down memory lane

The girls and I spent a long weekend at my parents' house this past weekend.  While we were there, Rachel wanted to see where her great-grandma was buried (she's asked about it several times in the last few months--I'm not sure why).  So my mom and I took her out to the cemetery.  The cemetery is just down the road from my old house where I grew up (the house is no longer there because it burned down, but the lot is still there, you can see where the house and pool were, and the garage is still standing), so we took her there, too.  I've told her lots of stories about that pool--we lived in that pool in the summers--and about playing back in the woods behind our house (which look much, much closer to the house than they ever were when I was a little girl!), so it was fun to actually show her. 

After that we went to my old elementary school, which isn't far from there.  We got the girls out and let them play on the playground.  Several pieces of the playground equipment are still there from when I was a kid--and a couple of them were even there when my mom went to school there!

So here are my girls playing on the same playground where their mom and grandma played as girls.

I have lots of memories on these monkey bars!

And this slide....

And also this thing (whatever it's called!).

This piece is newer.

After I took these pictures Rachel fell down and cut her chin.  We talked about the possibility of taking her to get stitches, beacuse it was pretty deep and wouldn't stop bleeding, but in the end we decided not to.  It was a not so happy ending to my trip down memory lane.  :(

like mother, like daughter

Most of you probably saw this already on facebook, but for those of you who didn't....

Weed--first grade (left), Rachel--first grade (right)

If her mouth wasn't open you could see the resemblance a little better, but still....

deja vu

I think we've been down this road before.

It started Monday morning, when Rebecca woke up with the runniest of noses.  Then Rachel got up and was coughing and stuffy. 

Tuesday night I was up with a crying, stuffed up Rebecca every 20-40 minutes from 9 PM until about 2:30, when she finally seemed to sleep deeply enough to get a few hours of sleep.  So I slept from 2:30 until 5:30, when I heard her again. 

Last night Rachel complained of a headache before bed, so I took her temp, and sure enough, 101.2. 

I braced myself for another long night last night, and although it took me a LONG time to go to sleep (because my ears were cocked, listening for one of them), we all slept all night!  I couldn't believe it.

Rachel got up fever-free, but in the almost 2 hours since she got up, it's gone back up.  Hopefully the advil I just gave her will kick in soon and she'll be feeling better.  Since she has to miss school (she's really sad about missing it), at least she should be able to play and enjoy being at home. 

And so begins the fall.  Last October it was the same way--the two of them passing germs back and forth over and over.  October and November were awful last year, since one of them was sick almost every week (and I was sick too during that time--hopefully we'll skip that part this year!).

Such is life with little ones, I suppose.  But knowing that doesn't make it any more fun to go through.

a milestone

This morning was the Walkathon at Rachel's school.  They do a Walkathon as a fundraiser each year and parents are invited to come walk with their children, so Rebecca and I went to join her this morning.  They walk around a path at a park behind their school, and then on the second time around they go to different stations.  One of the stations today was a hula hoop station.  Rachel's always wanted to be able to hula hoop and gets really frustrated that she can't do it. 

But today, after a few tries, she finally got it!  You should've seen the look on her face when she realized that she was actually keeping it going.  She looked at me with wide eyes and exclaimed, "Mommy!  I'm doing it!" 

She did it several more times after that.....so thrilled with herself! (With her friend, Taylor, looking on, counting for her--they took turns)

 

 

Waiting for the directions with Taylor

Here are some other pictures from the morning.

Jumping over the cones

Jumping Rope

Rebecca watching her sister jump rope (I love these pictures but didn't like the colors or the stroller in the background, which is why I made it black and white)

 

 

Doing the "Cha Cha Slide" when the Walkathon was done

weekend pictures

Fooled you....there are actually no pictures here today.  But there were so many times this weekend that I WISHED I had had my camera.  So I thought I'd tell you what you would've seen, had I remembered the camera....

