The beach in November!

Fiddy, sea lion and a dino bone... Skyler finds it all on our adventures!
Walking with a cup of tea on the pier with the golden gate bridge looking like a postcard that you just stepped into - San Francisco is BEAUTIFUL!

"I sat on the slide and cried" - First day at pre-school!

Well, lots of tears for our poor little Skyler Bug. Matt worked from home so that he could come with us to drop off Skyler at his first day of school yesterday at Discoveryland Pre-School. He woke up with a tummy ache and couldn't eat any breakfast. When we got to the school I sat him down at the "breakfast table" to eat some yogurt and fruit but he wanted to play with a puzzle. He seemed fine until we said that it was time for us to go. He said "me too!” We told him that he was staying at school to play with the kids and read, sing and learn. He started to cry and kept saying "Me too, I want to go too". We gave him hugs and kisses, told him we'd be back after lunch to pick him up and left him crying in his teachers arms. So very sad, it’s really hard to think about him crying all day.

When we picked him up Matt and I walked in and the kids were all playing in the yard. We stayed behind the sliding glass doors to watch for a minute and see how he was doing. He was standing in front of the teacher while she zipped up kids' jackets and I said to Matt that he looked like he wanted to climb back onto her lap and that I hope he hadn't been sitting in her lap the whole time we were gone. Then I noticed that he was whimpering so we walked out and he pointed at us like he was so surprised and relieved to see us there. He looked like a little albino rat - all pink cheeks and red-rimmed eyes. He started to cry a little so I picked him up and gave him a big hug. I asked him how his first day of school was and he whispered back "I cried".

I asked the teacher how he was and she said, "Well, he didn't cry the whole time". Now there are a couple of ways to hear that sentence when you read it to yourself. One is that he didn't cry at all, the whole time he was there. The other is that he cried most of the time, but not the entire time he was there. The latter is the truth, he did cry just about the entire time he was there.

When we got in the car Matt told Skyler that he noticed a big slide in the play-yard and asked if Skyler went down the slide. Skyler said, "I sat on the slide and cried". Poor little camper, he's not very happy. We told him that it's normal to be a little nervous and scared on your first day of school but that once he got used to it and all of the kids and teachers he'd have a great time. He said no he wouldn't and that he didn't want to go back.

I dropped him off today and it was worse than yesterday. He was actually screaming out "No! Mommy I want to go with you!" and the teacher had to hold onto him so that he couldn't run out with me. Poor guy.

Life is tough sometimes but he'll adjust and this is going to be great for him...

50 years! Wow! Mexico...

Gosh, it's been so long since I had a chance to blog - lots of catching up to do!

Potty training was an immediate success! We've hung out with Sharon and little Miss Brodie, Kimba and little Miss Hazel. We also played with Travis and his mommy Maryeta.

We went to Mexico for Ahmee & Baba's 50 wedding anniversary!

Skyler swam like a fiddy in the pool, blew bubbles and practiced his kicks. He held a baby sea turtle and a little tiny lizard (we didn't have our camera with us on either of those times! Boo!). Hung out with our Ohana: Richard & Marcia, Michael, Julie & Sara, Andie & Pflash, Danielle, Bob & Sequoia (cute as a shiny button!). Ate great food, went in the ocean, saw the most amazing variety of fish ever, big spotted angel fish and little purple & yellow one's, and spotted puffer's and two different types of parrot fish and on and on and on ...our best trip to Mexico by far!

Jules & Judy had their big 50-year anniversary! "Wow" said Skyler when Ahmee explained how long 50 years was (ten fingers held out 5 times). We went to the beautiful villa that Marcia, Richard, Michael, Julie, Sara, Phlash & Andie stayed at and ate incredible food, sang and danced to a traditional guitar trio and then after dinner watched and amazing 8 piece mariachi band, all dressed in matching white outfits! They played all of the Mexican classics and a little Elvis.

As an anniversary present all us kids gave them a family portrait with a professional photo session so now we have beautiful pictures of all of us together.

Best time ever in Mexico!

LMNO

You can now say each letter individualy when you sing the song. Also, you learned "Doe a dear..." very quickly and is now a regular favorite.

Also you are doing so many other amazing things like when we were in Mexico you went pee standing up for the first time I know of. You were just potty trained last month. Stunning!

You were so much more confident in the pool after 6 days in a row. You were using your noodle (float) and swimming and kicking your way to the edge, doing it all by yourself. (Or "all by my welf" as you used to say - but that too is now spoken clearly. sigh.)

We'll keep working on getting past the dreaded 14,15,16 section on our way to the ultimate prize, 20. Ta-da!

I dont know what comes next but Im excited!! Aren't you?

love, Dad