Our Parent/Teacher Conference

I had my first parent/teacher conference! Sure...Joaquin is only 17 months old, but it's never too early to start setting expectations around learning and development. We got a little report card for him from his teacher at daycare.

Here are some of the items that Joaquin got an 'A' in (A for Always):
--Climbs on any available object
--Stops and picks up objects
--Imitates adults
--Shows empathy (my favorite...so nice)
--Throws trash away!
--Knows own cubby
--Waves and says 'bye- bye'
--responds to music

Here are some of the items that Joaquin got a 'S' in (S for Sometimes):
--Points to named object
--marks with crayon, marker
--tries to sing
--makes animal sounds (he tries...i asked him last week what a dog says and he said "Hoo-Hoo"...then I asked what a cat says, and he said "Hoo-Hoo". So we're still working out the details on what the animals actually say)
--attempts to put shoes and hat on

Here are the items that Joaquin got an 'N' (N for Never). We've had a talk with Joaquin and we should see some quick improvements. I mean..it's not like any of these are hard....
--Enjoys new tactile experience (Joaquin hates painting-they only get him to paint if they offer him a brush!)
--Pulls pants up
--watches shadow
--puts simple puzzles together
--Shows hand preference
--Recognizes own art work.

I hope you all know that we don't take this too seriously - and it was a nice way for us to connect with his teachers on what he is doing. I asked his teacher what makes Joaquin unique and she said that he is very gentle with the other kids - and always gives hugs and kisses. He loves to be social but likes his alone time too and will sit and work on something by himself for a while. He loves loves loves to be outside. Pretty nice, don't you think?

So, if he never learns how to pull up his pants, I will still be a proud mama if he grows up and gives hugs and kisses, likes to be outside and is happy being social or spending time by himself sometimes. Hmmmmm...some people might be uncomfortable if he does those things without pants on......maybe we'll work on the pants thing.

Halloween 2009...may the force be with you...

Halloween was a lot of fun this weekend. We started Halloween festivities on Friday when our friends Dana and Ryder hosted a halloween preview playdate. Our playdates just get more and more exciting as our babies get older. It was a lot of fun - here's just a snapshot of the chaos.
We tried to get all the kids on the couch for a picture in their costumes but I got no good shots of that. I'm not sure what sort of magic photographer could get 7 16-month-olds who were all overdue for a nap to sit on the couch in costumes at the same time. But I'll be anxious to see what Jaxon or the Weils post!


On Saturday, we made a questionable decision to go to Ikea before trick-or-treating, so our little jedi-master almost napped thru all the daylight trick-or-treating. He finally woke up and i crammed some pasta in his mouth for dinner and got him outside just in time to get a few pics of Joaquin in his Yoda costume before the sun went down.
Tada!

Always two there are...a master and an apprentice....


Here we are on our way to trick or treat. Art held down the fort while Joaquin and I went out. We just hit a handful of houses since I don't really need the candy.

Joaquin was a quick study. After i demo-ed the process at a couple of houses, he took over and would walk up to the door and knock on his own. He eagerly dug into the candy bowls and wouldn't stop grabbing candy until I told him to. Other than the large amount of banana Laffy Taffys he came home with, trick or treating was a success. One of our neighbors had an after-hours party and we had a few more snacks before it was time for bed.