1) You would've seen me and a bunch of other first grade moms on Friday night having a box top cutting party.  Yeah, we're just wild and crazy, aren't we?  See, my friend Emily, who is in PTA with me, volunteered to be in charge of the Box Tops for Education and Campbell Soup Labels for Education this year.  So she asked a bunch of us who are already friends and all just happen to have first grade girls at the same school (and one with a kindergartener, but we're friends with her, too!), to help her cut and sort--so she got us all together for a party.  In about 2 1/2 hours we cut and sorted over 10,000 box tops!  And I don't remember how many soup labels, but a lot of those, too.  And it was fun to do it together and talk, rather than any one person having to do it all alone at home.  Emily actually did take pictures of this, but I didn't.

2)  You would've seen my husband and girls having a dance party at home while I was gone.  As I was getting ready to go, they were doing the hokey pokey, macarena, and limbo.  The girls LOVED it.

3) You would've seen our family on a two mile hike on Saturday morning.  It was a beautiful, chilly fall morning, and my husband asked if I wanted to go hiking instead of him taking his regular Saturday morning trip to the gym.  Rebecca rode in the backpack on his back and Rachel walked the whole two miles with only a tiny bit of complaining at the end about being tired.  Afterward the girls played on the playground and then had a picnic.  It was fun.

4) You would've seen Rachel at her first children's choir practice.  She was really nervous beforehand, and I was worried that she would change her mind about wanting to be in it.  I was really happy to hear after it was over that she loved it.  She's listening to her practice CD over and over, so I'm already hearing Christmas songs daily, but I'm glad she's excited.

5) You would've seen Rachel and the rest of our Girl Scout troop singing songs at our council's annual "Songfest."  It was another beautiful day yesterday and we were camped out on blankets and situpons in the grass in front of the woods (with the just-changing-colors-trees) at the same park where we had Day Camp this summer.  It did go a little long, and was a little unorganized, but for the most part the girls seemed to enjoy it, and it was nice to be outside on such a pretty day.

It was a nice weekend, and I really wish I had some pictures to prove it....

little artists

There's not a lot of news to write about.  Things have calmed down at school.  Rachel's doing fine and enjoying it.  She especially likes art and music class, and on the days she has those classes, I hear all kinds of details about what they did.

She's really into her art these days.  She's always liked to draw and color, but lately she's drawing more and more.  She told me yesterday she wants to be an artist when she grows up.  And she's decided she wants to be an artist for Halloween. 

Yesterday she opened an "Art Stoodeo" in her bedroom (that's how she spelled it).  She spent all afternoon up in her room cleaning it, and when she came down she invited me to come up to her art studio (sometimes she calls it a museum, but she also calls it her studio).  She had taped all kinds of drawings all around her room.

Today she decided she wants to sing in the children's choir at our church for their Christmas performance.  I'm thrilled, though really surprised, because she's never had any interest in it in the past.  She's always said she's too scared to sing on stage.  So I'm excited that she brought it up all on her own and wants to do it.  Yay!

Rebecca has a new "Handy Dandy Notebook," (a different little notebook that used to belong to Rachel, and now Rebecca has claimed it).  But today she brought it to me and said, "See my iPad, Mommy?"  How she knows what an iPad is, I'm not sure, since I don't have one.  My mom just got one, and had it here the last time she came to visit, so maybe that's why she knows, but still....a two year old talking about an iPad?   She keeps telling me that she's drawing a zig zag line in her handy dandy notebook.  That was one of the clues once on Blue's Clues, so I guess that's where she got that, but she really doesn't know what a zig zag line is. 

caterpillars and such

Today I went outside with Rebecca, and while inspecting my tomato plants for any new ripe tomatoes, I came across these obnoxious, ugly things attached to my plants:

Later I came inside and looked them up.  They're called Hornworms, and they eat tomato plants.  They also attract a certain kind of wasps, who lay their eggs inside them.  Yuck.  The white things on the outside are the larve of the wasps.  Gross.

Yesterday was our church picnic.  It was a fun time, but right at the end, the kids were thrilled to see this rising above the trees. 

It wasn't a part of our picnic.  It just happened to be nearby, and it's the closest I've ever been to a hot air balloon.  Rachel was thrilled because she had never seen one before.

And while I was taking picture of the ugly caterpillars, Rebecca wanted me to take her picture. 

