The Kleins: September 2014

Hello! Well, another post weeks late again. We have had a wonderful but busy summer! The kids are keeping us busy as usual but we've managed to squeeze in some fun between the lake, the park, play dates and other outdoor activities. Seth and I are reminded daily how truly blessed we are. The kids are at a very busy stage but definitely it's definitely a fun stage, too. They are so entertaining and the funny things that come out of their mouths sometimes crack us up!

Seth and I have recently started checking out different preschools around Reno. We want to enroll the kids sometime in the near future but finding a preschool that can accept three kids at once is tricky. Then there's all the questions regarding which days of the week, full-time or part-time, and cost among many other considerations. The kids do great socializing with each other of course, but we want them to get used to being around other children. They enjoy being out in public but have never experienced being away from Seth or me for very long, so preschool will be a transition for them. We both feel that they would benefit greatly from having a structured schedule which preschool can definitely fulfill. We have the search narrowed down to two favorites - one preschool is a small, intimate type of preschool located near our house and based out of a lovely woman's home. The other preschool is a larger Montessori preschool that is heavily based on the Reggio Emilia philosophy which emphazises a more child-directed learning style. Both preschools seem wonderful so Seth and I have a tough decision to make. We will definitely keep you all posted as to which one we choose.

Caleb recently had an appointment with a pediatric allergist. They did some skin testing on him and determined he has quite a few allergies (all tree nuts, pollen, cats, mulberry, and a few other environmental allergies). Fortunately, they don't seem severe but of course we have to keep a close eye on him and keep all nuts away from him. We have epi-pens which we would need if he ever had a severe allergic reaction. The doctor wants to do an oral challenge test in the future to determine how severe his nut allergy is but this is usually done when a child is between 3-5 years of age.

Things have been progressing with potty training but we kind of hit a road block. For some reason, the kids do not want to wear underwear anymore. They prefer to wear a diaper and then either remove the diaper themselves or ask us to take it off so they can use the "green potty chair." They seem to have trouble removing the underwear themselves so that has led to a few accidents here and there. Mischa was the last to learn to use the potty chair but she has finally done it! As some of you know, we get a large shipment of diapers each month delievered from Amazon. I am slowly but surely using these diapers up and then plan to switch to pull-ups for night time use. None of the kids have used a regular toilet yet, so this makes it tricky when we are out in public. They have gotten so comfortable with their Bjorn potty chairs that the big white toilet intimidates them. So, that's one more thing we are working on!

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks!