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Kindergarten Eve

My daughter starting Kindergarten tomorrow. I don't know how this is possible. She is still my little baby, the one who I snuggle with some mornings, and the one I can hold right in the crooks of my body.

I am nervous. I feel like I'm sending her off to the unknown, where I won't really know what she's doing. Her preschool allowed me get a glimpse of her day - I always talked to her teachers in the morning and afternoon. They helped Mr feel still connected - because I knew what she was reading, who she was friends with, and what she was challenged by.

And now, I feel like I need go let go, just a little. And it gives me this empty feeling in my stomach. Just today, T told me that she loved me when she was in my stomach. How can I let go of that kind of spirit and innocence?

And then it dawned on me.... I think this is the slippery slope to helicopter parenthood....

Sleepless

The girls went to bed at midnight and Tae woke everyone up at 7am.

Today will be interesting!

Tae-less!

Well, it's almost 11:30... and no phone calls. I think the sleepover is a success!

If there were any phonecalls, I would really have expected them by now.

A little part of me feels bittersweet about this - that clearly Tae doesn't need me how she used to. And part of me is proud that she feels safe enough and independent enough to take big steps like this and do some really big kid things.

I'm also wondering what the right thing to do is- I guess we should invite Tae's friend for a sleep over in the relatively near future.

The first sleepover

Tae is on her first sleepover tonight.

I don't think I'm going to sleep well. But, Im guessing that if it's not going well, I'll know in the next two hours....

I'm keeping my fingers crossed. My mom reminded me that I didn't even make it past the front door when I was first invited for a sleepover. But then again, I could have counted the nights I spent away from my parents on my hands. Tae has probably spent over 30 nights away from me so far in her life.

Sigh. I knew this would be harder for me than Tae. She looked a little nervous when I dropped her off, but her friend's parents set up a princess tent in the basement, and they were going to have popcorn and hot cocoa...

I think she's going to be fine. And I hope I will too...

Check up

Friday was Tae's 5 year check up.  (I still can't quite believe that she's 5.  Gulp.)

Tae was acting really silly for mostof the check up, including while the doctor was asking her questions, and she kept yelling "Spinach!!"  Spinach!!" when the doctor was talking about eating healthy foods.  Incidentally, Tae only nibbles at spinach, if that.

She weighs in at a grand ole 33.5 pounds, and is 41.5 inches tall.  this puts her in the 7th and 9th percentiles respectively, which is a reasonable change from last year's 3rd and 7th.  Apparently she grew about 5 inches last year?  Craziness.

The other highlight of the visit was that Tae peed in a cup for the first time.  She thought it was very strange, and was giggling the whole time.  Haha.  Lucky me, I got to hold the cup for her. 

I had promised Tae that after her physical we would go to the zoo.  She was asking about it, because the last time we went, one of the gorillas freaked out and rushed the glass window we were standing in front of.  The night we were there was a free zoo night, and it was crowded.

This time, it was an overcast, cold day, so the zoo was, uh, not crowded at all.  Our local zoo is a nice small, manageable size.  We saw some animals.  We saw the gorillas being friendly and not freaking out.  We saw a lioin roar so loud that it freaked Tae out.  We saw flamingos, and tapirs, and a condor. 

We saw some not so excited things too, like a dead fish that Tae spoted in a fish tank.  It was floating upside down, and Tae told me that it looked sick.  She asked if its mommy would be sad.  She told me that it wasn't dead because its eyes were wide open. 

Like most dead things we see (roadkill mainly), Tae is fascinated, and I usually am trying to hold down my lunch.

It was a fun day.

A day at the dentist

Yesterday, I tookthe day off to take Tae for her semi-annual check up at the dentist. Tae told me bravely before the dentist that she was going to try not to cry. She cried the last two times we went, mostly because it was so new to her and because things like the spit-sucker thing were kids scary.

This time, she did very well. She's still so tiny that in order to scoot her head ip to the headspot on the dentist's chair, her calves are at the fold in the seat. Her dentist pits sunglasses on the patients so the lights won't shine in her eyes.

Unfortunately, we have one cavity. I guess we're going to start flossing. The hygebist gave us Disney princess kid's flossers. I almost considered giving in and buying these to use at home, but luckily, they were nowhere to be found at our local target.

The good news is that Tae's bite seems to be correecting itself. She used to have sort of half an underbite, and as a result her front teeth have been chipped away because she kind of grinds her teeth to make them sit evenly.

But apparently, now she has ground her teeth down so much that she is biting evenly. This is a huge relief because at one point the dentist had talked about putting something in her mouth to help correct her bite. I wasn't looking forward to trying to explain orthodontia to my 4 year old. Phew.

Science is cool

Science Experiments!
Uploaded by eliaday

So.  Here, at long last are the results of our science experiment.

The egg was all rubbery and bouncy on the outside - the shell was gone, and the egg membrane thingy was holding it all togther.  Science is so cool.

I cut the egg in half, and the inside spilled out.  The inside was totally normal, and not stinky at all.  Crazy.  Science is cool.

Mama's little helper

Sometimes, I get frustrated trying to deal with Tae's unique brand of logic.  But other times, her logic is actually helpful.

Yesterday morning, Tae realized that we had a book from school that we needed to bring back.  I was making breakfast at the time, so I told her to go put the book by the door so we'd remember to bring it with us to school.  When we arrived at school, she asked me if I had the book.

I told her I had forgotten the book because we were rushing out of the house.

"No, Mommy," she says, "YOU have the book.  I put it in your purple bag."

I peaked inside my purple bag, and there was the book tucked inside. 

The part in between breakfast and rushing out the door was filled with our daily argument about why she has to get dressed and why she has to go to school and why I have to go to work.  Why, why, why.

Why can't she be helpful more of the time?

She makes me proud

We were at a coffee shop in Davis Square this weekend, and a slightly scruff older gentleman came up to Tae and said, "Are you running for president?  Because I'd vote for you for president."

Tae, amazingly, held her ground, "Do you know who I'm going to vote for?  Barack Obama."

Coffee house man, "Wow, you say that better than he does.  Are you sure you don't want to be president?"

Tae, "No, I'm going to be a mommy when I grow up."

To his credit, scruffy coffee house man told Tae that she could be a mommy and be president.  I followed up by telling her that she had to wait until she was 40.  Which basically means that I need to be retired in 36 years so I can take care of her babies while she goes off and works in a museum, writes books, *and* serves as president. 

Tae also has told me that she thinks Barack Obama will be the best president because he's a daddy.  I did the right thing and told her that John McCain is also a daddy.  Oh well.  I should just tell her that John McCain doesn't know how to text or send emails.  She'll probably say, "DUH.  Barack Obama *is* the best."

Status update

I took a half day off from work today to take Tae to her annual physical.

Minus the FOUR shots Tae received (the nurse and doctor double teamed Tae and simultaneously gave her shots on the shoulder. Twice.), the visit was good.

And we have growth!!

Tae is 37.5 inches tall and weighs 28 pounds. Her pediatrician is officially not worried about Tae's weight anymore - her BMI is 14, which is in the 10th percentile. She's still in the 7th and 3rd percentiles for height and weight respectively, but these are all increases since last year. I was never really concerned about Tae's weight; but it is a relief to know that her doctor is not longer concerned.

It was a little funny- the doctor totally cracked up over Tae's faces while she was examining Tae's throat. Tae had her eyes squeezed shut and was just being herself.

We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying fall in New England. It was fun spending a weekday afternoon out with my daughter. I feel refreshed.