oh and btw, happy halloween!

It's been a while, eh? Almost two months. Nothing much to report on truthfully.

School is going quite well for Lovie. She still loves it. We still love it. Her teacher is constantly telling us how smart she is and the other day she started compiling a list of kids she wants to invite to her FIFTH birthday party (in less than two months #omgholdme). She sat there and sounded out each name and wrote down the letters that corresponded with the sound. I was quite impressed. She's also been impressing me with her reading lately. In addition to sight words and other words she knows from memorization, most of her reading is still figuring out the words with the picture, but she totally gets sounding out the words when I tell her to LOOK at the word.

It's pretty awesome. She's pretty awesome. And pretty. ;)


***
We went on vacation last week. We drove from Chicago to (near) Clearwater Florida. The drive down wasn't so fun. Lovie got carsick twice on the first day. What should've taken us 11 hours, took us 17 that first day. But the second day went much smoother. And of course the time spent in Florida was nothing shy of fabulous. Really and truly.

Now I'm generally NOT a sun and hot weather person. In fact, I hate it. But if you can get me right. on. the. ocean. I'm game. And that's what we did. We found a condo to rent that was RIGHT on the water. The view, the price, it was all just too much to pass up. We laid around in the sun and swam in the ocean the majority of the time. We also went on a pirate cruise (which I'd recommend anyone to do- especially if you have kids). On the last day, we left the condo at 10AM (checkout time) and headed to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium... home of Winter the dolphin.

This place was really and truly fabulous, and a great way to spend our last day of vacation. I have never in all my life encountered a place where every single employee was SO nice. And if you've seen the Dolphin Tale movies, you absolutely MUST visit this place with your kids. Worth every penny.


***
Next up is preparing for the holidays and Lovie's birthday (in less than two months #omgholdme). We already know where it's going to be and what we'll be doing, but I do still need to book it. I'm actually super excited about this party as it's not a jumpy house. Not that anything is wrong with jumpy houses, Lovie LOVES them and had her last two parties at them. I just think what we have planned, if pulled off, will be super damn fun and cute and memorable. You only turn five once, right? Why not make it a memorable one?

let's talk about ssss

...school. SCHOOL. 

Let’s talk about SCHOOL (I know there are some dirty birds out there who thought of a different word starting with the letter S, thanks to a certain super early 1990’s hit by Salt-n-Pepa), baby.

Lovie started the official school year on Tuesday. I say official because she’s been attending this (Montessori) school since early July, but she was in their summer programs which was much more relaxed than the regular school year. Purportedly.

I tried making a bigger deal out of the new school year than it was. Even Lovie was like, “I’m going to another new school?!”

No, kid. You just have a few days off (end of last week), then you start the new school year at the same school in a different class.

“Kindergarten!”

Nope. You’re too young still.

“But you said I’d be going to Kindergarten!”

I was wrong. I thought you were, but because your birthday is so late, you can’t.

“That’s not fair, I wanna go to Kindergarten!”

I want you to, too. And you will. Just not this year.

“But I’m not a napper anymore! And I’m not a baby so why do I have to go with the babies?”

You’re not going in with the babies, there will be others your age and some a year or two younger, but they’re not babies.

“They don’t know anything so they’re babies!”

This is your time to help them learn, honey. You’ll be able to show others how to do things and they’ll be so grateful for your help.

Inside, I was a bit pissed truth be told. We were emailed that children turning five before the end of the year had the option to go into Kindergarten or stay in preschool. At first I thought maybe we would be rushing it if we chose Kindergarten but the fact is that she spent the summer with all the “older kids” anyway. She was already doing all the work the Kindergarteners would be doing come Tuesday. So Taye and I were in agreement to go ahead and put her into Kindergarten. We even were sent a supply list of items for her to bring along on her first day of Kindergarten.

Then a week later, as I’m standing in the playground adjacent to the school building in which they play, waiting for Lovie to play a “few more minutes”, the head of the school comes to me and tells me that Lovie will be starting in Preschool because of her late birthday and because of the state law. Yes, I get the law business and all, but why tell us we have the option a couple weeks prior? (The school communicates primarily via email newsletter so I know the answer.) She went on to say that if Lovie had been attending their school for a year or more (opposed to the daycare/preschool she was in) instead of just two months, we would’ve had the option to put her into Kindergarten.

So, long story short: 

Lovie started the (pre)school year on Tuesday. And honestly, even though all her friends she made over the summer are in the other, older classroom, she still couldn’t be happier.

She’s still all smiles. Every single day.

She wasn’t a miserable child prior to Montessori, but honest to god, she’s a changed child since starting Montessori. She’s always smiling. She’s always happy. She’s always helpful. She’s always kind.

