Alex, Mason, Future City, Preschool, Tennis, Yoga, mommy group update...sheesh

Man, I have a lot to say today.  Again, January is an awfully busy month for us.  I can't wait for the month to flip so I can take a breath.

I guess I should start with the kid updates, because that is probably why anyone is reading.  Alex is almost 9 months old.  He just started eating finger foods and this seems to make him very proud.  I can give him cheerios and soft peas and little bits of bread and he seems to be having a blast eating. He has 6 teeth now!  Yes, you will hear about every one.  He seems to be going through a growth spurt too.  He is eating like a horse and sleeping alot, but waking up really early because he is so hungry.  That is about all with him.  Still crawling, haven't baby-proofed yet, but he hasn't gotten into anything so I am just waiting a little longer.

Here's Alex sitting on the putting green at Great-grandma's place.

Mason is waiting semi-patiently for March.  He just can't wait to be 4 and start his school and start playing tennis.  I think we are going to take him to Disneyland for his birthday instead of having a party.  I will still have to have some little get-together with a cake and candles, because he will be devastated if he doesn't blow out his candles.  To him blowing out candles = birthday.  His new phrase is "Sure I can."  It is so nice that he usually cooperates.  Whenever I ask him to get me something or for him to do something, he replies, "Sure I can."

He is looking so mature to me.

He is playing really well with Alex.  I watched them this morning from the couch, and Mason brought out a bucket of his toys (cars, balls, etc.) but I was pleasantly surprised to see a teething ring in there.  Mason pulls out the teething ring and hands it to Alex and says, "I brought this toy for you."  Isn't that sweet!  I had been telling Mason that he always has to trade out toys if Alex has something he wants, and he is following this rule really well.  I am so proud of him.

He currently has a black eye and a split chin.  Nice.  I thought the clumsiness would be over by now, but he is constantly running into things.  He just runs too fast and doesn't pay attention.  I am not sure if he is quite coordinated for tennis yet, but we will still try it out.

We brought him to see his preschool one day this week.  He was so excited and just ran right in.  No hesitation whatsoever.  We went with Addison too, who will go with him.  She was equally as excited, but no running with her.  She held her mom's hand the whole time.  Mason saw that the kids had just finished a painting project, and he pulled out a chair and was ready to jump right in.  Then he saw the kids (they were behind a partition) and immediately yelled out "Hi, I'm Mason."  The kids all started screaming their names out and seemed equally excited to see a new friend.  This all makes be beam with happiness.  I am lucky that he is so social and kind.  He is going to adjust just perfectly.  Right before he noticed the paint, he saw the big wall of books.  That stopped him in his tracks, and he just stared for a really long time at the books.  I can't wait to see all the learning that is going to go on with him in school.  It makes me very excited.

The bookshelf stopped him in his tracks

I think he is thinking, "How am I going to have time to read all these books?"

Speaking of preschool, my obsessive mind already gets me started thinking about where he will go to first grade in 3 years.  I am pretty sure he is going to need some advanced curriculum.  I know that sounds uppity, but it is true.  He is spelling and reading a few words (I think they call it sight words), counting to 100, writing letters, etc.  All of the things you learn in preschool, he pretty much already knows.  I think the special thing about Mason is his ability to memorize and concentrate.  It is not that he really KNOWS all of these things, it is that he has memorized them, and he will spend an extraordinarily long time staring at things to get them right.  He looks at this huge human anatomy book for 20-30 minutes at time.  He just studies the pages and (when I am not too busy - darn it) he wants to know what every bone is called, what all the cells are doing, what the germs and microbes look like, etc.  It is pretty unusual for a boy not quite four.

I think the thing he is going to learn the most in a school setting is how to listen to the teacher, follow the schedule of the day (like not eating whenever he wants), waiting his turn, learning about other kids and how to get along.  Stuff like that.  So needless to say, basically 3 years of kindergarten is only going to force the private school issue more.  Anyway, I looked up the public school he would be zoned for and I was pleasantly surprised that it is Staton, which is an empowerment school.  This means that the principal has a lot of say in the teachers and the curriculum and such.  It is supposed to be one of the best elementary schools in the District.  Maybe he will be able to go there for the first couple of grades and still be challenged enough.  Otherwise it is probably Merryhill, Alexander Dawson, or possibly a Montessori school for us.

Merryhill because it is walking distance from my house.  Alexander Dawson because it is hands down the best school possible in Las Vegas.  And the Montessori method interests me.  That probably deserves it own post though.

Ok, enough about the kids.  I had some stuff going on too!  Last Saturday was Future Cities.  I have been somewhat involved for about 13 years now.  That is pretty committed!  I just volunteered for the first few years, then joined the committee, then was the coordinator for a couple years and went to DC once, now back to just being on the committee.

Future Cities is a middle school program where kids design and build a city of the future.  They start with SimCity, they research some topic and write an essay, then they build a model city, and give a presentation to a group of judges.  They spend about 4-5 months preparing for this competition, and it is a lot of work.  I love it.  It is exactly the way kids are supposed to learn about things - project-based.  It introduces engineering to the students and some of them get really into it.  They think of the craziest things for the future sometimes.

