First day of school!

Natalie's first day of kindergarten was yesterday. She loves it! Every night she can't wait until the next morning so she can go back. She loves her teacher, loves her classmates. She made friends with another girl in our neighborhood who is in her class, while waiting for the bus this morning. She loves riding the school bus, although she thinks the big kids are a little loud. And she really likes buying lunch in the cafeteria.

I was a bit of a wreck yesterday, but now that we have two full days under our belts, I'm way less anxious.

In just two days we can already see a difference. She seems a little more grown-up (most of the time. Had a mother of a tantrum tonight), and is speaking more clearly, using much longer sentences, and relating experiences with much more detail.

She also had a boy in her class give her a pretty rock today. And a new boy joined, and she told me she is going to marry him because "that's what you do with new boy students". Alrighty then! :-)

Here are a couple of pictures from her first day. She's very proud of her Ni Hao Kai Lan backpack and lunch sack, and her Twinkle Toes Sketchers. :-) I bought her a school shirt today, and she's so excited to wear it! I think part of the excitement is the school tee-shirts are black with bright blue logos - I don't allow her to wear black (unless it's pants), so I got thwarted!

I'll also get July pictures up at some point. Maybe over the weekend.

Meet the Teacher

Natalie had Meet the Teacher at her school last night! We had a great time! Her classroom is really nice - big, bright, cheery, lots of things to do. We spent some time in her classroom, then headed over to the cafeteria. Once there, I started talking to a couple that was nearby - I remembered seeing them in the classroom. Well, Natalie and Brooklyn hit it off immediately. I think they might be two peas in a pod. Similar haircut, both are tomboys and love sports.... And even better? They live in our neighborhood! And the mom is a SAHM as well - she's due with her second any day now. There is also another girl with a nut allergy in Natalie's class, and she's looking forward to meeting her - this way she'll know someone at the "nut free" table in the cafeteria.

Checked out the library with Brooklyn and her parents - the girls had a blast and got chastised twice. Oops. Stopped by the health office to drop off N's emergency kit and fill out the paperwork. The nurse and health assistant are wonderful. Natalie loves them, and had me write a note to them from her this morning, which we took over to the school. The assistant seemed really touched! I have such a sweet girl - the note said - and she dictated -"Dear Nurses, I love you. Thank you for taking care of me. I'm glad there's a doctor's office there. Love, Natalie".

Looking forward to Natalie starting her new adventure! She's raring to go - she's looking forward to buying lunch some days and riding the bus, as well as making new friends! I'm a little teary thinking about it, and will probably be more teary tomorrow, but she's going to have a blast, and she'll do well.

"Daddy, change Oliver's diaper"

"He pooped".

I love how Natalie knows how the division of labor goes in this house, when Jon isn't traveling!

Hit the road, Jack

When we sold my old Nissan to Carmax a couple of years ago, we couldn't find the spare keys. They turned up months later, too late to turn them in. Wound up giving them to Natalie to play with.

Oliver dug them out of a toy bin today and came running out of the playroom. He flashed me a grin, waved the keys in one hand, waved at me with the other, and ran for the front door saying "Bye! Bye! Bye!". It was so funny - he looked so pleased with himself!

Proud mama

Took the kids to get their hair cut yesterday. Oliver went first, Natalie was playing with the train tables. By the time she got called back, she was in a shitastic mood (probably hungry, it was close to lunchtime, and she had been trying to play nicely/share with a younger boy, but he was being a total brat and I think she'd finally had enough, but still). No major tantrum, but I had to put her in the chair, and she glared the whole time. Storm cloud face, wouldn't say a word except about how much she hated the glitter the woman put in her hair (for the record, it was really fine, like pixie dust, and looked so cute in the sun). Then was pissed because I wouldn't buy her a toy as we were leaving. As if.

Took them to IHOP for lunch, as it was next door. She perked up after eating, and was very chatty/polite with an old couple across from us - rare for her - she's cautious around strangers. As we were leaving, she told me "I'm really sorry for being mean in the hair place. I'm SO sorry. I'm very sorry". I told her I forgave her, then told her that she really made that old couple's day by speaking to them so nicely (they mentioned that they missed having little ones around).

Then she looked at me and said "Mommy, could you take me back to the hair place so I can tell that lady I'm sorry?". I told her sure, absolutely. Wasn't expecting much because I expected her to get shy - I was just impressed that she even thought to do that. Damned if she didn't walk in, go up to Crystal (the lady who cut their hair) and said "I'm sorry for being mean to you. I really like my haircut". This other woman's kids were just finishing up - she was there when Natalie got pissy - we were commiserating over girly attitudes. She asked how I got Natalie to do that, and I told her I had nothing to do with it - it was her idea. She commented "Many adults wouldn't come back and do that".

I was in tears. Seriously heart bursty - just so very, very proud of her. We all know how difficult it can be to apologize and admit when we are wrong - that she did it of her own volition, and to a stranger no less, just bowled me over. I gave her lots of positive praise of course - I wanted her to know that I know apologizing when we are wrong isn't an easy thing to do, but it is the right thing, and very very grown-up.

Later that evening, oh-so-earnestly, she told me "Mommy, I was really proud of you today for taking us to have brekkus (breakfast) for lunch".

God, I love that child.

Guardian angel

Natalie was given a small figurine as a baby. It has an infant (probably supposed to be Jesus, although the baby is wearing pink, no matter) on a bed of straw, with an angel at its feet. It plays "O Holy Night". She put it in Oliver's room, and told me this:

"Mommy, do you know why I put this in Oliver's room?"
"No, why?"
"Because Oliver is the baby in the manger, I mean crib and the other one is...."
"His guardian angel watching over him?"
"No. That's ME watching over him".

I'd say he's in pretty good hands!

"Daddy, you have to see my waffle popper"

Jon - "waffle popper?"
Natalie - "Yeah, my waffle popper"
Jon - *confused look*
Me - *lightbulb*
Me - "toaster?" - good thing I was there to translate. :-P
Natalie "Oh yeah, right. My toaster".

She reorganized her play kitchen yesterday. It looks great! Wonder how long that will last?