Next to the Last Daycare Day

Ivan slept well last night. He was in good spirits this morning. His temperature measured 98.8, so in my book, he was good to go.

We packed him up to take him to daycare. In the car, he started crying and whining that he didn't want to go to daycare but that he wanted to stay home with Didi. We ignored him. It was time to go to daycare.

Had it been any other week, I would've let him stay home. It would've been the preferable thing to do, considering yesterday's fever. But since this is the transition week, I was determined that he was going to ease into pre-school and ease out of daycare.

By the time we got to daycare, he was in a full crying mode, refusing to go. Andy offered to settle him in. Lately, Ivan's been crying for me and is clingy when I take him into daycare. He doesn't put on such a show for Andy. I waited in the car.

At work, I kept wondering whether we made the right decision to send him to daycare, or whether he should've stayed home.

Around noon, the phone call came in. It was Ms. Rosa. Ivan's has been clingy, not feeling well, complaining that he's cold, with a fever of 101. I felt awful. A bad mother. He should've stayed home today. Instead of making this a pleasant transition week, it's turning to be a sick week---a very unusual event, considering Ivan's been rarely sick.

When he spiked a fever yesterday, I actually thought that maybe the fever is a psychosomatic response to this transition. I don't know if that makes sense, but considering how rarely Ivan's been sick, I thought it possible.

Andy picked him up. He was with Ms. Rosa and Bella in the bathroom. Well, Ms. Rosa took Bella to the bathroom and Ivan tagged along. He had been following Ms. Rosa around the entire day, she said. I guess it makes sense for a baby who wasn't feeling well.

He came home, and slept off the afternoon. By the time I came home after work, he seemed fine. He didn't seem hot, so I didn't take his temperature.

But to be on the safe side, he's staying home tomorrow. Easing him into pre-school can wait until Friday.

Big Boy School

Today was it. The big day we’ve been waiting for and anticipating—we went to the “big boy school,” otherwise known as the UMCP pre-school , or CYC as is its official name.

The actual event, of course, was less frightening than all these months of anticipation.

We’ve been prepping Ivan for months now. Today was, finally, the big day.
Considering everything, it went rather smoothly.

First, last night I dragged him to Target, although he didn’t want to go, to shop for school supplies. We got an entire list from CYC of supplies to buy—markers, and the like—to bring to school today. They helpfully suggested to take the child along shopping as it could be a great bonding, school-prepping activity. So, off we went last evening—Sunday around 6 p.m., on the eve of the new school year, to Target, which apparently was in the middle of some sort of back-to-school sale.

The school supply area was barren. Big boxes and bins, which at some point earlier in the morning must have been nicely sorted, presented and organized, were raided. It was like entering a Communist grocery store that people just raided for the one and only shipment of coffee. There was nothing left, except many other parents and kids, circling the bins like vultures, rummaging through the sparse and misplaced
remains.

It had never occurred to me that it may not be the brightest idea go school-supply shopping at Target on the eve of the new school year. Andy later asked me, why didn’t I do it earlier. Maybe because I was in denial that this pre-school transition was actually about to take place?

At Target, Ivan was getting irritated, and wanted stuff we didn’t set out to buy. I couldn’t find the items the school asked for. Items like scotch tape (there was none left), or black and white marble notebooks, which I translated to mean those lab notebooks (none left), fine tip and fat tip Crayola markers in an 8-piece set (the ones I found only came in a set of 10, and didn’t really have the descriptions that the teachers put on the To Buy List), glue sticks (check), Elmers glue (check), Friskers scissors (almost didn’t…but check), etc…

In my inability to find these basic school items and the lack of forethought that it may not have been the greatest idea to go shopping for them so late, I became anxious, really anxious. What were those teachers going to think when I couldn’t even purchase these basic items? Were they going to peg me as a bad, unengaged mom? I started doubting myself, as a mother, person, well, really, a competent adult.
Luckily, Ivan didn’t have a meltdown and even got an extra pair of scissors to have at home.

