First Day of Kindergarten for Clara

Ahh, the first day of Kindergarten.  One of the biggest first of a child's life!  The day has finally arrived.  Clara and her bestie, Hailee, changed their minds several times about clothes and decided on these simple blue polo dresses and sandals.  I am envisioning flashes of underwear and complaints that they didn't have adequate shoes for recess.  Whatever.  I knew the clothing thing was going to be a battle, which is why my daughter has been looking rather strange and mismatched for the past year. 

 Clara and Hailee

 The Four Patriots - Josh, Clara, Hailee and Spencer

 Clara and Hailee

 Hailee, Clara and Gabi wait for Kate (we always wait for Kate)

 My babies and my other babies - Gabi, Josh, Spencer, Hailee, Kate and Clara

 Hailee and Clara in front of Providence Hall

 Clara and Hailee sitting in the hall waiting for class to start

Clara waiting in line for her class.  I am pretty sure I looked exactly like this when I started Kindergarten.  I can remember how I felt, and that I was a little shy back then.  I got a little choked up, but she is really ready for Kindergarten and I know she is going to love it.  She's my baby, so of course I will miss her.  I realize that this is kind of it - no more kids at home after this year (she will go half day this year) during the day.  It will make summers so much sweeter.  Just when they start to get fun and interesting and outgrow their tantrums you send them off to school.  Oh well - new and exciting adventures and that is what I want for them.  I never had any illusions that I could keep them little forever!  On to the next phase!

The Little Preschool Program

 On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Clara goes to Maestra's for the morning.  She hears almost nothing but Spanish while she is there, and is to the point where she understands most of what is said to her.  Maestra has been a friend of mine for about 12 years.  I lived in her grandparents' house in Virginia with some roommates and we got to know each other well.  Imagine our surprise when we ran into each other at JC Penney a few years ago and realized that we were neighbors here.  It has been wonderful to see her a few times a week.

 There are 8 children in the class and they sing and dance and make messes.  It's awesome.

 They had to sing all of their songs in Spanish.

 Maestra has more energy than any other teacher I have seen, but she is like that in real life, too. 

There is only one boy in the class, and lots of little princesses that apparently have quite a few discussions about who will or won't be invited to birthday parties.  

For a kid that doesn't have a dog, she sure does SOUND like one!

 Clara and Maestra

The Big Preschool Program

 Clara is in two preschools this year - one is the same one that Josh was in two years ago.  They had their Christmas program last week and instead of children we watched reindeer.

 Clara alternates between really talkative and outgoing and pretend shyness.

 Even with a bright red nose, I could kiss these cheeks all day long (and I generally do).

 She sang sporadically, although she knows all of the songs because she sings them at the top of her lungs when she is playing in her room.

Nothing like "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" on the kazoo.

Love

August 9, 2010: Clara's First Day

Clara is attending two different preschools this year, the same way Josh did his final year. There is no other reason for this besides my sanity and because she would be bored to tears being home with Josh gone all day. It's expensive, but was so worth it to me. She will go to the same school Josh went to on MWF, and then a friend of mine has a bilingual English/Spanish preschool that is arts and music focused where she will go TTh starting in September.

Today was her first day and she was very excited to go. I wasn't remotely worried about how she would respond. She just hopped out of the car and walked right in. We didn't even go to orientation so it's not like she knew the teacher. No surprises there - she is only shy when we want her to clean her room.

All ready to learn!

Of course, being Clara, she didn't sit down to play with the blocks. She grabbed a dinosaur on the way in from a bin and decided to play with that instead. She loves dinosaurs and animals of all kinds. It's funny how much more confidence I have in her going into this. She has been with Ms. Barbara the past two years and could probably go straight into Kindergarten at this point if they would let her. I'm not bragging that she is smart (which she is), but she has just been taught very well. She knows her ABCs, the sounds they make, how to write her name, how to count to 100, how to recognize her name, mom, dad, Josh, and a few other short words. She knows all of her colors. It is funny to think that THAT is what she will be learning this year, but, she will love the painting and singing and reading.

Dave has started doing Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons which will give her a good start for Kindergarten next year as well. Should be fun to watch what she does!

May 27, 2010 - Clara Date

Normally on Thursdays Clara goes over to my mom's house to play for the day. They have their own little routines that I am not allowed to interfere with, so I am happy to drop her off and have a few hours to get things done before Josh gets home from school. Today, since Josh was off for an unused snow day, he decided to go over and hang out instead, allowing me to take Clara on a date.

Purple Robe Locust at Gardner Village - I'm planting one of these in my front yard and backyard one of these days when I have energy.

