2 year old room and school updates

Tyler moved up to the 2 year old room at school in August. The move to this room has proved to be Tyler's hardest yet. I'm not sure if it's because he's 2 and everything is drama at this age or the fact that it really is different. In this room, there are 14 kids and 4 teachers (there are always at least 2 in the room at all times). This is a pretty big difference from the only 6 kids in a room that he has gotten used to in the past year. This class has a real curriculum (we actually had to pay for a learning workbook) and they do fun things like "Star of the Week".

Some of his recent artwork...they are obviously learning how to cut and glue. Ha!

They sometimes ask the kids what they are coloring...Tyler said "A Plant!" Ha!

I love this caption...it IS so pretty!

They spend A LOT of time in the bathroom as this is the potty training room. I swear, their schedule says they go every 1 hour and 15 minutes! No real interest from Tyler on the potty training front just yet...they say he will ask to sit on the potty, but says he's done after sitting there for only a second.

They also don't use sippy cups anymore...they drink out of small paper cups. HOLY COW! This was a HUGE transition for Tyler!! To say he was addicted to his sippy cups is an understatement. And not just any sippy cup...his Nuk soft nipple sippy cups. I hate those darn things because he chews a hole in the nipple and they leak like crazy! Because he was having such a hard time, they let him bring his cup for a few weeks while they and we all worked on teaching him to drink from a "big boy cup". It was a very big struggle and Tyler's stubbornness showed. I am happy to say that he is now drinking out of the paper cups just fine and is even using a different sippy cup at home...one that doesn't have a nipple and thankfully doesn't leak as much. Whew.

Balmoral had their first ever Open House tonight for parents to come and "meet" their child's teachers. They had the school decorated really nice and Tyler was excited to show off some of the work that they are doing in his room. We went to see Caroline's teachers, too, and it was a nice night.

Showing us his picture collage at school.

Showing us his workbook. 

Caroline's room photo board.

Tyler checking out our pictures in Caroline's room.

Getting Tyler to and from school the past several months has proved to be a really big battle. It has challenged Russ and my patience as parents. Tyler is really digging his heels in when he gets up...he doesn't want to get dressed, eat, get in the car or anything else we want him to do. There are temper tantrums most mornings and for a while there were frequent timeouts, too. When Russ would drop him off, he cried almost every time. Sometimes he even sits down in the parking lot, refusing to walk in, so Russ has to carry him, Caroline in her carseat and all their stuff! Pick up is not much better...he rarely wants to leave and a few times we've had to have help from one of his teachers to carry him to the car, while I carried Caroline and their stuff. I think it's just him being a stubborn 2 year old and I am happy to say that he has done better the past couple weeks. Fingers crossed it continues!

One sad thing that also happened at school, is that John Michael (Tyler's best buddy since he started in the nursery) moved to Arkansas. Sniff! They moved in August and Tyler really misses his friend. At first, he would still tell me that he played with John Michael at school. Sometimes he will still bring his name up occasionally but now he says that John Michael is at home. Sad. They were such a sweet family.

Tyler started taking gymnastics this summer at school, too. Up Off Gymnastics comes to his school on Fridays and they pull him and other kids out for an hour to participate. They walk on a balance beam, tumble, jump on the trampoline and other fun things. He was the youngest and the only boy at first, but he really likes going. On gymnastics days he always tells me, "I go to gym to jump with big kids!" Ha! They will do a couple of "programs" during the year where we can come watch.

These are pictures of pictures...Tyler walking on the balance beam.