Preschool Graduation

Last week Miss A finished up her year of preschool. First thing when we walked in to school, Miss A's best preschool buddy, Miss M ran up to her and grabbed her hand. They were so cute walking around together holding hands, and continuing to hold hands sitting on their circle time rug. It was so sweet to see how much their friendship has grown over the past nine months. I know next year will bring new adventures and new friends, but it's a little sad that so many of Miss A's preschool friends will be going to different schools next year. 

We went back to preschool later that night for Miss A's preschool "graduation." Her class sang a few songs (including the alphabet song while signing the alphabet) and then everyone had ice cream. Miss A and Little J ran around playing games with some kids from her class and then it was time to leave. As we were leaving Miss A broke down. So many tears. She was sad to be leaving her school. Her teachers. Her friends. 

When we got home from preschool earlier in the day, I had decided to do a last day of school picture. I wasn't really planning do do first day and last day pictures, but at the last minute I decided it might be a fun comparison shot to have. 

And when I put these two photos side by side, I got tears in my eyes. I was not expecting the change I saw in these photos. Wow! I say it constantly, but I can't believe how much she has grown! I remember how timid and shy she was on the first day of preschool. It was a total surprise to us, but she was nervous about starting preschool. On the last day there was non of that nervousness. There was so much joy. So much excitement to spend the day with her friends, learning and later performing.

In the fall she will go off to kindergarten. It's really, really hard for me to believe that she'll be a "school-ager." I know she's ready. She's so excited. I know she's prepared, and her teachers assure me that she's ready to go. But I'm not totally sure that I'm ready.

So this summer you'll find me here soaking up the last few months with my girl before we send her off to school.

2015 Week 13: Miss A's 5th Birthday Party

The YMCA we go to is one of Miss A's very favorite places, so back in November when they were running a Black Friday special I decided to book her birthday party there. Miss A loves her birthday (as I assume all kids do) and she started planning this party the minute we finished her 4th birthday party. This year she was really excited to be able to invite a bunch of friends, jump in a bouncy house and eat cake at her Frozen party. 

The Y staff had tables set up with table clothes and balloons, but we brought in some Frozen decorations from Target to add to the room. I found some cute paper crowns for the kids to decorate and wear during the party at Michaels (a little hard to see on the white table clothes.

Olaf string cheese snacks designed by E. 

And one very happy birthday girl with her party cupcakes. 

 

Overall Miss A had a lot of fun and the party went smoothly. We had a few problems getting the party arranged which was really frustrating for me the week of her birthday and party. I think next year we'll be back to hosting a party at our house where I have more control over the event (I'm only a little bit of a control freak- ha!). 

Ahhhh... 4.5 years old

Let's start with Miss A's thoughts on life at 4 1/2.

Favorite Show: Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony

Favorite Food: Peanut Butter & Jelly

Favorite Color: Lots of colors; all the colors except white

Favorite Game: Hide & seek, tag, monster, alligator, and the one Lilly has

Favorite Book: The Night Before Preschool

Favorite Toy: Froggy (new to her toy from our neighbor's garage sale)

Favorite Thing To Do: Watch cartoons, snuggle with Daddy, play with Mommy

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up: An artist

Having a four year old has been challenging for me so far. Granted, I was pregnant or had a newborn for these past six months, so my patience has been limited. Miss A and I are a lot alike, which also probably contributes to the challenges. Miss A is full of energy and opinions. She can be rather stubborn. She is still often the sweetest kid. She is a great big sister to Little J and now Baby C. Little J is her best friend (though she might not always admit it). They play together so well, at least most of the time. Baby C gets lots of hugs and kisses when we pick Miss A up from preschool. There's a bit of a sassy side that comes out sometimes too, that is not so nice to Little J. Or Mommy and Daddy.

I probably say this at every age she reaches, but 4 has seemed so much more grown up. While Miss A is still Daddy's girl, she is starting to get to the point where she chooses her friends over us. We're lucky to live on a block with lots of little girls to play with, and Miss A loves to run around with her friends. Watching her run around with the big kids makes her seem so much older. She also considers herself to be such a big kid now that she's in preschool. She is still pretty shy about going in to the room, but she seems to really enjoy going. Today she got to stay for Lunch Bunch, and she was so excited to eat lunch with her friends. Miss A also recently started her second season of soccer, and the difference a year has made (with very little practice at home) is amazing. She is much more focused, aggressive and skilled. So cool to see the development!

