All aboard!

School activities this past month for Rory have included learning about travel, beginning with where the kids went during the holidays. Rory's standard unit of measurement for distance is China, as in "But not as far as China." On the wall is a map of the world, with string from certain countries to their flags of where all the kids' families are from... there is Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Italy, Ireland and Armenia.

Rory and his Tide Pool classmates have been busy exploring the world of trains, learning the different kinds of engines from choo-choos to diesels. The kids made a train from cardboard boxes, which Rory had fun painting yellow and red, and also set up a train station with a cashier to sell the tickets and a conductor to drive the train - there are 4 conductor hats that they all fight over who gets to wear. According to Ms. Betty, the children have traveled to New York, Monterey Bay Aquarium and, you guessed it, Disneyland.

Next up for exploration in February is the wonderful world of dental hygiene - I am so excited! No, really I am because it's a battle every morning to get his teeth brushed and his breath is pretty bad - think morning breath on top of eating cheesey eggs or oatmeal - when he doesn't brush in the morning. Today I bought him a new toothbrush with Leo from the Little Einsteins on it and Tom's of Maine silly strawberry toothpaste. It's probably wishful thinking on my part, but we'll see. He has his first trip to the dentist next month, maybe that will help, too.

The Jellyfish classroom got a lot of new equipment and toys at the start of the year - Myer and company have lots of soft blocks, tactile balls, pictures and push toys to play with and activity mats that are a comfy place for 'jelling'. Myer likes hanging out in the mat area where he can look at himself in the mirror; he also likes going for stroller rides with fellow Jellies. He gets stronger and stronger every day, and he makes a little face trying to lift himself into a sitting position. He's also teething and gumming everything now. I think he'll get his teeth earlier than Rory did. Rory was almost 1 year before he first one came in.