There's my sweet little stinker!

Dandy Dandy

Rebecca's really started loving Blue's Clues in the last few weeks.  She asks for it now almost as much as she asks for the Wiggles, though I think she still likes the Wiggles better.  The problem is, finding Blue's Clues stuff is pretty much just as hard as it is to find Wiggles stuff, since Blue's Clue's isn't made anymore, so they don't make anymore Blue's Clues books, clothes, toys, coloring books, etc.  The only way to find them is used.

I was excited to find a $1 Blue's Clues DVD at the baby sale this past weekend where I sold my stuff, but that was all I found.  I have a couple of Blue's Clues puzzles from when Rachel was little, but they're too hard for Rebecca (and she's not really into puzzles, while Rachel really was).  I did find a pair of Blue's Clues PJs in my stash of clothes (someone gave them to me as hand-me-downs for Rachel, but they were too small for her when we got them, so she never got to wear them), so Rebecca got to wear them the other night for the first time when it got chilly (since they're long sleeved).  She was thrilled!! 

She carries around her "Dandy Dandy Notebook" (it's actually Rachel's princess coloring pad, but she took it over as her own and calls it her dandy dandy notebook (instead of a "Handy Dandy Notebook," which is what it's called in the show, for those of you who aren't familiar with Blue's Clues!) and a crayon for much of the day, and periodically sits down and says to me, "Wet's Fink."  (Let's Think)  Sometimes she'll bring the notebook up to me and say, "Mommy, we have all free cwoos!"  (all three clues)

She greets me by saying, "Oh, hi!"  (Because that's what Steve says on the show.) 

Whenever she sees a picture of a paw print she yells, "A Cwoo!  A Cwoo!" (A clue, A clue!)  Every week Rachel brings home a class newsletter, and since her school's mascot is the Cougars, there's always a cougar paw print on the newsletter.  Rebecca always wants it because it's, "A cwoo!  A cwoo!" but I need it because it has Rachel's spelling words for the week on it.  So I've started saving the old one and letting Rebecca have it after the spelling test is done rather than giving her the new one.

That girl cracks me up.

toothless

The other one came out!

Daddy wanted to wiggle it, just to see how loose it was, and it came out!  No tears, no drama this time.  Yay!

It'll be a toothless school picture in a couple of weeks....

School seems to be going better.  I hesitate to say that, because as soon as I do, something else will happen, but she's had several good days in a row, so we're all happier. 

road trip

Since my husband didn't have to work on labor day, and it was supposed to rain most of the weekend, he suggested we go somewhere new and fun for the day.  We decided on the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland (mostly because we get in free with our membership to our science museum).  It was a little bit of a drive, but we left early in the morning in order to get there by the time they opened, and drove back during Rebecca's nap time, so she still caught a decent nap in the car.  It worked out great and we all had fun.

The Great Lakes Science Center is on the lake, and is right next to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well as the Cleveland Air Show, which was going on this weekend, too.  The weather was beautiful (not at all rainy, like was predicted at home this weekend) so we ate our lunch outside, walked over to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame just to look around outside, and watched the planes in the air show (the highlight for my husband--he LOVED it). 

Both girls loved all of the hands on exhibits.  It's a lot like our science museum in town, which they both enjoy.  Rebecca spend her time running from place to place, touching as many buttons as possible. 

It was a fun family day.

drama queen

I don't know how I'm going to handle these next 12 years of Rachel's life.  The drama in these first few weeks of first grade is enough to last me the rest of my life.  I don't want to go into too many details, but it seems like every day Rachel comes home with another story of something that happened at school that makes me want to pull my hair out in frustration.  Either I'm completely aghast at something she's said or done, or in tears because she's hurt, which hurts me, or ready to email the teacher for more clarification about something she's told me.  I'm not one of those "helicopter moms," and before this year I'd never contacted the teacher about something that happened at school or preschool, but this year has already been full of it!  And this is only the beginning.  My mom said it's like I have to whack another mole every day after school, just like playing that game at Chuck-e-Cheese, and that's exactly what I feel like! 

