IEP, Garage transformation, new dreams for Spring

Spring is coming.  The gigantic cherry tree in our yard is full of tiny pink blossoms that are cotton-candy thick, blocking our view of... everything.  Our patio is planted with seeds of all kinds, in boxes, in containers, in hanging pockets, and I have my fingers crossed.  Things will happen.

First stages of studio creation:  Hudson helps paint the walls.

The garage is almost done - I've been slowly transforming it from the drop-off station for all our extras after we moved in, to a usable dance space for practice that will not feel dark and dingy.  I have the floor pretty well set up:  Foam tiles and MDF board on top of that.  There are insulation foam boards decorated with fabric adorning the walls and the garage door (without fabric), and there is a free mirror I got from someone off craigslist leaning against the wall.  Whenever anyone remodels their bathroom, they give away the old mirror!  Seems like one shows up on the free list every 48 hours on craigslist.  Inspired, I decided we'd take down our own bathroom mirror and use that to have a bigger reflective area, and buy a smaller framed mirror for the bathroom.  Okay, all details aside, it's turning out to be a pretty functional space, and I'm "done" enough with the setup to start using it for practice.

It might change my life.  I've been trying to slow down and not rush anything, but I feel a steady push leading me back in the direction of flamenco after dancing very little for about a year.  I thought perhaps I'd get back into classical music.  I thought I could push myself back into poetry.  And this is scary to say, because I hate sounding definitive about anything, but what I am naturally drawn to explore and learn more about and what gets my heart pumping just thinking about it, is flamenco.  It's scary because I don't know if I'll do it as "well" as I want, I fear that I will come up against the same barriers of time and childcare that felt so insurmountable before, and I'll feel insufficient.  But my slower mentality is telling me it will be ok, don't get ahead of myself.  The important thing is to dance when I can find time, find videos online because it's fun, and keep myself healthy and ready to go for the times when I can really dive in, like Spring Break.  Things will happen.

And this morning we had an IEP meeting for H at preschool, which lasted almost 2 hours.  We learned that he is apparently quite the little dancer and athlete at school, though we don't see much of it at home.  We learned so much more.  The actual IEP document is 15 pages long and details his present levels of skill in social, communicative, pre-academic, and other areas.  And it lays out specific goals to reach in each area for the next school year.  It was such a joy to hear so much about what he's doing at school, and to hear about what they think he can do.  To start actively playing with peers, to initiate conversation, to independently follow multi-step instructions, it made me feel giggly just imagining him doing all this.  So, needless to say my energy is super high today, I'm pumped on all the possibilities, and I haven't really sat down to do any concrete planning for classes the rest of this week.  Now that I've gotten some of it out, perhaps I can decide what exactly we'll practice in Spanish class.  Wish me luck.

Second hand baby shopping

 I have been meaning to jot down these things for a while.  Getting cheap baby stuff is almost everyone's priority unless you are independently wealthy, and I have to pay much closer attention to this now that I am not in an insular community full of families with older toddlers and kids, all willing to loan or donate their hand-me-downs.

My favorite place for getting second hand gear, furniture, shoes, coats, has become Kym's Kiddie Corner just north of us on 15th, at about 120th or so.  Yes some toys and furniture looks dirty, but lord knows my house gets dirty and grimy with toddler goo anyway.  I don't judge.  I wiped down the stuff I bought and was thoroughly satisfied.  Hudson spent the whole time sitting on the floor playing with cars, and then at the train table, once we made it past the push toys out front, of course. 

I was amazed at how much stuff was packed into the Kids on 45th store.  I went there for some fall clothes and I made the mistake of trying to take the stroller in.  Hudson just wanted to turn it upside down and play with the wheels anyway so it turned out to be a good distraction, but also a good aisle blocker.  At any rate the store was pretty awesome, and had enough new stuff like toddler cups and dishes and other supplies to make me a little over-zealous, and I spent too much money.  It's too easy to feel that freedom when you're getting it second hand.  Maybe that's what they're counting on.

We also found the kids' sale at the Phinney Neighborhood Center to be pretty thorough.  I think they must do the sale a couple times a year, because I've seen fliers for other sales after the one we attended.  They held it in a huge auditorium in the lower level of the center and there were racks and racks of clothes, well organized, tables of toys, and there was a pretty solid supply of strollers, walkers and big stuff too.  I'm sure the supply totally depends on what's donated of course, but it seemed well organized, clean, and easy to navigate.  And again, Hudson had a blast just playing with one of the walkers off in the corner while I blasted through the racks of toddler clothes and snagged some shape puzzles and a couple dolls for good measure off the toy tables.  I scored some adorable Nike sneakers for him that I'm pretty proud of.

Of course, I couldn't help but also grab some $8.99 Target fleece jammies the other day when I was out shopping and I knew it was silly, but sometimes you just need it now and don't have time to scour the second-hand stores.  I try not to judge myself.  We all need balance, right?