The life and times of Oscar Marcos Perez-Cytron. Born Thanksgiving Day 11/22/01.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
If you want to add something to Oscar's baby-blog, send an email to megan@alpha60.com and we can set it up so you can post...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
8:54 AM posted by Oscar
  Oscar's second day of school... Much like the first. All of the parents dropping off kids congregate at a side door to the school that goes straight to where the "infantil" classes are. When the door opened, Oscar ran straight in and didn't look back. We didn't even get to say goodbye, because the parents stay outside. He's so happy to be in school. I knew this would be a really easy transition for him, he has absolutely no social fear and no separation anxiety--I envy him!
His school is public and totally free. It's just a five minute walk from our house--on the other side of Mercado de la Cebada. We're really, really lucky that we got him in there--thanks mostly to Christian's persistence the past month. There are kids from all over the world in his class. At least one-third of the kids in his class are from immigrant families (which is actually low compared to most other schools in Madrid).
Almost all of the kids wear these insanely cute and babyish smocks (called "babys"--bah-bees--in Spanish). We bought Oscar two (pictured) and he'll start wearing his tomorrow. Kids' fashion is definitely different here. They seem to be perceived as babies much longer, even though in many ways they are more independent and have more freedom.
After school we did our shopping for lunch: went to the fruit store, shellfish store, bread store, pastry shop, etc. I'll have to write another post sometime about the different kinds of shops in our neighborhood. It is incredible how many tiny, specialized places exist here.
Well it's siesta time... Oscar is napping and I think I will, too...
Monday, September 27, 2004
4:17 PM posted by Anonymous
Oscar's first day at school
I went in to wake him up at about 9am. The first words out of his mouth were "I go to school today" and "Mama Papi say bye bye, bye bye Oscar" he also said "I very happy".
We ate breakfast (corn flakes, yogurt, and granola bar) and got dressed (robot shirt and khaki pants). Megan got up and we all walked over to the school (Nuestra Señora de la Paloma) together. It takes about 5-10 minutes. We met the director who escorted us to the classroom. We said hello to the teacher, who immediately took Oscar's hand. Apparently class was starting right then (10 am), all the other kids were starting to arrive, so we would have to talk more at lunchtime when we came to pick him up (1pm). Before we knew it Oscar was going into the classroom with the teacher! We didn't even get to say goodbye! Probably better that we didn't make a big deal of it... No crying or anything (except maybe a little by Megan). Walking back to the apartment we both we wondering how is he doing. Hoping he's not having a hard time or being difficult for the teachers.
The apartment felt so quiet. We both took a nap on the couch. Did a little bit of reading, trying not to worry about Oscar's first day. Pretty soon it was time to go pick him up. We made some coffee and tea to perk ourselves up.
Walked back to the school at 1pm. Met with Oscar's teacher (tutora), Rosa. She is middle-aged, very nice, relaxed, and seems like she has a lot of experience. She said Oscar was good all day and did not cry at all! Apparently he was very busy checking out all the toys and other interesting things in the classroom. Rosa asked us a bunch of questions about ourselves and Oscar, about his routines and development. When he first walked, talked, etc. Whether he could feed himself, go to the bathroom, etc. Apparently we made a mistake sending him to school with his pull-ups on. She said he should always have "calzoncillos" (underpants) from now on. We got a very detailed explanation of the kinds of activities they do, music and english are part of the "curriculum." They teach kids how to work thinngs out themselves. There seems to be a strong emphasis on social skills, working together, and doing things for themselves. They seem to have a good deal of independence within a structured environment. Also they have a snack time where different students bring different ingredients to make something together, and they all share it. Oscar evidently loved his first day at school because he started crying when it was time for us to go! He settled down when we explained that he would be coming back tomorrow again... All in all we are very happy with the schedule, the school, and the teacher. And I think Oscar is too.
We had lunch at the Onis cafeteria around the corner and Oscar just about fell asleep at the table he was so worn out. We got home around 3 and read a story (Ferdinand), put him on the potty, and then put him down to take his siesta, which is where he is right now... It's been a big day for little bobo.
