End of July

Bertram did pretty well with his Space Camp.  I should have just told him it was preschool.  I think he was expecting a real rocket, or something.  His cousin, Kaylee, was in the class with him, which was nice.  But he had a hard time with me leaving, most days.  I found a method that worked for both of us, by the end of the week.  (I go in with him.  He says he wants to go home.  I ignore that and sit down.  After a minute or so, he gets something to play with.  Then he gets really into whatever he's doing.  I tell him "I'm going in 2 minutes."  He says ok.  Two minutes later I tell him bye, and he barely looks up).  All in all, he had fun.

I think I mentioned previously, that I signed Bertie up for free preschool.  But it was every day, and not on the best side of the city.  I found a preschool program through San Jose Parks and Rec, which was just what I wanted.  Two half days a week, close enough to walk to (1.2 miles away) and doesn't cost a fortune.  ($197 a month, which is about $100 less than any other program in the area). He starts on the 28th of August and goes til May 30.  I've got to get him excited, maybe having him choose a backpack and lunch box? 
Here is the description:
This class prepares your child for kindergarten with age-appropriate
activities, learning concepts, socialization skills and fun. Your child will gain
a basic understanding of shapes, colors and pre-phonics and literacy
building (i.e. identifying letter sounds, and writing the alphabet and simple
words), as well as number recognition, and counting up to 30. The goal is
to have fun, participate and learn. Children must be fully potty trained before the start of class. Requirements for parent attendance, volunteers, snacks, etc. varies by center.

I think some of it may be boring for him.  He knows colours, and shapes, and he reads fairly well.  But the socialization will be good, and counting.  He can get to 12, then skips a couple numbers going to 30. And phonics will be good.  He knows the letter sounds, but doesn't seem to associate them with words.  His reading is about 90% sight reading.  So it's exciting.

Bronwyn turned one last week.  She had her well check on Friday.  She is still a tiny girl 16lb12.4oz, and 28 inches tall.  I think that is 8%ile for weight, and 16%ile for height.  But she is good on all developmental issues.  She's just a tiny girl.  She has 4 teeth, and it working on a couple more.  She got three shots: MMR, Hep A and chicken pox.  She was grumpy immediately following her appointment, but was fine the rest of the day.  (Poor kid, she cried so hard).  I'm feeding her meals first, then nursing after, to see if that will help her gain a little weight. 

We had her party on Saturday.  It was low key, just family.  I had some water stuff for the older cousins (they are 4, 5, and 6) to play will.  We had Eggrolls, rice, watermelon, veggies and cake.

She liked this little splash pad.

She wasn't a fan of her smash cake.

She was very tired at the end, because she'd missed a nap.  

My mom is here (because of Bronwyn's birthday).  I love having her around.  I wish she lived closer.  But I'm glad I get to see her as much as I do (especially because 3000 miles is far away).  

The kids started swimming lessons last week.  (It's 2 weeks mon-thur). Bertie is in the tot class (Turtles) and Bron and I are in the baby class (Whales).  This is the first time Bertram has done swimming lessons without me.  He's doing very well, from what I can tell.  I watch him while I'm doing things with Brony on the otherwise of the pool.  Bronwyn is really too young for the actual instruction.  But she enjoys being in the water.  She really likes jumping in.  At the side of the pool, she climbs out.  And stands up, holding my fingers.  I help her jump in, she smiles and wants to go again and again.  I dunked her under a little bit, and it didn't bother her at all.

I bought our plane tickets to go to Virginia.  We'll be going to Myrtle Beach from there.  I'm really excited.  I love the beach, and both kids love the beach.  Aaron could take or leave the beach, but likes vacation.  It took forever to get the tickets sorted out.  We had $800 in travel certificates from United (from when Aaron chose to get bumped last year).  But I have to do Aaron's reservation separate from me and the kids because he comes back sooner.  So I had two screens going at once, so we could have seats together. But I got to the end, and it wasn't accepting the certificate (an error message kept popping up).  So I called customer service, and got Aaron's done.  I figured mine would work, but it didn't.  So I had to call back and do it again.  All in all, it took almost an hour to get it all done.