Growing Like a Weed....

Well, although school dropoff hasn't been the best for Anna (or myself), I find these last few days she has shown so much growth in her ability to do things independently. I called her pediatrician on Thursday to see if there was anything I could do to ease the transtion to school for her. I didn't want to have the conversation in front of Anna so when the phone rang and I saw on the caller id it was the pediatrician calling me back, I told Anna I'd be out on the deck for a minute for an important phone call. I was back inside within two minutes and found Anna sitting on the toilet. When I asked her what she was doing, she said "Mommy, I had to go to the potty and I know how to do it myself now!". My eyes immediately filled up with tears. She's been potty trained for almost a year and a half now but I always remind her to go and help her get on and off the potty. This was a shock to me that she could do it 'all by herself'! Then on Friday, I joined Ron and Anna for her daily tricycle ride after dinner. She was able to ride the whole way, even up the slight hill that is near us. It amazes me how much she has grown and changed in these last three years. I vividly remember doing tummy time with her as a newborn trying to get her to lift her head up off the blanket and now she is becoming so independent. It is just so amazing!

Beautiful Birthday Girl

Here is Anna on her 3rd birthday, patiently awaiting her requested cupcakes. She is all girl! Yummy!

Another Tough Day...

Well, today was no better :( Anna started crying from the minute I woke her up not wanting to go to school. At one point she cried, "Mommy, When is it the weekend?". I felt terrible. I tried staying with her for a little while but it seemed to make things worse so I left. She cried as I walked out but I lingered around the corner for a few moments and could hear her crying turn to just whimpering. I called to check on her and the teacher said she was a little tearful on and off for the first hour but then brightened up considerably. They said she is really starting to make friends now and is learning the routine. They did say they can't believe her appetite! When I left, her teacher said she anticipates Anna will only be like this for a few more days. I sure hope so because as my mom always used to tell me, "A mom can only be as happy as her saddest child".

Tears

Well, today's dropoff at school was pretty terrible. Anna cried and I barely had the car door shut before I started bawling too. It is so hard dropping off your little one whom you have spent the last three years with from morning till night. She has become my little buddy and my shadow and to be apart from her is so hard. Seeing her crying while I left was almost unbearable. There were countless times throughout my morning at work that I just wanted to run out and go and pick her up and kiss her chubby little cheeks. I know this is another learning process for her that she must go through. I know of a girl who had to deal with separation anxiety when she left for college at age 17! Hmmmm, I wonder who that could've been?

First Day of School and Work...

Well, I went back to work today.... sort of. I had applied over the Spring for a part time job as an assistant nursery school teacher and was excited to hear I got it. I'll be making some extra money and they pay half of Anna's tuition for pre-school. She is in the building next door to me. I transitioned her the week before last and she did pretty well. No tears. Today we both started our regular days 9:00-12:30. Its different being a teaching 'assistant' since I had my own classroom for ten years but its nice working with young children who don't have any emotional problems. I worried the whole time about Anna though and missed her terribly. Her teachers said she did very well and only teared up about missing me once during clean up time. I'm worried that separation anxiety will set in once she realizes we do this five days a week. She seems happy so far and the facility is absolutely beautiful, complete with a duck pond, swimming pool, and old barn. She looked adorable this morning with her backpack on and her little curls. They practically had to pry me off of her little leg! Gosh, I love that little girl.

Second Try?

Well, Chloe's eight weeks of crate rest will be up tomorrow. We start by easing her off of crate rest over the next four weeks. Starting tomorrow, we can take her for two five minute walks each day for a week. Please pray that she does well! I am so nervous that this will happen again. She seems to be doing well but is so full of energy -I'm scared she will push her limits. I'll update as the week goes on.

Anna's Jammin' Jeep

This was not quite the look Ron had on his face when we bought him a used car last month!

Our Weekend...

I'm not sure why but this weekend had a nature theme to it. It all started on Saturday morning when we took a trip to Home Depot to pick up a few things. As usual, Anna and I perused the garden section to see if they had anymore perrenials on sale. We ended up finding that the trees were 50% off! Two weeks ago, the town highway department took down two of our shade trees that were parallel to the road. They hadn't been doing well for a while and had lost most of their leaves. The skyline near the house looked so strange and we had talked about replacing them. Well, for 40 dollars we bought two sugar maples. Here is Ron planting them Saturday afternoon...

Then yesterday, Ron suggested we go for a hike since it wasn't such a great lake day. We took Anna and she did unbelievable well. She probably walked about 3/4 of a mile! We got to see several toads and she loved it. Best of all, it was free!