1st (4th) Day of School

Anna started preschool this month.  The picture below is from her second week...we don't have one from her first day because she was not in a photo-friendly mood.  Just imagine her with the exact opposite demeanor than this picture and you'll know what she looked like on the first day.

Anyone who talked to Anna before school started would have heard one of these lines:

"School is bad."

"My teachers are bad."

"School is not fun."

"School.  Bad.  Bad.  Bad."

I blame us because we probably built it up so much we made her nervous.  She's always had separation anxiety and I do believe she was genuinely concerned that we would leave her there forever.

However, once she realized she was not being abandoned and she would in fact return home (after her whopping three hours away!), she opened up to the fun of school.  Now she eagerly regales me with tales from her school day, proudly shows off her art (what am I supposed to do with all of it?!?), sings new songs she's learned, and talks about her new friends.  And, she speaks of her teachers with excitement - no longer referring to them as "bad".

Her favorite activity so far is show-n-tell.  She thinks hard about what she wants to take and what she will tell the class about each item.  So far her choices have been her beloved bear Oatmeal (she told the class she uses him as a pillow) and a picture of Tope (according to Anna she said, "Tope is my cat and she talks to me.").  She already has her item for the next opportunity lined up - a shell she got from Papa Odie.

I'm so happy to see her blossoming and adapting to school.  It's a little early to say but I think she's going to enjoy begin a student as she gets older.  Case in point, the other day she came home and sighed, dropped her bag on the floor, and said, "I don't even have homework tonight!  Ugh."  It was one of those moments I wish I had on tape so that I could replay it for her when she gets older and is complaining about her homework.  (For the record, she does not have homework in preschool.  She's watched her friend Hayla complete 1st & 2nd grade homework the last two years and I think she expected to do the same thing.)

Racing Kai

We had the pleasure of seeing our good friends Kelii and Kerry and their son Kai during our trip to Wellfleet. Their visit was MUCH TOO brief, but we had a good time catching up nonetheless. Anna and Kai became fast friends and spent a good part of the morning racing up and down the beach. Kai was hilarious – he loves the movie Cars and car racing in general. You can’t hear it in the video, but each time we said, “On your mark, get set…”, he would be making “vrooming” car noises. Then when we said, “Go!”, he would screech off like a race car. Of course Anna quickly adopted these sounds and the two of them were a sight to watch/listen to.

Beach Bums...Again

We just returned from our annual trip to Wellfleet, Mass., and I can't believe another year has come and gone.  You can relive our 2008 and 2009 adventures...We had beautiful weather all week with the exception of a very weak visit from Hurricane Earl at the start of the trip.  By some stroke of fate our travel plans were timed perfectly and we arrived with no delays the day before Earl struck. 

The thing I love most about our trips to Wellfleet is how little things change there.  The cottage, beach and town seem to be frozen in time and I find it reassuring and refreshing to have that type of constant touchpoint to counteract the quick, quick, quick nature of our everyday lives.  As always, we were "unplugged" from TV for the week, (although I do very much love the invention of the DVR particularly for this week each year...).  Unfortunately our computers and cell phones all work perfectly while we are there.  But, I tried to stay off of both and just relax.

This year we took Anna to the Wellfleet Drive In where much to her pleasure they were showing Toy Story 3.  I hadn't been to a drive in in ages and it was fun pulling in, grabbing some snacks (while trying to not make too big a mess in Fa Fa's truck...we saved the real damage for Grammy's car later in the trip), and sitting back to watch the movie.  We were going to try for the double header, Despicable Me was showing after Toy Story, but we—Jason & I—just couldn't make it through.  It was hard for us to stay up past 9 p.m. all week.  Being outside all day really does take it out of you.

Anna striking a pose - she loved this rock and practiced her jumping skills nonstop during the trip (much to my heart's discontent!).

Popsicles & movies with friends - does it get any better??

Posing with mommy and daddy during morning walks.

And to end, a comparison from last year - my how the little girl has grown (especially the hair!).  Gone are the chubby ankles and wrists and the cheeks are thinner, too.  Why do they grow up??

Oh, and if you are wondering what I meant by us saving the real mess for Grammy's car...Anna, Beverly and I went to Provincetown one morning and enjoyed a nice few hours looking in shops, eating lunch and just taking in the sights and culture of the town.  Our adventure apparently tuckered Anna out and, well, she had an accident while napping in her car seat.  So, Grammy's backseat will never be the same but through the wonder of baking soda and vacuums, we think we got it pretty much back to normal.

I can't wait for next year!