Jeanne and the baby decided to join us (he had a lot of say in the matter) and we headed over to Gardner Village. It's a sunny, windy day. Perfect for wandering around shops, and they are having their 30th Anniversary sale so I wanted to see if I could find a couple of things for cheaper. I got a clock for $8 that is exactly what I have been looking for to add to my entertainment center downstairs. We had lunch at Archibald's - I had my favorite hamburger ever.

After shopping, Jeanne needed to feed the baby so she stayed in the car while Clara and I headed over to ride the ponies. We had never done that at Gardner Village, but she loves them at Thanksgiving Point. She is a HORSE FREAK and was really well behaved for the three hours we were there so I figured $1 an hour for good behavior was worth it.

Clara riding Sparky (which was the pony's name)

May 24, 2010 - Clara's Dance Recital

Tonight my favorite four year old in the whole world had her Spring dance recital. We arrived at the school and went to the music room to get her ready. She said very excitedly, "Mom, is THIS my dance recital?!" I told her it was and she said, "Look at all my friends!" I waited with her for a little while and then went to the auditorium to join Dave and Josh.

Clara waiting for her dance to start.

Clara and her friend, Eden.

Clara and her friend, Talya

Clara on stage!

Dancing to "Just Can't Wait to be King"

Clara and her teacher, Ms. Lisa.

Clara and me

March 12, 2010: The Ball

In order to "throw her off", I told Clara that she needed to get dressed up in a princess dress so we could go to the ball. She asked if Josh was going to be her prince, but I said no. She picked her hot pink non-descript (read: No particular characters) dress and I put her raincoat on although there was no hint of rain (read: couldn't find coat). She was so cute and sweet and kept talking about the ball and who would be there. I told her the ball was on ice.

Clara in front of the Energy Solutions Arena

After she picked out an Ariel doll from the ridiculously overpriced toy area, we found our seats and settled in for the show. I got us a pretzel and drinks and she spent some time talking to the lady sitting next to us, then informed me that she was no longer scared of the lady sitting next to us. I just kept kissing her because she is so dang cute.

Ariel was definitely the highlight of the event. Even though she could have had one of those whirly things that light up (and I hate them), she chose a toy that could go swimming with her. Smart girl. Thank you, Ama Ancy, for the money that bought it!

Disney on Ice was wonderful and beautiful and I liked it as much as Clara did. They had Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Cars Characters, Lion King Characters, Little Mermaid Characters, and Tinker Bell Characters. It was the perfect length. Clara tried and hated cotton candy. I love that she hated cotton candy.

It was still light when we got out because we went to the 4pm show, so we took pictures by the fountain at The Gateway and then headed home. She was so tired, having skipped her nap, but it was the perfect Mommy/Clara date. This was my birthday present to us and I would love to make it an annual tradition.

March 3, 2010: The Birthdays

Celebrating a birthday with your daughter is a mixed bag. On the one hand - fun! Lots of fun things that we will be able to do down the road together. On the other hand, it takes planning for her when all I want to do is lie around. Yesterday was the perfect day, however, because I spent minimal time planning and maximum time playing.

First off - a word or two about Clara.

Clara loves horses. She loves princesses. She loves to sing, dance, talk to herself, pick on her brother, snuggle, act like a puppy, and is a sugar-aholic like her mom. She loves cheese, loves to snack, and picks at her dinner. She'll take cookies over just about anything.

Clara loves school. She asks every day if she gets to go to school. She seems to be a pretty smart kid, and her sentence structure when she talks is advanced for her age. I have to remember that she is younger than she is sometimes. She is stubborn. Much more stubborn than Josh, although memory may have just faded. She will dig in her heels and there is no changing her mind. It's all in the approach with this baby.

Clara's best friends are Caitlin, Jacey, and Burke (from preschool), but she really does love her Joshy. She names all of her stuffed animals either Gabi or Kate, after our neighbors. She can sometimes be shy, but usually warms up quickly. She tends to be more reserved than Josh in social situations.

Clara is a mini-me. She really looks a lot like me, although she is cuter than I was. She's very funny and silly and likes to make people laugh. She doesn't like to share unless it is other people's stuff. She loves movies, especially the barbie movies.

I feel like I have known Clara a lot longer than her four years in our family. I love her so much that it overwhelms me sometimes, and I am so grateful that she is my little girl. She is exactly what I ordered.

