what's been happening

I am in Chicago working on some jitters - 4 h workshop later today - so time to update. All is well. Pepe continues to blossom. Chris and I are back to our schedule, bye bye nice relaxed summer...

Pepe is doing well at his new school. However, mornings are again tough as Pepe prefers to be at home. I am not concerned about this because once he is at school he does v well, and the school is truly great. Everytime I go there kids are all involved into an activity and happy, v different than his old school...I also think Pepe has such a good time at home, with all his toys and special attention and fun activities, that school just can't compete. I keep telling Chris that he is too good of a dad:)

Speaking of attention...Pepe is biting at school. And at home. This started (I think) because of his buddy Ali (see Ali the Alligator post), and also bc we picked up a cool alligator head toy from a yard sale - you press in his teeth and ultimately your hand gets caught in the alligator's mouth. And how did I find out about the biting? Last week when I picked Pepe up from school, one of the kids came to me and said: "Pepe bit my friend". Then the teachers talked to me about it and how it's developmentally appropriate and they are working with Pepe on this. They believe that Pepe does this bc he is the youngest in the class..I think it's attention. He continues to think biting is v funny. I was thinking of doing one of those reward for good behaviors (e.g. no biting) star system, but after reading yesterday's NYtimes Well section (awesome!) I decided to just ignore Pepe when he does this at home, and stop playing with him when he bites. I trust the teachers will come up with a good system as well. V different attitude than Pepe's last school, much more laid back...

Bedtimes are a bit of a challenge again - Pepe wants to be awake and he really is not tired at 8pm. Might be time to push his bedtime, but I confess I cherish the time after 8:30, with a quiet house, even on nights when I have to do work...

Music class still not a favorite. Pepe should practice and that is not happening. I think it was a mistake to pick the class time when I have my running group. I think it would have been better for both Chris and I to go to class and then try to practice with Pepe...Oh well.