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
5:55 PM posted by Oscar
Guilt has set in... it's been too long since I've updated this. But to be really honest, I'm living in a post-guilt state of mind these days. For a country that has parades where people flagellate themselves with thorns and such, Spain is a very laid back place. Particularly Madrid. People just seem to make a special effort to enjoy life. It's hard not to go along (just as it was hard not to become ambitious and hard-working in DC).
Oscar just interrupted me to tell me that his cat-bus is dead (cat-bus is definitely covered elsewhere in this blog). I looked at his cat-bus toy and he looked fine. Then he told me he had diarrhea and sure enough he had a load in his pants. He and I have been recovering for the past three days from a pretty bad intestinal bug. We both got a bad fever. Christian--whose stomach is clearly lined with steel--has been fine. But he's tiring of our sickly ways.
When Oscar woke up from his nap today he told me that he saw Lolo and that Lolo was dead and that he loved Lolo. He told me that he wanted to "tell Papi." We went in to wake up Christian--still deep in siesta mode--but Oscar just started blowing spit bubbles and giggling. Strange how he can have so much gravitas one minute and total silliness the next.
He's been interested in death... talking about it a lot when he plays. Two days ago, we were watching a few parts of Fantasia. One section--The Rite of Spring--retells the evolution of life on Earth as it was understood circa 1940ish. At the end of the part where dinosaurs rule the earth, all of the dinosaurs die. And then they show their skeletons. Oscar has been re-enacting this one with his toy dinosaurs ever since.
So what did we do all summer? It's hard to put it into words. We ate, we caught up on sleep, I worked on a project, we immersed ourselves in the Spanish schedule, we read the newspaper, we kept our apartment cool by raising and lowering our awnings and blinds, we met new people... Oscar got a great new babysitter named Ludmila. She's from Brazil and she speaks Portuguese, Spanish and English. We met her totally at random in a park while she was watching another boy. He absolutely loves her--she really is great. So much so that he seems happy when we leave!
The past two weeks, we've been trying to get Oscar into school. Just when everything seemed set, we were dealt a setback today... So back into the system we go tomorrow, hoping to find him a spot nearby... School started this week and it is free for all children age 3 and up. He would go in the mornings while I'm in class. Christian will go to school in the afternoon. They start the kids out gradually here. Just three hours a day for the first two weeks, phasing them in a little at a time. Very smart. He's really excited to go. We got him a haircut and a new backpack with little wheels on the bottom so that he can pull it down the street like all of the other kids here. It's all he can talk about. He really seems ready, but also looks so small compared to the other kids (he'll be one of the youngest in his class, since they take everyone who was born in 2001 and he was born in November). But he also seems to be talking more than any other kids his age. I mean he talks constantly about everything. He tells stories and re-enacts movies. He sings songs. Talks about TV shows he hasn't seen in six months. Remembers all of his family and friends from the US and talks about our house there. He's asking lots of interesting questions like "Where do Piglets poop?" or "Do pterodactyls eat plants."
He's also becoming pretty bossy with us at times--yelling and throwing fits to try to get what he wants. This never really works, but I guess it makes him feel powerful. Sometimes I think he just gets a kick out of doing "bad things" and jerking our chains... I can see a little rebellious (and familiar) glint in his eye. I think he'll be one who likes to push boundaries, just to see what happens.
I try to get him to calm down by stopping to take deep breaths. It usually works. Of course, it helps me, too. Every night and before his nap, I tell him a little story. I call it a Moscar-story, because the protagonist is a little boy named "Moscar" who leads a strangely parallel life to Oscar (except he has murros y mocolate instead of churros y chocolate, etc). Oscar loves hearing these stories and now even contributes to them. He is so insanely imaginative. He would just sit for hours and hours and let you read to him. Ludmila said that she read him ten books last week when she watched him.
Well, everyone is now up from their siesta... time to get out before everythign closes in an hour or so. More soon...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
