Kindergarten Girl

I have actually been kind of okay all summer about Kindergarten approaching for Neely, mostly because I was in denial.  I have been focusing on the silver lining, that it's been years since I've had any substantial one-on-one time with any of the kids, outside of our little dates.  I can also do things during the week that were more difficult with more than one, like maybe go to the pool(indoor of course since it will be getting chilly soon), or long walks and jogs.  Neely is a good sport for stuff like that but I obviously couldn't expect her to do long distances.  I might actually get in slightly decent shape now if I get in the habit of popping Reed in the jogging stroller.  We can do some jogs, or just long walks to town and have a little breakfast or treat together somewhere.  

So there are good things coming, but the last few days it obviously hit me that Neely would really be leaving me during the weekdays.  I have the usual combo of happy and sad emotions, but I think it's more extreme this time.  Neely is different somehow, she's been my little sidekick, and she really loves being with me, so it'll be so strange to not have her right here.  I think she will do so well, and she is SO smart and so excited.  She's also pretty sensitive and can be shy at first, so I hope there are some outgoing kids in her class who will get her going.

Sometimes Neely seems SO mature in little subtle ways.  Yesterday she was very aware it was our last regular weekday together, and she was cheerful but I'd suddenly see her looking serious and she'd say she was a little frustrated because Reed wanted her to play but she wanted to spend some time alone with me.  Then as the day was ending she got more and more thoughtful and a bit emotional.  She called a family meeting and announced we'd be having a family hug, which turned into quite a few, energetic and hilarious family hugs.  She mentioned a few times that she wished she and I had had more time together that day.  She asked if we could play one more game so at bedtime we pulled out the teaparty board game and played that, just the two of us.  Jess and I read her the Night Before Kindergarten book Michelle had sent the year Paige started, and it got her excited.  She wanted to pick out her outfit and set it up on a chair in her room just like the kids in the book. 

 

Then she wanted to cuddle, so I spent a wonderful hour cuddling her and talking.  She was definitely feeling nervous and took a looong time to fall asleep.  She asked me to sing to her and was gazing into my eyes while I sang, and started tearing up when I sang her the honeybee song I made up when she was a baby.  We talked about how sometimes you feel happy AND sad about the same thing, and she goes "Yeah, like you can be excited to start kindergarten but SAD to leave your parents."  It was so sweet.  She was experiencing the whole thing closer to the way I do than to the way her siblings did.  I don't know how to describe it quite right, but it just felt so grown up.  Then I traded with Jess and he cuddled and talked with her a while.  She was probably 70% nervous/sad/emotional and 30% excited, by the time she went to sleep. 

Thankfully this morning she woke up in a 90% excited, 10% nervous, 0% sad kind of mood.  She popped out of bed, and marched into the kitchen smiling and fully dressed, wearing her backpack about two minutes later.  We told her we were still working on breakfast and their lunches.  Ha.  So she ate, and I walked in to see all three brushing their teeth together and she looked so proud of how big she is, and how she's part of the school kid club now.

We walked down the trail with them this morning,

 

 and took her to her room.  She was quieter now because she was shy, but still looked happy.  We helped her with all her little jobs, putting lunches and backpacks away and all of that.

  

 

The big two lingered until we told them they had two minutes before the late bell would ring, and they gave her a sweet goodbye.

 

 When we started saying our goodbyes she told me I could stay as long as the teacher would let me, but she didn't think she'd let me stay all day.  Ha.  She lingered, giving me long, extra tight hugs and I could really tell it was for my benefit more than for her.  She was feeling lots of love too I think, and I could tell she knew she'd miss me but she wasn't exactly sad or scared.  The last hug was a nice squeezy one and then she spontaneously kissed my cheek.  

We walked her up to the reading area where she could choose to do a puzzle or read, and she picked a puzzle.  The boy near her was asking people if they play Minecraft, so they were talking about that as we left. 

 

She is amazing.  It went as well as it possibly could have.  I didn't even really cry until outside of the school.  Success.  

Reed started reaching back for her as we left and shouting "Neenee!" and then we got this when we got out to the playground and he realized he wasn't bringing her home. 

 

He came up smiling a few seconds later though.

Jess managed to take off a half day so he took me downtown to distract me.  We grabbed a coffee, and walked around a bit.  Then the three of us shared some eggs and potatoes, and biscuits and sausage gravy.  Then a trip to the Halloween store.  Reed is for sure my child, so we found him a bat and a ghostie.

When Jess went back to work, Reed and I had lunch and a quiet afternoon reading and playing with his bat and ghost.  :)  

We counted down the hours until we could pick up the kids.  Neely gets out 5 minutes before the others, and Reed talked about "Paige and Neenee" the whole walk down the trail.  He says "Paige" whether he's talking about Paige or Cason or both.  He refuses to say Cason and at this point I think he thinks it's funny to torture Cason when he begs him to say it.  Anyway, he kept trying to open the doors and shouting "NEENEE" while we waited.  After a few minutes they came out.  As soon as I saw her I knew she'd had a good day, even though she had her usual stoic expression she puts on when she's feeling self-conscious.  

