Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Little nudges

This week Kylie and I moved up to Level 5 at our Gymboree play class. Level 5 classes are for toddlers 22-28 months old.

There is more guided play in this class. For example:
  • We play red light, green light and ring-around-the rosy.
  • We play hide-and-seek for toys.
  • The kids line up and take turns jumping onto the big mat, etc.

    And I found myself more at Kylie's side during playtime. I would lean down to whisper instructions to her and then give her a little nudge on her back to get her going in the right direction.

    Today, I nudged her towards the box filled with maraca shakers and stood amazed as Kylie dived into the mess of 15 kids all trying to reach into a small box. She navigated efficiently to the box, grabbed her shaker and went back to the mat where the teacher was sitting.

    But as I nudged her, I had a flash of premonition of all the nudges I'll be giving her. Nudging her to preschool and then kindergarden. Nudging her forward and not having her come immediately back. And in contemplating that, I thought I would feel sad. But I didn't. I felt peaceful. I thought to myself, "I'm fulfilling my job. This is what I'm supposed to do".

    Of course, I was shaken out of this two-second reverie by the sound of 15 kids banging with maracas. But still it was a sweet moment that I thought I would share with you.

    Now! On to some pictures!
    Yesterday's picture of the day.

    In this one, Kylie is looking out at the snow falling (again!) in our backyard. This shot is straight out of the camera.

    This next picture is a little weird but I like it. It was taken early yesterday morning with overhead lights and a flash. And the original picture just screamed brightness. "Too bright! Too bright!" I played around in Photoshop with it; first trying black and white and then sepia settings. But the lids on the floor got lost with those settings. I got this picture by desaturating it by about 30% but then adding saturation back to the lids.

    Like I said, it's funky. But this little event of Kylie pulling out the tupperware lids happens every morning and I'm glad I captured it.

    Lastly, here is a scrapbook page I finished last night. I'm determined to get these Christmas pages done!
    Snow Globe
  • 3 comments:

    Stacey said...

    it's funky but it's cool. :)

    great pictures!

    Michelle said...

    I love the lid picture. Its soft but at the same time the colors jump out.

    Meg said...

    What a wonderful post. You had me cracking up with the line about the maracas :)

    I've been thinking about putting Thaya into that Gymboree class. I think I'm going to sign up for the free class and try it out with her next week. Since Kylie and Thaya are similar in so many ways, I bet she'll like it too!