Aurora Thinks Produce Is Worth the Trip

I love this scene of K-Pax. I can't even remember how the movie ends, but watching him eat that banana makes me happy. I heard it was completely impromptu and that Jeff Bridges didn't know he was going to do it, which makes it even funnier.

Anyway. I have a big fruit basket on my table, and at night when we eat dinner it ends up on the floor behind the table because it inhibits eye contact and conversation. Depending on whose job it is to clear the table, sometimes we forget about it and it's still on the floor in the morning.

Nothing makes Aurora happier.

The word K-Pax has turned into a verb around here, as in, "Oh, get Aurora, she's trying to K-Pax a tangerine!" She never fails to notice when the fruit is down, and apparently she is not deterred by peels one bit. :)

Thanksgiving Prep Work

Tomorrow is our big feast and we've been working on things for almost a week now. My fridge is crammed and we still have to do the dressing and the corn and the turkey.... yum. I can't wait for some good eats tomorrow.

Today we finished making the caramel apple cheesecake, but we began it a few days ago- everybody got a hammer (or a cell phone or a saw, as the case may be) and helped to pound the graham crackers and shortbread cookies to make the crust.


We've also been working on coloring Thanksgiving placemats for everyone. Bianca mostly wants to try to eat the crayons, but she had a good time being included with the big kids.


There are 2 huge pans of mashed potatoes all ready to bake tomorrow- Ariel and Sebastian were fabulous mashers.


I didn't get very many pictures of the potato-fest, but everybody had a job. Counters, washers, driers, peelers, mashers... and then everyone got to be a taster, of course. They have all pronounced it yummy.

Hmmm.....

My Princess Aurora is crying. Granted, it's nearly lunch time, nearly nap time... two good reasons for a small girl to feel cranky. I was in here fixing lunch and she started up, so I went into the playroom. She was just standing there and all six other big kids were watching Magic School Bus and not paying attention. I asked Ariel if she knew why Aurora is sad and she didn't. Which is amazing, actually, because she pretty much knows everything that is happening in the playroom at all times. Therefore I was leaning toward one of the hungry/tired reasons.

Enter O'Malley.

He leans over to me, holding his favorite plastic hammer and says, "I know why she sad. Because I didn't hit her. Ummm.... I think Mulan hit her....."

Poor Mulan- she looked very startled. It wasn't her. I'm just not sure if it was O'Malley. He definitely sounds guilty though.

Thanksgiving!

We are getting ready for our third annual feast! :) Lots to catch up on and no time to write. Evites went out to families today- if you didn't get one, please make sure I have your updated address. I know for sure I'm missing Tinkerbell and Bianca.

Gross Motor Skills at Work

It's Dress-up Day! Pumpkins! Spiders! and all kinds of other woodsy things to finish out our Treehouse Club unit for October. This morning Spiderman, Wubbzy, Rocker Girl, and I spent a LOOOOOONNNNNG time hammering golf tees into a pumpkin. They had a great time! I was impressed with the fact that they also connected it back to porcupine day from last week and said we were making our pumpkin look like porcupine quills. :) Such smart kiddos.


Boo takes her job very seriously. :)

Friends

I am such a sucker for pictures of the backs of cute kids walking. Not sure why.

Here's Boo and Mulan.... :) They had such a good time that day.

An Average Day at Giant Steps

What can you expect when you bring your child to Giant Steps? Kids thrive on consistent routines and like to know what's coming up next, so I try to arrange our day in a predictable order. Having said that, I also believe strongly in child-led activities and am flexible on a day-to-day basis. The kids are going to spend many years in structured school where they change topics when the bell rings. I try to avoid that here whenever possible. If they are loving something and having a wonderful time, we'll do it all morning. If I had planned something to go all morning and they're not interested, we'll change to something else. This routine is loosely based on the ages and interests of the individuals in my care at the present time, and therefore is subject to change if I get new kids with different likes and dislikes.

