This year, I have gone from traveling one day a week to traveling two days a week. I'm doing something a little different this year. With the education consulting contracts I usually get, I am working with middle or high school teachers in Mississippi who teach math or science. This year, I am working with elementary through high school teachers in Lake Providence, Louisiana (only 85 miles from me) to help them implement technology into the classroom to positively impact instruction. Sounds thrilling, huh? Hehehe.... I think it will be a nice change of pace.
Because of the number of days of traveling this contract requires, myself and another consultant are splitting the days and working together since we have to work with all of the teachers. That other consultant who is working in the district with me is my Mom (aka...Gran), so it has been really neat to get to work with her, too. It is the first technology contract the company has ever sold to a school district, so my mom and I are paving the way and figuring things out as we go...but, if you talk to someone in Lake Providence, pretend like she and I are the most knowledgeable people you know about the subject of technology in the classroom, okay? Hehehe....
Last year, Hayden went to Mother's Day Out two days a week to allow me time to travel. My mom and/or Tracie would help me out by taking Hayden and picking him up on days I traveled. Well, since Tracie has moved to Brandon and my mom is travelling with me, I had to come up with an alternative to Mother's Day Out. So, Hayden started daycare. At first, I was real wary about it and not sure if I was ready to "move my cheese" that much, but it has really been wonderful for both him and me.
He's going to Funtime in Clinton and loves his teachers, Ms. Kim and Ms. Hannah....as well as all of his little friends. He's in the giraffe room, and most of the kids in there are several months older than him...but he has done super well adjusting to the class. He gets to go outside to recess several times a day, takes naps on a cot, and goes to lunch and snacktime and sits in a big boy chair and eats at the big boy table. The classroom has an online video camera that parents can login to occasionally check on their child. I don't login while I am working in schools, but it is a funny sight to see those teachers putting all those kids down on their cots. So far, Hayden has had about six accident reports (falling down and scraping knees, bruises on his face from falling into a table, etc) while he has been there. He also had two bite reports in one day. The bite reports mean another kid bit him, so the poor kid got bitten twice in one day. This will also toughen him up some. Hehehe..... Now that he is well-adjusted to the routine at daycare, he'll probably go three times a week and stay at home with me the other two days. I have to pay for a full week regardless of how much he comes, so it is nice to have the option to take him if I need to shop, etc. But, I do love getting to stay home with him some.
Speaking of Hayden, he is going everywhere and into everything now that he is walking. He literally went from taking two steps in one week to walking clear across the house the next week, and since he has been walking for six weeks now, he is really looking much more natural now and is really fast. He even tries to imitate us swinging our arms sometimes, which is really cute but completely unnatural right now. :o) Hayden walking everywhere rather than being held is nice, but it still seems just like yesterday that he was born.
He seems to learn something new each day, and even though he doesn't say many real words, he loves talking and telling us all about things and his day. We can't understand a thing he is saying, but I'm sure it is something real important. He is definitely a kid who wants to know what things do, so he often brings things to us to try to figure out what to do with them. He's insistent on you showing him how it works, and until you do, he just gets mad at it. You'll see a funny picture below of this. He's learning quick and knows to put shoes on my feet, but he can't quite figure out how to get them on there so he just puts them on top. Oh, and he's even feeding himself with a spoon if we put applesauce on a spoon for him. He hasn't mastered the scooping yet, but he's doing well. Oh, and he feeds himself a lot with his left hand. Chris and I won't know what to do with a leftie, but we'll have to wait and see.
Here are a couple of pictures. I've been slacking on taking pictures lately, too.
Once a climber always a climber. We usually catch him before he gets up there, but sometimes, he sneaks past us. :o)
He brought me a diaper and just insisted that I show him how it works. He walked around with the diaper over his clothes for a while, and then, he was bored with it and wanted to know how something else worked. He's so funny!
