kindergarten update

After 2 full weeks of school, we have all finally settled into our routine.  

The first week ended up being quite rough.  Once the first day was over and he realized that he had to keep going back, he became very upset.  He spent the next four days crying from breakfast, through our bike ride and all the way into class.  A few of the days, he cried enough that he soaked his mask and the teacher had to give him a different one.  He'd beg and plead for us to take him home and not to make him go.  He'd grab ahold of me and try his best not to let go... it was rough.  

We spent that next weekend talking about how important school is - how if he wants to be a fireman, he has to finish school.  We ordered him an iron-on fireman badge that he gets to earn and put on his backpack when he makes it through a whole week of not crying.  And, his teacher told him that he would finally get to have a friend at his lunch table (like all the other kids) the next week.

So, on Monday of his second week, at breakfast, Gordy announced, "I'm going to be brave today, mom.".  And he was.  No tears at all!  We could tell that he was not super happy about the whole thing, but he tried to do his best and after a few days, he actually seemed to be enjoying it.  He has some friends who he plays tag with on the playground.  He loves his teacher, Ms. Matsuda.  He is not a big fan of coloring time, but he uses the backs of his coloring sheets to draw us pictures of our family holding hands.  And, he loves our bike rides to and from school.

Today, he had food poisoning, so he stayed home and he actually said he was sad about missing school because his teacher and all of his friends would be sad that he wasn't there!

I'm sure that there will be days in our future when he begs us to let him stay home from school, but for now, he's turned the corner and is liking his school time.

chef gogo

Gordy has always loved to cook with me.  Since he was just a little guy, he'd hang out at the counter while I was cooking and he'd put all of the veggies that I'd chop into measuring cups and then pour them all into the pot.  He'd smell (and sample) all the seasonings before dumping them in and then he'd stand on the counter by the stove and stir the yummy brew.

All of the above still occurs, except for the standing on the counter, so Nana found and ordered a cool monthly activity that comes in the mail called rad-dish.  Each month, a box comes that has a theme (i.e. tropics, Korean kitchen, etc.), three recipes, a cool cooking tool, some fun facts about the country / region, and an iron-on patch that you get to iron on the apron that you got in the first box once you complete all the monthly recipes.  Gordy LOVES it!!

So far, almost all of the recipes have been fun to make and delicious to eat.  And, there's even been a few that we will make again in the future (i.e. Korean cinnamon and sugar pancakes).  We are midway through our box #2 and Gordy can't wait to finish it so he can earn his second patch!

kindergarten, here we come!

 Gordy started kindergarten!  He's had two half-day orientation days so far and overall, he seems pretty happy with the whole thing.  Each morning, our alarm wakes us up (because we are all lazy bums), we eat a quick breakfast, we hop on our bikes and we ride the short mile to the school.  When we get to the school entrance, we all mask up, go park and lock up Gordy's bike, and walk him to his classroom where he gives us hugs, waves goodbye and heads into class A1 with Ms. Matsuda.

Next week, he starts into full days (7:55am to 1:50pm) for the entire week, so our fingers are crossed that he continues to like it well enough to not fight going.  

So far he's what we've been able to pull out of him about school:

- He loves recess because the kids get to play on the playground.  

- He does not like the school lunch and wants a "home lunch" packed from now on. (The school had a menu change and instead of a veggie plate, served beef patty with gravy... I'm not surprised he came home starving.)

- His teacher is nice.

- He has to raise his hand if he wants to talk.

- All of his neighborhood friends are in different classes, so he is going to make new friends.

- He gets a little sad sometime because he misses us.

That last one broke my heart a little bit, but I'm so glad that he's doing his best to be brave.  There were a few kids screaming and crying when they got dropped off last week and I can't imagine having to go through that.  Thankfully, he only seems to get sad during downtimes at school, so hopefully that will get better as he gets more comfortable.