• Doors open at 7:30. Kids generally arrive between 7:30 and 8:30 or a bit after. They have free play time while we wait for all the friends to get here and I am cooking breakfast.
• Breakfast is usually between 8:30 and 9. I try to cook hot meals several times a week and fill in with cereal or yogurt. A fruit is also served, along with milk. Infants ready for fruit or rice cereal are also fed during this time period.
• After breakfast: infants are taken care of based on their individual schedules. Most take morning naps, and we try to include them in circle time before they go to sleep if possible. While they sleep, it is activity time for the older kids. We have story time, singing/circle time, calendar work, and a graph about what color shirt everyone is wearing. If the weather is nice we try to spend some time outside, either in the yard or taking a walk. We do painting throughout the day, one at a time at the porch easel, and do art and games relating to our current Read It Once Again title.
• Around 11:30 we tidy up the playroom and turn on a short movie so the kids can watch it while we fix lunch. Lunch will be a protein, a carb, two fruits/veggies, and milk. A majority of the time it's a hot lunch and I try to avoid processed food whenever possible.
• For about the next hour and a half it's a cycle of lunch and naps- the babies get up and want to eat, the big kids want to eat and then need to nap.
• The late afternoon is more flexible as the kids wake up one by one. Unless asked by a parent to wake them up at a certain time, I don't wake sleeping kids. My feeling is that if they're sleeping, they need it. We choose art activities and small toys and games that can be done with different numbers of kids while everyone finishes nap. Then we have snack and prepare for the end of the day.

We try to include the kids in household activities such as cooking, cleaning, and planning whenever we can. We talk all day long and try to foster the interests of each individual.  I don't want anyone to be lost in the shuffle and make sure I spend time hugging and holding each one, talking to them and finding out more about them. I also work very hard on polite manners- table etiquette, dealing with friends, and speaking nicely.

FAQ About Giant Steps

What are the operating hours?
We are open from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm, Monday through Friday.

What are your fees?
There is a $150 non-refundable registration fee per family to hold your spot if you are asking to hold an opening for longer than two weeks. If you are enrolling in an immediate opening, there is a $50 fee when you enroll. I charge $175/week for infants (listed as 0-17 months) and $155/week for 18 months and older. Twice a year, during the months of February and August, there is a $25 supply fee collected to enable me to purchase new large equipment and curriculum.

What do I need to provide as a parent?
If you have a nursing infant or a bottle-fed infant who requires specialized formula, you will need to supply food. I also ask that you keep a change of clothes in your child's box in case of accidents.  You will also provide diapers or pullups as needed.

In addition, please keep us updated with information! Current shot records, allergies, and any family information that might be relevant to your child's wellbeing at school are important to us.

What do you provide as a caregiver?
I provide formula, baby food, and table food except in the two cases stated above. The entire daycare is gluten free (because Anna and I both are and it's just easier and safer for us) and I currently cook with modifications to avoid dairy for Anna as well.  We don't currently have anyone other than Duchess with a severe allergy, but I am well equipped to deal with pretty much any allergy that pops up from this point out!   

I also provide wipes, curriculum, consistency, discipline using Love and Logic, and tender loving care to support all my families.

Do you provide part-time or drop-in care?
We do, when we have space.  We prefer full-time spots, but if we have an unfilled opening, we are willing to accept both part-time and drop-ins.  If you are a regular part-timer, we'll give you as much notice as we can if it looks like a full-time child will be starting.  Those do take priority over any part time spots.

How do you handle closings? 
I sit down at the beginning of every year and plan the schedule. I will provide you with a list of all my known closings for the entire coming calendar year by the Christmas vacation of the year prior. If the school district is closed due to inclement weather, I will be closed also. In case of emergency illness for me or my kids, I have several substitute caregivers on hand who can be here to cover for me, so generally I don't have to make you scramble for alternate care at the last minute.

What curriculum do you use and what kind of qualifications do you have?
For the past three years I have used Mother Goose Time, which the kids and I all liked. We're trying Read It Once Again now, which we are also liking quite well.

I am certified in the state of Texas to teach grades 1-8, with specializations in reading and history. I taught sixth grade for four years (during which time Anna was one of my students!) before deciding to stay home with my kids and open a daycare.  I began doing in-home daycare in June 2002.  I also homeschooled Duchess for her kindergarten year, after which she decided the social aspect wasn't to her liking.  :)

 I came here from the state website- explain the reasons behind your violations!

