Tuesday, August 30, 2011

First Day of Kindergarten

August came and went! I have about 17 blog posts to write on August alone!

But today- TODAY was the first day of kindergarten! The real thing! And we were nervous and proud. Mostly proud.

Leading up to it- all summer- our little school lover adamently said she was not going to kindergarten. Change isn't something that Seren really embraces. She even said that last night, "I"m just not going to go."

I knew she was just nervous. And she amazed me by being really articulate about how she was feeling. "Well. I'm a little excited and a little scared." Then, as the day, today, got closer she would say, "Well, I'm a little excited and a lot scared!"

We had Kindergarten orientation last Monday. Which was totally disappointing. The classroom wasn't ready. The cubbies weren't labeled. The teacher wasn't very inspiring as she focused on the logistics and not the learning that would happen. She also didn't address the amazing group of excited little kids sitting in her classroom! The teachers are also on the verge of a strike. So there were teachers picketing the Kindergarten orientation.

Sigh.

Today, she slept in and woke up excited! And we loaded her back pack with about 2 pounds of requested materials (including clorox wipes, kleenex, pencils, snack, erasers, etc!) and headed out. We took the mandatory first day of school pictures which I totally remember my mom taking. And we set off, as a family, for the school. It is about an 8 block walk to the school. So all we went. The backpack got heavy, however, and I had to help with that. Once I put it on my back she exclaimed, "Now I can skip, Mom!"

Wyeth has been quite sad about this transition. He doesn't understand why he isn't going!

"I no go to Kindergarten? Why I no go?" and "Sissy go everyday? Why she go everyday!"

So while this really is just a 3 hour program 9 blocks away, we are all being thrown by the transition a little bit. For all of July and August, Wyeth and Seren have hung out pretty much every single day. So Wyeth too is missing his buddy.

I was more than a bit emotional getting her ready. And just like the day of orientation, the closer we got to the school building, the tigher her grip on my hand got. But when the moment came, we slid on her bag and hugged her tight. A wonderful and warm teacher greeted us at the door and said "You look beautiful in your dress! Are you ready for kindergarten!? Who is your teacher?" And with tight hugs, we said goodbye. And she walked down the hallway holding a teacher's hand.

Just like that.

NICU to Kindergarten in seconds flat. Non nursing preemie to reading kindergartener. I couldn't be more proud of who she was but also what we have done as parents. For this learning curve of parenthood has been steep.

She left down the hallway and mom bawled.

But they were happy tears too. Life is just too amazing. Too hard to really wrap your head around. Too many changes. Too many choices. And all of it- even the really hard times- is amazing.



Wednesday, August 17, 2011

So THAT is what it is for

Today the kids were watching me get dressed. They were sitting on my bed and I was putting on my bra.

Wyeth: Mom! What's dat?

Me: It is my bra.

Wyeth: What it do? What for?

Seren: Wyeth, it is so mom doesn't spray milk all over us.

Wyeth: Oh.

Seren: Did you know buddy that we used to suck on those? Yup. That is how we got our milk.

Wyeth: We got our milk?

Seren: Yup.

Me: But now you get it from the fridge. Thanks Seren for explaining it.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Cape Cod 2011

We spent 12 days as a family in Cape Cod this year. 12 whole days. And the best part?At the end of it, I wanted more time.

We took off and headed up to West Hartford to visit the fabulous Levy family. We then all headed off to Cape! We had our toes in the sand by 12:30 Saturday the 23rd and pretty much lived on the beach everyday through August 1st.

Awesome.

Not everyday was suny. We had a few days of rain. We improvised and did arts and crafts. Score!

There were many highlights as a family:
** I could actually relax this year. And did.
** I drank good Pino Grigio and ate great brie.
** We had some great icecream
** The kids played together as a group of four- VERY well.
** Seren and I took showers in the outside shower everyday and then I dried her hair in a towel turban. She called this 'fancy hair'.
** Both kids loved the beach.
** Both kids started to use the boogie boards this year! Score!
** Sam and I had an amazing date night- a beautiful hike to the beach and a great, great dinner out. Anniversary number 9!
** Being on the beach at 5:55 AM with two kids wearing thier pajamas and toting pails.
** We saw whales and seals in the evenings on the beach. One night we were passed by a family with two little dogs that were in harness leashes. While the three of us were geeked out by the whales, Wyeth saw this and came running up to me. Breathless he said, "I SAW REINDEER!" Apparently, seeing the dogs in the harnesses reminded him of Santa's sleigh.
** Time with my best friend Sam and my best friend Andy is a great deal!
** TIME OUTSIDE IN THE SUN

We took over 500 pictures. None of which have been edited. And since there are so many, I most likely won't ever get to it! But we took good ones. I just don't have time to really mess with them. But I will! Because I took the time to take the 500 pics!

I have had a hard time recently so just being able to unwind, unplug and just recharge felt so, so, so good.

I had that 'after vacation, I need to change my lfe/attitude/everything' feel for approximately 24 hours. And then the grind called! But it was seriously what I needed. Naps. Good food. Sleep. Family and sun.

PERFECT!