For her birthday, we had her preschool friends come over for pizza and cupcakes. They ran around the house chasing each other and then watched a movie. It was very unplanned. No games, no structure - they loved it. I didn't feel any pressure to follow a schedule. Awesome. Fortunately for me, I am great friends with all of Clara's friends moms, who came over and joined in so they could hang out with ME on my birthday. Handy, no? We talked and talked and ate and talked. I also had the blessing of having my mom and mother-in-law there for the party.

After everyone left, Dave brought home chipotle. We were going to go downtown to the Red Iguana, but that just seemed like too much effort, and I was all sugared out by then anyway. Then after the kids were in bed, Melissa came and picked me up and we went to a movie. So really - it was just the perfect, low-key day. And now I get to go to NYC.

Caitlin, Burke, and Jacey enjoying pizza
Clara blowing out her candles
Clara digging into the cupcake
The birthday girls!

Clara is Four Years Old!

Too much cuteness in one little girl!

Our cute little Elf!

Yellow Bed

Last night after my song routine with Josh I went to check on Clara. When I walked in she said, "Mom, I'm all wet and dirty." Which really meant that she had thrown up all over herself. She was sad and scared and of course all you want to do is hug them when this happens except...ew, gross. So Dave stripped her bed and threw it in the wash while I wiped her down before putting her in the bathtub.

After she was clean she was much happier. Of course, now she didn't have sheets (mental note - get more sheets for Clara's bed) and we didn't want her to sleep with us in case she threw up again. We set up the air mattress in our bedroom, put on a bright yellow sheet, and she was good to go. This morning she said in her cheerful sweet voice, "Mom, I just love my yellow bed!"

As I type this, she has come into the office in three different outfits. I'm not actually joking about that. I think she is feeling better.

The Interesting Thing

The interesting thing about not working is that I don't spend as much money because I don't have it. I just find myself being more frutal, which is a good thing. I think before I buy, which is another good thing. I'm also saving more. All good things. The sad thing is that now I am not sure I want to go back to it. At least not at the intensity that I was doing it before. I've realized just how much time I was dedicating to it and how stressful it was.

At the same time, I love to work. I love to contribute. I wish I could get paid for doing the things I love (don't we all) and one of these days I will figure out how to do that. But for now, I am spending as much time just looking at my kids and burning their little faces into my brain so that when I am old I can remember how cute they were even when they were monsters.

The other interesting thing is that not constantly thinking about finding candidates frees up my brain for other things. This is both good and bad because once I start thinking, Dave's project list gets bigger. And it is already full to capacity. Like it is almost April and we still haven't primed the shelves downstairs that were supposed to be primed in January. Having said that, I am ok with it. I have realized that life just takes time. You can't get everything done that you need to in the time frame you want.

A funny little conversation that just occurred:

Clara: Mom, I got an owie on my foot. It hurts right here.
Mom: (Leans over and kisses ankle) I'm sorry you got hurt. You will get a lot of different owies in your life. You just gotta suck it up and say, "I'm Clara! I'm strong!"
Clara: (Pause) I don't want to suck it, Mom. It will just feel better.
Mom: (Laughing) Well, maybe you sprained it.
Clara: I don't want to spray it, either.

And that, my friends, is why you can't always get things done in the time frame you want. Because it's more important to stop and kiss the owies and have the funny conversations.

Clara's Birthday Party

On Saturday we finally had Clara's official birthday party. She wanted a pink butterfly princess party. She was very excited for it. I did the best that I could! We waited so that her friend Hailee could be there. You know how these princesses can be about having their princess friends from neighboring kingdoms attend their galas. Or whatever.

The Fairy Godmother

My dear friend, Erin, agreed to be the fairy godmother. She found a pink sparkly dress at D.I., wrote a story incorporating the names of all of the princesses, and led the princess parade. It was wonderful.

Princess Hailee and Princess Clara arrive!

Clara changed her outfit three times during the party. This is nothing unusual. She usually changes 10 times a day. We started off with the girls creating princess pictures on princess plates. The kind where you do the black rubbing and then color it in. Then we blew out the candles and had cake and ice cream. Then came the story and princess parade, and finally the opening of the presents. It was not a long party, but we packed it in!

Princess Hailee, Princess Clara, and Princess Caitlin
Princess Clara, Princess Hailee, and the Fairy Godmother
All of the Princesses! Hailee, Kate, Clara, Lyissa, Gabi, Caitlin, and the Fairy Godmother
Miss Mert made the cake!
The table setting
Making the princess pictures - Caitlin, Kate, Clara, Hailee and Amabuela
Blowing out the candles
Princess Clara and her pink butterfly cake
Reading the Princess Story
Beautiful Girls!
Princess Clara and Mommy
Happy Birthday!