*September 13, 2012-Updated to add: Violations only stay on the state website for two years.  The ones listed here have circled off and are not shown anymore.  We do occasionally get other citations, but they have always been for reasons similar to the ones listed here.  Also, the ones listed happened while I had someone different working here with me- she was called Kanga on the blog.  :)  I'm working with Anna now.*

I have had four violations during state inspections over the last six years, and I do understand that can be troublesome to prospective families! If you are looking for childcare, you need to be absolutely certain that your precious baby will be safe and loved in the place you choose. Rest assured that is not a problem here! All four of my violations have occurred due to paperwork being misplaced. (That's why Kanga has been such a godsend! I get caught up in reading and painting, and she's the one saying where are the new shot records? PUT THEM IN THE BINDER NOW BEFORE YOU LOSE THEM AGAIN!)

Here's the rundown:

1. High profile: 745.615(a)(2) - Required background checks-employees and applicants you intend to hire:

Our last inspection was on a day that Kanga was out, and Mrs. Potts (Chip and Belle's mom) was our substitute. Her background check was in process but hadn't gone through yet, so I was written up for not having the proper paperwork in place before she started. Since then, it's gone through, it's on file in our binder, and everything with her has been checked and cleared.

2. Medium-high profile: 747.1309(a) - Primary Caregiver Annual Training 20 Hours Required

We are required to have 20 hours of ongoing training every year to keep current with educational trends. For 2009, I could NOT find the entire folder of certificates showing that I had done my training, so it looked like I hadn't done any at all. I found it weeks after, buried in a cabinet in my office, and it is also now in my book.

3. Medium profile: 747.603(a)(3) - Children's Records - Health Statement

This was a case where the child had gotten updated shots and records at a checkup earlier that week. The mom ended up bringing me the paperwork when she picked him that afternoon after I'd been inspected and was missing it.

4. Medium-low profile: 747.901(4) - Personnel Records - Required Affidavit
When I hired Kanga to work with me full-time, I thought we had completed all the required paperwork for her. I completely missed the line where it said one of the papers had to be notarized. So we had the paper filled out and on file, but it was missing the proper notary seal.

As you can see, none of these violations have anything to do with safety of the kids, hygiene issues, being out of ratio, or anything other than my seeming inability to put the proper papers in the purple binder where they belong. We love the kids in our care and we take great pains to make sure they have a great time and feel loved and safe while learning and having fun. Sometimes in doing that, I tend to forget small details. :)

Rapid Mood Swings

These three pictures were taken in the space of about fifteen seconds. It's nice that he doesn't stay mad very long.

Big Girl Bianca

I haven't talked much about Bianca lately. She is getting so big! She went away for her summer vacation and came back crawling, pulling up, eating all kinds of big girl food... I love watching her.


We went walking the other day and she had a good time leaning over the side of the stroller. Apparently it was tasty.


Mr. Daycare Man, my hubby, has been around more lately and likes to play with the babies too. Bianca decided she would lick his eyebrow. I think she was trying to give him a kiss, but it looked pretty funny. Very sweet though.


Her daddy came to pick her up one day this week and got here while I was changing her diaper. She started twisting around trying to get to him, and I was doing all the cheerful commentary stuff, "Oh look Bianca, Daddy's here, say Hi Daddy!" And she totally did! It came out sounding like "ha da da" but it was definitely words. Way to make your dad's day, B! :)

Best Food Ever

Now that Aurora is one, she's eating most of the things the big kids are eating. I gave her spaghetti for the first time here today. I have not seen joy and rapture of this magnitude on that child's face before. Nor have I seen her face so messy. Ever. It was quite astonishing. She ate three helpings.

Scuse Me, I Believe That's My Chair...

I love watching the babies get bigger. It is so much fun to get a tiny infant and watch them learn to do things. One day they're all just lying around on mats and the next they're rolling, sitting, standing... it's one of the best things for making sure this job never gets boring. There is always something new going on at each stage, for each kid.

Chip has learned to sit up alone. He is highly pleased with himself. He also really likes to grab his feet. We have learned two things from this:

1. If you put him in this particular bouncy chair, the effort of trying to reach his feet makes him fall over sideways. He's perfectly happy to hang there, but it looks really silly.