In addition to school drama, there's been tooth drama.  Rachel's two front teeth have been loose for months.  I've written before about her aversion to the dentist, doctor, and any sort of touching when there's the tiniest bit of pain involved.  Even brushing snarls out of her hair elicits tears and yelling.  So when it came to these teeth, she wouldn't let us touch them.  We've wanted to pull them out for months, but she wouldn't let us, and unless we held her down, which would result in tears and a huge fit, they weren't going to come out, so we just let it go.  For the last week or two, one of them has been hanging by a thread.  You could tell that the permanent tooth was pushing down on it because her teeth started to look crooked.  She wiggled it every morning and evening, but wouldn't pull hard enough to get it out.  All it would've taken was a little twist, and it would've come out, but she was too afraid to do it. 

Yesterday she finally decided to do it. 

There were tears (happy tears, she told us), but it's finally out.  The other one is pretty loose, too, but I'm sure it will be a number of weeks before she works up the courage to get it out. 

But wait, there's more drama.  Last night she woke me up around 11:30 because she said her sheet was wet because she had been crying in her bed.  She woke up and had to go potty, but was afraid to get up because she didn't want to see the tooth fairy, because she's not supposed to see her (I never told her that, by the way--she came up with that all on her own--I say as little as possible about the tooth fairy...and Santa...I don't want to lie to her, but I also don't want to crush her imagination, so I just listen whenever she has something to say about either of them).  Anyway, she laid there and cried because she was afraid to get up, so her sheet was all wet with tears.  I assured her it was okay to go potty.  So she did, and we went to go take care of the wet sheet--she covered her eyes all the way back to her room because she didn't want to see the tooth fairy if she was in the house (little did she know that the tooth fairy came around 10:00 pm and there was a dollar bill on her bedside table already). 

I honestly did not create this drama queen.  I don't give in to her drama, thus perpetuating it, I do everything I can to ignore it, and to my knowledge I do nothing to encourage it.  I don't coddle her in the least.  I guess this is just Rachel.  And I somehow have to learn to deal with it for the next however many years.  Oh my.

a rocky start

Rachel is enjoying school, but there have been some bumps along the way these first few weeks.  I've requested my first conference with her teacher because of some behavior issues she's having--I've never had to request a conference before, and it's a little daunting.  It's tomorrow morning before school, so we'll see how it goes.  In addition to that, the girl drama I was afraid of has already started, and she's in the middle of it.  I'm doing my best to help her to navigate it and trying to help her choose better friends to play with instead of the ones causing the drama, but it's hard because she wants to play with them, but she's getting hurt in the process.  And I know this is only the beginning, and nothing compared with what is probably to come.  My natural instincts are to tell her not to play with them, but I know this is a lesson she needs to figure out for herself.  Sadly, that means she's going to continue getting hurt before she learns.  The last thing in the world I want is to watch my child get hurt.

Rebecca's having a rocky start, too.  Fussy, fussy, fussy.  She misses her sister and doesn't know what to do with herself, so she either fusses or asks for food (what she does if she's bored).  If we go somewhere in the mornings she's usually happier, and I'm usually happier, too, because she's contained in her car seat, a stroller, or a grocery cart, and busy looking at the things around her, but we don't really need to go somewhere every day.  I find myself thinking up errands I need to run just so we have somewhere to go in the morning. 

My husband's had a rocky few days, too.  Yesterday he locked his keys in his car at work, and realized it right before it was time to come home.  The police came and got him in, so I didn't have to go rescue him (it's a 50 minute drive one-way, so I was really glad I didn't have to drive there in rush hour traffic!).  But then he had another interaction with the police this morning when he got a speeding ticket on his way to work.  Ugh. 

Watching the rest of my family struggle is a struggle for me, too, so I'm having my own rocky start as I try to figure out how to make life better for all of us.  Here's hoping things get easier.

Today's errand is to go get a key made for my husband to keep at work, just in case he locks himself out again.  Solves two problems in one....his and Rebecca's fussiness!  :)  If only Rachel's problems could be solved so easily....

water fun

Yesterday we used our free water park tickets.  It was a perfect day for it--90 degrees and bright and sunny.  We knew we had to use them this weekend, because next weekend is the last chance before it closes for the summer, and the tickets expire, and we didn't know if the weather would cooperate next weekend, so it was now or never. 

