For over a year, Rowan has been staying with "Ms. Erin" two days per week. This arrangement has been an answer to prayers in so many ways. For example, Erin speaks Spanish fluently (her "other day job" is as a professional translator) and she has gotten Rowan started with his second language. Erin's son Ander is just six months younger than Rowan and they have become good friends, teaching each other a lot about patience and sharing in the process. They have also been very good potty-training influences on each other, and are both now exclusively in underwear during waking hours. She lives very close to Toms' and my offices, so dropping Rowan off was always convenient. And most of all, we know that she loves Rowan dearly, and he loves her in return. He has never once cried when we have dropped him off at her house, and asking, "Do you want to get ready to go to Ms. Erin's?" always results in an enthusiastic shout, "OK!"
In my opinion, one of the cutest moments that Ms. Erin has captured was when Rowan and Ander's favorite stuffed animals, "Sorry" and "Mr. Lion," ate peas together!
We're starting a new chapter now because Ms. Erin will be having Baby Mirren soon. Rowan has started a Spanish immersion preschool that is very close to our house (about a 15 minute walk, if we're ever inclined). He will be attending five days per week in the mornings starting a couple of weeks from now, and he has been attending for a few hours at a time to get used to the routine and get to know everyone. I'm very excited about the opportunity for him to be in a Spanish immersion environment (if you aren't familiar with what that means, they don't teach Spanish per se; they teach a wide variety of typical preschool stuff, but everyone speaks Spanish all the time). His teachers are very nice, highly qualified people with degrees in education from their native countries (I believe one is from Honduras and the other is from Belize). Rowan even already has a "best friend" in class after only being there three times -- he and Layla really hit it off! :-) I'm sure there will be pictures coming soon of his preschool adventures.