2. He does much better sitting on the floor. However, this results in a very Weeble sort of effect- he's constantly doing a slow roll sideways or backwards, because it's really hard to balance on just your bum while you're trying to put your toes in your mouth. Just doesn't work too well.

Roo was a few feet behind him in the living room, hanging out and totally minding her business, just chillin' on a blanket when Weeble Boy came crashing onto her from out of nowhere.

She was very startled.

Lilo and Stitch

If you've been reading awhile, you may remember the girlie I now refer to as Lilo- I used to call her Marie. That was back when I just started Disney names and wasn't trying to keep siblings together. She went home for the summer and is now back full-time with her little sister, so I needed to find a movie to put them both in.

I haven't actually seen Lilo and Stitch, but just from previews and watching these two, it seems perfect. Lilo is very dainty and particular and girly and soft-spoken. And their parents actually refer to Stitch as "Alien Girl" at home because she's everywhere, she climbs, she growls, she makes crazy alien-esque noises when you don't feed her fast enough... it's hilarious how different they are.

So. Meet Lilo and Stitch. :)

Lilo, dressing up in the princess dress...

And my girl Stitch.

Can't you just hear her making those bleh bleh noises? :)

Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?

Our Five In A Row book this week is Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?. Today we're looking at all the different shapes in the book- Mama Bear's kitchen floor is quite festively decorated with a bunch of squiggles and shapes. Our art project is to make a floor of our own using foam shapes and patterns. Today is the first day I've done "official" art with Aurora, which is really fun. She came crawling over and told me "ART ART ART!!!" and stuck some stickers on her own paper.

Search Engine Overload: Orca

You know those commercials out now for bing.com where they talk about what information overload is doing to us? The ones where the people just start spouting out random facts about stuff?

yeah.

That would be Ariel. She cracks me up.

We were playing with the puppets the other day and one of them is a killer whale. She asked me what it was called and I said an orca. She looked completely blank so I added that it's also called a killer whale, and that there is a famous one named Shamu that she will see when she visits Sea World.

She just sat there looking at me for a minute and then things started falling out of her mouth.

"OH! An ORCA! Orcas live in the ocean. They are black and white and they like to eat fish and leatherback sea turtles are afraid of orcas!"

Go, Diego, Go is a beautiful thing. :) As long as she can remember what an orca LOOKS like, she already knows all about it.

Exercise...

I've been thinking a lot lately about exercise for the kids. My preschooler email bulletin from Babycenter today had several links to articles about it as well, so I guess it's on many people's minds. I know that 60 minutes of daily exercise is recommended, but some days it is hard to get that all in. Sometimes with the big kids I just think, well good grief, they NEVER sit still, they've got to be active enough! But this article is saying that 89% of "so-called exercise" seen in the surveyed preschools was too sedentary and basically didn't count.


In addition, this article is saying that even INFANTS who are cared for in a home daycare setting are ending up heavier than ones who stay at home or go to corporate centers. Really? They aren't sure of the correlation, but they see it happening. It makes for some interesting reading- food for thought, although I have no idea why or what to do about that. It's much easier to work on physical curriculum for the big kids. Usually tummy time and room to crawl is enough for the babies. But just knowing that it's a possibility makes me want to be sure that I have enough opportunities set up!

I can see that we don't always do enough with the big ones here, especially in the hot summer. Spring and fall are much better for us in terms of going outdoors. We just can't stay out long enough to do much right now, because in about ten minutes they're bright red and sweaty and begging to go back in. And inside the house they'd like to run around, but since this is my HOUSE and not a center, I like to try to reinforce house rules. You don't run inside the house- at least my family doesn't. Walking feet. Please don't jump off the couch, get down, settle down.... it doesn't lend itself to a lot of exercise. I have some large-muscle games like ring toss and bean bags, and we have a couple kid exercise videos, but it's not the same as getting to really run around. (Although the "workout in a chair" snippet of Elmocise kicks my tail if I do it with them..... )


I got a book at my last workshop called Jump Into Math that I really like so far. The whole thing is physical activities to do in small chunks with the kids, just a few minutes at a time, that stimulate both brainpower and muscle work. We're also going to start active games like Red Rover and Red Light Green Light.

We didn't choose to do summer classes with Ms. Mimmie, but she was GREAT at making sure they got all their activity in on Tuesdays. Hopefully in the fall we can start that back up too.


