All About Amelia, Simon & Hannah

All About Amelia, Simon & Hannah

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Thinking About School

Ummm...do you think she's ready for preschool? It could be the developmental stage that she's in, but lately we've been doing a WHOLE LOT of packing and unpacking various bags and backpacks. Guess where we have to go looking for Simon's flip flops on a daily basis??? I managed to transition this pretend play from "getting ready for baby to go to the playground" to "getting ready for me to go to school." Millie starts preschool in a few weeks and she seems, so far, to be really looking forward to it. She lines up all of her rocking chairs and ikea stools into rows and makes Simon and me ride her bus to school. She also likes for all of us to sit in a circle when we read books (as opposed to the usual pile on Mommy's lap). We've been doing some "drive-bys" of the church where her school is held (mainly we do this because it is in the same neighborhood as my drive-thru Starbucks...convenient, eh?).

Believe me, I am under no illusions that this is anything much more than structured playtime away from mom for a couple of hours a week. I'm not looking to have her learn multiplication tables or science experiments. I'm excited for her to do lots of art projects, to grow to love and trust her teachers, and to learn how to share and get along with her classmates. Not gonna lie: I'm also pretty excited about the little break I'll get every Tuesday & Thursday morning and the time it's going to afford me for some one-on-one activity with Simon.

I do secretly hope, however, that this little bit of time twice a week might create some breathing room in me. Might give me renewed energy. I don't know how to explain it without sounding ungrateful: I hope this space might give me some perspective on how short my time is with these kids. This fact is something I know on an intellectual level but sometimes lose track of in the day-to-day chaos of life at home with two little ones. I found this blog a while back and I check in on it every so often. When I read this entry, it just took my breath away: School Bus. I just got choked up again when I went to get this link.
So, I'm thinking of my friend Destiny who is sending her five year old off to Kindergarten today. I think of what my mom must have felt like to send me, her oldest, off and then again when my littlest brother, her last, went off to school. It's a transition I'd like to ease into if I can. I think the preschool next to the drive thru Starbucks sounds just about perfect!

Friday, August 7, 2009

A desert garden

I'm not sure I'll ever get used to (or ever fully appreciate) the desert landscape. There are places in San Diego where it seems like the rocks and barren soil run right up to the sandy beach, with palm trees and man-forced flowers thrown in for beauty. So when I loaded us up to visit the botanical gardens this week, it just didn't occur to me that this might be a dirty, dusty outing for us. Once I resigned myself to the fact we'd all be going home with brown-colored everything (feet, shoes, pants, fingernails, stroller, even faces) we had a really great time. Wednesday, the day of our visit, was arts and crafts day in the Garden of Wonder, the adorable children's area. We potted our own plant, did some painting, glued together paper lady bugs and sculpted playdough. Si tried to eat everything and was mesmerized by the elaborate toy train set-up. It turned out to be a surprisingly fun morning.





Si's hanging out in the cute playhouse, eating dirt I'm sure.


"Happy Birthday, Mommy"


"I made you a birthday cake."

Dinosaur sculpture...


...complete with dino eggs!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

A Sweet Reunion

Last week we got to take the BEST roadtrip! We drove just a short 90 minutes north to visit our friends the Blackanns: Laura, Taylor & Bo are visiting her parents out here in CA while Trevor is in the midst of a job transfer from DC to Denver. What a sweet, sweet reunion we all had. It was as if no time had passed...until we sat and watched our daughters play make-believe with each other and negotiate turn-taking with the beloved princess backpack and care for their little brothers. Very grown-up behavior from the girls who met each other when Mils was just three months old.

The kids swam and swam and swam in Nana & Pops' resort-like pool until Mils forgot who she was and just started leaping off the pool stairs into Laura's arms. It was fun to watch her gain the courage to mimic Taylor and Bo (you should see this 1yr old swim...unbelievable fearlessness in the water). The kids settled into simultaneous naps and Laura and I got a few sweet hours of catch-up time. The perfect day ended with dinner on the patio and one last dip in the pool.