Thursday, September 5, 2013

August 2013


Grandma & Grandpa visit, and Mommy goes to Texas for business
Hot, dry August started with the arrival of Grandma & Grandpa -- and except for the trip to Target to get all of Annika’s school supplies, and the organizing of all her uniform stuff in her own closet, the kids pretty much forgot R. and I existed, as usual. Heh. In addition to all the usual pool time, long walks/stroller rides, ball games, art projects, etc., the grandparents took on the major job of being full-time minders for four days while I went to Texas to help clean out the house I grew up in (since Mamalah has moved to her cute new house on the cousins’ property and is looking to sell the old place). It was brutally hot (and hard work) where I was, and I missed my little family, but the California contingent had a great time with minimal meltdowns and I got things done that needed doing (plus had a good visit with Mom, L., and J&J). Victory! I got home on Thursday night; Friday, I took Annika for a little solo outing to get her hair cut for school (just a trim!) and to lunch at “the tea party restaurant.” That night there was a welcome/orientation thing for Kindergarten families at the school, so G&G kept Lukas while the three of us went to that -- which is where we found out what class she was in and who else we knew at school (a few kids from her preschool, a girl from the gym Kids’ Club, a couple from her tumbling classes at the community center, etc.). That was a full day, leading up to ... 
ANNIKA STARTS KINDERGARTEN!
SO much to tell here! The first day, a Wednesday, Annika chose to wear her uniform “hopper” (aka her plaid jumper), in which she looked so grown-up and official that it just took my breath away. With the grandparents’ help, we managed to get out the door only about 10 minutes after we’d planned to (lots of photos taken, of course), leaving Lukas at home while R. and I took the big kid. We might as well have walked -- the parking situation was INSANE; we ended up parking several blocks away in the neighborhood, and having to run-skip-hop to get there in time for the Flag Salute thing at 8:45. A few more pictures, a quick hello to her teacher, Mr. Ford (who is a bit of a weirdo, but seemed OK), got her settled in her seat at a table full of very nice looking kids, and out we went. The first days were good; they did short schedule for the first week and a half, which messed with Lukas’s naptimes but was a good transition into the five-day-a-week thing. She came home with stories, drawings, the names of a few of the kids, good times at recess (where she occasionally sees her friend Niamh, and almost always plays Zombies or sometimes Spaceships with a rotating gang of kids), and the instant total love of a Mohawked kid named Mason -- meaning, he fell in instant total love with her; she’s very “whatever” about that, but she does like him as a playmate and was excited to go to his birthday party the second weekend of school (at which party Mason’s friend Gavin, who’s in another K class, also fell in love with her ... oi). I’m trying to walk to go pick her up as much as possible, which is by far her preferred mode -- plus is a great way to let her unwind and talk about her day (and Lukas loves to go in the stroller: “RIDE! RIDE! Moah?”). She’s finding school mostly good, but occasionally boring -- the work is, ah, not challenging at this point. And we’ve already had our first home-sick-from-school incident; the very first Friday, she threw up at recess and needed me to come get her, poor kid! At least it was at recess, out on the blacktop, and not in class ... When Lukas and I got there, he saw right away that she was upset (she was miserable and crying; I had to hold her for awhile to calm her down), and refused to have ANY TRUCK AT ALL with the very, very nice school nurse, secretary and security ladies until he was sure she was OK (at which point he turned on the usual dimpled sweetie pie charm, heh). Ever onward! 
The Entertainment
We bought the DVD of Annika’s dance recital, figuring we’d watch her performance a few times, and then the somewhat pricy thing would just sit on the shelf -- but no, this has been the most cost-effective $22 entertainment purchase ever. She LOVES to watch it -- we can’t get her to put on a Gabba or a Pee-Wee, even. She just picks up wherever she left off anytime she’s allowed to watch something, following along to all the dances (declaring “Funkytown” her favorite one), and by the end of the month she pretty much had the whole thing memorized. Even Lukas loves it -- wherever he is in the house when she fires it up, he turns like a dog hearing the call to dinnertime, hollers “DANCE!”, and runs into the room to get in on the action. I hear the songs from this recital in my dreams ...  

The Quotable Annika
“Why is Mary sticking her booty out?” [re: An illustration of Mary Ingalls from These Happy Golden Years, when she is trying on her new dress for college; it has a bustle in the back]
"When we get a dog, a black dog with short hair, but a big dog, I will name it Sparkles." [re: the dog she is obsessed with getting]

The Quotable Lukas
Ready, set … "GO!"
Five, six, seven … "Eight-nine!"
"All done!"
"Fast shoes!" [re: his new little Oxfords, aka “New shoes!”]
"Did it!" [triumphantly, with every accomplishment]
"Teach sounds!" [a variation on Biz Markie’s Beat of the Day]
"Cool!" 
"Bike!"
“Good! GOOD! GOOOOOOOOD!” [with big delighted eyes and stomach-rubbing relish re: the time he ate a milk chocolate chip he grabbed before we could stop him -- poor kid, at least before that, he didn’t know what he was missing, with his allergy!]