We took everything we needed with us to church (because the water park is lots closer to church than our house) and I got the girls ready in their suits before we left the church.  While I was getting them ready, my husband was talking to Rachel's best friend, Taylor's mom (they go to our church), and it turned out that they had free tickets to the water park, too, which also expired next weekend!  On the spur of the moment they decided to go too, so they met us there later and we hung out with them much of the time.  What a happy surprise!

It was a really fun day, and I wish we could have stayed longer, but it was after 2:00 and Rebecca was having trouble keeping her eyes open (she usually takes her nap at 1:00).  Rachel really didn't want to leave.  She was so happy that Taylor was there, and was just really enjoying the water, which I was both surprised and happy to see.  The last time we were in a big pool was at Disney World, when she was not quite five, and she was terrified of the water.  She wouldn't even go in for more than a few minutes with my husband or me holding her.  I purposely haven't put her in swimming lessons, because I was convinced that she'd cry and carry on and it would be a complete waste of money.  But yesterday gave me hope that maybe she's not as scared anymore, and maybe next spring we can do swimming lessons in anticipation of next summer.   She loved the wave pool, lazy river, and kids' areas.  She even agreed to try a water slide with me, even though she was scared.  She doesn't have a good track record of trying things when she's scared, so I was sure we'd get up there and she'd chicken out, but she didn't!  We went down and she LOVED it!  I was so proud of her.  She went down it again later with Taylor, and wanted to do it some more, but we didn't have time. 

While the steep price of admission means that we likely won't go again for quite awhile (we thought there wasn't enough there to justify the cost, until the kids are older and can enjoy more of the park for a longer period of time), for free, it was a super day of family fun!  I wish we could have taken two cars and Rachel and I could have stayed longer (my husband isn't the water-lover that I am, so he would've been perfectly happy taking Rebecca home to nap while I stayed with Rachel). 

We didn't take a camera (because trying to keep track of it and keeping it dry would've been very difficult!), so I don't have any pictures to share, unfortunately.  You'll just have to imagine lots of wet, happy smiles.

days with Rebecca

I've mentioned that Rebecca's been pretty fussy since Rachel went back to school.  But here are some pictures of some of her happier moments from the last couple of days (she's been a little less fussy these last couple of days, too).


Riding her bike (she wanted to wear the hat out, and it was too funny not to take a picture)

Taking a picture, just like Mommy

Cheesy grin (this is at our neighbor's house)

Her new pool (courtesy of our neighbors who just moved and didn't want to move the pool)

Tired with the pool, she moved on to the tire swing

the latest

This morning I was talking to a neighbor at the bus stop.  His daughter is in Rachel's class, and was last year, too.  He told me his daughter wasn't enjoying 1st grade, and wanted to know if Rachel was.  I told him yes, that she was.  I asked why his daughter wasn't enjoying it.  He said she said it was "boring," but he didn't know what she meant by that, and wondering if there was something more going on.  He said it didn't sound like she was being picked on or anything like that, but he wasn't sure what she didn't like about it.  It just made me really thankful for my happy girl who is just enthusiastic about everything.

Yesterday she got off the bus bubbling over with excitement because they had music class!  In kindergarten the only special class they had was gym, so this was her very first music class, and she just loved it.  She went on and on about what they did (listened to the music from the Olympics and did some motions, and played some rhythm games with scarves and bean bags while listening to music). 

She's even more excited about having art class this year, which she hasn't gone to yet.  She loves to draw and color and has expressed some interest in taking an art class somewhere, but I can't find one, and even if I did, it would likely be too expensive, but I'm happy that she'll get to have art class at school.  Last year our school district had a levy which failed, and then passed the second time, but if it hadn't passed, there would've been no art (or music or gym).  This fall there's a group trying to repeal a previous levy, which would make lots of drastic cuts again.  I'm so nervous.  Seeing how excited she is about these specials, I know it would break her heart (and mine) to have them taken away.  Ugh.  I hate money and levies and everything having to do with it. 

