Bobo Graduates

Bobo had her preschool graduation a few weeks ago and I have been meaning to write about it ever since. It was a nice day and honestly I think that Bobo was thrilled to have the year behind her, she just never really settled in at school. She looked adorable in her cap and gown and while I think the whole idea of having any sort of graduation ceremony for 4 and 5 year old's is a bit silly it was a nice ending to her preschool days.
The children all had to draw a picture about what they would like to be when they grew up and of course Bobo had a practical profession in mind, she drew a picture of Hello Kitty. Alright in full disclosure I drew the damn cat in pencil and she traced it in crayon after an altercation she had with a teacher over the viability of a career as Hello Kitty. When the teacher gently explained that she may have some trouble becoming a cat Bobo refused to participate in the activity. My little "kitty" is so dramatic sometimes. I really do wonder what she will do with all of this creative energy and flair someday. I have no doubt she will keep us all on our toes and well entertained for years to come.

New found friendship

Ella could not have been happier to report that she had in fact sat next to Cassidy on the bus and then she had more good news to share, there was going to be a rendezvous the next day in Target in the Leapster aisle. I asked Ella what time this meeting was going to go down and she looked at the kitchen clock and said "well how about 2:00". Then I was left with the task of breaking her heart when I explained that if they had not set up a time to met then it was going to be a little hard to coordinate our arrival times. Ella was not going to let go of her play date that easily she tried to convince me it would work out, that we would surely run in to her new best friend. Then it came to her in a flash of brilliance " I know where she gets off the bus, we can walk down there and find her. She has a sticker on her bedroom window. I know we can find her!" I explained that we really could not go to the apartment complex down the road and start knocking on doors but in my own flash of brilliance suggested that we write her a note inviting her over on some future date. That seemed to appease Ella and she set to work gathering card stock, stickers and markers this was not going to be just any note. And indeed it was not just a note but a card that she carefully crafted and tweaked all weekend. She could not wait to give Cassidy the "note" on Monday ( and I had slipped my own note of introduction for Cassidy's mom just in case Ella's was a tad bit unclear). So the note has been delivered and now we wait for a call from Cassidy or her mother.

Update- It is now Thursday and we have not heard form Cassidy or her mother but surprisingly Ella has not even mentioned the play date again, and here I was wondering if her heart or spirit would be broken.

Maybe I spoke too soon?

Ella hit the wall after school today, she came home found her spot on the couch and did not move. She did not let her hair down but she felt she could not wear her underpants for one minute longer and off they came. Who knew how uptight that new school of hers really was making all those kids wear underpants and all. Actually I have no idea why she felt the need to take them off that is really not like her and when I sat down to chat with her she shared the following with me. That one little girl in her class that she had never seen before ( you know in the whole 2 days that she has been there) threw up in the sink in their classroom. And that she played on the playground with a girl who had bangs and they screamed at the boys on the slide. Now if that is not a great second day of school then I do not know what is. She was really indignant with me after bath time when reminding me that I had woken her up way too early and my daughter who went to bed all summer long between 9:00 and 10:00 was in bed sound asleep at 7:30. I am hoping that will help her prespective in the morning because before she succomed to the sleep she so desperatly needed she wimpered and cried and expressed an interest in repeating her preschool year. I really hope that she likes school for her sake and for mine or this will be a long year.

Preliminary report

After her first whole day at school I can report back that she seems to have a good day and she was able to give me a fairly detailed description of what went on with the exception of names, she could not even come up with one of those. But she amazed me with her ability to remember the littlest of details and comprehend things from another students perspective she is amazingly observant. I will have to keep that in mind as she is most likely filling away all sorts of sordid little details form her upbringing that she will no doubt use against me at a later date. And although she seems to be quite happy with her school, teacher and new friends she is most definitely the offspring of Nick and I, amazingly motivated unless of course that involves getting up early in the morning. As she sleepily ate her breakfast this morning she asked with optimism in her voice "after today do I not have to get up early?" I had to break the news to her that she in fact had to get up two more morning this week but failed to add, and perhaps for the rest of your life. She then asked if she could sleep as long as she wanted on Saturday and Sunday, and I told her of course. But we all know how that works even though she does not have to be up she probably will be up with the sun after being forced to rise every morning this week.
I am also happy to report that the girls had a wonderful time at their first ballet class. There was some hesitation on Molly's part when we first arrived, and there was the whole business of an already exhausted Ella wailing no one loves me as I rushed her off the bus and in to her tights and leotard. But when they emerged from the studio they both had big smiles on there face and wanted to share with me everything that miss Brittney had taught them. I think just seeing them in their ballet outfits would have been rewarding enough, Molly loves the way she looks in her leotard and tutu. When looking at the pictures of herself in the outfit she said dreamily I like that girl and I laughed and said that is you silly and she could not have been prouder.