This morning as we packed for pre-school, Ivan refused to take the supplies. “They’re for my house,” he insisted. “They’re for pre-school,” I insisted back.

When Ivan woke up this morning, I continued hyping him for pre-school. Everything seemed fine. We had a run of the mill morning, until he said his knee hurt and he needed a band aid. He fetched a band aid and put it on his knee. I’m not sure where this mysterious knee pain came from. He has fallen a lot lately, including two days ago at Dutch Wonderland, but he hadn’t fallen this morning, nor were his knees bruised, blue-marked or skinned. A few minutes later he took the band aid off, saying his knee no longer hurt.

Before heading to pre-school, we had to swing by the pediatrician’s office to pick up his health forms, which I had dropped off really early (and was very proud of myself for doing so), but never found the time to go and pick them up. (They were only due at CYC a week ago.)

This was around 9:30 a.m. We got in the car. He started yawning. He looked exhausted, as if he didn’t sleep at all. Since he woke up very early this morning, like at 5 a.m., I didn’t think anything of it.

He continued yawning. After the pediatrician’s, we swung back by the house to pick up his newly-purchased boots (a CYC request) which I forgot to pack, and proceeded to Maryland. Ivan continued yawning. He started falling asleep, and I could tell he was doing his best to keep himself away. But at the intersection of RT 198 and Adelphi, he gave in. He fell asleep. It was 10:10 a.m. It was unusual of him to do that.

A few minutes later, we arrived. It was 10:20. The school door hadn’t opened yet. I guess they are very punctual and strict with their rules. They said the doors would open at 10:30. We waited outside. It was hot and sunny. Freshly-awoken Ivan, was hot and cranky. Really cranky. “My tummy hurts,” he said. “I want to go home,” he added. I wasn’t surprised.

At 10:30, we were let in. We found the Green Room. Ivan continued whining that he wanted to go home. I expected it and braced myself for it.

The room was really nice. Well equipped with various play stations, nice cubbies for each child, etc. Ivan continued crying that he wanted to go home. This lasted some 15minutes, or so it seemed. Eventually, he let go, when he saw a bowl of goldfish and water on the table. We sat down to eat. A few other moms and girls joined us. While I made small talk, Ivan ate and ignored the kids. Then he had to go pee, pee. “Pee, pee,” he said. I swiftly ushered him into the bathroom. The bathrooms are kid-size, with low toilets and sinks. Really nice and cute. He did everything himself—took off his clothes, peed, got dressed, washed hands…etc. Then we returned to eat our goldfish. Sometime later, he had to go poopy. So we did. Without a problem. Again, he did everything. He even wiped himself (this was an easy wipe). Later he went to pee again. All in all, I was thrilled that he had to use the bathroom three times, and did it without any big problems.

Back in the classroom, he discovered a sink (kid-height), which had that hose-faucet, like our sink, and a water fountain. He spent most of the remaining time, at the sink and the water fountain. His shirt was completely wet. “I’m cold, mama,” he said several times. I assumed he was cold because of the water.

He eventually explored the rest of the classroom. He looked at the blocks, at the big water table with shells, at the drawing station, etc…

Throughout all this time, Ivan kept yawing. He also looked tired and not-rested. I thought one of the teachers noticed that—well he yawned as I was trying to talk to her—I felt embarrassed. What if they think that I don’t take good care of my child?

Then Andy arrived and Ivan showed him around. At the great room, basically their central hallway, Ivan remembered the music teacher. When we visited the center back in March, there was a music class taking place there. I’m shocked that he remembered it, considering that was six months ago

There are two teachers in the classroom. They introduced themselves and we said hi to them. We didn’t really get to interact with them. One, Cici, seemed personable and nice. The other one, Sara, came across as rather cold. Not necessarily cold, but definitely not warm, bubbly and fuzzy. In our debrief this evening, this was something that both Andy and I separately noted today. Neither one was thrilled with this realization.

We were at CYC for one hour. Then we went to get lunch at the golf course. Ivan kept yawing and saying he was cold, even after we changed his shirt.

