Considering that Wessy is about to go to full-time preschool, I thought I'd write down a few things that may be helpful to the preschool about him and how to interpret his behavior.
Dear Preschool,
First of all, thanks so much for accepting my child into your school. You had us at "breakfast, lunch and snack," but you really sealed the deal with "help with potty training." Wesley is very much looking forward to starting full-time preschool.
There are some things you should know first. One, when we said on the application that he was potty-trained, well, that was just a generalization. Do we put normal underpants on him and pretend he is potty-trained despite the fact that this results in four or five clothing changes a day? Yes, yes we do. Does he tell us three out of four times before he craps his pants? Yes, yes he does. Did he meticulously pull his pants and underpants down and discreetly perch in the corner of the sandbox to take a dump at Dolores Park the other day? No comment. I will leave it up to you whether you think this counts as potty-trained. Pro tip: His way of telling us he has to go potty is to yell MY STOMACH HURTS (ME DUELE LA PANZA) in Spanish. Considering your teachers are primarily Mandarin-speaking, maybe one of your earlier priorities could be to teach him a Chinese equivalent?
Speaking of Chinese immersion...well, we are having a little problem with our English immersion right now. Basically, Wesley doesn't want to live in an Anglophone household. If we (his parents) are speaking to each other in English, he will chide us loudly, "NO HABLEN!," or, sometimes more gently, "HABLEN ESPANYOL!" If you try to read him a book in English, he will decline to listen,
demanding either a switch to laborious simultaneous translation or to a book written in Spanish. If you explain that a particular book was written in English and that it loses a significant amount of context and/or narrative value if translated (an excellent example would be anything by Dr. Seuss), he will not take no for an answer and will prefer a shitty Spanish translation to a melodious English narrative.
Another thing that you should know is that he asks a lot of questions. I know what you are going to say--curiosity is natural at this age and it's wonderful that he has such an inquiring mind. We think it's wonderful too, to a point. Most days we are past that point by 8am. He will ask you anything, at any time. If you tell him he can have something in the future, the immediate follow up question is "DONDE ESTA EL FUTURO?," which, if you think about it, is a very interesting concept. If you tell him it's late and it's time to sleep, he will ask how to "take away the late," which again, is an interesting concept but a tough one to explain to his satisfaction.
He will ask where his "teeth card" (business card with a picture of a lovely veneered smile) that the dentist gave him two weeks ago is now, despite the fact that he has not seen or inquired after it since you recycled it 13 days ago. Today he asked if he could tell the childcare workers at the Y that he had a light fixture in his bedroom that was still in a box (true). If you see a picture of an aquarium in a book, he will ask what fish eat, where their mothers are, why isn't there coral in that aquarium, and where are the bubbles, and can he have some fish and can we go buy them now, and can their name be PLANTS? Basically he devotes this level of scrutiny to every thing in his life.
As intense as he is about asking questions, he is twice as intense about touching things. This is very unfortunate in San Francisco, a city full of dog shit and discarded needles. I would appreciate you keeping a very good eye on him. This morning, he did manage to snake his hand underneath the plastic cover of a fire alarm and was extremely close to pulling the lever before I removed him from the vicinity. Other recent exciting things to touch include toilet seats, plungers, any floor, anything really. Doesn't matter much as long as he can touch it and then put his fingers into his mouth. That second part is key. So, mainly, the most important thing would be to just make sure he washes his hands before he eats.
At the moment, he is supposed to be napping. I can tell he is not by the periodic crashing sounds and the dog-like yipping emanating from his room. I'm crouching in the corner of the kitchen at the opposite side of the house because if I move he will be able to sense my presence and will start yelling that the sun has come up. He knows that he can wear us down with the screaming, because it just isn't humanly possible to do anything else while listening to something so shrill and grating. I hope your tolerance for it exceeds mine.
Anyway, thanks again for taking him and also for having full day availability. We will be there at 7am on the opening day with bells on! Can't wait!