Rebecca had her second dentist appointment this morning.  You may recall that I didn't take Rachel until she was five (at the advice of my own dentist) and it was horrible, so to avoid this with Rebecca, I started taking her at 18 months, at the advice of Rachel's pediatric dentist.  That time she cried the whole time.  I wasn't expecting much better this time.  But she did go with Rachel and me a couple of weeks ago when Rachel had her checkup, so she saw Rachel sit in the big chair, lay back, get her teeth cleaned, etc.  When we told her this morning that she was going to the dentist, she was happy about it, and talked about it all morning until it was time to go.  She got a little nervous (I know because when she gets nervous she puts her hand over her mouth!) when we started walking in, but she talked to the hygenist a little and even sat in the big chair by herself.  The hygenist had me pick her up before she laid the chair back, because she said that usually freaks little kids out, and then had me lay her down on the flattened chair.  She was a little skeptical at that point, but she laid there and held my hand.  She liked the sunglasses they put on her before they turned the light on.  She let the hygenist clean the top half of her teeth before she started crying this time.  The hygenist then had me pick her up, put her on my lap, and lean her back into the hygenist's lap, like we did last time, to finish up the cleaning.  Rebecca hated it from that point on, but the crying at least kept her mouth open so she could finish cleaning.  But both the hygenist and the dentist said it was a huge step for a two year old to lay in the chair and get half of her teeth cleaned.  So hopefully we're on our way to avoiding a repeat of Rachel's issues.  I think the fact that she saw Rachel go through it a few weeks ago was helpful, because a couple of times she said, " Just like Rachel!"  So she definitely remembered.  Yay!

week one and other news

Week one of first grade is in the books.  Rachel had a good week, overall, and is looking forward to going back tomorrow. 

I still only get bits and pieces of what she does each day.  They've written in their journals a couple of times, made some graphs, and had gym.  She loves eating lunch in the cafeteria and having a full recess (in kindergarten they hardly ever had recess, since the day was so short and there was so much to fit into the morning).  One day they even had two recesses.  Friday she came home all excited because she found out that her teacher got to scuba dive in the aquarium at our zoo over the summer.

Friday night we went to a party with a few first grade families.  Rachel had the time of her life and really, really didn't want to leave.  I wish I had taken some pictures.  The kids had a great time.

Yesterday Rachel told me, "I'm the happiest girl ever!"  She had a great day.  We had an impromptu garage sale, as part of our community garage sale weekend.  I hadn't been planning on selling because I was supposed to be selling at the community center Baby Boutique Sale, which they hold twice a year.  But they moved that sale to September, so I just stuck out everything I was planning on selling at that sale, and everything that didn't sell yesterday, I'll take to the Baby Boutique Sale.  So anyway, we had a garage sale.  And as soon as Rachel heard "Garage Sale," she started asking if she could have a lemonade stand, like last year.  We told her she could, but also warned her that she'd have to pay us for all of the supplies I bought out of whatever she earned.  Well, everyone must've thought she was cute, because they sure bought her lemonade and cookies!  Even after paying for the supplies, she made around $30!  She knew just what she wanted to use the money for.  She's been wanting the new Brave game for her Leap Pad (based on the Disney movie, Brave, which came out in June--she went to see it with Grandma while she was visiting Grandma's house).  I told her she could ask for it for Christmas, but she really, really wanted it, so as soon as she realized that she had enough money for it, she begged to go to Target to get it.  So while Daddy and I manned the garage sale and Rebecca was taking her nap yesterday afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa, who were visiting for the day, took her to buy it.  And it was even on sale!  So she got the game she wanted, has money left to spare, and is "the happiest girl ever."  Not only did she have a great time with the lemonade stand, she had a fun day with Grandma and Grandpa, and got to spend time learning to play her new game she earned herself. 

In other news, earlier this week I won 4 tickets to the water park in town.  We've never been, and Rachel's always wanted to go, so I'm excited.  The only thing is that they have to be used before labor day!  So hopefully we have a hot weekend between now and then--only a couple left!!! 

