Movin' On Up

Maggie has recently moved into the bigger kid classroom - better known as Beginning Steps II - having only been in Beginning Steps I for a short time. It's always a proud moment when you show up to pick up your child at daycare and the Director gives you the smile and then says "we think Maggie's ready to move into the next class". That must mean she's a genius right? She was only in Beginning Steps I for like a month - Alexander was definitely in there longer than that. Each time she moves up I have a little anxiety because I have always been happy with her teachers and am afraid that I won't in the next room. I've always been pleasantly surprised and this time is no different.

The only complaint I have had so far with the daycare center is that I had no idea how she is doing on a day to day basis. I didn't know if she was playing with the other kids or hanging out by herself. If she was having fun or counting the minutes until we picked her up (because she can tell time at 16 months - remember? GENIUS). So, me being the passive aggressive complainer that I am, I wrote a (very nice) comment on the daycare center's website to "suggest" that they give us progress reports on how the kids are doing. Well, apparently that comment went to corporate who called our center's director and the whole thing blew way out of proportion. That day when I picked up Maggie, there was a comment on her daily sheet about how she did that day and I noticed every kid's sheet had a similar comment. The director talked to me and I did my best to let her know I was not complaining, just "suggesting". I guess it turned out to be a good thing, but I don't want to be "that mom". Please don't take my passive-aggressiveness out on my daughter!

The teachers in this new class actually tell us what they did that day when we pick her up and the stories are usually pretty entertaining. For the first week the updates ranged from:

-We forgot Maggie was here - we were all getting ready to go outside and she was just in a corner reading a book all by herself...

to

- She's interacting so well with the other kids...she doesn't really talk to us, but she talks to them

to, more recently...

She's doing great - playing, interacting, having fun

But today's story pretty much took the cake:

- We were doing animal sounds today and everyone was participating, except Maggie. After we finished, it was silent and she gives us a huge raspberry "PPPBBBHHH"

I guess she was bored with the lesson plan today. But at least she has some personality right? You have to admit, she's not a follower, right? Do you think my kid is weird? Oh, did I say that out loud?

Every day they fill out a daily sheet on each kid which lists what they ate, when they slept, how many diaper changes they had. We go over this with Maggie in the evening although it is usually the same old thing:

Breakfast: Pancakes - Ate ALL
Lunch: Hamburger patty and vegetables - Ate SOME
Snack: Sugar Cookie - Ate ALL

My little sweet tooth...I guess there is something she gets from me. If they come out with an all carb diet, Maggie and I will be runway models someday.

And we find ourselves praising her for bowel movements - "good job Maggie, you had 2 BM's today! you are a great pooper!"

When did my life take this turn? Oh yeah, when I decided I was tired of it being all about me. Although, I did get an iPod touch and Wii Fit this past weekend so maybe it is still a little about me.