On the eve of Kindergarten ...

Sweet, sweet Ellen -
Here we are. The night before this huge, huge change. So big, in fact, that I really can't wrap my mind around it. I've been "nesting" for weeks: organizing, and purging, and sorting, and sharpening pencils, and planning for lunches, and buying hooks for things that need hanging. She who controls the clutter, controls the world! If only that were true.

Such a milestone: we have successfully cared for a child for 5 3/4 years! Said child is bright and eager and funny and raring to go! We couldn't ask for more. In many ways it feels that our whole world is being turned upside down, yet really, you will only be 8 houses away from us. Probably a 4.2 minute walk, yet might as well be hours. The number of items I've added to my calendar in the last several weeks, before you've even set foot in the school, confirms my suspicions that the planets of this household will revolve around you, the sun, for quite some time.

I'm thrilled for you and this experience. As your principal said this evening, reflecting on his experience raising 5 daughters (bless him), he saw the most marked change in his girls in the first semester of Kindergarten and not again until their first semester of College. My greatest hope is that you make friends, fall in love with learning and feel that you find your place. Really, I think most adults would say that those three things make for a satisfying life.

I'm happy for Georgia to finally have time for the one-on-one attention she deserves, yet I know she will miss you like crazy. Her language and personality have been in over-drive lately and I will miss you, my pal, who I can always count on to laugh at her antics with me.

You seem so grown up to me at times and it's easy to forget that you have the normal fears and worries of any child going through a transition. As much as we can talk and talk and talk about all of this - there are just a lot of feelings, too. You charged through the halls at Village today boasting, "I'm not nervous! Not one tiny bit!", yet you've cried each day on the way home about missing your sweet friends. You crawled in bed tonight and expressed that you WERE nervous and worried. About what? I asked. "Oh, just everything, I guess." Me, too, babe.

Last Sunday morning I suggested you spend time playing with Georgia because it would be your last time home together for awhile. As much as we've talked about this, I think it finally sunk in. You cried and cried and cried - couldn't understand how the day came so soon. "Usually in preschool, if you need a hug, you can just go get one from your sister, but in Kindergarten she won't be there!" (tears tears tears) I suggested she could get a hug from her classmate and friend, Addie, or her teacher. "I know, but it's just not the same!"

No, it really isn't. I promise to give lots of hugs every morning so you can store them up for the day. I will do my best not to be frustrated with the bad/unusual behavior I expect out of you the next few weeks during this transition (I learned from the Emerging Vegetarian Experience of 2013). We are so proud of you and so happy to embark on this adventure with our very favorite 5-year-old.

Love, love, love -
M&D

Farewell

And .... we're done.

This morning was officially (I think) the last time I'll nurse my first baby. I hope there will be others (another) but you never quite know. The experience has been very meaningful, very educational, very frustrating, and very special.

I had planned on yesterday being the last time, but decided on just one more day. Honestly, I think I could continue with "just one more day" for a long time, but all things come to an end. A stuffy nose on her part and a Hawaiian vacation on my part lead me to believe it is the right time. A weekend morning so I could savor our restful time, in bed, in the wee hours of the morning - not the rushed impatience of a work day.

Our Girl is growing up, in some sad ways and in mostly wonderful ways. I delight in her independence and her personality and her assertion of both. There are many things her family provides for her, but there is one thing that only I could provide for her and I'm grateful for the opportunity.


Like a hand and a glove, a sweet baby foot and the crook of a mother's arm often fit so well together ...

Making my life easier

Our girl has skills. (Or is it skillz? I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be using words that end in Z).

She has achieved quite a few new things in just the last 2 weeks or so ... some of which I am loving, and some of which I am tolerating until they pass.

Under the "why didn't I think of this sooner?" category ... Girly will now lay on the floor, propped in her Boppy, and feed herself her entire bottle. I had seen a triplet mother I know (can you even imagine?!) do this with her trio, but it never occurred to me to do it with my singleton. I just attempted it one morning out of desperation - Dad out of town, Mom has to be somewhere, Baby won't nurse and now Mom has to pump. I sat by her on the floor pumping while she was thrilled to be feeding herself. I sat her up to burp half-way through, then she finished. I am telling you - this is GREAT.

She is also on the move. Not full-on crawling yet, but definitely scooting backwards, rolling all directions, up and down to sit, and more than anything else, totally motivated to get to things. Like hangers and remotes and plastic bags. Literally, on a Monday morning we sat her in the middle of our bed with toys while we got ready for work, as we had for months, and by Friday this was no longer a safe option. So, now we have the Pack n'Play in our room (Dad calls it "her house") so she can play with toys. While confined. Plus, it is so cute when she scratches her fingers on the mesh siding and presses her face into it to see us better. Maybe not so much "house" and more like "jail". Whatever.

While all the moving has taken some getting used to (I know, I know - it only gets more challenging), it has also affected her sleeping in good and bad ways. On the bad side, she practices moving in her crib. So, she'll be quiet for a while, then scream out because she is stuck on all fours, or crammed into the bars at the bottom of her bed. She settles quickly once we move her and I know that soon she will be fine on her own. I am certainly willing to tolerate this because of one SUPER unexpected side effect of all the moving. Our former "I'll-start-crying-at-5:15am-until-they-get-me" daughter has slept late for the last FIVE mornings. Before you get too excited, by late I mean somewhere between 6:15-6:50am, but this is still a major accomplishment. I can only conclude that she much prefers sleeping on her side or belly. The lovey also helps, which she now truly cuddles in the most adorable way. I can also conclude that I am happy.

Finally, a new entry into the "clearly I am a Mom now" category: scraping off cradle cap with oil and a comb. Eeewww. Our Gal has had cradle cap pretty much since birth. She was born with a mop of hair, though, so it was kind of hard to see and even harder to get at to remove. When she was brand new, she had it in her eyebrows and it looked sad, but as she got older, it just didn't seem to matter. While I still don't think it matters or bothers her, fast forward to 8 months when you pick up your daughter at daycare and they have been playing beauty parlor and her hair is up in a pony. AND she has yellow waxy scales all over her head and looks like a creature from some alien movie.

I had read that baby oil or olive oil would do the trick, but it just seemed to be a Challenge with a FULL head of hair. I bit the bullet today, though, because it was driving me crazy. I loaded the Girl in her highchair with graham crackers, poured grapeseed oil (so she doesn't smell like a salad) on her head and scratched away with a comb until she wouldn't tolerate it anymore. Then, I took the greaser straight to the tub and, while The Fonz look was cute, I am happy to report that her scalp is MUCH improved.

Teacher, Teacher!

New resource: You Tube!

I have been thinking that I really need to start using baby signs with the Girl now that she spends time in her high chair everyday. I know some of the signs and have been around kids that have used them, but it is always nice to have a visual and a little tutorial.

There are local baby sing and sign classes, but it has been down on the list of priorities and, at this rate, she'll be putting on the cap and gown before I get around to signing her up.

So, just search "teaching your baby sign language" on YouTube and there are a ton of videos! (I also used this to figure out how to prune my lavendar plants in the yard. Turns out I should have started 3 years ago. Oops.)

On a related note, You know that ugly monster that rears its head when you start comparing your baby with other babies? When you think they should be doing something that they aren't? That you aren't teaching them enough new things? That you have ruined their chance to get a college scholarship?

As I watched the little baby on YouTube pick out "corn" and "cat" and "baby", I got the urge to get crafty and make flashcards and start Baby Summer School.

Put down the scissors and step away from the construction paper.

I will resist the craziness.

At least for a little while.