The lunch was really nice. We sat outside in the shade, overlooking the golf course. Ivan got cranky and tired. He wanted to sit on me. He felt really hot. He cuddled in my lap and fell asleep. He had never done that before.

When we came home, I took his temperature. 101.1 fever. No wonder he wasn’t feeling well. He's had the fever for the rest of the day and went to bed with it.

So all told, the day went pretty well.

I can’t tell whether he liked CYC or not. This afternoon, he told me that he wants to go back and that he doesn’t want to go back. So I don’t know.

This is supposed to be the transition week—Monday CYC, Tuesday daycare (although now with the fever, he won’t go), Wednesday CYC, Thursday daycare (and goodbye party), Friday CYC.

I told him that on Thursday, we’ll have a goodbye party at daycare. He got excited
at the prospect of a party “for me,” but I’m not sure whether he understands the finality of it.

He did tell me that he’ll have new friends at CYC, but I think he’s just regurgitating what we’ve told him before. I’ve also asked him again who does he play with at daycare, who’s his friend and who’d he like to come over. He didn’t say anything. When I asked about Dylan, he said, yes Dylan. Again, I’m not sure whether he really means that or says what he thinks I want to hear.

First Tooth

Allen's first tooth poked through today. The lower right tooth. It broke ground today. We knew it was coming. Allen's been drooling for a while now. And for the last few days he's been exceptionally cranky, and downright angry.

He's been violently rejecting the pacifier; he absolutely refuses to put it in his mouth. I shouldn't complain about this. In the long run, it's a good thing. He won't be a two year-old addicted to his pacifier. But now, I wish he would take it, so he'd stop crying. Ivan also rejected the pacifier when he was about nine months old.

Also, putting Allen to bed has gotten more difficult these few days as well. It must be tooth-related. He has been throwing a fit at the mere sight of his room, not to mention actually being lowered into his crib.

Don't be like a princess

"Don't be like a princess. Be like a girl," Ivan told me last night when
he saw me wear earrings. And I wasn't even wearing a skirt.

Last Week at Daycare

This is Ivan's last week at daycare.

I double checked Maryland's Parents' Guidebook. It explained in detail what they mean about a kid being potty trained. The child needs to be able to wipe himself. Ivan doesn't know how.

At bathtime, I brought up the issue of daycare.
He's been excited that he'll go to "big boy school," as we've been prepring him all summer.
This is Ivan's last week at daycare, and the gut wrenching feeling remains.
Now, there’s another thing that I’m concerned about: I double-checked Maryland's Parents' Guidebook. It explained in detail what they mean about a child being potty trained. In addition to knowing when and how to use the potty, a child needs to be completely self-sufficient in the bathroom, including being able to wipe himself. Ivan doesn't know how to do that. We haven’t practiced that skill yet. Surprisingly enough, that’s harder to master than one would think. So we had put that on the back burner for a while, focusing instead on the actual potty part and clothes handling (which is another skill that’s more difficult to master than one would think.)
At bath-time, I brought up the issue of daycare. Ivan's been excited that he'll go to the "big boy school," as we've been prepping him all summer.
I told him that this week we'll have a goodbye party at daycare. He perked up at the thought of a party.
“We'll need to say goodbye to Ms Rosa, Ms. Norma and all his friends,” I said.
Then I asked again, who he likes to play with at daycare. He didn’t answer me. He never does, when I ask that question.
I continued explaining that how for the big boy school, he'll need to know how to wipe himself and that we'll need to practice this week. He didn’t acknowledge that.
He asked, however, whether I'll take him to the big boy school. “Yes,” I said.
After a short silence he asked for milk, while he was sitting in the bathtub. Milk, for Ivan, is really a synonym for being scared and wanting comfort. It was the first time I saw him acknowledge this change and being aware that something is about to happen.
Once he was tucked in bed and we turned off the light, I said that Medic can come to preschool as well, if he wants him to. He nodded yes.
Last Friday at daycare, they had the school picnic. There was music (radio), food, a moon bounce, water play, etc…. Even though Ivan doesn’t attend daycare on Fridays, I made sure we went. We went early and stayed for the entire event (until it winded down at 2)
He had a blast. He paid attention to me and made sure I was there, but otherwise, he ran everywhere to play to do all the activities, including the moon bounce. He loved being inside and jumping around with other kids. (However, he didn’t want to climb up and go down the rather steep moon bounce slide, like some other kids who were inside. The slide did look really steep and not fun. Yes, my baby is more cautious, less daredevil-ly and more scared than some other kids, like Alexandra, who although she looks so prim, proper and girly, is a little tomboy who yelled at Ivan to get out of the way, if he wasn’t going to climb up the slide.)
He only came back to me when he was tired and wanted to go home.
All in all, what a difference from last year, when at the same event, he spent the entire time sitting in my lap, unwilling to budge without me. He wouldn’t go near the moon bounce.
He seems so comfortable, happy and at ease here. My ambivalence of pulling him out of daycare hit me with the vengeance. I feel awful knowing that soon all this would end, and he’ll start a new school, a bigger school, surrounded with strangers where he’ll have to start from scratch.
I told Ms. Rosa that he's leaving. She was said. She told me again, as she had on several other occasions, that he’s such a good boy, that he’s such a pleasure to have in her classroom, and that they’ll really miss him.
I wanted to cry.
I asked Creighton's mom about his transition to the big boy school he was just transitioned into a few weeks ago (Creighton was at the party). She said the transition was difficult.
Emma's mom said the same thing. Emma keeps asking about her friends, although she transitioned in June.
Both of these kids are much more extroverted, bolder kids than Ivan is.
I wonder what next week will be like.