Rebecca's not really enjoying having her sister gone at school all day.  She asks me multiple times a day, "Where's Rachel?"  She gets so excited when it's time to walk to the bus stop at the end of the day.  She continues to talk up a storm, and says some of the funniest things.  She likes to combine nursery rhymes.  Something we've heard a lot lately:
"Eenie Meenie Mo, Tiger Toe, Ashes, ashes, fall fall down!"

or

"Raining, Pouring, Ashes, ashes, fall fall down!"

(she likes Ring Around the Rosie, can you tell?)


One of her favorite things lately is swinging on the "big girl swing" instead of her regular baby swing.  It started one afternoon when we were waiting for it to be time to go to the bus stop, and she was antsy and fussy, so I was looking for something different to do with her for a little while.  I put her in Rachel's swing and she LOVED it.  But now she wants to swing that way all the time.  Guess this is probably the last season for the baby swing. 

And in other swinging news, Rachel's been practicing really hard and has finally learned to get herself going and pump her legs on the swing, so she needs absolutely no pushes anymore!  She's very proud of herself.  Every day after school this week, after she told me about school, finished her lunch (because she hasn't once finished it at school!), and changed her clothes, she's gone out to swing. 

As a result of being at school all day, Rachel's a lot more tired.  She's been sleeping at least 30 minutes longer in the mornings (one day it was an hour longer!), she's woken us up twice with what we think are night terrors, which usually only happen when she's sick or over tired, and she's had lots of moments of severe crabbiness.  This morning she was crying about everything.

And despite having to wake up for night terrors and Rebecca's unexplainable mid-night crying as well this week, I can't seem to sleep past 5:00 or 5:30 in the morning lately.  This morning I woke up at 3:30 and couldn't get back to sleep.  I'm so, so tired, but don't know why I can't seem to sleep.  Yuck.

Rebecca's become obsessed with snuggling in the last few months.  If I'm sitting, she climbs up onto me constantly, digs her head into my shoulder, and says, "I wuv you."  Or if I'm standing, she'll run over and throw herself into my legs and say, "I give you a hug!  I wuv you!"  In the grocery cart, in the middle of the grocery store, she'll start fussing and say, "Mommy, I want you," and what she wants is to hold my arm or have me lean over and give her a hug and a kiss.  We've determined that her love language must be physical touch, because she just can't seem to get enough of it.  I love her to death, and love hearing her tell me she "wuvs" me, but it can feel smothering to have her wanting to be on me all day long.  Now that Rachel's gone all day, she seems to be even fussier and more clingy. 

goodbye forever

Those are the heart-felt words Rachel shared with our neighbors two nights ago as she hugged them and told them goodbye before they moved away:  "Goodbye Forever!"

She actually was really sad (she told me when we came in the house, "I'm super-duper sad that they can't come over to my house to play anymore.").  It just sounded so hilariously flippant when she said it--we were all laughing.  Not, "Goodbye, I'll miss you," but "Goodbye Forever!"  Oh, Rachel....

We'll all miss Maddi, Reed, Izzy, and Penny, and their wonderful parents so, so much.

And just because Grandma bought her two cute back to school outfits (yesterday's and today's), and it's too cute not to share, here is a picture of her this morning, on her second day of school.

The first day was "GREAT!" she told me when she got off the bus.  I got little bits and pieces of what happened during the day, but oh, how I would've loved to have been a fly on the wall.  It was the LONGEST DAY EVER, in my opinion, and I looked at the clock SO many times to see if it was time to go pick her up.  I'm sad to report that my daughter was the only person in the whole class to have to pull a card on the first day of school (they use different colored cards as their method of discipline--pulling one card is a "warning," so that's what she got).  Way to start the year off, Rachel.  UGH!  She was messing with someone's supplies when she was supposed to be listening to the teacher.  We drilled the rules into the ground last night and this morning, so hopefully today will be better!  But I'm still happy that she enjoyed it and was excited to go back this morning.

first day - first grade edition

Last year I found a poem which perfectly described how I was feeling as I sent my treasure of a little girl out into the world on her first day of kindergarten.  It still makes me cry to read it.