What other ideas do you guys have that would be good? I'm going to keep looking around for more, but I can always use feedback!!

Dog Days Of Summer...

I got a new transportation playset a couple weeks ago and everyone is loving it. They played with it for over an hour the first time we got it out. It has boats, cars, ramps, helipads... all kinds of things. It's set up where the blue part can be filled with water to actually float the boats, but we haven't done that yet.


Other than that, there's not too much going on, really. Pretty much every summer I think I do at least one post where I talk about how hot it is and I feel like we're not getting any curriculum done and I feel guilty about art and blah blah blah...

Oh look, there's one here. And I know there was one on the old blog where I talked about them being addicted to watching the Aristocats and lying on the floor panting from heat, too tired to move while I said "Look kids, the Eiffel Tower..." like it was National Lampoon's European Vacation. Big Ben... Parliament... I cracked myself up and they just looked at me like I was nuts.

So I won't subject you to that again. But just know I feel like that again. I'm ready for cooler weather and back-to-school and ordering fall curriculum that I can stick to with some regularity.

We've been having lots of fun though, and learning is always happening whether I plan it or not. :) That's the joy of this business. The roster has been changing pretty frequently too- we've got a couple who are gone for most of the summer and then some who drop in from time to time. Sebastian and Ariel have switched to part time and we have a new set of siblings who are also part-time. Lots of little changes here and there.


Here are a few of the cutie drop-in girls we've had over the past month or so...


And our new sibling group. Disney names to follow, as usual. :)

This picture cracks me up immensely. Chip was not at all sure if he liked squash. He kept eating it though, so Kanga kept feeding him while I took pictures of him making variations of this face.

Simba sometimes wakes up with FABULOUS bed head. Reminds me of why I call him Simba in the first place!

And then of course, there's always getting a bucket stuck on your head for maximum entertainment purposes.

I love catching pictures of Roo in a big smile. Even if it does make her drool everywhere. It's awesome. :)

Cool!!

I love Lakeshore. It's my favorite place to go for ideas and toys and learning stuff. I keep the catalog by my bed for a long time when a new one comes out so I can look at things while I get sleepy. :) I've talked about it before, here for sure, and in some other posts where I was talking about new toys. In fact, Kanga and I were there just last night drooling and planning and figuring out what's priority for our next big shopping trip. So it was extra fun to come home and find this email in my box. Check it out- lots of good stuff!


Hello, Daycare Girl!

We can’t thank you enough for the wonderful things you’ve been posting about Lakeshore. There are few things as gratifying as unsolicited praise!

If you haven’t taken a look at LakeshoreLearning.com recently, we’d like you to know about our new Teacher’s Corner & Parent’s Corner! These FREE resources for teachers and parents are full of:

§ Fun activities

§ Engaging projects

§ Ready-to-print worksheets

§ Tips & advice from your peers

§ The chance to win a $100 gift card by submitting your ideas and projects

We have new FREE resources every month. To check it out, use this link:

www.lakeshorelearning.com/general_content/free_resources/freeResources.jsp

We want you and your readers to get involved! Feel free to post this information on your blog…we’d love to have your readers participate!

Sincerely,

Andrea Speck.

Lakeshore Learning Materials


So thanks Andrea! And if you're reading.... I got a magnetic Weather Watcher board on clearance at lakeshore.com awhile back- I love it, but it didn't come with magnets and I can't find any anywhere! Help! :) Is it discontinued?

Pajama Camping

It is hot. Really darn hot. And I don't know what kind of fierce insect has taken up residence around here, but even when I coat the kids with bug spray, they all get bitten to pieces and break into sweat the *instant* we set foot into the backyard. I heard it was supposed to be 108 today. We are staying IN.

So we decided it would be pajama day!

As the planning last night and this morning went on, it sort of morphed into a camping day which just happened to take place in our pajamas. That totally works for me. We put blankets and pillows all over the floor and they built a pretend campfire and we sat around and told stories for awhile. They wanted me to tell a scary one. Do I look crazy? Why would I frighten them? So I told them this one. They thought it was really dumb. Good. :) You act it out all dramatic and use scary voices and then when it's a pink jellybean... Duchess was all, really? Really Mom? that's IT?!

