The Linda Family

Ashleigh had her first day of Kindergarten.  She LOVED it.  Bekah was not impressed.

We took her to school at 8:45, and at 9:00 they had a ‘parent pep-talk’ with some repeats of the important info they shared at orientation and a few new tidbits.  This was our first time meeting Ashleigh’s teacher, Ms. Buckley.  They did parent conferences last week while we were away basking in the sun and sea air.

Ashleigh’s school requires uniforms, she decided on a skirt and her pink shirt.  She was adorable as she headed out to the car for school.

We all made it through the day with no tears.  Well, all of us, minus Bekah.  Bekah was lost without her big sister and walked around the house asking for Ashleigh and Daddy.  When I told her it was time to go to the food store, and then get Ashleigh, and then get Daddy, I thought she was going to jump for joy.  She was SO excited.

We arrived to get Ashleigh a little early, so we hung out on the sidewalk and chatted with a few other moms.  When Ashleigh’s class came out, she wasn’t with them.  I eventually made my way over and asked if the rest of them were coming out.  Ms. Buckley told me that the math teacher, Ms. Prada, was finishing up their math assessments and Ashleigh and one other child were inside with her, and I should go ahead inside to get her.  I walked inside as they were getting ready to walk out.  Ashleigh was thrilled to see us, and I got to meet Ms. Prada.

Ms. Prada and Ms. Buckley both had wonderful things to say about Ashleigh and her first day.  Of course, I know what a wonderful kid she is, but it was nice to hear it from someone else too.

I had every intention of being a good mom and baking cookies for Ashleigh today.  I went to the kitchen, defrosted the butter, and realized we had no chocolate chip cookies.  So, I decided on Rice Krispy Treats.  Only to find out we were out of Rice Krispies.  I seriously would have been a lousy mom in the 50′s!  So, I gave her a choice.  Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, or 7-11.  She decided that she must have a slurpee, so we had a family outing to 7-11.

I made her a special dinner too.  We had steamed shrimp, some yummy scallops, london broil and her favorite oven roasted potatoes.  I was going to make a salad, then realized that she wouldn’t eat the lettuce or the carrots, so I saved myself some effort and just tossed a few tomatoes on her plate.  She thoroughly enjoyed dinner, or so I gathered when she asked for her fourth helping of shrimp.

Ashleigh was SO excited to tell everyone who would listen about her day, so I’ll let her tell you all about it….

Ashleigh’s First Day of School from Wes Linda on Vimeo.

This is our wonderful Ashleigh telling everyone about her school day!

Dear Ashleigh,

I can hardly believe that tomorrow morning your Daddy and I will be taking you to KINDERGARTEN!  How in the world did you get to be a Kindergartener already?  I remember vividly the morning I learned you would be joining our family.  I remember the first time I felt you move.  I’ll never forget seeing your sweet little face, right after the doctor announced, ‘it’s a girl’.  Your first 5 years has been full and exciting.  We’ve been to beaches and weddings, aquariums and children’s museums.  You’re learning to read, and you have a new found love for math.

I’m so excited for the new things you will learn and the new experiences you will have.  I’m sad that we won’t have our lazy mornings and fun days whenever we feel like it, but I’m excited for you and the next chapter of our life.  I hope you make some wonderful friends and have a great time at school.  I can’t wait to see you grow and learn this year.

I’m SO proud of you kiddo.  You’re going to have an amazing year with your cute uniforms and new hair cut.  I can’t wait to see who you become by June!

Love you,

Mommy

Less than two weeks ago Bekah started “practicing” on the petty. I assumed it was some fluke and her interest would disappear just as quickly as it had appeared.

I am happy to report that as of now she still loves the potty. When she wakes up in the morning she asks to go potty. If I let her run around in a shirt or a dress she will go on her own! I have not been brave enough to try underpants around the house yet. I guess that needs to be our next step…

She has asked several times (while in a diaper) to go potty, but she is not a fan of (and will not use) full sized toilets. When I put a kid sized seat on the full sized toilet she will use it.

While this is certainly not a thrilling and riveting topic, I wanted to make sure to document it, so that we remember the final weeks/months of baby-hood….

That was Bekah’s first 4-word sentence.  She put that one together all by herself!

Last Sunday we were heading out of ‘church’ and she fell down and smacked her face on the grass.  We had church at someone’s home, complete with a pool party, baptisms, and child dedications.  Bekah had a blast swimming in the pool.  She even went as far as to demand that she be left alone to swim.  We put her in some swimmy arms and she had a blast.  Bouncing up and down, taking in a little water and spitting it out.  It was hilarious.  On the way out she was running and her foot hit a small depression in the lawn and she went DOWN.  It was not pretty.

She was, of course, just fine, but after she calmed down she asked for some ice.  I took an empty sippy cup and put some ice in it for her and handed it to her in the back seat.  She sat there chomping away on ice cubes for the drive home.  A few minutes into the drive we hear a VERY clear, “I eat ice cube!” from the back seat.  Wes and I just looked at each other, in shock.

I’m not sure we’re ready for two fully verbal little girls.  Our house is about to get a LOT noisier!  Oh boy…

Two days ago I was posting about Bekah’s interest in the potty, and that we might be at the early stages of potty training.  I am in utter shock, but she has been consistent!  She wakes up saying poo poo, and then she pees in the potty.  We’ve been letting her run around without a diaper, and she is GOING ON HER OWN!!!  No messes on the floor.

Yesterday I put her diaper on her at nap time, and then I went out for a few hours.  When I got home I was shocked to see her diaper free.  I just figured Wes wouldn’t want to deal with it.  He told me that she had not done anything since I left.  Her diaper was dry, no mess on the floor, etc.  Apparently she had been telling him she had to go, he’d go in with her, and there’d be nothing.  So he stopped following her.  I came home to find pee in the toilet!  Hew had no idea she had gone.

She did ask for a diaper yesterday to poop, but she’s 18 months old.  I’m ok with that.  We ended up using 2 – 3 diapers yesterday, and she used the potty the rest of the time!!  I think life is about to get complicated trying to coordinate TWO little girls who need to go potty!  Of course there’s always the possibility that she will regress and decide she’s really not ready, and while I like the idea of being diaper free, that is ok too.

How is she growing up so fast?!