Monday, April 30, 2018
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Trip to Ben Lomond/Santa Cruz
This year, as is our tradition, we headed to the Quaker Center at Ben Lomond so Stevo could teach at HEART. We went with Wessy last year and had gone together for a few years pre-Wessy as well. The Quaker Center is an amazing place--set among the redwood groves outside of Santa Cruz. It made for a very fun place to let Wessy run (kind of) wild. Our first stop on our way in was Lighthouse Field State Beach in Santa Cruz. While we were there, a pod of blue whales was breaching just off the beach. I don't think Wessy noticed, but it was an impressive sight. Here we are contemplating the sea:
Our contemplation quickly turned to engagement with the sand. Wessy loves playing in the sand. He will spend longer playing in the local sandbox than doing almost anything else. So you can imagine how he feels about the PLAYA.
I almost didn't bring his CAMIONES but at the last minute I think Stevo said something offhand about going to the beach and Wessy quickly and firmly insisted that the CAMIONES were coming. He was also very interested in the local flora and fauna including all manner of ALGAS MARINAS.
After 2.7 years and twelvity billion pictures of Stevo and Wessy together, I finally prevailed upon Stevo to take some pictures of me and Wessy. This was probably the best of the bunch:
Another esteemed toy who enjoys the beach is BIZCOCHO. Bizcocho is a translucent pink plastic duck with little silicone wheels whose original incarnation was as some sort of back massager. Bizcocho means "Biscuit" and the origin of the duck's name is the series of children's books about a golden retriever puppy of the same name. Anyway, bottom line is that Bizcocho enjoys a good beach day.
After a bit in Santa Cruz, we headed into Ben Lomond and got settled at the retreat center. It was the first night and it was taking awhile for dinner to come together. To say Wessy was restless was a vast understatement. He ate 20 lbs of pretzels and careened around the main gathering room alternating trying to peer off the deck and pet the wood-burning stove until dinner was finally served. It was a delicious stew.
Wessy impressed the fourth year medical students with his Spanish, but soon it was bedtime. We were all bunking down in a tiny one-room cabin. For us, this was a bit cramped and challenging. For Wessy, who had his portable crib in the center of the room, it was the best possible situation. He stayed up far later than usual, alternately babbling very happily to himself in his crib and asking us random questions in the dark, "DONDE ESTA PAPA?" "DONDE ESTA SANTA CRUZ?" "DONDE ESTA TU JABON?" "QUE PASO A TU JABON MAMA?"
The next morning, we ALL woke up bright and early, as I was to teach yoga at 7am. Stevo went ahead and made a fire in the wood-burning stove at the Casa De Luz, which is a gorgeous meeting/meditation room at the very top of a hill. It looks out over the tree tops. I've always liked doing yoga there, because if you start early in the morning you are doing actual sun salutations and the room slowly lightens up as the sun rises. It was a great class and an even more wonderful breakfast. After breakfast, Stevo was teaching his session, so Wessy and I were on our own for entertainment.
We decided to go for a walk around the Quaker Center. Another good thing about the Quaker Center is that it is interlaced with hiking trails among the redwoods. Wessy's enthusiasm for hiking waxed and waned, but his excitement about sticks, leaves, mushrooms and dirt was constant:
That afternoon, after trying and failing to get Wessy to nap, Stevo took him to meet one of the caretakers of the Quaker Center. As it turned out, they were pruning fruit trees in the orchard that afternoon. Wessy appointed himself as a helper, and dutifully spent almost a half hour dragging tree branches from the orchard down to the road to be loaded into a pick up truck. He kept nipping at the workers' heels and asking to help again and again. He was disappointed when there were no more tree branches. Would that he maintains this enthusiasm for yard work as he gets older!
That night, it was again a struggle for us all to sleep in the same room. Well, I should say it was a struggle for some, and for others, it was the funnest slumber party EVER.
Today we again did yoga class and had a fabulous breakfast. Then it was time to head home, but not before hitting up Davenport State Beach. It was a gorgeous, cloudless day and there was hardly anyone there. Wessy went crazy running and playing on the immense stretch of white sand. First he found a horsie and hitched a ride:
Then the CAMIONES came back out:
Somewhere along the way, he lost his pants. Apparently no big deal and not something to slow down for anyway.
