first lost tooth!

She was eating a slice of an orange at the after-school program and no one could find the tooth so we assume she swallowed it. E said tonight that she wants me to invent a "sucker thing for teeth" - some kind of tube that can go down into her stomach and suck out only any teeth, nothing else.

Day 4

Day 4 of kindergarten: E already knows how to ask to go to the bathroom in Spanish, how to say "great job!" "good morning," "thank you" "moon" and "milk". She can sing a Spanish song, more or less; and when I repeated the bathroom phrase correctly she exclaimed, "Perfecto!" (Bathroom permission sounds something like "pweddo eed ali banyo".)

On Day 2 she told me, "You can only learn another language if you look at the person's mouth while they're talking." She is eager to learn to read, and knows that we're supposed to spend 15 minutes reading with her each night. Tonight she repeated all the sentences I read in a book, one by one, and started to recognize a few of the words by sight.

Her teacher says she pays close attention and is doing well. Yesterday there was a lot of crying, but today was much easier and she was SO happy when I picked her up. David got her to bed at 6:30 yesterday evening; I'm sure that helped. And we got there a lot earlier this morning and I walked her into the room. Parents will not be allowed to do that anymore, soon. E says she "can't" walk into a room full of people.

I got to work by about 7:45 and left at 4:45. It felt like such a LONG day! I'm not used to getting to work that early.

First Day of School - leaving the house

E's first day of school wasn't too hard on us, I think. I didn't cry! Nor did she. I don't know if David did, but I suspect he just went back to bed.

First Day of School

Walking in to the school...


Conversing with a classmate...


View of the classroom as we got ready to leave...


We were both eager to go pick E up and ask her questions. The school day ends at 2:40 and she goes to an after-school program there at the school. We went to get her about 4:30.

Seeing her at the end of the day, pick up from the cafeteria...


She fell asleep a little sooner than usual tonight...

Last Day of Preschool

Well, E seems ready to go to "big school". First day of kindergarten tomorrow. The whole family's getting up early to take her when school opens at 7:30. Backpack is packed. Lunch is packed. She is TRYING to wind down in bed right now. Here are some pictures we took at the child care center today. I will miss the teachers who've been our partners in child-rearing for the last 3 years. They are going to miss E, too.

This is E's favorite teacher, "Joy Joy," the lead teacher for 4 & 5 year olds:


E's cubby:


This is the teacher whom E would come talk to when she was upset:


Outside:


Old MacDonald's for dinner afterward (she's eating a chicken nugget dipped in milkshake):


E kept saying "I can't believe this is my last day of preschool!" and, tonight, "I can't believe I'm starting kindergarten tomorrow!" It's good to finally see her excited about it. Happened in the last few months. Other kids her age have been leaving throughout the summer, and the last two 5 year olds had their last days today too. What E seems most excited about is learning Spanish - the fact that it's something her parents don't know!

In the last month she's drastically cut down on sucking her thumb, thanks to David's rule: Every time she gets caught doing it, she has to eat one garden pea. No peas for 2 days in a row, so far. We allow it at bedtime and rest time. At kindergarten they'll only get rest time for the first month. No more loveys - that may be difficult, haven't practiced that yet. But otherwise, we're as prepared as we can be, I guess.

not talking

Tonight trying to get E settled down in bed, I tell her "no more talking, now".

E: "Okay. ... But Mommy, I CAN talk if a saber-tooth tiger comes in my window. I'll yell, 'Mommy, a saber-tooth tiger!' and you'll run and get Daddy."

me: "Yes, certainly you can talk if that happens."

E: "And I think you and Daddy would run and get all the weapons you have to fight it."

me: "Actually, I think Daddy and I would just grab you and run from it. Unless it cornered us. Then we might have to get our weapons and fight."

E: "But you don't have any!"

me: "Yeah. Hey, I know, if it cornered us, we would throw something on the other side of it to distract it, and then while its back was turned we could run away."

E: "Yeah. But I think you and Daddy don't know anything. (Pedantically), Saber-tooth tigers LOVE dead animals. So, I think you should get a dead chicken. If you throw a dead chicken on the other side of it, we could definitely run away."

me: "There, now we have a plan. No more talking, now."

E in David's old bathrobe

She finally wore it, August 2011.