So, what exactly has been going on around here in the new year…

Well, since Ian and his friends decided to look upon the superyard XT we were using to keep them out of Daddy’s desk area as a personal challenge akin to a practice climb for Everest, we were really jumping. Every time our backs were turned at a playdate large or small, there would be two or three naughty little monkeys sitting on Michael’s desk throwing things over the side and chortling, super impressed with themselves.

This led to my decision to play “while you were out” this past weekend and swap Michael’s office with mine. *My* “office” (we actually call this room the “study”) looks fantastic. Michael’s… still needs a little work.

The funny thing? My desk is not secured in any way and they couldn’t be less interested in it. Apparently the challenge was what made it fun in the first place.

Ian is enjoying books that are considered far too old for him. The Frog and Toad series is a huge favorite- good thing Santa had the foresight to drop off the complete set. Along with his taste in reading, Ian’s conversational skills have also advanced. Today at our weekly playdate one of the other children had gotten hold of his printout of a picture I took of my brother’s dog, which prompted a proprietary hissy fit on Ian’s part. (“NO! MY PAPER! NO! MY PAPER!”) So during his nap, I laminated it. When he woke up I said, “Here, sweetie, I laminated your Nico.”

His reply? “Oh, thanks Mommy. Now Gracie not break it.”

Personally, I am enjoying the challenge of planning his preschool “classroom,” and find that planning and implementing preschool lessons is only slightly less time consuming than finding a preschool in this area. If you can imagine, most of them require you pay a non-refundable registration fee to get into their lottery. That’s right, I said you have to pay them money (usually $50 or more) to draw straws and see if you can pay them to school your child. The whole process is about as complicated as applying to college, and no less intimidating. It makes me feel better about my decision to homeschool until kindergarten.

Breaking interruption: Michael made a recent reference to monsters living under the bed. He just stopped into the room to report that Ian went into our room and asked to have the light turned off. Then he said, “The monsters are not comin’ out!” He fell in love with “Monsters vs. Aliens” on our recent road trip and he was hoping that being in the dark would make the monsters come…

In short, every day is an absolute, perfect, beautiful adventure. (And Ian keeps telling me he wants to go on the “adventure train.”) Life should always be viewed through the lens of a 2 1/2 year old’s perspective… because it looks pretty good.