I don't think she actually got much in her mouth, but she sure loves sitting in a chair and getting to eat the same food as all the bigger kids.


Simba, eating well as usual.

And in other news, I'm working on updating the sidebar links- I'm going to write an updated post on each kiddo with pictures and link them. So I took that part down and I'll be putting it back up gradually as I get a chance.

It Sounds Normal To Us

Transitioning from the corporate world to the daycare life has been fun for Kanga. (We decided to call her Kanga, and her little girl Roo. So cute! I had originally called her Mulan but it doesn't fit her as well and this way they match. Now we just need to think of something to call me.) Anyway, Kanga was talking about how there are so many things we say at work every day that are perfectly normal, appropriate, teachable moments... and if you heard them at work anywhere else you'd be really alarmed or at least do a double take. We thought we'd make a list.

• Please put your pants back on.
• No, wait, your underwear is inside out. Take it off and fix it first.
• Panties are private.
• Did you just LICK him? Really?
  
• Nobody needs to see your belly.
• What is that wet spot on your clothes?
• What is that smell? is that you?
• Stop sitting on his head.
• Quit licking your snot. You need a kleenex.
• Don't put your hands in other people's pockets!
• It makes your ear feel wet when you put celery in it.
• How did you get meat between your toes?
  

We'll keep a running list- I know there are tons of things that happen every day that make us laugh. :) What else have you heard from kids lately? Or what has come out of your mouth that surprised you?

Quick Sebastian-isms

"Oh! A new car! That makes me a lot of happy!"

"Peaches for snack? Peaches are NOT for boys."

"Can I have some more peaches?"

"Can I have some MORE peaches?"

"Peaches are for boys....."

CPR and First Aid

Our certification expires before too long and we are set to go to a renewal class on April 27 at 6:30. It's $32 and if you'd like to get CPR training, please let us know. You're welcome to join us!

Bulletpoint List

I do enjoy a nice list from time to time.

• Bianca got her ears pierced over the weekend and I am absolutely paralyzed by the cuteness. Pictures soon.
• We have yet another new friend! He's pretty close to Simba's age.
  
• Only two more openings left now, and five people have called asking about the spots. It will be interesting to see who we end up with.
• I'm hopeful it will be dry enough in the yard to go out today. I got a huge new set of bubble wands and a jug of bubbles last week and the kids are frothing at the mouth to get out there and spill it all over themselves play with the bubbles.
• I still need to do an introduction post for Chip. He's Belle's little brother, so I thought Chip (like the little teacup, not the rescue ranger) was a good name. :)
  

Sleep

It does a body good.

Reminder

School will be closed on Friday, April 10.

Happy Passover!
Happy Easter! :)

Personnel Change!

It occurs to me that if I'm going to keep introducing new kids, I really need to mention the fact that there's a new Daycare Girl here too. As the list of kids gets longer, it looks more and more crazy that I would be here by myself with all these babies. I'm a licensed facility, so I can have up to 12 kids if there's a second adult here. We're working on getting up to 12. I like switching things around every now and then, and I've been working by myself for the last four years. For three years before that, I did daycare at my mom's house and the two of us had 12. It was FUN. I love finding somebody else who loves kids and can help plan fun activities, and let's face it, it's nice to have somebody to talk to during the day who doesn't expect me to wipe some sort of bodily fluid off of them. :)

My weird sense of humor wants to give us mean Disney names, like the two evil stepsisters or a couple of villains. But that's probably not the best idea. I don't really want to go around being Cruella. I'll probably just still be Daycare Girl, and I'll ask her what she wants to be when she gets here. She's got a little girl who's in between Aurora and Bianca in age, so it works out well. I'm looking forward to lots of fun times.

Roly Poly Bugs

Yesterday I spun them around on our little octopus merry go round until I couldn't do it anymore. With four or five kids sitting on it, that doesn't really take long. They're used to me giving up quickly, and one of them will generally refer to my "tired little noodle arms". They know me well. Anyway, they asked if I would move it out a few feet so they had room to run around it and take turns spinning each other instead. Bonus.

I don't move it very often because it kills the grass underneath and it's kind of muddy and gross. I scooted it over a bit and they got to see a huge den? (nest? what do you call it?) of roly poly bugs.

And ooh, now I am totally going to print that out as a coloring sheet and teach them all about it.

But anyway. There were about fifty of them all milling around and the girls were immediately fascinated. Duchess, Ariel, and Tinkerbell (who was back visiting for the day) were fighting over who could catch more of them, gathering them by the handful, letting them crawl up their arms...

And Sebastian was standing on top of the merry go round screaming. "BUGS! YUCK!"

I love that we're all about breaking down the gender stereotypes here. :)

Ariel got to sixteen, I think, before her handful got so big she was going to squish them if she tried to put more in.


Sebastian, in the blue plaid, never would get down or touch them, but he did get brave enough to lean over and look a bit more closely.