3 posts tagged “transition”

After dropping The Boy off at his regular classroom, I went across the building to see his new teacher and check on how he did the previous day.

"He did great!" she told me. "And he's such a good eater! He really likes food, doesn't he?"

I had to laugh inwardly. He does, indeed, like food - as long as it's food he likes. Last night's steamed zucchini, for example, was not a favorite of his. Neither was the vegetable medley with pasta that came out of a jar. But give him food he likes, and he's happy to eat his weight and then some.

Anyway, it appears yesterday went fairly smoothly. He sat quietly during Circle Time. He willingly sat at the table to eat his lunch (including second helpings). He awoke from his nap crying (I forgot to tell them this child does not do well waking under the best circumstances), but settled down after a good amount of cuddling, and then he played by himself for a while until the some other kids awoke. And he drank from the sippy cups there with no problems!

The only thing to which I'll need to adjust is how much more he is drinking (and thus peeing)! If I didn't have him in a cloth diaper last night - with a doubler insert to boot - I am certain he would have needed a diaper change every two hours, and probably would have leaked through each of those.

But it appears he will make the transition just fine. It's going to be much more difficult for me, I know. I really like his current teachers a lot, and I'll probably make a point (for a little while, at least) of going over there once a week to see them.

We got a letter in the mail last night from The Boy's school. It was a congratulatory letter, letting us know that he is progressing very well and will be transitioning to the Toddler classroom on May 5.

No more baby. He's a full-fledged toddler.

This morning, I visited what will be his new classroom, and I spoke with one of the teachers. I had already met her when she was visiting some of the children in the Infant Wing, so I was familiar enough with her. We talked very briefly about what The Boy will be doing and what I can expect, and I was relieved to know that he won't need to fully transition to the hard-spout sippy cups for a few more weeks after transitioning. It was also nice to see a little girl in this new class who transitioned out of The Boy's current class about six months ago; he'll at least see a somewhat familiar face.

One thing I know is that I'll need to be a bit more vigilant about his diet when he gets to the new classroom. He still has problems with oats, and most of the morning and afternoon snacks they offer have oats in the ingredients. And since I'd really rather he eat more fruits and vegetables throughout the day (instead of only at lunch), I'll happily provide bananas and the like for him to eat. Plus, his doctor recommended holding off on even watered-down juice until he's at least two to ward off a sweet tooth and ensure he gets adequate fiber in his diet. Oh, and Dr. W also advised keeping him away from seafood for another couple of years because of my own allergy to shellfish. When I was a wee girl, I would have violent allergic reactions to any kind of seafood, and I'd rather not go through something similar with The Boy.

So, the gradual transition process begins next week, and he'll be there full-time beginning May 5. (Happy Cinco de Mayo! I wonder if they'll serve margaritas...) They do a gradual transition so it's not such a shock for the kids, and for that I'm grateful. I know that some of the other kids have cried and cried during the transition process, and I'm seriously hoping that The Boy will be okay. When I took him into the Toddler class this morning, he was very interested in looking at the kids and seeing what they were doing, but, of course, I was there and holding him the whole time, so it's not like he was on his own.

He'll also be going out to the playground twice a day every day, which will mean daily sunscreen application and daily baths. At least he likes taking baths, so that won't be an ordeal. Sitting still for sunscreen, though, is an entirely different story. He'll be allowed one nap per day at a pre-determined time (just after lunch, I think), but I didn't find out if they limit his napping time. Sometimes he'll nap for 15 minutes, but he might also stay asleep for three hours. It depends on what he feels like doing.

Oh, I have a strong feeling this transition process will be much tougher on me that it will be on The Boy.

I feel like the worst mother in the world. But I know that I'm not.

As of Wednesday, Baby C is now 11 months old. This means, at school, that he will begin the transitioning process to the Yearling (Toddler) class in two weeks.

Here's the list of things he needs to have accomplished before they can accept him in the Toddler class:

• Must be able to feed himself
• Must be able to walk well
• Must be able to understand directions
• Must be able to drink from sippy cup
• Must be able to eat table food

The first, he can do... sort of. He's not fond of utensils, save for throwing them and banging them on the table or high chair tray. But he's a pro at feeding himself rice cakes, oyster crackers, Chex cereal, and other small bits of food.

Check.

The second, he's not so proficient at doing. Let's face it: the kid just started crawling a month ago. He's very good at crawling and is quite mobile, but aside from his attempts at cruising (he does very well until he wants to grab a hold of something else), he's not a walker. Yet.

So, no check... yet.

The third, he can do, though he doesn't always obey. The other day, his teachers were telling him to be nice and give me a hug (he was very mad at me; I had attacked him that morning with the saline spray and the evil green suction bulb), and rather than going to me, he stood (sat) his ground and started to cry out of frustration instead.

So, check.

The fourth, I've been working with him on this since December. Let's face it: he's not overly crazy about sippy cups. This morning, though, he successfully drank four ounces of milk from his sippy cup (he had a very dry breakfast of Rice Chex), so we might be making progress there.

So, no check... yet.

As for the fifth, I'm happy to report that he had his very first completely grown-up meal yesterday: half of a quesadilla (courtesy of Dad), green beans, a little water (from a sippy cup), and milk (okay, the milk wasn't exactly grown-up food). More importantly, he fed himself the quesadilla, though I had to help him with the green beans. The thing is, I took a copy of the school lunch menu, and there are a number of things on the menu that simply aren't in his diet yet. Fish sticks? No. Salad? No. Beef stew? No. Tater tots or mashed potatoes? Fine, if you can get him to eat them - but he hates potatoes, so, no. Vanilla wafers and animal crackers? Definitely not.

So, while, yes, he can eat table food, I don't like the table food they're going to give him. But I'll happily pack a cold/room temperature lunch for him each day. Does this mean he doesn't get a check on this?

The worst part, though, is that one of the directors spoke with me at length yesterday about these benchmarks, and I felt this small after our talk. (Oh, and I was really late getting to work, too.) It's not like I'm doing anything to impede his development - that's the very last thing I would want to do! He needs to grow and learn and develop at his own pace, and if it means he's not walking for another two or three months, so be it. (Though, I have a feeling that within a week after discovering he can walk, Baby C will figure out how to run.)

Starting next week, he'll strictly be on a sippy cup at school (though I'll provide empty bottles in case he's completely refusing them - there's no use in letting him get dehydrated), and I'm already scouring my cookbooks for table foods that I can make for him to eat. That's the most I can do to help him transition. The rest is up to him.

And at this age, no amount of coaxing, begging, or bribing can make him do anything sooner than he's ready to do. In another year, however...