Oh, Miss A, we love you... all of your sweet, sassy self!

Miss A's First Day!

Miss A started preschool this week! She's been really excited to start school, telling everyone we see about her new school. The report I managed to get out of her about the first day was that they played outside, read a story that we have at home, and she made two new friends (but she didn't ask them their names). Her teacher sends out a much more detailed report of what they did each day, which has already been very helpful for talking to Miss A about her day.

Miss A is normally very outgoing, and will talk to anyone. When we went in for her open house last week she was SO shy. As in, she wouldn't make eye contact with her teacher or say hi. So weird for my chatty girl. I'm thinking it may have been overwhelming to be in a new place, with so many new people (teachers, classmates, parents, siblings). The first day seemed to go a lot better, though she was still pretty shy going in to class.  I'm guessing it will get better as she gets more and more comfortable at school.

We decided keep preschool pretty low key this year. Miss A is going two days a week for two and a half hours each time. I think it will be nice for her to have some time at school with other kids. It was nice to give Little J a little more individual attention this morning while Miss A was gone.  We ran to Home Depot for a few things, got donuts, and played at the park.  Note to self, I'm a little too old/big for the tire swing.

Miss A's Tea Party

This year Miss A's birthday party was a little more low key than past years, and A LOT more girly.  After some negotiation, we decided on a butterfly tea party theme.  Miss A had a lot of opinions about her party this year.  Thankfully nothing was too crazy.  We ended up with 5 friends coming over to celebrate, for a total of 7 little girls 5 and under. There was lots of laughing, squealing and so much fun!

For the party, I only decorated the dining room, where we would do most of the activities, including the tea party.  I got some butterfly fabric from JoAnn to use as a tablecloth, a chalkboard paper banner from Target (I wrote Happy 4th Birthday), some paper lanterns from Michael's, flowers, balloons and lots of pictures of Miss A.

I found butterfly wings at the dollar store last month, and bought enough for all of Miss A's friends.  I also got plain white tea cups with plates for all of the girls.  One of the activities was for the girls to decorate their tea cups (I completely forgot to take pictures of the girls working on this because I was busy helping with the decorating).  I've seen the idea pop up on Pinterest a few times, and after looking at many, many pins, we used Sharpie Oil-Based Paint Markers to decorate the tea cups.  We rinsed them out after using the cups for our tea party, and sent instructions home with the girls for how to bake the cups (I thought this post was helpful. Miss A and I did a trial run in advance, and all went well).

The tea party itself was lots of fun.  We had apple juice for tea, and the girls were so cute drinking out of their fancy cups!  (I'm sure the cups will be used many more times around our house.) Miss A planned the lunch menu of hot dogs, chips, berries, grapes and string cheese.

Another activity the girls did was decorate butterflies.  Making "crafts" is one of Miss A's current favorite activities, so it seemed fitting for her birthday party.  I put out crayons, markers, puff balls, glitter glue, stickers and washi tape, and let the girls go.  The glitter glue was a HUGE hit, but it wasn't dry before the girls left, so we have some deliveries to make later.

Of course, we couldn't forget cake and ice cream!  Miss A really just likes the frosting.

Our annual picture with Mommy, Daddy and the birthday girl.

Twosday: Miss A is 4!

I both can't believe we are celebrating Miss A's 4th birthday today, and can't believe she's only been here for 4 years.  She is a sweet little thing, though she also test my patience daily.  I asked her some questions yesterday, on her last day as a 3 year old.  Below are her answers, and some of my favorite pictures of her from the past year. I should add, as I asked her these questions Miss A was wearing her new Princess Sofia shirt, black leggings, a Twins helmet, a yellow Apple Bottom dress (from her dress up collection... perfect for Belle, but still makes me laugh. Every. Time.) and dress up Belle heels, doing a ribbon dance with her new wand.

Miss A at her 3rd birthday party.

Celebrating her 3rd birthday with a special date to the Children's Museum.

Favorite Movie

1. Frozen. I don't' see this changing any time soon. She is obsessed.  Like most other little girls I know.  
2. Curious George Movie. This is the most recent movie we've watched, which is probably why it made the list. 

Favorite Princesses

1. Belle
2. Tangled

Favorite Shows

1. My Little Pony. As soon as we got Netflix, Miss A fell in love with My Little Pony.  Every morning this is her choice to watch while we get ready for the day.  
2. Doc McStuffins. Still a favorite since her 3.5 year interview. She has her own Doc McStuffins doctor kit to give checkups, a stuffed lamb she sometimes dresses up in a pink tutu and now her own Stuffy to give checkups.  

