Dash, big kid

Dash just started three mornings a week in the youngest classroom at Ella's school, where she is in the oldest class this year.  He has had a pretty good adjustment to school although some of the other children in his room are having a rougher (and totally normal of course) transition to the idea of preschool.  As happy as Dash usually is, the chorus of crying 1-year olds in his room seems to be enough to set him off sometimes.  His teachers assure me that it lasts about 30 seconds and then he is perfectly happy the rest of the day.

His reports of school are pretty funny.  He says the teachers names, then he says "Sit!" (because they sit in a circle at circle time), "Sing!" (because they sing songs at circle time), "Crack-ah!" (because they eat crackers at snack time), "Clean up!" (oh so important), and then "Sad!" (which for awhile I thought meant that he was sad at school but he says it with such glee that I now take it to mean that some of his new friends still do a fair bit of boo-hooing).

The school has walls of windows in all of the classrooms that look out onto the big outdoor play space, and the teachers tell me that Dash stands at the window of his room sometimes when Ella is outside and just waves and talks to her and happily says "Ey-yah! Ey-yah!". 

Today, the school director told me that on the playground, all the kids were out at the same time today, and that Dash was having a ball with the older kids from Ella's class.  They apparently would yell "Dash! Dash! Dash!" and he would dance, dance dance, and everyone thought it was HI-LARIOUS.  Oh, what I would have paid to see that.  He also apparently likes to line up with Ella's class when they get ready to go inside, confusing the teachers when they count 13 heads instead of 12.  They know now to look for the orange head that's shorter than the rest and to send him back with the crying chorus. 

I love that Ella and Dash are overlapping in school this year, mostly because they seem to love it so much themselves.

 First day of school this year,

Dash in the Playpals (18-24 month) room and Ella in PreK.

Chocolate milk

This morning we had breakfast with some friends at Mama Dip's in Chapel Hill.  I ordered two waters for the kids, but Ella uncharacteristically put on a pout and complained that she didn't want water.  This was unusual for her since lidded water cups in restaurants have always been one of her favorite things.  I could tell she had something else in mind so I asked her what she'd rather drink instead, thinking maybe one of the other kids at the table had ordered juice and she wanted that, too.  No, instead, she opened her menu and pointed to two little words:  Chocolate Milk.  Which she had read all by herself.  Which I then had to order for her because she had freaking read it and how could I not?  This reading thing, I tell you, game-changer for all of us.

Too hot

It was too hot to do anything today except puzzles in our underwear in the AC.

Past bedtime

Tonight I walked by Ella's room long after we'd said good night and caught a glimpse of her standing by her bed, bedside lamp turned on, poring over a pile of books.  As much as I believe that she needs to get plenty of sleep, I think I will always find it hard to ask her to stop reading at night and turn off the lights.  Finding magic in books is such a gift and I hope she'll always be tempted to stay up just a little later to keep on reading.

Nothing sweeter

Nothing sweeter than two kids fresh from the bath, cozy in their jammies, and reading with each other before bed. 

Bragging

Yesterday morning, the kids and I were at our local Museum of Life and Science (hands down, best place to have 5 minutes from your house).  We were in the Butterfly House with one of Ella's friends and her mom and little brother.  Ella and her pal L were walking around finding butterflies and matching them to the pictures on the placards describing all the varieties in the house.  As Ella matched them to the pictures, she also read the names of most of them.  I don't think she knows them by heart - we don't do that much butterfly identification - but was really reading the names.  Her friend's mom said to me, "You know, if that were my daughter reading, I'd be pointing it out, braggin about it, telling everyone who is around.  Hey look, people, my four-year old is reading!!"  I have apparently not been shouting this from the rooftops nearly enough.  So consider this a bit of bragging.  Ella is really starting to read, and as a vociferous reader myself, I am so thrilled for her I could burst every time I come across her reading a book to herself.  Hear me world?  My girl is READING!

Broccoli Conundrum

When Ella was a little thing, maybe a year or so, she started eating broccoli ground up in the baby food grinder with olive oil, salt and pepper, and parmesan cheese on top.  She would eat bowls of the stuff, even as she stopped eating other vegetables.  Fast forward and she is now almost four and a half, and she still loves broccoli ground up with olive oil, salt and pepper, and parmesan.  To this day, though, she refuses to eat steamed or grilled or roasted broccoli even with the same additions.  Most of the time we just make her a big bowl of her favorite ground broccoli and don't even offer her the big pieces because we want her to eat it and the 'grinded up broccoli' (as she says) is a sure thing.  I am torn between wanting her to start eating the pieces, darn it, mostly because making the ground broccoli and grating the cheese gets to be a real pain, and just being really glad she'll eat such a big serving of something so good for her.  I don't know what to do about this broccoli conundrum with her, but you can bet your last dollar that Dash gets his broccoli in pieces, straight up so as not to create another broccoli monster in our family.