August 2009 Archives
We attended the Meet & Greet for Josie's class this afternoon. She got a chance to see her new classroom and meet her new teachers and classmates. She was EXCITED.
Josie's class is called the Lions class, hence the jungle theme in the classroom. Her teachers Mrs. Dominguez and Mrs. Onsager are so sweet, and Josie already declared tonight that she thinks they are the "nicest teachers ever."
The class did a little craft project, decorating their own picture frames. Afterwards, I gave Josie my camera and let her walk around and take some pictures herself. She made sure to take a pic of every single item in the classroom that had her name on it. She really loved seeing her name written everywhere.
Tonight at bedtime, I was asking Josie how she liked the class and the other students. There are only 2 other girls in the class of 9 kids, so she was especially happy to get to sit next to those two little girls today. "And, Mommy," she said, "those are MY friends. Maddie doesn't even know them yet!"
I was so caught up in watching Josie work the room today, and just taking it all in, that it didn't really hit me that my baby is going to school until I was uploading pictures tonight. I'm a little sad that she's getting so old so fast, but I'm also so excited for her because I know this is something she has been looking forward to for the past year or so. Though a little more shy than Maddie most of the time, Josie is still a very outgoing, social kid who loves to play with other kids of any age. I just know she is going to love her time at school this year.
As we mentioned before, the 1st and 2nd grades at the girls' school started a few weeks earlier than the younger grades. Maddie's first day was last Thursday. She had half days on Thursday and Friday, and this week started full days (until 3pm.) It has been a transition, but a good one. I feel like we're already in a good groove just a week into the school year.
She had a great time last week seeing her old friends again. She was so excited to tell them about her two loose teeth. Well, Saturday afternoon we were all milling about, getting ready to go out when Bill was talking to Maddie about how he pulled out his loose teeth when he was little. He told her just to gently pull the tooth forward more and more until... Well, Maddie did exactly as he explained and... POP! Out came her tooth! We were all so surprised! She, of course, was THRILLED! I'd planned on making her a little Tooth Fairy pillow to put under her own pillow for her first tooth, but I hadn't anticipated it happening so soon! I quickly whipped something up (which was so poorly done that I plan on redoing it) and she was able to put her tooth in it that night. The Tooth Fairy came, as promised, and left her a whopping $5. (FYI: I'd heard the going rate for the Tooth Fairy these days is $5 for the first tooth, followed by $1 for each tooth thereafter.) You should have seen her face when she woke up on Sunday morning. Maddie is usually the last one awake, and even then doesn't fully wake up until an hour later, but she bounded out of her room with a huge smile on her face, so excited to show us what the Tooth Fairy had left her!
You can't tell from this pic, but she was thrilled.
This week has proven to be really good so far too. I wasn't sure how Maddie would handle the long days, but despite being a little grumpy, she's done okay. It's hard to still fit in some of her usual daily quiet time when she comes home and plays for a while and then has homework, dinner, bath, etc. We're still ironing that part out. Plus, this year she has P.E. on three days a week, so that wears her out even more.
While visiting school today, Josie and I also got a chance to peek in on her future classroom. She immediately spotted a chair with the name "Josie McLochlin" on the back. She pulled me down to her height and whispered in my ear,
Mommy, is that for Josie MAEVE McLochlin or a different Josie McLochlin?
Thursday is Maddie's first day of 1st grade. We've been counting down the days these past few weeks and we're down to one day left. It seems like the summer flew by, but I can't complain too much. Almost all of the other local schools have already been in session for at least a week. While they've been hitting the 3 R's, we've been enjoying our last few days of water parks, a short trip to Florida, days at the zoo, and playdates galore. I guess it's time for us to get down to business too.
While Maddie starts this week, Josie won't start until September 8th. The school usually starts the day after Labor Day each year, but this year they have asked the first graders to come to school two weeks early to make sure they get in enough days for their school year. So Josie and I will be hanging out for the next two weeks while Maddie is at school. I think it will be a nice transition for her as she gets ready for her first day of school. She is SO excited to meet her classmates and teacher. Next week, she'll get a chance to do that early at her class meet and greet.
July 17th marked the 6th anniversary of this blog. Can you believe it? The McLochlins have been blogging our lives for six years now. I look back at our very first entry and think about all the things that have happened and the changes we've gone through over the years. It's a whirlwind. And to think of all the changes that the next six years hold...