I told him that this week we'll ahve a goodbye party at daycare. He perked up at the thought of a party.
I said we'll need to saygoodbye to Ms Rosa, Norma and all his friends.

I asked again, who he likes to play with at daycare, but he didn't answer.

FOr new big boy school, he'll need to know how to wipe himself, that we'll need to practice this week....
He asked whether I'll take him to big boy school. I said yes.
Then he said he wanted milk while he was in the bathtub. Milk is really his synonim for being scared and wanting comfort. It was the first time I saw him acknowledge this change and being aware that something is about to happen.
Once he was tucked in bed and we turned off teh light, I said that Medic can come to daycare as well, if he wants him to. He nodded yes.

Last Friday at daycare, they had a school picnic....moonbounce and all.

Last year, he sat in my lap all the time and wouldn't budge. This time he willingly went into the moon bounce, walked around, played....only came to me when he was tired and wanted to go home. What a difference.
I feel awful.

I told Ms. Rosa that he's leaving...

I asked Creighton's mom about his transition to the big boy school he was just transitioned into a few weeks ago (Creighton was at the party). SHe said the transition was difficult.

Emma's mom said the same thing. That she keeps asking abotuher friends, although she transitioned in June.

And both of those are much more extroverted, bolder kids than Ivan is.

I wonder what next week will be like.

Have bunnies been forgotten

The other day I realized that Ivan hadn't mentioned bunnies in the last few months, so I decided to ask about them.

"What happened to the bunnies? The bunny rabbits," I asked.

Ivan looked at me, as if he didn't understand what I was talking about.

"The bunnies that lived in the cage, under the carpet?"

Is it possible that he forgot about them, I wondered.

"I let them go," he said finally. He seemed to have been thinking up the right answer as he was saying it, as if he thought it up right there, on the fly. Like he had actually forgotten about them.

Who knows, maybe he had forgotten about them. It seems unlikely, considering various other trivia and memories he brings up 4-6 months after the fact.

Ivan's Kitchen

"Watch you put that there," Ivan said as he entered the house.

"What is this?" I asked.

"It's a kitchen, for me," he said, approaching to check it out.

Yesterday, while Ivan was spending the night at my parents', I bought him a play kitchen from Ikea. Surprisingly enough, it was easy to put together, for an Ikea product, that is.



He's spent the last few months constantly playing kitchen that finally I broke down and decided it was worth spending a hundred bucks for him to have a kitchen.

