Joy School

We are lucky enough to have a large group of 2-3 year olds in our ward, and since our ward consists of only two streets, we all live within an easy walk of each other. Shortly after we got here I was invited by one of the other moms to join a kind of "Joy School Jrs" and have the kids get together twice a week to practice their social skills and have a quick 5 minute "lesson". Emmett has mixed feelings about it. He enjoys it when he gets there, but it's always very upsetting when I drop him off. He will tell the other moms, "My mommy's coming back" over and over until I return. We've also combined the 2-year-olds with the 3-year olds and this can be a little challenging for him. The older children are better at playing organized games with each other, and Emmett and the other couple of 2-year-olds always appear a little bit lost. I can tell when I watch him with the other kids that he wants so badly to join in the game, but he's not sure how. In time I'm sure he will figure things out, but I have to admit that I feel knots in my stomach watching him try. Watching your child try to make friends is absolutely nerve racking! Sometimes I wonder if he's a little too young, but I hope that by not giving up and continuing to take him he will have a chance to be a part of what may become a close knit group of friends to go to school with and grow up with.

Today we had our very first field trip! The grandparents of one of the kids have a family farm out in Hooper and we went to pick pumpkins and see animals. All the mothers took their own cars and children and we met at the farm. It was SO much fun!!

We were all very excited to go to the farm! Even Bethany was in a good mood on our outing.

Right when we first arrived Emmett was excited about the cows, but that couldn't compare to what happened next!!

Over the last week, Emmett has developed a love of the movie Charlotte's Web. He is always talking about Wilbur, Templeton, Charlotte and the goose. Randomly he'll say things like, "Wilbur's so nice,"  "Templeton is a rat!" or even more frequently, "Charlotte is dead. Wilbur so sad..." and then he'll stick out his lower lip and whimper. (I didn't think about it before letting him watch it, but it really is kind of a sad movie!)

You can only imagine the excitement on his face when he saw that Wilbur lived on the farm we were visiting! The owners had a lot of giant pink pigs that looked exactly like Wilbur. What was even better, there were several litters of newborn piglets. The owners took the little pigs out and actually let the kids hold them and pet them! All Emmett can talk about is how he pet Wilbur and how "Wilbur is so nice, but Wilbur is stinky". And yes, let me tell you, the hut where the sows and their litters were kept was EXTREMELY stinky. It was horrid, but that didn't stop Emmett from going back again and again to see more of his favorite pig's look alikes. :)

Emmett was excited about the piglets, but also very cautious. He preferred to observe from a distance.

When it was his turn to hold the piggy he got scared and didn't want to. I don't really blame him-- those little guys are pretty squirmy!

It wasn't quite as scary if we both held the pig together. Bethany slept through it all. You can see her pink hoodie poking out of my moby wrap.

Emmett even got to sit in the driver's seat of a great big tractor!

It was so exciting!

It took a little while, but we finally found the perfect pumpkin.

All the joy school kids, minus two that we had a hard time rounding up!

Trampolines usually scare him, but I couldn't believe how brave he was! He saw the other kids playing on it and asked to get on too.

He kept trying to stand up but the other kids jumping would throw him off balance and he'd fall back down again.

Success!

And CRASH! Back down again. But look at that smile! He was having such a good time.

And then I ruined everything by telling him we had to go home.

Look at this boy and his poor broken heart. I felt so mean!

But then again, it was nap time, and this had been the best and most exciting morning we'd ever had.

So in spite of my worries that maybe he isn't quite ready for joy school yet, today was one of those days that I felt like super mom for sticking with it even on the days it breaks my heart. Today was a little boy's paradise!