Ch-ch-changes Abound in June

Well, I did say in my last post that June would be a busy month, and I guess it was since I didn't get around to posting at all! Shame on me! Now I'll just have to catch you up again (especially since my loyal reader Fillis just posted comments on my last entries!).

So as the title suggests, lots of changes happened in June. Some were pretty minor: Hannah moving on from her Cinderella bed to cool IKEA stripes, Max moving from his high chair to a booster seat at home, starting a new cleaning service and me getting regular massages to help with my back pain. But the more major shift was Hannah graduating from her preschool program and Max starting his.

Hannah had been in full-time daycare from the age of 13 weeks until mid-June, so nearly five and a half years. She spent close to two years in family daycare, then six months at Sunshine Academy, two years at Gan Yeladim and finally one year at the JCC. All told, we spent close to $100k just on daycare costs alone. I feel so very fortunate and grateful that she had such a great experience, always having good friends and being well-cared for by teachers and staff. Given Hannah's personality, she's been offered many teaching jobs at her centers even at these young ages. I'm so proud of her, and of me and Marc for having successfully navigated what can be a very stressful experience.

And now Max has moved from family daycare to his first (maybe only?) center experience. It's been a difficult transition for him, with lots of tears every morning at drop off, but it seems like he's having a great time once he's there. He's had a few dips in the pool (the weather here in Boston did not cooperate for most of June, and July isn't off to the greatest start!). His teachers are great, and at night we "talk" about his new friends and how his day went. Max's vocabulary is just exploding now, with new words like "school" and "happy." He loves to sing, and I never thought I'd find mangled versions of the "Bob the Builder" theme song as adorable as I do.

But our real June highlights were the wonderful visits we got to have with Grandma Susan, Uncle Ryan and Allison! Uncle Ryan had two weekend weddings in Boston in June, so he got to spend an entire week hanging out with us. We had a lot of fun together, and it was great to have an extra set of hands at times! We spent a Sunday in Boston, going to the aquarium, walking all over, getting ice cream and riding a carousel. A few days later, Grandma Susan joined us. Grandma, Ryan, Hannah and I had a fun lunch at the American Girl store and Hannah got fully-stocked on the latest AG doll and accessories. Then Allison came for a couple days of fun. We had a nice Shabbat dinner all together, then toured the Wenham Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts over the weekend. Hannah spent two days at home with Grandma Susan, going to Plaster Funtime and hanging out in the village. It was wonderful to have everyone come visit us, and we promise that we'll provide better weather the next time they're all here!

Since Hannah had a few weeks off before camp began, she also got to spend a few days with Grandma Fillis and Grandpa John, going to the beach and having a very busy social calendar! Hannah especially liked getting to feed cousin Evie (cousin Nate was sleeping). And then the four of us had a fun extended 4th of July weekend, hanging out at home and going to see the fireworks.

Now it looks like we'll have a pretty quiet July. Hannah's at camp for the first time, and I'm so excited to teach her to make lanyards. Max's is sailing along at the JCC, bringing home multiple shirts each day due to messy snack times. Laundry is harder than ever with two kids going swimming each day. Our July weekends should be on the quieter side, but we're looking forward to a full August with beach time and a return trip to Storyland!