Initially, Andy wanted to buy him a kitchen this past Christmas, but I balked at the price and didn't think he would enjoy it much. I didn't think he really cared to play kitchen, until this past spring, when he basically wouldn't leave daycare, but cooked, served me food and washed dishes for about 45 minutes.




Ivan timidly, but with a smile, approached the kitchen. He turned on the stove. The stove is an electric glass stove top--which actually looks just like our actual stove top--with two button that he can push to turn on a burner.

He opened the cabinets. He looked at his utensils. "Oh, a little one," he said looking at a pair of thongs.

"What am I going to cook," he asked.

I offered a suggestion, which he dismissed.

"How about Didi's meat?" I tried again.

"No, that's too hard," he said.

"I'm going to make cream cheese hummus," he decided.

While I went upstairs to get dressed for work, he took hummus out of the fridge, scooped it into a pot, and was stirring it on the stove.

"Aah, how about you make playdoh hummus," I offered, taking everything to wash out.

"You can't make playdoh hummus," he answered, frowning. "What am I going to cook?"

We settled on pasta. I gave him some noodles to put in his pot. Then he wanted to take some more himself.

When I returned from work, he quickly went to open the fridge and show me pasta he cooked.



He "cooked" his pasta, sprinkled some grated cheese on it, wrapped it in saran wrap, and stored it in the fridge. Just like I would've done.

"Try it, mama," he said. "Crunchy pasta," he said smiling.

He brought out his pot of pasta for "you, dadda and me, that's for us," to eat.

And we had to help ourselves to some. Then he put it back in the fridge.

"That's for later."

Kitchen at the end of the day.

The Big Cricket, Part 2

"Mama, I'm no longer scared of the Big Cricket," Ivan told me the other day, a few weeks after he announced he was afraid of the Big Cricket.

So I guess, the Big Cricket fear is over.

He also didn't seem scared of the deluge-like rain that blanketed our area on Thursday, nor the accompanying lighthing and thunder.

Andy and I were trying to stay calm although we were freaking out because water got into two windows, and we basically spent the storm holding towels to the windows soaking up the water.

Ivan was curious what we were doing but didn't seem scared. Nor was he scared later in the afternoon when the electricity went out for a while.

Allen's Crawling

About three weeks ago, Allen started crawling. It was really subtle and imperceptible at first. He'd kind of stretch his arm, then roll over and in the process inch forward. Then he started getting up on his fours and rocking back and forth. He’d try to move his arm and topple over, inching forward in the process.

By now, he’s all over the place. He still rocks on all fours, but hasn’t learned how to turn that rocking into crawling. Instead, he’s doing the army crawl, just like Ivan. In other words, he’s sweeping my floors.

This means I’m back to daily vacuuming and kitchen sweeping. Of course, Mariposa is shedding like crazy because it’s so hot. Also, the carpet and the floor seem to be incessantly littered with dried up bits of playdoh, regardless of how much I vacuum and pick it up. I’m afraid that Allen will eat it.

Also, we also brought out the jumpy chair after Allen turned six months. Allen loves it.
My feeling is that Allen will start crawling, walking, etc. much sooner than Ivan. I also think he’ll be an out-of-crib climber, unlike Ivan, who did that once and never again.

Daycare vs. Preschool

The clock’s ticking, it’s down to the wire, the MD pre-school bill’s due on Friday, and I’m still dragging my feet whether to keep Ivan in daycare or transfer him to Maryland. Andy’s made up his mind. It’s Maryland, for him. I have not, although we started the ball rolling for MD back in March and have completed all the paperwork, paid all fees, etc….and have basically enrolled him.
I’m the obstacle. Every time I think about it, I get paralyzed. I can’t make a decision. I get this gut wrenching feeling in my stomach.

It feels like I’m breaking up with someone, with daycare in this case. I don’t know why I’m so hung up on it. And this really shouldn’t be about me, but about Ivan. And I’m trying to decide what I think is best for him, and in the process, I think I have started projecting my issues onto this.

I’m sad that we’ll leave our daycare. I’m sad that Ivan will leave all the teachers behind—that he won’t get to see them and that they won’t get to see him anymore.