Then they decided we should make s'mores. I had none of the key ingredients, but I have been wanting to try a recipe I got for gluten free graham crackers, so we spent another big chunk of the morning baking a pan of homemade graham crackers. I am in equal parts amazed at my Betty Crocker-ness and disgusted at its necessity. They turned out pretty decently for a first attempt, although next time I think I need to roll them out thinner.


Cute New Boy (who I'm thinking of calling either Flik or Remy~ any thoughts on that?) was running a little late this morning because he got to spend the night with Grandma, and so he showed up in the midst of all this and she offered to go buy us marshmallows and hershey bars. WOO HOO! Thanks! :) Kanga and I have sampled the finished product and it is mighty tasty. We're waiting on everybody to wake up from their naps so we can serve the kiddos.

I was trying to think of what a good camping lunch would be, and I remembered those foil packet dinners we used to put in the fire when I was a girl scout. We always called them "girl scout specials" although I think they were actually boy scout specials first. I googled and hit the jackpot on a list of tons of them. I think we'll definitely have to try some of the others, especially the chocolate marshmallow banana one. We made the hobo pouches for lunch today and they were a pretty good success. I like that they can be tailored to each person- we made them one by one and they got to tell me which veggies they wanted in it. I had hamburger in each one, and then choices of peas, corn, carrots, mix veggies, mushroom, and onion. Ariel loved the meat and would have eaten double what I made her, and O'Malley picked out all his veggies and left the meat. Silly children.

Here's Sebastian's, ready to go into the oven:

And just for future reference, they took 45 minutes to bake, which I was not really expecting for some reason. By the time Simba's was done, he was totally gone. I don't think he got even one bite before he fell asleep in his chair!


After all that, it was after 2:00 before the last kid went to sleep, so I don't know if we'll have time for any camping art. I'm guessing we'll get through s'mores right before pickup, so you can take your kids home all full of sugar.

You're welcome. :)

But seriously, this has been a REALLY fun day so far. I just wish it was Friday, because a lot of times we do special things on Friday, and so it feels like it is. I think tomorrow we're going to call it Silly Hat Day and make sticker crowns and foam visors and dance around in our hats. We can't have Friday be a letdown!

Eating a camping lunch in our jammies is fun!!

Miss Roo

Continuing with our introductions, here is Roo.

This picture totally cracks me up. She looks so startled- what? Where did all this food come from? I was just eating... and then... it was everywhere... how did this happen? And you're taking pictures? And laughing? Come on now...

She belongs to Kanga. She took a little while to warm up to me, since mama's here with her all day long. Of course mama is better than me. :) That's how it always is, no matter how much time I spend with a kid, and that's how it ought to be. She did finally decide that it's okay for me to hold her though, which is a good thing since Kanga does get busy with other stuff from time to time.

Kanga, with Chip

She's in between Aurora and Bianca in age, so it's going to be really fun in another year or so when we have a gender shift in big kids again. Right now we have four big boys, since Simba definitely counts himself among the big ones. There's a lot of trucks and balls and hollering. Next year, we'll be all about the tea party, I'm thinking.

Don't you want to bite my cheeks?

Noses

We were playing outside the other day and I had Aurora sitting in the exersaucer since she's not quite walking yet. She likes hanging out with the big kids and looking at things, and they bring her things to do and talk to her pretty regularly.

O'Malley came over to say hi and she very carefully stuck her finger directly up his nose and laughed. I don't think she could have planned it any better. He freaked OUT.

"Aurora! NO! Boogers in mine nose! Uck! No touch!"

Then he comes to me to tattle: "MOMMY! Aurora touch mine boogers! So ucky! Need kleenex!"

These are the small things that make me laugh. :) My job is fun. We washed hands and noses and went on with the day.

Bianca's Tricks

I've been bad about updating lately- we've been busy around here! Bianca has been working hard on learning lots of new skills. Check her out!!



She can sit up really well and likes to play with blocks or look at books.



She still is not quite officially crawling, but still somehow manages to find her way all around the room.


Her hair is getting long enough to put cool clips and bows in, and her smile is as big as ever. :) She's lots of fun. It always amazes me how quickly they get mobile and active.