Chesterbrook

Somebody posted on the blog today asking why I call Chesterbrook a preschool and not a daycare. I wasn't going to post the question because I thought it would bring a level of maliciousness to an otherwise incredibly joyous site. But then I thought maybe she didn't mean it that way and really wanted to know. I prefer that option. :) So here ya go Peggy...

1. I don't always refer to Chesterbrook as a preschool. I have referred to it as both a daycare and a preschool.

2. Chesterbook is a private school in Naperville that takes infants all the way up until 8th grade. We can keep Maks enrolled for the next 11 years Full Time if we want.

3. All of the lead teachers in the classrooms have Early Education degrees from a four year University/College.

4. Those lovely teachers (and yes they're called teachers) work with the kids on different lesson plans. They have themes that revolve around touch, smell, sight, words, letters, colors, seasons, etc...

5. There is a Principal and Assistant Principal at the school who put together and approve the curriculum. There are periodic parent-teacher nights to go in and review the curriculum as well as the childs progress.

6. We have worked with a Speech Therapist who has sent several additional lesson ideas for a child like Maks to help him with his word development and catch up to the other kids. He is repeating everything these days and has so many more words than before!!

The bottom line is that you can call it whatever you want. Maks is adjusting very well to his new life, including his teachers, his new friends, new language and new Mommy and Daddy. Thank you to all for showing so much concern. :)

Life with Maks

Obviously I've been a little busy lately and haven't had time to update the blog. I wanted to update it though with some little things that have happened lately. I'm worried that I won't remember all of these little quirks or stories with him when he gets older.

Maks is an unbelievable joy in our family. Not always easy, but an unbelievable joy. The other day I was in the car on the way home from somewhere and thought to myself, can anyone really be this content in their life? I feel so blessed to have a husband that I love, a son that I adore and a little girl on the way. Our first days with Maks were so difficult. I cried and cried that first week thinking, will this ever be different? I can say without a doubt, yes it is different. We still have tantrums, he still hits himself in the head, he still hates going to bed, but as I get to know him those things are so much easier to handle. He went potty in the big-boy potty a few times last week. He was SO proud of himself! Sometimes when he is sitting in his high chair eating he puts his hands out to me for a hug. I always lean in and he wraps his arms around my neck and pats my back. He gave me a kiss for the first time a few weeks ago! Most days when I pick him up from his preschool he looks at me when I first walk in with a bewildered look wondering who I am. A few seconds later he realizes I'm me and he breaks into a big smile and runs to me. (Sometimes calling me Da-Da, oh well I'm working on it) He has started dancing. :) Its the cutest thing. One day in the car he started clapping to music and then starting head-banging to a rock song. It was so cute that I had to whip out my cell phone and video tape it. When I sent it to Jason he wondered if I took while I was driving. No...:)

Maks loves his cousin Rylan. This past weekend we went to my Grandma and Grandpa J's house for dinner and Rylan came over. They spent some crazy time running around through my Grandma's house (who puts a room full of crystal next to the toy room?? we have NO idea how it survived our childhood!), racing lawn mowers across the farm with Papa and Jason (yes we are a little country), and screaming everything they "said". When we got back to my parents house Rylan came in and Maks went running over to him to hug him. He held on to Rylan in a big bear hug while Rylan tried to get away. :) So cute.

His new words are "kitty-cat", "all-done", "Hi" and "Up". Okay, they don't all exactly come out sounding exactly like that but its close!

Overall I am so proud of our little guy. I am such a blessed Mom, he makes my life so much better than it has ever been before. I'm such a gusher now, but I don't care. He's amazing.

I will post pictures soon! I have to find time to connect my camera to the computer without Maks trying to eat it. :)

Busy Week!

Maks did fairly well toward the end of the week at school. He had some big days of going outside to play in the water, riding a bike (sort of), hanging up a picture of himself on the wall (and looking at it a lot), having rice krispie treats... it goes on and on. I was so worried about nap time but apparently its no problem. He averages an hour & a half or so of sleep every day! Yeah!

Last night we went to Erin & Jims for a cookout. They have a super-big backyard that Maks could run around and a very cool swing set to climb and slide down. Owen gave Maks a ride on his Jeep. As you can see, Maks loved it!

Today we met Aunt Leslie and Cousin Rylan at Portillos for lunch. They both ended up with the same bib (not planned). It was so cute. We went over to Aunt Leslie & Cousin Rylans playland (their house) for a while too. Rylan is so great with Maks. Hes so much bigger and could really just roll right over Maks if he wanted to, but he's always very gentle and lets Maks pretty much do his thing. The only thing that will make Ry crazy is when Maks tries to take his keys away. Rylan ALWAYS has to have keys. I think he's going to be a locksmith. Not a bad thing I guess. :)

Tomorrow is Easter. We got Maks and Ry coordinating outfits. :) Can't wait to see them! I'll post pictures of course!