Cuteness! Cuteness! Cuteness! Brian and Lily decided that a camp out was in order, but instead of waiting until the weather turned cooler or there was a free weekend, they just camped for the day. They set up the tent at a local park and made some mac-n-cheese on the camp stove for lunch. The outing was a huge success.
I don’t have much energy these days to do more than what I need to do, so blogging and thinking about blogging has not been high on my priority list. I did, though, want to share a quick word from Lily. I have been highly amused by the way she recounts her days at preschool. Seeing the world through her eyes is something special to me. Sometimes I feel we see things differently, but other times I know EXACTLY where she is. One such example goes like this:
(As much quoted as possible)
Me: So, did you meet any new friends today? Did you play with anyone?
Lily: I did play, but you know I was looking for someone I could just talk to about things.
Me: Did you find anyone?
Lily: No, all the kids were just running back and forth, yapping
Me: Yapping?
Lily: Yeah, just being crazy and making no sense but they had fun.
Me: So, what did you do?
Lily: Well, when I couldn’t find someone to talk with me I just started running back and forth, yapping too. I just followed behind and maybe they would stop soon. . . what else could I do?
Brian and I continue to pray for her that she will find one friend with whom she finds a real connection. So far, though, I see that what I might have often labeled as shy or introverted (though she definitely is that too) might be simply a different taste for what constitutes “fun”. I mean this is the girl that crosses her legs while she rides in a stroller and writes in her “journal.” There is such a cookie cutter understanding of what children “should” like at this age or “should” enjoy. Obviously, Lily thinks running around “yapping” is boring. I don’t blame her. . . I tend to agree.
Some days she seems especially stimulated by art class, everyday she talks about the plays and last night Brian and I got a little concert of her most recent songs. . . something about summertime. Singing seems to be the highlight for her and I remember enjoying that at preschool as well. I still remember so many of those songs. Yesterday, when I picked her up she said she liked it more and more, but she still thought homeschool would be right for her (lol!). . . “well, maybe just ballet school is what I will do.”
Oh dear.
Well, we had our first week of preschool. There are mixed reviews but here is the week in recap.
Ready to go with her lunch bag and very excited!
Day One: Brian and I both took Lily and stayed for about 30 minutes with her. She was very excited and waved good-bye with no tears. Picking her up was a different story. I walked in and all the children were sitting at a table eating cupcakes for someone’s birthday. Lily had her head down on the table (cue mother’s breaking heart). She saw me and calmly walked over. In the car, I asked her how things went. She basically described her feelings with surprising articulation all the while fighting back tears (cue mother’s breaking heart again). She said that it had been a hard day because it was hard to find a friend and she was disoriented by the routine. She also said that she was so tired and it felt too long. She then laid on my lap for at least an hour.
End of day 1 - can we say SHELL SHOCK!
Day Two: She happily helped me pack her lunch bag. She was happy about going again because I told her that I would pick her up earlier today and bring her home to take a nap. We arrived and she was okay until I had to go. She started crying but perked up when her friend, Ella, from dance class walked in the door. When I picked her up later she was laughing and talking. The teachers said she had a great day and was very into singing the songs. She said that she had a much better day and that she just cried a little in the beginning because. . .and I quote. . .”I had to get some madness out to get to the happiness.” She came home and took an almost 3 hour nap.
Day Three: Happy to go but cried at drop-off again – although by the time I made it to the door I could hear that she stopped. When I picked her up early again she said she wanted to stay a few more minutes to play. . . Wow! She ran off and left me sitting at her lunch table. I went to find her in the other room and she was dressing up with two other girls. I let her play a few more minutes and then we came home. She walked in the door, grabbed her bunny, went to the potty and went right to her bed with very little talking (amazing). She has been asleep now for 2.5 hours.
The verdict: I think it is quite a transition for her and it definitely exhausts her, but overall I think each day is better and by the time I need to be home on the couch with a newborn, I am sure she will prefer to play at preschool.
Today I enjoyed two luxuries. I slept in and took a nap. Wow! Do I feel good! I guess I didn’t technically have the whole day off. I still cooked dinner, cleaned the house and worked on laundry, but I slept which is something I am finding harder to do well these days. Even before I was pregnant I thought about this stage with dread. Really, I am generally not uncomfortable while pregnant even when I am in my third trimester. I know people complain about a myriad of issues but nothing seems to plague me. . . until I go to sleep. At this point in my pregnancy, my hip joints feel so loose that I feel like something is going to slide right off. So, when I lay on my side my knees knock together in some funny way that makes any more than about five hours of sleep in row very uncomfortable. But it is all worth it and only 6 more weeks until I know REAL sleep deprivation again – yay.
While I was napping, Brian and Lily took a short trip out of the city to enjoy some green (or brown or blue or anything else but cement).
all smiles
my daughter the energizer bunny!
