Our Sweet Little Story: Squeaky School

For some time now, Hunt and I have referred to Harper's daycare as "school". I'm pretty sure that I started this, and it was definitely a more appealing place to refer to sending one's child than "daycare". It just seems better, and with less negative connotations when you picture a daycare with tons of snotty kids running around dirty. So to be clear, Harper's daycare center is about as far from above as possible-- with the exception of the snot- that is rampant and has followed us around for the better part of the last 6 months. But otherwise, it is a wonderful and organized place filled with a lot of skilled caregivers and more purposeful learning than I could ever dream of coming up with for a young child.

Like for example, last month they were growing an avocado seed and watching it grow with a microscope- who thinks of that?! And there are the sensory tables with coffee beans, the "dramatic play" area- still not entirely sure what that means, although Carson and I have spent some time trying to figure it out. And probably still our personal family favorite, which was doing "artwork for the troops" when she was still in the infant room. Not sure which "troops" exactly, and not so sure about the infant art, but I certainly applaud the civic mindedness, and still have a laugh thinking about some hard working military member receiving Harper's artwork. Also, there was reference one day to spending time in the "multi-cultural blanket"-- again, not really sure what else to say about this. The teachers will strip these little guys down to their diapies, though, and let them go to town with all sorts of paint and goo flying about and it looks just so fun. Not to mention that I love the idea of the goo flying around someone else's place. These are all things that I would never develop on my own, and they are really adding to Harper's development and enrichment. Since she joined the toddlers in January, she is so much more independent and chatty, and you can just see how much the socialization has made her more confident and able to interact in groups of people and kids. Any semblance or twinge of working mommy guilt that may occasionally creep in, or annoyance with the aforementioned snot, is quickly squashed by knowing that she is gaining so much positive from being in such a great setting during the day. We are so so lucky to have access to this type of care through Lilly.

This month the newsletter informed me that the Purple Locomotives are working on healthy eating habits, body parts, and Harper's favorite-- "pee pee and poo poo in da potty". They have these mini toilets in her class room, and apparently like any good toddler, she is fascinated with sitting on them. We have taken the cue and purchased a little one for home, which she is super excited to sit on, ask for a bit of toilet paper with an "a pease a pease", and than stand right up (no actual results noted) and put her TP into the big potty with a "YAAAY!". It's pretty funny, and true to form, somehow bathroom habits become entertaining when you have kids. I will not devote too much more space to toileting, however- I find it completely icky when people discuss this topic ad nausea.

Below are a bunch of pictures that we have accumulated over the year, much in thanks to her sweet teachers. Her infant room teacher Ms. Sherry, who Harper adores and still comes to babysit for us, was especially into photography and has given us so many to keep. The center also uses a really neat website for the teachers to post what the kids are up to, along with the occasional picture and video, and it is such a fun addition to the work day to get to have access to these!