A Class of Her Own

It's almost hard to believe, but the munchkin started school this week!

It's been hectic to say the least. We've been bombarded with handouts from the school the past three weeks and have been scrambling to get everything ready. Her uniforms (which had to be special ordered because they didn't have bottoms in her size) came in late and we're still missing her sweatpants which will only arrive the later part of September. Hopefully it won't get too cold by then. Then there are the emergency kit supplies, the school supplies, volunteer surveys, parent socials and opening night meetings. I'm sure it'll all wind down in due time when everyone settles into school mode.

Kayla's been pretty pumped up about going to school and she was all bright and chirpy when we dropped her off. I'm not quite sure how the rest of her day went (except that they had to bring a photo of their family and their favorite soft-toy for sharing time), but when I picked her up, her eyes were wet. I think she was probably a little overwhelmed. When I asked her why she cried, all she'd say is "Because I want to stay home with mommy." In the next breath, she'd tell me she wants to go school again on Thursday. No tears on Thursday, but she's not as chatty about school as I thought she'd be. I guess school can be a wee bit daunting for a 33-month-old. I think (or rather, I hope) it'll get better over time once she gets to know her classmates, classroom and teachers better. :)

Here are some snapshots of her first day at school.


Her hunter green-navy uniform combo isn't the prettiest but I guess the pink backpack and shiny pink sneakers make up for it.

She went straight to the water table and was still there when we said "Buh-Bye."

Over the summer, we got her a playhouse off Craigslist and it came with a slide and basketball hoop (talk about a good deal!). As you can tell, Kayla is as thrilled as I am. :)

A Good Read

Every since she was little, Kayla has had a voracious appetite for books - both figuratively and literally. Her obsession started with the cloth books we got her. She loved flipping through them and most of all, putting bits of them into her mouth. She loved her cloth books so much that Grandma even made a couple for her. Some of them are pretty chewed up, but I'd say most of them are still in surprisingly great shape.

Then she developed a taste for tiny hardboard books that were perfect for her tiny hands and she's never looked back since. Her bookcase is filled and to keep up with her, I started taking her to library every Thursday (which also happens to be storytime-for-tots day). We'd lug about 10 books, most of which are titles she picks. Among her favorites are Dr Seuss books (The Tooth Book, The Foot Book, There's a Wocket in My Pocket, Hop on Pop, In a People House, Marvin K Mooney Will you Please go Now, Hooper Humperdink...Not Him, Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, Wacky Wednesday and the list goes on), any book that has Thomas the Train in it, books about The Berenstain Bears, books by Eileen Spinelli, and anything and everything that talks about fairies, princesses, birthdays, surprises, schools and babies. Add trucks, cars and wheels to that list as well.

We found out accidentally when she was about 13 months that she was remembering bits and pieces of the sentences in the book. We'd leave out a word or two and she'd fill it in. That was when I began to be more conscious about pointing out words to her while I was reading to her. Not a day goes by without Kayla rummaging through her books, demanding we read this or that to her. And in the past three to four months, we've noticed that her interest in words has grown and she recognizes more words than I ever imagined she could.

These days when we head to the library, I try to pick out one or two early reader books that she can read on her own, in part to build her confidence and also to get a little breather. Here's one that we got from the library last week. And guess what? It's about WHEELS! :) You'll notice that she also imagining herself as characters in the book. Every girl in every book is "Kayla".

Next on my to-do-list: Keep track of all the books she's devoured in her soon-to-be-three years on planet earth. :)

Play by Play

Now that Kayla is older and is more adept at interacting with other little ones, we've been having many more fun-filled playdates.

About a fortnight ago, we explored Gilroy Gardens with little Caitlin and her parents. Having been there a number of times ourselves, it was really fun to have company and I think Kayla really enjoyed being on the rides with a fellow munchkin. Not only was it wonderful catching up with Eugene and Anna, it was great to see how lil Caitlin has blossomed into an independent, curious and always-smiling tot who's a complete joy to be around. We didn't bring a camera but Eugene and Anna did an awesome job of capturing some of the priceless moments. Read their blog post here.

More recently, we had Sienna, Juliet or JuJu and her baby brother Jacob over and the kids had a blast just playing, running around and having lunch in the yard. Sienna and JuJu are around Kayla's age and they had a good time hiding in the playhouse and making castles in the sandbox. I wished I had taken pictures but I was busy getting lunch ready and making sure everyone (big and small) was well-fed and happy. :)

We've also had a baby boom in our corner of the neighborhood, bringing the total number of tots to 9 and counting! A new neighbor moved in recently too and they have two girls, 4 and 17 months, so it's been fun getting to know them. On the cooler summer evenings, you'll find all the kids outside and Kayla always has a great time playing with them.

In just two weeks, Kayla starts school and I'm not sure how that's going to affect our schedule. We've been busy getting school uniforms (everything they had was too big for her! ugh!), supplies and trying to make sure we've prepped her mentally as well as we can. Some days, she psyched about it; other days, not so. But I'm sure once she starts and realizes how many toys there are and how much fun she can have, she'll be wanting to go everyday. :)

Overheard...

Kayla: Daddy, are you a toy?
Mikey: No...
Kayla: But I can play with you.
.............................................................................................
I'm so glad our lil one has a great sense of humor.