Thoughts on two months of Montessori schooling

• Mommy and Leila LOVE it. The schedule above has exciting events for the kids on a daily basis. There is a lot of art on the schedule which is great considering Mommy is an artist.
• Leila has gotten much more confident on the playground, is even more outgoing, and talks to strangers more. She was just turning two when she went in so part of that might just be natural development.
• She's mostly potty trained now, and amusingly this was the school's idea. They asked us if we were going anywhere for the three-day Independence Day holiday and when we replied in the negative they suggested we bring Leila to school on Monday potty trained and in normal underwear. We did, and that's going well right now.
• Their initial claim to "only watch TV on special occasions or rainy days" has proven false but it appears to be less than once a day and it's only stuff like Barney and Dora so I guess I can live with that given all the positives they bring to the table.
• Playground time has gone way up from the last day care - they appear to spend an hour or two a day getting mulch in their hair and learning how to swing.
• Leila's overall health is much better than it was at her old day care where she pretty much had a runny nose every day for 18 months. Perhaps this is a function of the kids' respective ages or class sizes, but I think it's also because the staff is more attentive.
• Student:teacher ratio is slightly better than our previous day care, but most important to me is the fact that most of the staff here appears to have a decade or more experience at this school which is a huge improvement over the tenure averages at the previous day care chain.

Just another Friday night

Tonight Leila didn't even get to get out of the car at home after school.  Instead, Daddy pulled into the driveway and Mommy jumped in the car, ready to lead the three of us on a night of fun.

First, we went to the Art Museum at the University of Memphis to see Lea Alexander, Chase Malone, Brooke Foy, and Eli Gold at their show 2x2.  You see, two of them are sculptors and two are painters.  All four are great friends and awesome artists so we were really happy to see their work come together so spectacularly.  Leila was also pretty interested in the show that was up in the ArtLab which featured, among other things, a painting entirely covered in star shaped cut-outs and a sculpture of the word "FUN" covered in silk flowers.

After that we were sad to have to decline an invitation to the campus international festival.  Instead we booked it downtown to see some of the zillions of art shows that were opening on trolley night.  We even got a great print at Raleigh Rodger's show at Art Village Gallery on South Main, which was conveniently located next to a trolley stop.  Trolleys are free the last Friday of the month and all of the art galleries throw parties to celebrate.

After we saw all the art we could handle, we hopped on a shiny red trolley to head back to the car.  As soon as we got to our stop WE WERE ATTACKED BY ZOMBIES!!!!!  We saw zombies of all ages covered in blood and gore!  There were executive zombies, fairy zombies, prom queen zombies, a werewolf zombie, fast zombies, loud zombies, roller derby zombies . . . and they were all covered with "red paint."  Luckily for us, Pritchett brains are not considered a delicacy to the Memphis zombie community (I guess there are just too many brains in our heads or maybe they're just not tasty) so we just waved as they GRRAERERED right on by.  We recognized quite a few of the zombies and even stopped to chat to a beautiful blue-faced mommy zombie, a scary daddy zombie, and their sweet little girl baby in her stroller.  The baby girl was not a zombie, said her parents, just a "snack."

After the zombie terror, we went to eat at Pearl's Oyster House.  We got a table right next to the window, were we could watch the craziness on the street outside.  From our seats we could see trolleys, zombies, several different pony-carts and carriages, a silly car with an outhouse tied to the back, several giggling officers of the law, and some very confused-looking tourists.  

On the way home Leila explained to us that zombies are funny and they say "GAARRR."  She also described to plot to "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" to us about three dozen times.  Apparently she wanted that to be her bedtime story because as soon as we got home she was out like a light, sleeping soundly with a smile on her face.  (ok, maybe she spent a good hour more after lights out talking about caterpillars, daddy's pink shirt, and the fact that it gets dark at night)

Keeping Leila Busy

After last weekend when Mommy and Leila went to the Southern Women's Show and got flowers painted on their fingernails, Leila was worried that she would have a hard time coming up with something that was even more fun to do this weekend. Luckily, Mommy and Daddy had a plan.