Yes, she has her 4-and-half-going-on-14-and-a-half-year-old moments, but it’s truly mind boggling to me how happy she generally is.

Kindergarten or not, Montessori is definitely the right path for Lovie. I feel so lucky to have discovered this path and blessed to be able to take the adventure alongside her.

week three of Montessori

Here we are closing out week three of Montessori and, yet again, we're all smiles around here.

Lovie's still in the bigger kid class (4-6 year old) and it only makes sense. I think they had her in with the under 4's that first week because she was brand new to Montessori, but once they discovered how much she knows, they moved her on up. In fact she told me just yesterday that they have a new student in her class but he's just new from the other class... and he's four, too. (That's why I'm guessing they start new-to-Montessori kids in with the younger kids.)

This week she's been doing a lot of punching activity.

No, they don't have her practicing to become Layla Ali. They're having her pin-punch to strengthen her grip to hold a pencil and write.

I'd never heard of this before this week so I did some researching into it and it's quite badass, really. The other day when I picked her up, she forgot something in her room, so we went in and she pointed to a picture on a wall, "That's one of the toys in the room!"  It's was a pin-punching of the Pink Tower that a student did! I read somewhere else during my discovery of pin-punching, that one student (not sure where or when) was so fascinated with pin-punching States that she spent weeks on a project of pin-punching out every single State of the US- and glue each of them onto a map!

Most of what Lovie punched this week were shapes like rectangles and squares but then one day she came home with a punched shape of South Africa! And I guess they sing some Continent song that she really wants me to learn so we can sing it together. And did I know that Australia was a continent?

All the reports I get back tell me she's a great listener and especially loves to help out at lunch. And when I ask Lovie about that she gets all excited telling me about how she's able to set out real plates and real cups and help cut with a real knife and serve real food.

Anyway, week three has been fantastic-- just like the other two. Probably even more so actually, because now when I pick her up, she's playing with several children instead of just the one 6-year-old she had befriended. In fact, she hasn't mentioned much about said 6-year-old.

And bedtimes are still a freaking unbelievable dream. Every single night, she's snoring away within minutes of me starting to tell her a story. And absolutely NO arguments at when bedtime is.

new chapter begins

This morning Lovie walked into a brand new (to her) school. It's a Montessori school very nearby where we live. We've been wanting to make the change for some time now, but today was their first opening (day 1 of Summer Program).

We've driven by this school hundreds of times. I've suggested we look into it long ago, but its location and outside appearance kept us from taking that leap till about a year ago when things at Lovie's daycare/preschool were starting to grate on us. I'm not going to speak negatively of the daycare/preschool. It was her home for 4.5 years. They helped Lovie learn to sit and crawl and walk and eat with a fork and use the bathroom. They helped Lovie learn to love to look at books and words and letters and numbers. They helped Lovie learn to socialize.

But it was beyond time to make this move. Lovie needs more.

Yes daycare/preschool was both a daycare and preschool, but it was more of a daycare than a preschool. And I'm not saying Lovie should be "schooled" the entire day she's at school (she's there 5 days a week, 9 hours a day), but I do think she would benefit from more than what was being offered. At home, Lovie is super close to reading. We're spelling new words every single day. At school, they weren't doing any of this with her. She needs more attention. She needs to know that her love of learning is a fantastic thing. Not that she wasn't learning that at preschool because obviously she was learning this from somewhere. But at daycare/preschool, it was more about containing the children and keeping them from hurting one another. They weren't really encouraged to do much of anything but play and that's great and very needed in child development, but it became abundantly clear that Lovie was ready for more.

So last Thursday I brought in a big cake and we said goodbye to that chapter of our lives. And I cried. A lot. The teachers wouldn't stop hugging Lovie. They wouldn't stop saying such wonderful things (her Kindergarten teacher wrote a note to her: "You made me laugh so much my stomach hurt. That's what I'll miss the most. We'll miss you. Good luck at your new school. Be happy, always.") They made a big card for her. They sang a song to her. The kids lined up to give her hugs. Some teachers insisted on more than one hug.

I couldn't help but to cry.

And this morning, she started her new adventure at her new school.

I can't wait to pick her up and hear all about it.

just trying to hang on

It's been a while, eh?

Things were a bit hectic there for a while.

Between work, stuff at home, sickness, vacation, and preschool graduation...

...we've been keeping quite busy.

I can't believe this sweet little doll is quickly approaching 4 and a half. Shortly after this milestone, she'll be starting a new school. A real school. No more daycare/preschool stuff.