This year I found another, as I send that same little girl off to a FULL day of school for the first time.  This one isn't quite the tear jerker, but I've still shed plenty of tears leading up to this day.

(Author Unknown) 

I wonder what you're doing right now
And if everyone is treating you kind
I hope there is a special person,
A nice friend you can find.

I wonder if the teacher knows
just how special you are to me.
And if the brightness of your heart
is something she can see.

I wonder if you are thinking of me
And if you need a hug.
I already miss the sound of your voice
and how you give my leg a tug.

I wonder if you could possibly understand
How hard it is for me to let you go.
On this day, know that my heart breaks,
For this is the first step in letting my baby go.

This isn't the first step, as the poem says....but it's another big one, letting her go all day long.  Today she'll be eating lunch in the cafeteria--I packed the first of many school lunches this morning.  She left at 8:33.  And she won't get off the bus until 4:01!  What a LONG day!

She's ready.  She's so excited.  I'm excited for her, but I'm also missing my little girl.  I can't wait to pick her up at the bus stop this afternoon and hear all about her day.  Our bus stop was moved this year to farther away, which will stink come winter (and rainy days), but I'm looking forward to the walks home on the nice days, hearing all about her day at school.  Actually, a few days ago she started crying out of nowhere one night, telling me that she had been so excited about Taylor being in her class that she forgot about how much she's going to miss me!  I reassured her about how much fun school would be, and she's still mostly excited, but she's a little bit scared, too.  She's cried when talking about it a few more times since then.  But this morning it was all excitement.  Seeing all of her friends at "Meet the Teacher" day yesterday helped build the excitement, I think.

The part of the poem that really gets me is the line about if the teacher knows how special she is to me and whether she sees the brightness in her heart.  When I was a first grade teacher, I wasn't yet a parent, and though I was kind, loving, and nurturing to them, it never really dawned on me that these children in my care were their parents' precious treasures.  So it makes me sad to think that her teacher likely won't see her that way, either.  She'll just be another little girl in the class.  Cute, or sweet, or talkative, maybe.  But she won't be thought of and treated as my beloved pride and joy!  I guess that's what makes it so hard to know she's going out into the world on her own--that she's just another girl to everyone else.  People will be mean to her.  People will hurt her feelings.  I know it's all part of life.  But she's mine!  And I just want to shield her from all of that.  Maybe it'll get easier to let go as she gets older.  But somehow I doubt it.

So she's off on another adventure. 

First Grade, here comes Rachel!!!

gearing up

I'm still staying up too late, watching the Olympics.  I'm a little tired of them, but I told my husband it's like a train wreck.  I just can't stop watching.  I'll be kind of relieved when they're over and I can go to bed earlier and not feel drawn to the TV so much!

But in other news, we're gearing up for the start of school.  Rachel's first day is next Wednesday, and she can't wait.  This morning we went to school to pay fees and find out who her teacher will be.  It doesn't mean a whole lot to either of us, since we don't know any of the three first grade teachers, but she was absolutely THRILLED to find out that her best friend, Taylor, is in her class!  Another friend from our Girl Scout troop is also in her class.  That's all we know so far.  A couple of her other friends were there, but they're in different classes.  I was most worried about Taylor, because I knew how badly they both wanted to be together, and I was afraid they'd both be in tears if they weren't.  So I'm both relieved and excited that they will be together.

More good news--I found out today that they're allowed to bring peanut butter to school.  I had heard rumors that it wasn't allowed (because of peanut allergies), and I was wondering what in the world I would send for her to eat, since she pretty much lives on peanut butter sandwiches.  Thankfully I don't have to worry about it.

So school shopping is done (her shoes arrived in the mail this morning, and she tried on her first day of school outfit with them--she was giddy, looking at herself in the mirror!), haircuts are done, and we're just trying to squeeze in a last few summer activities (going to the science museum, going to have lunch with Daddy at work, and things like that).  It's getting close!  She was bouncing up and down this morning at school, just so excited to be there.

I'm mostly looking forward to it, but boy, am I going to miss her!