Favorite Ponies

1. Princess Celestia
2. Pinky Pie
3. Rarity

Favorite Foods

1. Strawberries
2. Peanut Butter and Jelly on bread (not toast)
3. Mac & Cheese

Favorite Colors

1. Pink
2. Red
3. Blue
4. Purple

Favorite Toys

1. Dollhouse
2. Dress up clothes

Favorite Books

1. A is for Annabelle
2. Poem Book (Where the Sidewalk Ends).  Side note: yesterday after her rest time, she brought us the book with a poem she really wanted to read... Sister for Sale.  

Favorite Things To Do

1. Read books
2. Snuggle

Favorite Songs

1. Let It Go
2. For the First Time in Forever
3. Love is an Open Door

How We've Celebrated Her Birthday So Far

1. Cake and presents from Nana and Papa when they visited early.
2. Butterfly Tea Party with friends.
3. Daddy Daughter Date to the Mall of America.  Rides, lunch and a trip to Build A Bear to make a giant Pinky Pie.

Plans to Celebrate Her Birthday Today

1. Visit to the library.  It is still too cold (for me) to do any outdoor activities.
2. Dinner out, Miss A's choice.  She's very excited to be in charge. 

Mommy's Favorite Things To Do With Miss A

1. Read books.  She loves to read, and she'll snuggle nicely when we read to her.  I'm happy to read to her, or watch her read with Daddy.  
2. Make projects.  I've really had a lot of fun recently playing with Miss A while Little J starts her nap.  I especially like the days she wants to do projects.  It's fun to see her create.  And I love that her pictures are starting to look like real things now.

Daddy's Favorite Things to Do with Miss A

1. Show her new things.  Any new things.  Daddy showed her the stars this winter.  One night this winter, Daddy showed her the stars.  I caught them both laying the snow, looking up at the stars, talking about them.  
2. Snuggle and watch cartoons.  (I think they're pretty cute together.)

Things She Needs to Sleep at Night

1. Lamby
2. Fuzzy (a blanket our neighbor made for her when she was first born)

Miss A was SO excited that Lamby got to be included in a picture.

Let Her Go

In my DITL post earlier this week, I shared a "typical day" at our house.  The girls and I get home from work and day care around 12:30pm most days.  By that time, Little J is very much in need of a nap.  Most of the the time I would have Miss A take her rest time right away too.  

Last week one day I let Miss A stay up to work on her birthday party invitations (as you can see in the DITL post).  She loved having the privilege to stay up longer than Little J, and to be helping with her invitations.  When we were finished with the invitations, she had her rest time, and ended up falling asleep.

So when Miss A asked if she could stay up and work on a project again, I decided to let her do it.  I have pinned hundreds of super cute possible projects to do with the little ladies on Pinterest. We've tried some of the projects already, and I've gathered the supplies to do many more.  That was not what this time was for.

Instead, Miss A went to her room and found the craft supply box that I keep in her closet.  She brought it to the living room and took every last thing out of the box.  She arranged the materials all around her, and decided what she wanted to use for her project.  

She asked me for some paper, and got started with her project.  Along the way she asked me for some help.  Could I get her some white paper?  Could I open the glue?  Could I open the feathers?  Other than that, she was on her own, working on her projects.  She was making pictures of birds, she told me.  She used feathers, tissue paper and an assortment of foam stickers.  

There were many times I could have tried to step in, tried to help her do the project "right." (Maybe a time or two I really had to work to restrain myself from telling her what I thought she should do.)  She loved the time just working on her own, deciding exactly what she wanted to do.  It was fun to watch her making decisions and selecting exactly what materials to use and where they should go.  

There isn't anything fancy in the craft box.  Glitter, glue, tissue paper, construction paper, feathers, crayons, googly eyes, cut outs and a large variety of foam stickers.  Some things are left over from earlier projects, some found on clearance, some just called my name while I was at the craft store for something else.  Nothing I care too much about, but bring such joy to my sweet girl.    

Is this something we'll do every day?  Probably not (though she's at it again as I type).  I'm not sure how often it will really happen, but I like giving her this special time to work.  To talk to me about what she's working on.  Time without her little sister demanding her attention.  Time just to do what she wants to do.  

Snapshot Four

Recently, Miss A has started a pre-nap routine of wanting to make her bed.  Her bed is full of stuff, all the time.  Miss A is very particular about where everything needs to go.

