A Return to Fall

I think it's a bit of an understatement to say that I'm very excited for the up coming season. Aside from that minor detail of birthing another child, this season brings some exciting things for Jude. As the months tick by, Jude gets older, opening up a whole new world of early childhood programs that he can now participate in - along with him being more capable of really appreciating programs and activities that we've been doing for quite some time.

It's almost intimidating to think about all the stuff that's out there. There are science and nature programs. Music and Art. Sports and Fitness. Reading - and much more. Knowing others with kids Jude's age, I feel like I'm especially in touch with these programs as we all seem to share various things with each other making the pool of options ever more vast than it would be if I were looking for these things on my own.

After sifting through the various avenues of information and considering the things that I really want to instill in Jude, we decided on a pretty good range of activities. Starting in the next week or two he will begin each of the following:

1. Soccer - He is just old enough to participate in the youngest tier! He'll be playing games, going to practices, wearing shin guards and going crazy on the field... I can see it now and can't wait!

3. Storytime - we signed up for a storytime at a local library. I've been looking for a storytime that actually focuses on reading stories (instead of skipping through a short book to get to the fun activity scheduled for the end). After talking to another mother, this particular class sounds promising. This week will be our first actual experience with it, so I'm hopeful that it doesn't let me down.

4. Music - Jude has been a participating in music classes for a few semesters now. He will continue the same classes that he has been taking through age 4, at which point he will begin (if he wants to) private lessons. He has grown so much over the summer that I can't wait to see how he takes to class this year and how much of what he learned in the past he brings to class with him. He'll have a new teacher this year, so that's also something I'm curious to see how he responds to

In addition, we have a number of other options, like his Monday morning nature program we've been doing for awhile now, Toddler Skating at a local skating rink and state and city promoted programs (none of which we currently intend to do, but will re-evaluate once these other programs start to wrap up).

Perhaps even better than getting Jude involved is getting back into some sort of a routine. During the summer, our lives are a bit of a free for all. Some days are spent lazying the day away, other days are spent full to the brim with summer activities and play dates. In addition, Ryan's schedule has been a bit up and down over the past few months which only throws us off beat a little. I understand that life is like that - and that regardless of the season we will have our busy days and our slow days, but at least this way, we know what to expect for a good portion of the week. We won't be as able to wake up and spend half the morning just getting dressed (something that may be nice in theory, but sucks when you look at the clock, it's 12:00 in the afternoon and you've missed a gorgeous morning) and I'm ready for that... for that normalcy to return.

Not to mention crisp Fall air, anything 'spiced' and apple picking are all within our reach!