Our little fish.

Last Sunday we were invited to M's house (P's coworker) for pool time and fun. M and his wife had offered their pool throughout the summer, but SS was making do with her little one at home.  We were worried that SS would have lost some of her abilities due to the cancellation of the summer swimming classes in our city. But our little fish did very well considering, and we all had a blast.  All that swimming really paid off because SS downed three hot dogs, with buns for dinner.

Belly flop!

A milestone that made me say OUCH.

Pick up yesterday went better than I expected, but I did and will remain anxious about SS among so many bigger kids. Especially when those bigger kids are running and plowing through the younger ones in their haste to get the hell out of Dodge. I could see SS scanning the area for me and I was able to catch her attention easier than I expected.

And this made my day, because my girl went back to her wacky self. It reminded me of the lyrics, "I'm free, I'm free, things are only as important as I want them to be!"  In true SS over dramatic fashion, the walk from her classroom to the van dehydrated her. And of course, she was the only person there who was hot and uncomfortable. A few gulps of iced water calmed her down a bit, as did the AC on full blast.  SS stated that she liked her teacher, describing her as "nice." Let's hope she is right.

SS helped me with dinner and that made a simple protein with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli an almost two hour ordeal. But I really miss cooking with SS, it is something we did quite frequently since she was so young. And now SS has a new job, reading the recipe ingredients and procuring those that she can carry. Another reason it took so long, but Mami taught me how important it is to be patient and allow children to learn. SS even cracked three eggs and I'm in shock that there were no shells in the bowl. I wish I had filmed it, because it is virtually impossible given her funky technique. She deserves major kudos because I sure was not cracking eggs when I was seven years old.  The day caught up with her as soon as she was done helping. I placed the dish in the oven, turned around and found her tuckered out.

Darn, a nap was not part of the plan because there was no way she would go to bed at eight if she napped, and it was late in the day. As usual I took the cowardly way out and waited for P to come home and wake up SS. Hey, I value my life, I was not going to poke that bear. She was furious and I think she tried to decapitate P when he took her upstairs for a bath. As we expected SS did not touch her lunch, just the strawberries and milk. She did have a good sized dinner, with rib sticking food.  SS got a second wind and we were afraid she would be up late. We grew a backbone and kicked her out of our room at eight after a Halloween story and cuddles. SS was out quickly and when I woke her up at seven this morning, she was still groggy.

Today's lunch, quesadilla, broccoli, apple slices, and her usual milk, juice and water.  We just have to keep trying to find what will do the trick on any given day. SS let out a YEAH! when I asked if she wanted broccoli for lunch. It still stuns us how much she loves broccoli, and without Ranch dressing or cheese sauce. I would love to see the lunch monitor's face when SS opens her lunch box. 

Why oh why do I keep purchasing pleated skirts and blouses that require ironing?  I don't mind  ironing, I do mind how difficult it is to get the pleats just right.  And when SS sits down for breakfast she stands up with wrinkles all over. Oh well, she does look absolutely adorable.

SS's Maui bow, we got it on our last trip. Damn, we could all use a Maui fix right about now.

About that ouchie milestone... One thing I learned this past school year (yet P was way ahead of me) is to enjoy those days when I get to drive SS to and from school. We always walk with SS to her classroom and hang around until the bell rings. It's a treat, being cognizant that it won't last for long.  I was absentmindedly carrying SS's backpack today (We prefer she carries it, so she won't be looked upon as being a baby.), and when we arrived at the gate she asked for her backpack. Realizing that I was perhaps embarrassing SS I quickly complied. SS put her backpack on then said goodbye and motioned for a hug and a kiss. WHAT?????? I said that we always walk her to her classroom, and SS sighed and made an annoyed face. Man, I was totally dissed by my seven year old, and it stung. I told SS that I do not get to walk her to class often, and that soon she would be too grown up for this. So for now she has to suck it up and deal with it, because we want to enjoy what may be the last year we can enjoy time with our girl this way.

Second grade here she comes!

Sorry to be MIA for so long, but after blinking and missing first grade, I did not want a repeat of that awful feeling about SS's summer. We did not take daily pictures, did not go to Knott's/Soak City as often, did not do anything big during summer.  But we made it a point to enjoy each and every second we had with our girl. And just like that second grade arrived way before we were ready to let SS go and keep growing. 

We started the morning with a refreshing shower to make sure SS would be fully awake, then a nice breakfast. If you have been here before it should not surprise you to see avocado on SS's scrambled eggs. As usual we worry about her penchant for not eating when away from home. In her lunchbox today she had milk, juice, yogurt, strawberries, apple sauce, Mexican rice, and flautas topped with freshly made guacamole. SS loves flautas, so we are hoping she at least eats those. We also made sure she had a thermos with iced water, because it gets nasty hot around here. SS cleaned up her plate, so even if she does not eat all her lunch we feel much better.

This is new, because SS is all into making silly faces and super hero poses. When I asked her to take her place for the obligatory first day of school picture, she surprised me. Dear G0d, please don't let this be a shift to girly, frilly, vacuous behavior.

SS added a shout out to her beloved Angels to her uniform.

Greeting the school principal, Mrs. R.

Look who is finally in transitional kindergarten, none other than Miss M. Her brother is SS's age and a good friend, but M has always been drawn to SS. Such gorgeous girls. And as you can see, SS's school is still an uniform optional school. Since I had SS wearing uniforms before this became an option, to SS is just the way to dress for school. And Chucks, SS must have Chucks.

SS first grade class was split this year, then again being a K-1st combo class there were not that many first graders. Only two of her classmates are in her classroom this year. At least SS had T as a familiar face.

Lunch boxes and snacks are always placed outside,.

Then came the curve ball our stubborn daughter did not like one bit. Backpacks are to be left outside as well. We do not know if this is temporary or not, but SS's mood soured right away.

New year, new desk, new challenges.

K and first grade kids walk with the teachers to the gate and are released only to the parent or approved person. This will be SS's first year leaving among the free for all that is release time. We found the past two years rather overwhelming, and not looking forward to have SS among so many bigger kids. We'll see how she handles the utter madness that is the end of the school day.

We think it was rather clever for the teacher to get them busy right away, amid all the chaos that is that first morning of the new school year.Thankfully for us the task was math, SS's favorite.