We've done a ton of research the past several years and we're so very excited to see what her new adventure at Montessori school will bring. Absolutely cannot wait to see how she thrives. Girlfriend is so super close to reading, it's crazy to me. So far she can spell her first and last names, Mama, Dad, Stop, Pink, No, and she has truly mastered telling me letters that are in just about any word!! Particularly what they start with. Last night, for example, she asked me how to spell Soccer Ball and before I could oblige she told me there was an S and a B in it. She amazes me. On a daily basis, she amazes me. And I have a feeling that once she gets into a groove at her new school, there just won't be much stopping her.

Cripes in 12 lines.

It feels like just yesterday when I was very much looking forward to becoming a Mama finally.

 

But that was three years ago.

 

She's getting SO big.

 

gotta love the school picture

She's so smart, so funny, so adorable, so Lovie.

But how is it possible to be 2 months (and 4 days) from THREE?

Where did my itty bitty baby doll go?

I cherish every day--every single day--with her but it's still won't slow down.

How do I make it slow down?

 

H O W ?!

 

I don't...I can't.

 

Instead I look forward to each day, each snuggle, each smile, each giggle.

 

Because soon... oh so soon... getting older and growing won't be so exciting anymore.

 

 

 

 

Bossy

Earlier last week, Lovie had a black eye when I picked her up from school. I mean, it wasn't a BLACK EYE but it was a black eye; it looked like her eye lid and just below her eye was scratched.

I looked for an incident report in her cubbie to no avail. I wanted to ask one of the teachers about it but, as usual, the place was a friggin zoo (she's still in Toddler room which is supposed to be 18 months to 2 but they're always months behind in moving the kids). So I let it go like I often do when I see marks on her (since she's 2 and all). I asked her what happened and she hadn't a clue. Then I asked her if someone scratched her and she told me,"Laney" (fake name) "did it." (This poor girl gets blamed for everything yet she and Lovie are BFFs!) I let it go.

The next day brought a new scratch and this seemed to be the theme for the week. I trimmed her nails two days in a row in case I didn't trim them good enough the first time. Still, another scratch on her face the next day with no incident report.

Finally when I had a chance to ask about it on Thursday, I did. The teacher (main one) said she didn't know of any incidents. And I figured Lovie would've screamed out if someone was bugging her. So we both told her to be sure to tell Miss Jane (fake name) if someone hits or pushes or scratches or bites her, etc. I don't want her to be a tattle tale but every single day is too much.

Friday when I picked Lovie up, she saw me from across the room and ran to me, like normal. Miss Jane was sitting across the room reading to the kids. She got up and came over to the door to where the cubbies are and looked through them and then proceeded to tell me Lovie had a bad day. She was being very bossy and assertive to the other kids- in the morning especially- and an incident report was written against her.

A part of me was surprised; in the 2+ years we've been going there, we've never encountered a problem where Lovie is the problem child. I'M NOT SAYING SHE'S PERFECT just that I was definitely caught off guard. A little. A bigger part of me wanted to shout, "Well good for her!!" I mean, really, the kid is coming home with scratches and a black eye every single day (the scratches- not the black eye) and the day after I bring it up, all of a sudden, she's the problem child?

I didn't say that, of course. I just looked at Lovie and noted no new scratch marks and asked if she was OK. I mean, I couldn't very well punish her hours after the fact... could I? I don't even know what she did other than "be bossy and assertive" to which I say... SOUNDS LIKE SHE'S TWO TO ME!

I kid. Sort of.

On the way home, she wanted to stop off at the park and "play wid my friends." I debated for a second if I should allow it and then went ahead and stopped at the park. For the second day in a row we were the only ones there. Then another girl, near 4, came with her dad and they, too, played in the sandbox. The girls saw each other but kept to themselves until the 4 year old finally picked up her stuff and plopped down next to Lovie, declaring "I want to play with you."

Lovie looked at her and they sat together and did their sand thing for about half hour.

It was super cute. ISN'T IT SUPER DAMN CUTE?!??

I guess she got all her bossy assertiveness out at school before taking it out on me this morning when she shouted, "NO, I DON'T LIKE JEANS!" as I tried getting her dressed.

Can't wait to hear how her day went today. I hope better, I really do. But not as much as I hope they moved her up to the early preschool room where she belongs with the rest of her peers.

******************************

So I typed this all up and never hit Publish because I didn't finish writing it till just before going to pick Lovie up from school; I figured I'd wait to see what transpired. Well... guess who had another black eye when I picked her up today? Her daddy is not very happy. Miss Jane came up to me to tell me about it first hand, and handed me an incident report. This black eye is worse than last week's (that went completely undetected by anyone). And... I'm kind of pissed. I know this stuff happens- these are young children together all day long. But... after one full week of marks and a second black eye... well, how should I feel?