He played a long stretch and had an amazing time. Even after we had been there for two hours and he was flagging a bit, he begged us to stay longer. After much tribulation, we made our way along the abandoned railroad tracks and back to the car. Wessy lasted a few minutes more until falling into an exhausted sleep, ruddy-cheeked, his little knees skinned, still not wearing pants and happy as a clam.
Our contemplation quickly turned to engagement with the sand. Wessy loves playing in the sand. He will spend longer playing in the local sandbox than doing almost anything else. So you can imagine how he feels about the PLAYA.
I almost didn't bring his CAMIONES but at the last minute I think Stevo said something offhand about going to the beach and Wessy quickly and firmly insisted that the CAMIONES were coming. He was also very interested in the local flora and fauna including all manner of ALGAS MARINAS.
After 2.7 years and twelvity billion pictures of Stevo and Wessy together, I finally prevailed upon Stevo to take some pictures of me and Wessy. This was probably the best of the bunch:
Another esteemed toy who enjoys the beach is BIZCOCHO. Bizcocho is a translucent pink plastic duck with little silicone wheels whose original incarnation was as some sort of back massager. Bizcocho means "Biscuit" and the origin of the duck's name is the series of children's books about a golden retriever puppy of the same name. Anyway, bottom line is that Bizcocho enjoys a good beach day.
After a bit in Santa Cruz, we headed into Ben Lomond and got settled at the retreat center. It was the first night and it was taking awhile for dinner to come together. To say Wessy was restless was a vast understatement. He ate 20 lbs of pretzels and careened around the main gathering room alternating trying to peer off the deck and pet the wood-burning stove until dinner was finally served. It was a delicious stew.
Wessy impressed the fourth year medical students with his Spanish, but soon it was bedtime. We were all bunking down in a tiny one-room cabin. For us, this was a bit cramped and challenging. For Wessy, who had his portable crib in the center of the room, it was the best possible situation. He stayed up far later than usual, alternately babbling very happily to himself in his crib and asking us random questions in the dark, "DONDE ESTA PAPA?" "DONDE ESTA SANTA CRUZ?" "DONDE ESTA TU JABON?" "QUE PASO A TU JABON MAMA?"
The next morning, we ALL woke up bright and early, as I was to teach yoga at 7am. Stevo went ahead and made a fire in the wood-burning stove at the Casa De Luz, which is a gorgeous meeting/meditation room at the very top of a hill. It looks out over the tree tops. I've always liked doing yoga there, because if you start early in the morning you are doing actual sun salutations and the room slowly lightens up as the sun rises. It was a great class and an even more wonderful breakfast. After breakfast, Stevo was teaching his session, so Wessy and I were on our own for entertainment.
We decided to go for a walk around the Quaker Center. Another good thing about the Quaker Center is that it is interlaced with hiking trails among the redwoods. Wessy's enthusiasm for hiking waxed and waned, but his excitement about sticks, leaves, mushrooms and dirt was constant:
That afternoon, after trying and failing to get Wessy to nap, Stevo took him to meet one of the caretakers of the Quaker Center. As it turned out, they were pruning fruit trees in the orchard that afternoon. Wessy appointed himself as a helper, and dutifully spent almost a half hour dragging tree branches from the orchard down to the road to be loaded into a pick up truck. He kept nipping at the workers' heels and asking to help again and again. He was disappointed when there were no more tree branches. Would that he maintains this enthusiasm for yard work as he gets older!
That night, it was again a struggle for us all to sleep in the same room. Well, I should say it was a struggle for some, and for others, it was the funnest slumber party EVER.
Today we again did yoga class and had a fabulous breakfast. Then it was time to head home, but not before hitting up Davenport State Beach. It was a gorgeous, cloudless day and there was hardly anyone there. Wessy went crazy running and playing on the immense stretch of white sand. First he found a horsie and hitched a ride:
Then the CAMIONES came back out:
Somewhere along the way, he lost his pants. Apparently no big deal and not something to slow down for anyway.
He played a long stretch and had an amazing time. Even after we had been there for two hours and he was flagging a bit, he begged us to stay longer. After much tribulation, we made our way along the abandoned railroad tracks and back to the car. Wessy lasted a few minutes more until falling into an exhausted sleep, ruddy-cheeked, his little knees skinned, still not wearing pants and happy as a clam.
Thursday, March 22, 2018
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