To make her bed, Miss A clears everything off.  Then it's my job to help her get each of her blankets back on her bed, and straight.  Next she gets her books, miscellaneous toys and stuffed animals arranged in the appropriate places.  One day last week, after everything was just right, Miss A called me back to take a picture of her with "her guys."  Lamby is her current favorite, in large part due to Doc McStuffins having a Lamby too.  Even my bison has made it's way into Miss A's bed.  Not sure exactly how that one happened.

Here Kitty, Kitty

A conversation from earlier this month, sitting at our dining room table

Miss A:  Mommy, I think I'm allergic to some kitties.

Me:  What does allergic mean?

Miss A:  My nose gets all stuffed up.

Me:  Which kitties do you think you're allergic to.

Miss A:  That one.

Little J: Meow.  Meow.

I've mentioned before that Little J seems to think she's part kitty.  She frequently meows to let me know she's awake after nap time, in response to being told no, or any other time she deems appropriate to crawl around meowing.  It's pretty cute (most of the time).

When Miss A first started talking to me, I was actually a little concerned that she really thought she was allergic to kitties.  We had just spent some time at my dad's house for Christmas, where there are many kitties.  I was quite relieved to find out the problem was just her little sister.

Snapshot Two

I know I've mentioned it before, but Miss A has thought she's too old for naps since before she was two.  That's not to say she doesn't occasionally nap, it's just not a regular part of her day.  So I have a fondness for taking pictures of her while she sleeps.  Part because it doesn't happen very often, part because she tends to fall asleep in weird positions.  Like here, asleep on the couch after watching me play in the student-staff volleyball game at school.  She was awake and chatting on our way in to the house, but I only got one shoe off before crashing.

3 and a Half

Last week we celebrated Miss A's half birthday.  As it worked out, E had a late work meeting on her actual half birthday, so he wasn't going to be home for dinner.  But, E works with Miss A's friend Miss E's daddy, so we invited Miss E (with Mom and baby bro) over for dinner.  We had pizza and cupcakes, and the girls had so much fun running around dressed up like princesses!

Miss A wasn't up for any pictures on the 25th, but I convinced her to take a few pictures at her cousin's birthday party over the weekend.  She's tall and lean with a bunch of crazy curls (her dress is 5T... and looks short on her!).  She talks constantly, and asks so many questions.  She likes to sing songs she knows, and she likes to make up her own.  She's stubborn.  She will only do things when she's ready.  She's wary to try new things, but opens up to new people quickly.  She constantly has a new "best" friend.  She doesn't like it when people are sad, even/especially Little J ("Are you okay, baby? is a common question).  She's still Daddy's girl most of all.

Now that Miss A is a little older, I thought I would ask her a few questions to go along with my thoughts.  So, here's her take at 3 and a half.

Favorite Show: Doc (Doc McStuffins)
Favorite Food: Marshmallows
Favorite Color: Purple and Pink
Favorite Game: Smashy (No idea what that is.)
Favorite Book: A is for Annabelle
Favorite Toy: Books
Favorite Thing To Do: Play
What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up: A Painter, An Artist

This is her happy place.  Jumping, jumping, jumping.

Rhubarb Cake

E had his first solo trial earlier this week, which was a pretty big deal... and to make it even more exciting, he won!  Little A and I decided to make him a cake to celebrate!  He's been talking about this cake for years.  He worked at a grocery store in his hometown during high school and college, and one of the women there would make it for him.  So now that we finally have good rhubarb growing in our backyard, he got his rhubarb cake.  It's SUPER easy to make, just a box of white or yellow cake mix prepared normally, chop up the rhubarb and sprinkle it over the top.  Bake according to the box instructions, and you're done!  Exactly my kind of recipe, quick and easy!

Sisters

Miss A and Little J are playing together more and more these days.  And they're pretty adorable to watch.  When Little J wakes up from her nap, she's quick to look for "Aa-bell" (it probably sounds more like apple).  When either girl gets some one-on-one time with E or I, they ask for the other.  Even on her birthday, Miss A was a little sad to be leaving Little J at day care.    

Sometimes though, Miss A can get a little rough with Little J.  She forgets that Little J is still, well, little (thought she's a tough little girl).  As you can see from the picture below, wrestling is becoming a frequent occurrence.  I feel like it won't be long before Little J wins these matches.  She has found that grabbing Miss A's hair is a good strategy.