Alexander Dawson won our regional competition for the third time in a row.  Personally, I think this is great, but many people hate that a very prestigious private school "steals" it from the public schools.  I get this, but I don't agree that we (as a committee) should be doing anything to prevent it.  Some have suggested like the top public school prize or something.  If you would all see the difference between the Alexander Dawson students and literally ALL the rest, it is amazing the amount that the Dawson students actually LEARN about engineering and futuristic topics.  Every once in a while you can see brute memorization coming out, but overall they have tried the hardest, studied the most, and at the end of the day (or four month process) they learned the most.  Because of that, I believe they deserve to win year after year.  I agree, they have tons of resources available to them that many other students just cannot have (like having parents who are engineers or being able to go on 3-4 field trips per year just for Future Cities), but that doesn't mean they shouldn't win.

Anyway, enough about that.  Yesterday I judged for the FIRST Robotics competition, and that was a whole other set of kids.  These kids are nerds through and through.  Future City kids are remarkably well-rounded.  I think it is because of the creativity you need and the public speaking.  These Robotics kids are obsessed with robots!  I don't mean that in a negative way.  It is great that they have this robotics club so they can hone their nerdy computer skills.  I really don't have time to get into this, but I have a lot of thoughts about it.  One of the students I interviewed was a 15 year old High School Senior who just got an $80,000 scholarship for college, primarily because of her work on the robot.  That is terrific, but I wouldn't want that to be my kid.  Can you imagine a 15 year old going away to college?  Having a gifted child is not necessarily a great thing.  But seriously, I don't have time to write all my thoughts about it.  Alex is getting fussy and I want to finish this post.

What's next.  Tennis.  Sigh.  I think I have decided to not play league tennis this season.  This will be my first season off (minus two pregnant seasons) in about 7 years.  It makes me sad, but I just don't have time.  I don't want the commitment of every Thursday and most Saturdays.  Even then, that is not enough to even maintain at the level that I want to play at.  I obsessively love tennis, and I think I am going to miss it, but I am just going to have to take a little break.  I am thinking that I will be able to take Mason to his tennis lessons and maybe squeeze some time on the courts while he is playing.  We'll see.  I never thought I would be the kind of parent to put my kids' sports over mine.  That might sound self-centered, but I truly believe that you have to stay connected in your own happiness and not be all child-centered.  However, what I didn't know, was how much self-satisfaction I get by seeing Mason doing fun things.  So, we'll see.  It is only one season.  I can probably jump right back in on the summer tennis season if I miss it too much.

The other reason that I am considering tennis is that I found Yoga.  Now this is nothing like the thrill and fun of tennis, but I have never felt better about my body than after these Bikram yoga classes.  It is unbelievable.  When I came home from my third class which was on a Sunday evening (the first two were pretty much torture), I was on the biggest high I had ever been on.  This is kind of embarrassing, but it actually brought tears to my eyes when I was driving home.  I think I was finally aware of how bad I had been feeling for the longest time, that when I finally felt good, my body was overcome with happiness.  I came home at 7 pm and just smiled for the rest of the night.  Whatever it is, the sweat, the time for myself, the stretching, the body awareness, whatever, it is exactly what I need.  If you don't know, Bikram is the yoga that you do in a heated, humidified room.  I think it is supposed to be 105 degrees and 40% humidity.  I don't mind heat, and I had a good mindset going in.  But to me, the room felt like a warm summer beach day.  I kid you not.  This was not a "bearable" heat, this heat felt wonderful to me.  I surprised myself with how many of the postures I could do, but also very surprised at how hard it was.  I was so tired and out of breath at some instances in the class that I didn't think I could continue (I know, from yoga!).  But there is just enough break in between each posture that you are just ready to do the next one.

It has been almost one month, which is only 8 classes, but I can already see a dramatic difference in my body.  I know, I know, I had nothing to work on.  Whatever, heard it all before, but everyone knows their own body, and yes I have/had a couple extra inches around the belly that I wanted to go away.  I don't have a scale or every weigh myself, but I am positive that I have already lost 1 inch around my love handles and my arms and butt are much more toned.  It is so awesome.  I am so looking forward to what improvements I will make over the next month.  It is expensive ($90/month), but by dropping tennis for a bit and canceling my gym membership, I will be able to do it.  Everyone should try it!

What's next on the list, oh yes, mommy groups.  I joined a second moms group because I just have so much free time.  This one is a working mommy group, so I will be able to go to more things because they are all on the weekends.  Mason is getting easier and easier to do things with, and this is a great way to make some new friends.  Today we are going to the Artful Potter, so Mason can paint something.  He is so much into painting lately!  I am excited to have found a new art studio and on Sundays they have an "open studio" day.  That way I can expose Mason to more art things (I'm sure things is not the right word, but I am clueless when it comes to art) and I won't have to pay for all the supplies or clean up the mess.  We have a couple Valentine's parties lined up, a roller derby MNO (Mom's Night Out), and storytime at the library all in February.  It is going to be fun!

Ok.  Now that was LONG enough.  Now, to get my pictures organized before we head out.