It's weird to watch Gordy go into school and to picture what his classroom must be like compared to our kindergarten classrooms.  I remember sitting (close) to my friends and playing together, holding hands with my best friends and sliding down the slide together, sharing crayons, and playing with toys... things are very different now.  The kids sit 3' apart, they are not allowed to sit next to each other during lunch and basically eat alone.  They must wait 5 seconds after someone goes down the slide before sliding themselves.  And, since they wear masks the entire time, they can't see each others faces/smiles.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that they are wearing masks to keep themselves and everyone else as safe as possible, but the whole thing makes me a little sad for the kids.  Their kindergarten environment seems less friendly than what I remember mine being.  

Thankfully, Gordy doesn't know anything different, so he doesn't seem to mind.  And, as long as he's happy, we are all happy.  I'm so proud of my little guy for being so brave and I'm excited for all that he's going to learn this next year!

damn jellies

Todd and I are convinced that Gordy is a jellyfish magnet.  He's only 5 and he's had 5 pretty bad stings already.

Yesterday we ventured to the windward side of the island for a going away party for our friends.  Gordy was in the water for a grand total of 5 minutes with all the kids before he listed his arms out of the water with a look of concern on his face calling to me.  When I got close enough, I saw the blue strings that were wrapped around his arms.  So, I carefully unraveled the tentacles from his arms trying not to let them sting him any worse than they already had and we hustled up the beach to a friend who had a spray bottle of vinegar on hand.  We doused him with it and then he decided he was ready to go back to playing on the sand - such a trooper!

All was fine until the night came.  His arms swelled up and red bumps appeared in long lines where the tentacles had been stuck.  We spent the night taking warm baths, rubbing on anti-itch cream, and laying with heating pads.  All of which, only marginally helped.

As of this morning, he's had his third dose of benedryl and he's painfully itchy.  Thank goodness he had his spring suit on, or he may have had more of a fully body issue like last time.

Damn jellies!

little harvester

I am so lucky to have a kid who likes gardening as much as I do.  We'll be hanging out and he'll say, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?... GARDENING!!"

We got some seeds recently, so he helped me plant beans, tomatoes, peas, squash, corn, peppers, radishes, carrots, and watermelon.  Gordy helped me plant all the seeds, keep them watered, and then he helped me transplant them once they grew big enough.  Some of our plants grew quite quickly, so we have green beans and radishes that we can pick a few times a week!  Gordy absolutely loves to harvest the vegetables and when we cook and eat them, he seems so proud of himself.  

He also loves pulling weeds, trimming the plants, mowing the lawn, feeding our composting worms, and spreading compost and fertilizer on the garden.  I'm a lucky mom.

all gi'ed up

Todd and Gordy were out running some errands on Tuesday and while in Haleiwa they stumbled upon a jui jitsu studio which has classes for kids.  They happened to have a 5-6 year old class that afternoon, so Todd took Gordy so that he could watch / join if he wanted to.  Without hesitation, Gordy jumped right in.  The coach was awesome and after 45 minutes of "wrestling", Gordy walked out of there saying, "That was Amazing!".  He absolutely loved his class and was ready to go back on Thursday.  After two sessions, he's hooked, so Todd ordered him a gi (jui jitsu uniform) online and we'll be going back to the studio next week for some fun, and hopefully safe wresting.

5 years old

Gordy made 5!! And again, we celebrated slightly COVID style - without a big party.  We started our day off with a croissant and chai tea latte for breakfast.  Then Gordy went to Nana's pool to swim with his friend Owen.  After lunch, we played on a slip-n-slide from our Kailua friends, went to the playground, and then had homemade pizza and firetruck cake dessert.

Gordy has grown so much in the last year.  His vocabulary has expanded quite a bit (both good and bad) and he uses such funny/big words to describe things sometimes.  He does "tricks" while riding his scooter and bike.  He swims like a fish - going down under water to grab things off the bottom of the ocean.  He loves to garden with me and will frequently ask, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?  Let's do some gardening!".  He's getting better about staying dry at night - only 2-3 accidents each month.  Mostly, he is just such a loving, caring, thoughtful, sweet little kid.  We love you more with each day Gogo!