On Friday, Mommy picked Leila up early from daycare and the two of them went out for an afternoon of cupcakes at Muddy's followed by a flower walk at the Botanic Gardens. The cherry trees looked like big pink explosions! The daffodils were nodded their yellow heads on Daffodil Hill (Leila likes to say "daffodil" a lot)! The gardens were filled with happy families having picnics and going on long walks, just like us! After visiting some very large koi fish in the fishponds at the Japanese section of the gardens and climbing on three different bridges, Leila fell down and skinned her knee, so we had to go home and get a band-aid. All of our band-aids are Christmas themed, so it was pretty funny to Leila that she got to have a Santa Claus on her knee after seeing that it is definitely springtime in Memphis.

After our garden adventure, Daddy met us at home. Then, all three of us went to an art show that was all about puppy dogs. Leila's favorite painting had a dog in it AND three snowmen. The show was at the Memphis College of Art and was curated by one of Memphis's greatest painters, Beth Edwards. It was a wonderful fundraiser for the Memphis Humane Society. She got a catalogue and a poster to take home with her to remember the big event. Leila said a quick hello to Beth and then took us the India Palace for dinner, where she lost one of her shoe bows (a hot pink one).

Saturday morning, Leila put on a new pair of shoe bows (yellow) and took Mommy to storytime at Davis-Kidd. After that she came home and put on some dress up clothes so she could be a model in one of Raleigh Roger's photographs. Raleigh's award-winning photos can be pretty surreal, and this one included a friend of ours who dressed up as the Big Bad Wolf. Leila was pretty brave, but didn't crack many smiles. The Big Bad Wolf is not her BFF.

After the photo session, Leila had an important Pillow Fight to attend at Overton Park. As the youngest pillow-fighter present, she was armed with TWO pillows that looked like flowers. She used them primarily to hit Daddy around his knees while he tried to take her picture. She yelled "Pillow Fight" a lot and liked chasing after the crowds as they rushed around the park swinging pillows over their heads. Mommy brought a zebra striped pillow from her college dorm room and Daddy brought a very large but pretty unexciting pillow and spent most of his time trying to get Leila to ride on his shoulders. (image courtesy GatesofMemphis)

We lost ANOTHER shoe bow at the pillow fight, so now we don't have any that match:( Luckily, while Leila was sleeping Friday night, Mommy went out and bought her two new pairs of shoes for spring and summer. It's even more lucky because Leila's feet are growing fast, just like the rest of her!

Biggest day ever? Story time, skipped nap, snow day, painting, and a pizza party!

This morning Leila got up early in anticipation of story time - this is normal and she had a great time.  Today was the last of February's bear-themed story times.  We drew a picture, sang and danced, and read a book.

Afterwards Leila experimented with nap skipping, aided by her big girl bed's lack of walls.  We spent 90 minutes or so with the lights down pretending Leila was asleep while she peeked at us from around door frames with wide eyes and no noise.

Mommy went out to judge an art show in the afternoon and when she came home she brought a snowball to toss at Daddy.  Leila and I hadn't noticed the snow with our shades down and the lights low.  Immediately we all bundled up and went outside to build a snowman.  Even Frida enjoyed dancing around in the midst of a snowfall.  It's still falling - this is by far the most snow at one time we've seen since we moved to Memphis in 2005.

Leila had a pretty long afternoon due to the nap skipping, but she did manage to talk mommy into painting with her on the kitchen floor.  Leila painted about 15 purple water-soluble Leila-paint-on-printer-paper masterpieces before she grew tired of that.

Dinner was an exciting surprise.  We visited our next door neighbors who have two boys, one nearly Leila's age and the other a few months old.  We played with all of their toys and then enjoyed pizza and cookies and milk.  Leila was terrifically excited by the whole party and then went home to fall into bed without a word thirteen hours after she woke up.

Leila's lets the good times roll!

This weekend Leila went to Mobile to see her first parade (and some other things).

She drove all afternoon on Thursday.  Riding in the back seat alone is hard work, but at least she got to have a happy meal that came with an American Idol cowboy that says YeeHaw!  She had lots of books and toys with her too and she played parrot with the newscasters on the radio, practicing pronouncing words like google and 'conomy.  Leila is very good at repeating everything she hears.

