First Day of Kindergarten for Ellie

Today was Ellie's first day of kindergarten at Daniel Webster Elementary School in Pasadena. She was a little nervous this morning, asking to go back to preschool and telling me she was scared. But after she was dressed and she saw her backpack and lunch bag by the door waiting for her, she was excited to head to school. School starts at 7:50am and while it is less than 3/4 mile away from our house, we left around 7:20am so that there would be plenty of time for photos. We started with some photos in front of the house by our big tree.

Then we got to school to take even more photos! She was excited and happy to be there. She played a little bit on the kindergarten playground (showing off her flipping skills on the bar first thing). She saw some familiar faces (as did we) and she was just full of giggles. I'm sure she was a little nervous but she didn't show it to us. When the bell rang she walked into her school and to her classroom. We met her teacher and then Ellie took a seat on the rug in the classroom (one of the first kids). As other kids and parents filtered in we gave a last round of hugs and kisses and left. Nick and I then spent a few minutes at a breakfast arranged by the PTA in the PTA room/Parent Resource Center.

Ellie's school does have a uniform policy. They need to wear khaki or dark blue bottoms with a light blue, dark blue, or white polo shirt on top. We found some really cute polo dresses in the right color and I think she will be wearing these every day, as she loves to wear dresses and these are apparently super comfortable (she didn't even complain about the collar!). And you may recognize her school, it has had some cameos in a few movies (only in Los Angeles) including The Hangover.

Ellie is signed up for an after school program that is on campus for her. They separate the kids by grade level and so she has a dedicated "after school teacher" as well. Today was an early release day, meaning every Monday school is released at 12:35. Normally it is 2:15. And then she has the after school program until we pick her up.

She came home all smiles and excited about her day. She said she had fun on the playground and got to color. She also showed us a workbook page where she was asked to print uppercase and lowercase letter A and then write Alligator. Her letters looked terrific. And the irony was her name was written, in cursive, at the top of the page. She said she got to read a book as well. Apparently the cafeteria was an amazing experience for her and she enjoyed eating lunch (btw, she ate her whole lunch and I packed a lot of food worried about snacks in the afternoon for her). She asked if sometimes I wouldn't pack a lunch for her so that she could eat the lunches at the cafeteria (apparently there is a fruit/salad bar in addition to the hot food). Pizza day is Friday, so maybe I'll send her with a couple of bucks for lunch...maybe next week.

We are so proud of our little kindergartener. She had a lot of fun and she is excited to go back. She was exhausted when she got home. We shall see if tomorrow is as much fun as today was as its a normal day with school going till 2:15.

Her last last day at preschool

Today was Ellie's last day at Meher Montessori school. The school that welcomed her with open arms when we moved cross-country and eased the transition. The school where she learned to read, write (in cursive), count to 31 in mandarin, count to 300 by tens, and so many other things. The school where she made her first best friends. Sure we had graduation in June and then the last day of summer school. But this week was "August camp" for Ellie at Meher and today was her official last day.









Monday she starts kindergarten.

After Nick picked her up from Meher (where there was tears and lots of good byes) we headed to her new school, Daniel Webster Elementary School to see the class lists (factoid Ellie is the only kid whose last name begins with an H in all three kindergartens!) and check out her classroom. She also had a chance to play with some other new kindergarteners and make new friends. Monday she will know which classroom to go to (architecturally its an awesome classroom) and will even recognize a few faces.







So check back early next week for pictures of Ellie, the kindergartener, wearing her school uniform and carrying her new lunchbox as she heads to school!

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Santa Barbara, Susie, and surgery

Ellie has had a full and exciting two and a half weeks. It all started when we took her up to Santa Barbara for a week of Safety Town. Now, Safety Town holds a special place in my heart. Not only did I attend the day camp where pre-k kids learn all about safety in a setting that includes little buildings, roads, and bikes with seat belts, but I was a counselor from the time I was in seventh grade till I was a senior in high school (Susie did too by the way). So I was so excited for Ellie to wear the yellow shirt and get her Safety Town on. (Photos below are me at Safety Town).






























So Safety Town started and Ellie spent a week there. She learned a lot, loves riding the bikes/cars, and we think had a great time. But she refused to ride the city bus because she didn't know the driver (of course they had the police come and talk about stranger danger right before they did the city bus ride). She is still singing songs she learned and when we are crossing streets she tells me I have to stop, look, listen, and wait. She would get worn out at Safety Town but still had fun going to Yogurtland and visiting her great grand parentals up in Santa Barbara.




























































The weekend after Safety Town she came down to Pasadena as we had a kindergarten play date with fellow incoming kindergarteners and their parents. She was shy but met some kids. At a minimum there will be familiar faces come the first day of school.