And there off

Both the girls are at their respective schools as I type this. I can not be certain that I have come to grips with all of my feeling about the fact that they are both now enrolled in school. Although Molly will only be going to school two days a week for half a day so maybe the last statement is a bit dramatic. But I have had my house full of little girls noise for the past six years (almost) so it is first and foremost strange and a little disconcerting. This morning after I found myself alone in the house the first thing I did was clean up the whirlwind everyone had left behind and as I vacuumed the entire first floor without stopping and I might add with my ipod on full volume (what a luxury that was) I could not truly relish my efficiency. While signing along I kept hearing thuds or squeals like phantom children noises, maybe related to the phantom pain one feels when they loose a limb and still feel tingling or pain or itching. I remember after having Ella as I sat in my hospital room holding her in my arms I would feel kicks and movement as though she was still tucked safely inside so I asked the nurse about it alarmed that something was wrong with me. She said that nothing was wrong and that it is actually quite common that or maybe she was just trying to console a crazy first time mother. But here Ella is somehow now old enough to be whisked away on a school bus all by herself, it does not seem possible.When the bus pulled up this morning Nick said where is everyone as the bus appeared empty, that is until it started to round the corner and all these little faces were all staring out barely able to peer out over the bottom of the window. I suddenly feel as though Ella is so vulnerable and there is nothing I can do to remedy that. As I was making her lunch last night and packing it ever so carefully in her new barbie (not my choice for sure) lunchbox I fretted over it like she would be spending a week in the deep woods. I worried about if she doesn't like what I have packed and will she be starving and miserable by the time she gets home? Or is that enough juice for the whole day, I mean at home she can eat or drink whenever the mood strikes her and I am always there to make sure her needs are met. Listen to me glorify my mothering skills as if there were never times when I was swamped with work and instructed her to pick a box of cereal out of the cupboard for snack and share it with her sister. But it was still based on my judgement and my knowledge of my daughter and now Ella will be spending the majority of her waking hours with someone who hardly knows her. I know Ella will love school and this is just me feeling the pain of the first time in a series of many when she will pull away but I had honestly fooled myself in to thinking this transition wouldn't bother me in the least. So here I sit crying and typing and very proud of my smart beautiful big school girl, and her sister too who did so much better than I ever would have guessed on her first day of preschool. Last year when Ella started preschool that did not bother me at all it was a nice little break for me and in a school I had picked just for her and I know Molly will love it there too, but this whole kindergarten thing is much bigger than I expected.
*Disclaimer- may not make as much sense I thought when I was writing it because I was being an emotional sap!

Well the girls are getting bigger by the day but then Bobo still pronounces yesterday with no Y and it reminds me that she will still be little for just a little longer. Ella started school a few weeks ago and loves it! There were several children screaming when I dropped her off and she did not shed one tear or even look back she kissed me goodbye, she marched in and started to carefully and in a reserved manner which is so Ella check everything out. When I came three hours later to retrieve her she did not want to leave. Bobo also started "school" she brings her backpack to gymnastics every week because as she explained to me that is her school. Speaking of backpacks the first day of Ella's school I showed her how I had put an extra outfit in her backpack just in case and when Bobo saw this she started to panic and demanded to know where her backpack was and did it have a change of clothes inside. Luckily for once in my life I had allowed for a few extra minutes and I packed Bobo a backpack which she insisted on wearing in to Ella's school even though I explained that we were not staying. But Bobo loves her "school" and loves the new attire she acquired , all she wants to wear now are leotards no matter what the occasion or temperature. We went to the UPS store the other day in just a leotard (only she was in a leotard just for clarification I don't want to seem completely crazy) which is bad enough but it was also quite chilly out and I thought she might learn the hard way but no such luck she informed me several times that she was not at all cold. Bobo also loves her teacher so much in fact that she has taken to calling me by her teachers name, Deanna.
So Halloween is coming and when we asked the girls what they would like to be one idea was that myself, Ella and Bobo could be the Powerpuff girls and Nick could be The professor. That seemed like a good idea to everyone but then Ella raised a concern that Nick could not be The professor because as she pointed out he does not have a square face like The professor. I love the way her literal little mind works.