I’m sad that he’ll never see any of the daycare kids again. I’m sad, but would he be? Would he care? How attached is he to them? I know he plays with them and mentioned them at home, but how close is he to them? Will he remember them, will he care? Long-term, he probably won’t, although he seems to have a good memory. Short-term, will he be concerned what happened to them, why he’ll never see them again, and what if we stay in touch with a few kids, like Isabella K, or maybe Sashi or Dylan, will he wonder why he’s not in the same daycare as them?

I have a few pre-school memories. I still recall a few preschool friends (a girl named Anamarija was my best friend and I never saw her again once I started elementary school and Maja, who I’m still in touch with) and the things we did (Anamarija and I loved to dance to Abba). But I was between 3 and 6, not three and a half. Eventually, they’d all go their respective ways once pre-K starts, but that would be in two years, not now.

I’m probably overthinking this.

Then what if he loses himself in this new pre-school, in the sea of 18 kids? His current daycare class totals some 10 kids, and the entire place has, if, 30 kids. The new place has four classrooms of 18 kids. He seems to thrive better in small groups and one-on-one than is big group settings. What is the transition is too hard? What if he doesn’t like it? What if the teachers don’t like him?
Maybe that’s what it is, what if he gets rejected? He’s sensitive; he’s not a “go-getter” kid like Bella or Seger.

Again, maybe I’m projecting myself, my sensitivities, my experiences into this.

And then we need to tell the daycare that he’s leaving. Andy gave Ms. Rosa a heads up a few weeks ago about him leaving, while I told Ms. Claudette back in spring that Ivan will start full time in September. And now we’re leaving. I can’t talk to them. Andy will have to. I don’t want to tell them that we’re leaving. I feel like we’ll abandon them, and that they’ll never get the four year-old classroom off the ground. I know this shouldn’t be my concern, but it is.

So in the end, why are we moving him to Maryland: because that was the plan from the get-go, from way before he started going to daycare; because the place has a great reputation and is supposed to be a great facility; because it has to be now, or not at all, he couldn’t start next year; because it will be much more convenient for Andy (until the following winter when Allen will go to daycare, and when for one year, Andy will have to be shuttling both kids to two separate locations, unless I get a car and take care of Allen).

Playdate with Sashi

As Ivan became more verbal over the summer and moved away from the toddler “parallel” play to actual social play with other kids , he started talking about other kids at daycare.
He mentions Sashi, Creighton (both of whom are always trying to “get him,” what ever that means. I think it’s catch him or it’s some sort of three year-old game they play), Isabella Creuse, Emma, Margaret, Erica, etc. But most often he talks about Sashi.

For the last few weeks, we talked about inviting Sashi over for a playdate. We talked about it on several occasions and it took me much longer to invite them over due to extenuating circumstances, such as not being able to invite people to come over in July during the heat-wav e month with our broken air conditioner. And every time Ivan got really excited.

“Sashi will come over to my house?” he’d ask.

“Sashi will come over and see all this,” he said, extending his arms in a sweeping motion toward the living room , he said at another occasion.

Sashi and his mom came over yesterday. It was a rainy, drizzly, ugly day.

Ivan was so excited. Sashi was shy, and was glued to his mom. He kept saying that he wanted to go home.

And Ivan tried to pull out all the stops for him. He wasn’t shy, or bossy, or correcting him (to play correctly with toys), but was all exuberant , hyper, happy, etc. I had never seen him act like that when another kid was over. (For example, Leila and Yulia came over on Friday, and while he played with Leila, he trying to correct her how to properly play with toys. )

And Sashi couldn’t have cared less. We tried putting together train tracks, but Sashi balked.

“Mama, Sashi’s not playing with me,” Ivan came over to inform me. We tried this, we tried that. I finally brought out the bowling pins. They both liked that and took turns. Then they danced a bit. Then I suggested that Ivan shows Sashi his big trucks out on the porch.

