Preschool, Potty, 18 months

I know I'm going to really regret this lack of posting later on, when i have nothing to look back for for a significant chunk of my kids' lives. I hope I can be more vigilant in keeping up with this blog...

Gemma. 

Turning 3 has brought with it some new things to think about and maybe even a couple of challenges. I think the main item has been preschool and whether I should send her in September or whether I should wait another year so she only goes to preschool for 1 year or whether to send her to a formal preschool at all. This town has so many wonderful preschool programs offered by the Town and it is much cheaper than sending her to a formal preschool. Having said that, I myself have never been to preschool and so I am not sure what she would be missing if she didn't go. Would it put her behind at kindergarten? Do I want her to go to preschool for 2 years or just 1 year? What age do I want her to go into grade 1? I realize it seems early to be thinking about real school already, but I need to kinda think about that too in order to figure out when/how long she will go to preschool, when she will then go to kindergarten, etc. Then it all snowballs into - well, which school will she go to? I am not sure if all towns/cities have this area boundary thing, but here the school you attend depends on which part of town you live in. If you want to go to a school outside of your "boundary" then you may be waitlisted as those kids who live in that boundary get priority. The problem with us is that we would love for our kids to go to Catholic school as apparently they have a really great program and the public school in our "boundary" sound less than desirable. Unfortunately neither Jesse nor I are Catholic and so our kids would get the very bottom the list. Once all the baptized Catholic kids are in, they take in the kids whose one parent at least was baptized, then the non-Catholic kids. The two Catholic schools in town have just exploded with students in the last few years as more young families move to town and more people are moving their kids into the Catholic system after learning how much better the program/teaching is. So basically I am afraid that when it's Gemma's time to go to school, she will not be able to get in. Thus, thinking about preschool has become much more complicated than it seemed at first. 

Last week Gemma started her first 2-hour unparented preschool program offered by the Town. It's called "Create and Play" and basically they do crafts, maybe play with some play-doh, some new toys, play a game, etc. I had no idea before, but it has come to my attention that these kids need to be able to go to the bathroom on their own. I mean, completely on their own. Climb up to the adult-sized toilet, wipe, come down and re-dress, then wash their hands at the big sink - all on their own. Maybe we are completely behind in this aspect, but until now I've always helped Gemma in the bathroom, mainly with lifting her up onto the toilet seat and then wiping. I was completely surprised to learn that she had to be able to do all this on her own. I know Gemma is physically not able to climb up on to the toilet (thanks to my lack of upper body strength she has inherited) and frankly I don't know that I want her to be touching the toilet seat with her hands/arms trying to get up on it. They do have a small stepstool in the bathroom, so we've been practicing at home. Still, i think it's rather absurd that they expect 3-year-olds to be able to do this on their own. and I know that it could very well just be MY 3-year-old as I hear stories about 2-year-olds and not even 2-year-olds who will climb the toilet to pee. I still think it's absurd. 

Leni.

She'll be 18 months tomorrow!

• She understands pretty well everything you say to her, but whether she does what you say is another thing entirely. 
• She always tells me right away if she pooped, she doesn't like a poopy diaper. 
• She has to have/do everything Gemma has/does. 
• She is sooooo cuddly and will sit on your lap for hours just like that.
• She sleeps at about 7:30-8 PM until 6:30-7 AM. She naps about 1.5 hours during the day. 
• Toki ("akki") is her bunny that she loves and can't live without. 
• For several weeks now she has been very adamant that she feed herself with a spoon. She has gotten pretty good!
• We recently stopped giving her bedtime milk. A rather surprisingly smooth transition.
• She loves to play hide and seek. 
• She is very good at copying what you say.
• She still throws tantrums and rolls on the ground with every "no".