First Day of School

Whew! Three weeks down & I'm finally getting around to posting about the first week of kindergarten! Emma has done great, but if has definitely been a transition for all of us. We were afraid the first day would be a disaster because Emma started getting a cold a couple of days before & she was miserable (which you can tell from the pictures!). But she was excited enough about it that she still got herself up & ready & was looking forward to the day. And yes, I said got herself up! I got the idea from some friends to have her responsible for getting herself up to her alarm clock & we even made a handy little chart with all the things she needs to do to get ready in the morning. Some days are better than others, but overall this is a great system for us so far! The couple of times I've had to help her get up were miserable - she is not a morning person, and never has been. Addie on the other hand wakes up at the same time (they share a room) and is immediately happy and sweet. Thank you Lord for one of them being a morning person! Anyway, Emma loves school and I can tell she is loving being her teacher's helper. We prayed & prayed for a great teacher for Emma's kindergarten year & God answered. We have already been so blessed by this sweet lady and after volunteering the first week, I was reminded again what a special person it takes to do that job! Emma got the rules down within a couple of days & I get a regular report of who made bad choices each day :). She immediately made friends with some sweet little girls and seems to have found her place already. She is going through a very independent phase which I'm sure has a lot to do with her new status as a "big" kindergartener! She is insisting on fixing her own hair each day - her daily choice for hairstyle? Headband. Nothing else will do. Suggestions from me are not appreciated (and I'm thinking, is she 5 or 15??). She is also adamant about wearing her tennis shoes every day, regardless of whether she's wearing shorts or a sundress. I am trying to not care about these things, knowing they truly don't matter. But it's so hard to let her out of the house in something that doesn't match - the truth is, I don't want people to think I dress her that way, like I think it matches :). Dumb, I know & I'm trying to get over it! She's asserting her independence in many ways - along with starting school, Emma has learned to ride her bike with no training wheels! She has wanted to work on it for a while but it finally clicked & she took off. Big girl! We are slowly adjusting to life with a grade schooler, and I think it is finally getting better. More than anything I think it is hard for me to get us in the routine of what we need to do when & where we need to be at what time! It's a constant juggling act!

Adding to the craziness (at least for the moment) Addie also started pre-school this week! We are at a new school this year for a variety of reasons, but it has been great already. Since this is the 4th preschool our family has gone to since Emma started going at age 2 I'm pretty much an expert in preschools in our area :). The great thing is, they have all been wonderful - we've just had good reasons for moving around! But hopefully we're at this one to stay. We are so excited that Addie has two buddies in her class - my cousin Amy's little boy and our good friend Noah! It was much easier going into a new class knowing someone there. Addie was a little anxious for a couple of minutes, but seemed to get over it quickly. It was a great day for all of us! I enjoyed a little extra time with Lila & am looking forward to being able to play with her more and get a few more things done.

Miss Lila is 9 months old & busier than ever! She has suddenly become a climber - everything from the dishwasher door to riding toys to trying to climb out of her bed - this kid is on the move! I really thought she might be walking by now as early as she crawled, but so far she's just perfecting the speed crawl. She is getting more & more opinionated and vocal - still a mute compared to her chatty sisters, but much louder for her! She is still such a mama's girl & would love to be with me every second - I'm pretty sure I do something to perpetuate this since all three of my girls have been like that. We're in the middle of her 5th or 6th ear infection, so we're getting ready to probably do tubes in the next couple of months. No fun for sure, but I hope we can help her avoid having many more painful infections! She's doing pretty well with our new crazy schedule, but I do often feel bad for her since she almost never gets to nap in her bed anymore. But I guess that's why the 3rd child is usually more flexible - they don't have much of a choice!

If you made it through another of my ridiculously long posts, congratulations! I'm so terrible at keeping up with this, but decided even if no one else reads them, its a great way for me to journal our family life at this point in our lives!