After her regularly scheduled ballet class on Sunday, we headed up to Camarillo to pass her off to her grandparents who took her back up to Santa Barbara. She spent another week up in SB, this time attending camp at the SB Natural History Museum. She did this camp last summer and had a blast. She was super excited about this years camp as well. She loves the museum and their creek for water play, the special exhibits (this year it was an environmentalist/ Smokey theme), and everything else. Camp has everything plus arts and crafts, little hikes, geodes, songs, and other things she loves. I have to say that if we lived in SB, we would be at that museum everyday and she would spend every week in the summer at camp at the museum.
















































But this second week in SB was amazing for another reason. She got to spend time with Aunt Susu and Big Cousin Jimmy. Both came to SB to visit family.









































































Susie then came down to Pasadena to spend some quality time with us down here. We got pedicures (Ellie included!), had a fancy crepe breakfast, went hiking, went to dinner, made gnocchi, she went to Ellies ballet class, Yogurtland, all sorts of fun things! Ellie was so excited to show off her awesome upper body strength at the playground, doing flips off the bar and doing the monkey bars over and over...






















































(Oh! A cameo by Cal!)

All the fun summer activities ended yesterday when Ellie had oral surgery. Ellie is five and has had two different surgeries. She had an extra tooth. Shaped like a fang and about 3/8" long the tooth was located behind her front left tooth. If left the extra tooth could have travelled upward into her nasal cavity (worst case scenario) or blocked her adult teeth from coming in (not good). We could have waited and seen what happened (with the almost eventual likelihood of removal of the tooth), but we opted to get rid of the extra tooth and just before she started school. Ellie did great. She had some nitrous oxide and novacane and some versed. She claims she was awake and saw what was going on including the three shots of novacane into the roof of her mouth. She took the versed at 8:35am, was in surgery at 9:00am, and we were home by 10:00am. After a little nap, Frozen, Tylenol, Mulan, and some jello she was almost back to normal by the afternoon. She put the fang-like extra tooth under her pillow and got a visit from the tooth fairy who brought a couple of Playmobil characters. She was brave and a real trooper yesterday. The doctor and nurses said she was an ideal patient.


















What an exciting 2.5 weeks it has been for Ellie. Next up...first day of kindergarten on Monday!

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Cal is 5 mo old!

The little man is 5 months old! I can't believe how fast time has flown (in other news Ellie starts kindergarten in a week!). Not just the summer but these past five months have flown. Our little baby boy is laughing, responding to his name, reaching and grabbing for things, and is as charming as ever.

Unfortunately for almost the past month and a half he seemed to have a constant head cold and coughing. There was an ear infection, a round of antibiotics, use of a nebulizer twice a day with albuterol, lots of temperature taking, snot, a couple visits to a doctor...but he seems to be over the worst of it now. But through his cold(s) he never stopped eating and gained quite a bit of weight. At his four month appointment a couple weeks ago he weighed in at 17 lbs 4 oz which put him in the 75th percentile. So the doctor wasn't too worried about the almost constant headcold. But he definitely better now...well, much less snot and coughing.

And with his betterment in health a few things have changed. Hes become a bit of a better sleeper. I can now put him down, awake and unswaddled, in his crib at night and he will go right to sleep usually around 6:15pm. Generally there is one waking to eat around 3 and then he sleeps till 6:30. And he wakes happy to see me and in a great mood.

He  has adjusted to his new daycare very well. He really seems to love it and he smiles when we walk into the daycare center. As we walk to the infant room we often get quite a few "Good morning Calvin!" and "Calvin, you are so handsome" and other comments. He will always turn his head and smile at the teacher talking to him and wishing him well. Its really cute to see! And I think he has made some friends with the other babies. Nick picked him up one day and found him in a fit of giggles laughing with/at another baby.

He hasn't rolled over yet, but he is very close to sitting by himself. He can balance and if he starts to tip I often see a hand reach out to catch him.He is a pretty chill kid and is pretty predictable. He hates being hot and having the sun in his eyes (but don't we all). He LOVES being outside. He really doesn't fuss all that much. I think he's teething as he has been drooling quite a bit lately.  Hes starting to get a little stranger anxiety and is very aware of where is mom is at all times. But he enjoys the company of his sister more, she can always make him laugh and smile.