In the end they played a bit, but it was really a lukewarm, mom-facilitated, almost contrived playdate. The two times when Isabella K. came over to play, Ivan and she immediately started playing. There was no warm up time. I expected the same with Sashi.

We went to Sashi’s birthday party two months ago, and while Ivan took a little bit of time to warm up—mainly because we arrived later, post-nap time, when the party was already in full swing and all the kids were there—we were the last ones to leave. He wouldn’t leave, but wanted to play, and play with Sashi.

I don’t know whether Ivan cared, or how much he noticed that Sashi didn’t care to play with him as much yesterday. But I was devastated. Since Ivan talks so often about him, and since they played nicely at Sashi’s house, I assumed this would be an awesome playdate and that they’re friends. Maybe not.

Sashi’s mom mentioned that the day before he went with Creighton and his parents to see a play. And on another occasion, I recall Andy saying that Sashi was going over to Creighton’s house to play after daycare. At their classroom table, Ivan sits in between Sashi and Creighton. They both turned four this summer, while Ivan is barely three and a half.

So now I’m thinking that maybe Ivan isn’t really friends with them, or more precisely that they’re not friends with him—but that he’s impressed with them, because they’re big boys, and that he wants to be friends with them.

Who knows. Asking him hasn’t really yielded a clear answer. Whenever we ask Ivan who his friend is and with whom me plays at daycare, we really don’t get an answer. Ms. Rosa says he plays with everybody, and leaves it at that. Last week, Andy asked Ms. Norma, who said that Ivan plays with girls a lot—which I can see because he’s not really the rough and tumble kind of kid—and with Dylan. I remember noticing at Sashi’s birthday party that Ivan and Dylan sat together to eat their cake and were making some funny faced and cracking jokes (something about some bug on the window), but oddly enough I don’t ever recall Ivan mentioning Dylan.
I just don’t want Ivan to be wanting to be friends with Sashi and Creighton, but that the two of them don’t care. Maybe I’m just projecting my insecurities into this. Maybe boys don’t think like this. Maybe three year-old boys don’t think like this. Or maybe Ivan doesn’t nor will ever think like this.

It’s just that both Andy and I would like him to have a friend, a little playmate. We will try to have another playdate with Sashi. I will also invite Dylan over and see what happens. Although, does it even matter now, since he will more than likely be leaving this daycare for MD’s preschool in two weeks (and this is an entire another issue for me) and will never see these boys again.

None of the kids we know outside of daycare really have the same personality as Ivan. He plays with Bella, Leila and all other girls, but none of one of them really meshes with him. There’s Seger, but the two of them are planets apart. I don’t think they’ve ever played together on the playground, they’re so different. For a while, Ethan and Ivan seemed to be getting along, but Ethan is even more whiney and shy than Ivan. Mateo and Robbie seemed to have personalities similar to Ivan, but Mateo has moved away and we never see Robbie. Ivan and Ramon played nicely and hit it off right away last time Lisa and Ramon came over, but Ramon is too hyper and extroverted for him. Of all the boys I can think, he played best with Sam, but since we rarely see them, trying to engineer those playdates would be a stretch.

At soccer this past spring, there were two little boys who were inseparable. One of their dads said they were best friends and did everything together. Both Andy and I separately noted that we’d like Ivan to have a little buddy like that. But I guess it has to come naturally. It can’t be forced. And, who knows, Ivan may just not care. He does seem to have a pretty willful and independent streak. And, of course, he now has Allen.

Then snakes will come out of there

While Ivan has stopped talking about bunnies for a while, he's been talking about snakes.

"I eat snakes like this," he tells me, spooning air with his hand and putting it in his mouth.
It's a game he's been playing a lot lately.

He's told me the following sequence of events:

:Then snakes will come out of there, then they go into the woods, worms are there, then they'll eat worms. That's why I need to get them."

Allen's Song

Ivan sang Allen's song for Andy:

"Allen stays home, Allen stays in his car seat,..."

That's all he had, Andy said. However, Ivan didn't want to sing it for me. So I haven't actually heard it yet.

However, I think it's hilarious that Ivan has composed a song for Allen.