While Bobo is coming close to the end of her second year it seems like she is just beginning her terrible, temperamental, two year old behavior. Lately everything sends her over the edge. She can not STAND even a drop of juice or water or stray crumb landing on the perfect ensemble she has chosen for the day. She starts screaming and screetching demanding baby wipes. Yesterday she spent from 8:30 to 9:30 crying, as soon as she would start to recover something else would set her off. At the end of this episode she was lying on her back on the kitchen floor complaining that the tears were running in to her ears. Are you kidding me? I explained that the best solution would be to stop the flow of tears, problem solved right? I thought so but she didn't see it my way. I really thought she might just skip these type of antic's she has always been such a happy laid back baby, but as fast as I can type this she is back. My Bobo who says without moving her lips what's going on here or comes running in to the room wearing a bright red curly wig.

Ella's Fourth Birthday

I can not believe that Ella is four. She is no longer a toddler she is a little girl. She really enjoyed her party. She told me a few day's before her party that the best part of a birthday is the balloons. So I went out and ordered a whole bunch of helium balloons for the party. Well within ten minutes of bringing the balloons in to the house all but 6 popped. The textured surface of the ceiling was the problem. When we all ran around the corner after hearing the popping Ella was holding the balloon pieces asking if we could fix them. She handled it well though not one tear. She changed her mind about the theme of the party four times in the week leading up to the party. First it was going to be hello kitty then leaves then the backyardigans and finally the power puff girls. Nick and I are not big fans of the power puff girls, but she was the birthday girl and I guess it is just the beginning of the struggle for independence. Some day we will wish it was just a battle over the theme to her birthday, and her independence will serve her well in life. Happy birthday to our little girl!

The Soothie Addiction

My girls both love their soothies I don't know how we will ever get them to give them up for good. As nick likes to joke it's a good thing we have dental insurance. At one point at the suggestion of their dentist I tried to switch them to the orthodontic kind but as you can see the transition was not successfully. Ella has about twelve soothies in her bed, we have managed to keep Molly down to a more manageable four (2 green and 2 yellow). Ella has green, yellow and one very special blue soothie which are no longer in production. At one point we had lost the last blue, it fell in a lake and down in between some large rocks. That was a sad day for Ella but she eventually moved on. Not long after she had accepted her fate with no blue Ella's friend Cait found a blue soothie underneath a bed and as Ella puts it "saved her life". We have managed to keep track of that one blue soothie for 2 years. It doesn't sound that amazing but it is considering how many of these things we have lost. At on point I bought them in bulk 25 to a package. I don't think I want to know how much we have spent on soothies in the past 4 years. Well this post has probably been boring to anyone who actually read it but as Ella's fourth birthday approaches this weekend I find myself sort of glad she still enjoys the soothies. As independant as she sometimes is, in a few ways she is still my baby. And as much as I cursed these stupid soothies as I crawled around on the floor 8 months pregnant searching under furniture for them they are a part of who she is. She likes to put one in her mouth and one under her nose, she always says I need a soothi to sniff with. Molly likes to put one her mouth and one or two in her ears. This past Saturday morning Ella climbed in bed with Nick and I and said I didn't know that soothie's had a dot com. Nick said where did she get that from and I said there is a web address on the soothie. Nick asked her if she read that off the soothie and she replied yes. Clearly a sign that she is too old for these silly plugs. I am torn though, I know that someday she will give them up on her own time but should I be making more of an effort to help her give them up? I am sure we will find the answer someday