Trouble with a capital "T"

Zoe's new name is "Trouble." The moment you take your eyes off her, your best bet is that she's halfway up the stairs. Or, about to pull your hot coffee off the desk. Or possibly standing in front of the air conditioner sticking her little fingers in the vents. Plugs are fascinating to her. And, when picked up, she thinks it's pretty funny to attempt a swan dive back down towards the hardwood floor.

First Day of School

Oh, here's my big girl in front of her Montessori preschool on the first official day of school. Last week the school sent home a letter stating that parents were to drop off and leave immediately as "a quick goodbye is the best way to avoid a teary situation." So, attempting to be very nonchalant about the whole thing, I took her to the door, gave her a quick kiss and handed her off to a waiting teacher.
The second I turned my back the tears started, then the sobbing and the reaching for me. Fighting back my own tears, I held Zoe close and walked back to the car as quickly as a could. You have to drive by the front of the school to get out the parking lot and as I did I saw a forlorn little pink figure in the window watching my car slowly drive away. The teacher tells me it took her about a minute and a half to distract her. All the teacher had to say was "Athena, your friends are waiting for you at circle time. Why don't you go and find a place to sit down?" and she immediately and very matter-of-factly said "My friends are waiting for me!" and ran into the next room.

One part of the Monetessori philosophy that I love is the "child-centric" learning where the child is allowed to select their activities based on interest. Athena was, of course, drawn to the music room and spent her morning engaged in musical activities like listening to head phones and playing instruments. When it was time to pick her up, she was happy as can be and I had a heck of a time getting her to come home with me. I was able to do so by promising we would come back tomorrow.

Zoe Photos

Because she looked so cute standing by the window in her pretty dress, and because we don't have nearly as many portrait shots of her as we do her sister, I just could not stop snapping photos today. I think some of them are quite lovely and for the picture books.

Kitty Boots

Today Chris and Athena were dispatched to purchase "inside shoes" for her classroom and perhaps some new sneakers. And they came home with these. Apparently, while Chris was trying to fit Dora shoes on her little feet, she saw them over his shoulder, pointed and pleaded "Kitty boots!! Boots! Kitty booooots!!!" Chris tells me I would have bought them for her too. Now, Athena is happily prancing around the house in her new boots and will probably want to sleep in them. Can we send her to school with these as her "inside shoes" or will that make her the weird kid?

The Owl and the Butterfly

I bought these adorable little tee shirts for the girls at Old Navy. I couldn't believe they actually had an owl and a butterfly! Chris and I have always insisted that Athena is our owl and Zoe's our butterfly. I can't wait for an opportunity to put these on the girls and snap photos, but maybe I'll save them for our upcoming trip to Boulder.

As I was going through the girls' closet and pulling out everything that no longer fits, I realize we could make a killing on eBay.

For some reason the 6-9 month period represent a prolific purchasing of BabyGap, Ralph Lauren and H&M dresses. So cute! And every dress holds a special memory of when the girls wore it. Perhaps I should keep them as an extensive collection that I pull out on holidays or when company visits? Or I just need to let go of the material possessions and know that we have photos. Besides, just think about all the new dresses we could buy if we sold some of the old!

Potty Presents

Okay! And so it begins...training full force. Although Athena has gone on the potty once or twice and read books and watched videos and covered her potty seat with stickers and worn it on her head ("acclimating" is what it is called, I believe) and is familiar with all things potty related, we haven't started any real training per se. But she's a smart girl and getting bigger every day, so it's time. As recommended by my Alaine, Zoe and I went to the Dollar Store and bought a fantastic selection of "potty presents" and wrapped 'em up with little ribbons. Athena luhves presents so this will be a better bribe than just mere candy. There's a collection of Nemo characters, art supplies, a Sponge Bob watch, a fuzzy Octopus, bubbles and Play Dough galore...what incentive! Each successful potty time will be immediately rewarded by an item from the "present bag" plus lots of praise and applause. I feel as if I am preparing for battle and lining up all my weapons of positive reinforcement. Wish me luck!

Update: as of halfway through Day 1, we have two unsuccessful attempts to one successful attempt. Two presents have been distributed, the first was just to get her on the potty although it was just a 'dry run.' Day 2 did not go well, no successes. And Day 3, some crying *sigh*.

Last of the Summer Days

The girls and I enjoyed a lovely day at the park. The weather was perfect, sunny and breezy. On Monday Athena starts her preschool at a Montessori day school. She'll be in "class" everyday from 9-12. So, these days are precious as we prepare to adapt to a whole new schedule next week.

Thursday is her new student orientation, hopefully she's going to love it and the transition from her current two-day a week daycare schedule to the new school everyday will be seamless. I have no idea how I'm going to be able to cram my work into a brief three hours in the morning (especially with the ever more mobile Zoe) but, I guess, we'll figure that out next week.

Zoe so desperately wants to be up and running with the big kids. She hates watching from the sidelines of my arms or her stroller and longs for independence. Whereas Athena has always clung to things from her babyhood (and sometimes it's a struggle to get her to let go), Zoe is just the opposite, happy to abandon all things baby-ish before I'm ready for her to do so.

As you can see from this picture, her top front teeth are growing in off center. It's like the cleft pushed her tooth buds to the side where there is more gum. We have a visit with her cranio-facial team this month, so I can find out what they do about baby teeth (if anything) and what to expect when her other teeth come in. In other news, we officially are documenting her third word as "tickle" (adding that to "Mama" and "Duck"). All bets are on "Up" as her next word (or..."Get me outta this stroller/high chair/exersaucer!")

Daddy Running Fast

Chris participated in the Labor Day Mad Dash 10k Race today. Although he didn't win any awards for his age group, we awarded him "Fastest Daddy on the Corner" as his time was a full 7 minutes under that of the little boy's Dad who we shared a patch of grass (and some veggie puffs) with at the finish line.

Athena proudly told everyone that her Daddy was "running fast" and exclaimed "Ew! Daddy all wet!" when she congratulated him with a big hug. Afterwards she was very happy to celebrate by sharing a smoothie ("Mooey") and eating her weight in pancakes.

Baking with Athena

While Zoe napped, Athena and I kept busy making chocolate chunk oatmeal cookies and banana bread. Although she spent much of the time racing into the other room to see what was happening on Shrek, we still enjoyed a lovely afternoon. Athena really liked the part where she got to eat butter and lick the spoon which I firmly believe is an essential part of the enjoyment of baking. I remember whenever my mother used to bake, she would scrape her bowls clean and rinse the beaters not leaving a trace of yummy goodness behind (hmmm, but that will probably be different with her grandchildren). Whereas Helene ('Mormor') would let us have full spoonfuls of cake batter which endeared me to her at an early age. My style is somewhere in the middle, tempting enough, I hope, to instill a lifelong love a baking with Mommy.

Happy September Haiku

We just can't believe
Summer is almost over
and where has it gone?