 

She had to point me out to her teacher and then was allowed to run to us.  We had a big hug, complete with Reed's usual cheek nuzzles, and then she immediately started telling me all the things they did.  She clearly had a very good day.  The little Minecraft loving boy brought his mom over with him to remind Neely "to not forget about Minecraft".  She told me later they'd planned in depth about how they would "meet" and build a castle.  They'd used blocks in the classroom to plan it all out.  So cute.  

She was happy but tired she said, and I could tell later in the afternoon when she was a little quick to get frustrated with her siblings.  Then again she'd had a hard time falling asleep the night before, so it was no surprise.  Tonight she went right to sleep so hopefully that will make for a better rested girl tomorrow.  The walk home was cute, Reed was so happy to be reunited with them all.  Even enjoyed a  short-lived "baby carry" by his brother.

Then he invented a new "whistle" he uses to call his siblings.  Haha.  We think he got it from Justin Time, because one of the characters blows a horn to call her sheep.  

Anyway, it was a bittersweet one, but Neely had such a good day and is such a cute, sweet little Kindergartener.  This picture of her makes me so happy/sad. Tonight at bedtime she told me on a scale of 0-100 her first day was "a thousand million".  :)

Long Time No See

Apparently Instagram started taking the place of blogging in my mind.  Or it just was so much quicker and easier that it was the only thing I felt like I could squeeze in.  We have also had trouble figuring out how we want to manage and store our pictures, but I think we've finally got that down. I recently got really sad about some of the things I have probably missed that could end up forgotten, and I obviously don't want that.  :(  

I'm not even sure where to begin-I could blog about moving here, any of the many things we've done since then, Cason's recent birthday, or I could start with Neely, because it's the night before her first day of Kindergarten.  :(  I think I'll save that though, so I can include her actual first day in that post. 

Since Reed has changed and grown so much, we'll go with him for now.  He fits into our family so well but is also very unique.  He is still the most physical, not super high energy or anything, but easily the most active and always busy with something.  He expresses every feeling he has physically.  He's exuberant in most ways, but especially about showing his love.

 

When he feels especially happy he'll run around shouting about it, or my favorite-does a little jig.  He points both index fingers up, and runs around in circles in a gallop, just like you'd do if you were riding a stick horse.  It's so funny to watch.  When he feels affectionate AND excited he will jump on top of your back or head if you're sitting and give you the most vigorous hug you've ever had.  

 

Or he hugs multiple family members, alternating between us and then starts rapid fire kissing our cheeks.  When he's feeling calmer but still affectionate, he gives these tight hugs with his head on your shoulder, and/or rubs his cheek against yours with this exaggerated smile and that usually goes along with little squeaky sounds for some reason.  Ha!  Tonight Neely was feeling a little emotional because of Kindergarten tomorrow, so she called a family meeting and announced that we should havea  family hug.  Reed loved it and he kept saying "famee hug(family hug)!" and getting so excited when we all swarmed and hugged with him in the middle. 

One of my favorites that he has done for a long time now, is any time he spots Jess and I hugging he comes running up and hugs our legs and waits to be lifted.  We each put a hand under one of his arms, and team-lift him so he can join in our hug.  He loves it, and over time it evolved into him hugging us like that but then he gets this mischievous look in his eye and Jess knows what he wants.  So he(Jess) will slowly lean in to kiss me and Reed lets him get an inch or so away from me and then shoves him away at the last possible moment, while cracking up with his villain laugh.  He LOVES that one.  Eventually Jess tricks him and pretends to be about to kiss me but then veers suddenly over and plants one on Reed, who loses it and laughs SO hard.  

He is so fun and loving, but his feisty side has been showing lately too.  ;)  He has quite the little screech when he wants to, although thankfully most of his (nearly)three year old tantrums are silent and just involve him slumping to the ground and stubbornly arching his back to slip free when you try to lift him up.  He's also perfected his angry stomp.  He crosses his arms and puffs up his lips and literally stomps away.  When he's feeling sad or disappointed if you deny him something he wants, he does the super exaggerated sad Charlie Brown walk away.  Nice and slow so you have plenty of time to change your mind, just in case the guilt overcomes you.  ;)

 He is always so grateful when you give him something or do something for him.  He says "thank you" in the most genuine way.  It sounds more like "baytoo".  I probably hear "Baytoo mommy" or "baytoo Neenee", or whoever else he's thanking, a dozen or more times a day.   He's especially thankful for treats.  :)

He was the quickest to do everything physical, and is the latest talker in the family, although he's known how to say a TON for a loooong time now, and just preferred not to.  For one he liked chattering away in his own language, but he also is a quiet, thoughtful guy.  Loves to gaze out the window on long drives and you can tell some serious daydreaming is going on.  He's picking up a lot of stuff lately though and suddenly putting words together he wouldn't before.  The kids can ask him to repeat a word or phrase now and he actually LIKES performing for them and watching them all squeal and lose their minds over his cute voice. 

 He is a loveable fellow.