On Friday, she was so excited because her cousin Roman Ramsay was at GiGi and Boompa's house too.  Leila and Roman played together a lot.  Roman brought way more toys that Leila, but since Leila is bigger than him she had to demonstrate to him how a lot of things worked.  Then Roman and Leila took everyone to feed the turtles and fish in a pond on the golf course.  Those fish were hungry, but the turtles must have been taking a nap.  Later that night Leila and Roman went to Mommy's art show at ASMS.  They were pretty impressed with the food, but were quickly ready to get home to bed.  

On Saturday Leila and Roman decided to go to a book signing.  Boompa was signing his book An Act of Congress at a restaurant called Jesse's in Magnolia Springs.  Lunch at Jesse's was delicious--Leila had the french fries and Roman mostly just had a good nap.  After the book signing everyone decided to go home and not take a nap.  There were too many important things too do!  After her not-a-nap, Leila rounded everyone up to go feed the fish and turtles again.  I don't know what those fish do when Leila isn't around to dump crackers on their heads.

Later that night, Leila and Roman went to their first Mardi Gras Parade.  The Pharoah's and the Conde Explorers threw plenty of beads, moonpies, and stuffed animals to fill Leila's loot bag to overflowing and she was very impressed by the parade horses.  Her favorite part of the parade was getting to ride on Boompa's shoulders and dance to the marching band music.  Of course, it was officially declared "Big Fun."  

Roman got tired of the parade pretty quickly, since it was past his bedtime and he had been very patient with all of his weekend activities.  We decided we would humor him and head home to bed.  

The next day Leila and Roman waved goodbye to each other and to GiGi and Boompa and they each drove through Mississippi back to their own states.  I predict extra naps for everyone this week following that adventure:)

Big weekend in Memphis *and* in Mobile!

This past weekend Mommy drove a lot of her artwork down to Mobile to hang a solo show at the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science where Mommy and Daddy attended high school together.

Leila and Daddy had a great time together - alone in Memphis.  We went to story time at the bookstore on Saturday morning.  Saturday afternoon we rode Leila's bike and played around the house.  Sunday morning we read books and drew pictures and colored by the fireplace.  Sunday afternoon we went to a baby shower for our good friends the McGregors - they are expecting a baby in February.

Mommy made it home just after seven on Sunday and we were all very glad to have her home!

Mommy and Leila will be heading back to Mobile this weekend for the opening of Mommy's show.  They hope to see lots of relatives while they're in the area!

Congratulations Chandler!

Congrats to Chandler on a successful thesis defense.  Leila's mommy is getting a terminal degree!

Tonight's thesis show featuring Chandler, Yijun Liao, and Robert McCarroll should be excellent.

Candy candy candy!

Happy Halloween!  Mommy was a Bee Girl for the fifth year in a row.  Leila switched from Bee Baby to Ladybug.  Daddy dressed as Urban Camera Dad.  Our friendly neighbors the Pennels were our first stop.  This is the family who hosted the pumpkin carving party we enjoyed so much a few weeks ago.  Their boy Buck dressed as a very scary dragon.  He's a few months younger than Leila but still quite ferocious.

It took Leila a few tries to really get into the spirit of running across people's lawns and silently commandeering their candy.  She was mostly focused on her rice krispie treat but by the time we made it to the third house she was prepared.  Leila walked right up and took some candy out of a bowl.  Daddy got to hold Leila's pink pumpkin and carry it along with all of the extra candy.  Amber and Justin surprised us at dinner with some excellent cupcakes on their way to see some excellent decorations two blocks over.

Saturday morning we tried and failed to vote early (polls were closed).  After that we went downtown for the River Arts Festival where we saw friends Tim & Jada putting on a live sculpture show.  Mommy picked up several business cards from the most interesting booths.  Leila and Daddy most preferred the images of flowers transferred onto shiny sheets of metal.  We closed out the festival with a dance party and then headed home by way of a yummy Indian buffet.