Yesterday, as I was preparing to put the girls in the tub, Ella carefully chose the figures that would be joining her and Claire while they bathed. She allocated five figures each:
Ella's figures (on the left): Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Bo Peep, and Rex
Claire's figures (on the right): Bullseye, Cinderella, two ugly Smurfs, and one of the little green alien dudes from Toy Story
I'll let you be the judge of this one.
I love the little moments when beneath the exterior of the confident Ivy League business school graduate working in a midtown Manhattan high rise I see a glimpse of the college kid I fell in love with who always wore Abercrombie & Fitch t-shirts, Dirty Buc shoes, and his signature backwards University of Virginia hat, and who took so long to ask me out that I actually had to make the first move.
One of those moments occurred last week as we lay in bed listening to the rain pound against our window A/C unit, which is inconveniently located right above Matt's head.
"I hate how loud the rain is on that thing when it isn't running," he said. "It's like Morris code being tapped directly onto my...."
I couldn't help but let out a little giggle. "What did you call it?" I asked, trying to sound innocent and failing miserably.
"Morris code?" he said cautiously. He knew where this was going. We've been down this road before. (Can anyone say "The ghost is clear?")
I laughed. I cried (from laughing so hard). I stroked his bruised ego and listened to him marvel at the fact that he had gone his entire almost 34 years on this earth without knowing that it was called Morse code. Then I told him I loved him, rolled over and fell asleep.
I probably get too much pleasure out of these incidents when they occur, but I figure it can't hurt to humble him the few times I actually get the chance. And at least he can take comfort in knowing he's not alone.
I don't think anybody who knows Claire will argue with the fact that she has always been something of a mama's girl. But lately, her eyes light up when he walks in the door at the end of the day. Her arms reach out to be held. And then there's this display...
Stick a fork in me, I'm done.
Ella's 2009 school portrait
Ella plays Duck, Duck, Goose on the beach with some of her preschool classmates at the end of year picnic.
Today is the last day of Ella's first year of preschool.
Her last day greeting hello to Ms. Sarah and Ms. Kalie. Her last day playing out on the school playground with her 11 favorite buddies. Her last day performing her assigned job (maybe she will get to be the line leader - the ultimate prize among the preschool set). And it is my last day to have two hours of blissful quiet during the afternoon while Claire naps and Ella is at school.
Now, I know that three-year-olds don't necessarily need preschool. I am sure Ella would have been just fine without it, but I couldn't have asked for a better school experience for her this year. She has looked forward to going to school each day and has formed a special bond with every one of her 11 classmates. I'm pretty sure each one has been declared her best friend at some point in time during the year. Ella's teachers have told me that Ella is the quiet one in class (yet another example of how much she reminds me of myself as a child), but I have seen her gain so much confidence in social settings this year. She will initiate introducing herself to other children that she happens to meet at the park or library and makes new friends easily. Oh yeah, and she learned all about how insects have six legs. You can't beat that.
One of my favorite things to witness this year was the way that all of the children in Ella's class took special care to look out for each other. They stood at the top of the stairs before the classroom doors opened each afternoon and excitedly announced as their friends entered the building ("Wells is here! Abigail is here!") Each day after school, Ella would give me the full report of any children who were missing from class that day ("Selby was not there today, she is on vacation. Henry was sick today..."), and she always reported back with great excitement when her absent friends returned. Last week as I was preparing mini bagels and cream cheese to bring in on our assigned snack day, Ella made sure to let me know that William did not like cream cheese, and she hovered around me to make sure nothing happened to the plain bagel I had set aside for him. If only they could stay preschoolers forever. I know that in just a few short years these same children will start breaking off into different groups and playground teasing will begin, and it all makes me a little sad that preschool ever has to end.
But if I'm being completely honest here, it is quite possible that this school year has done more for me than it has for Ella. For the first time since moving here two years ago (and really, probably since college), I have found true friends in several of the other moms from Ella's class. Sure, I have gotten friendly with my neighbors, people from church, and other moms that I've run into around town at Ella's music and gym classes. But now I am going out to dinner and enjoying hours of girl talk, I'm planning couples game nights, I'm hosting and going to regular playdates that are probably more for the benefit of the moms than the kids, and I don't think I realized how much I had been missing this interaction.
Over the past few days, Ella's teachers have been sending home various items that have accumulated in the classroom throughout the year. Last Friday it was the purple shag bath mat that she picked out at Target last fall to use as a rest mat. Yesterday, nudged between the laminated memory book of photos that her teachers prepared for her and a clothespin and paper towel butterfly that Ella created, there were two seemingly inconsequential items in her school bag. First, a piece of paper with Ella's name written in black marker along the bottom and a 4x6 picture taped to the middle. This had hung in Ella's cubby to let her know where to hang her tote bag and coat. As I pulled the paper out of her bag I noticed that on the other side of the paper there was another name written in black ink: Kathleen. The second item was the name tag that was set out each day to mark Ella's place at the table for snack. When the name tag was flipped inside out, there was that name again: Kathleen.
Ah yes, Kathleen.
Kathleen was the little girl who was supposed to be in Ella's class this year instead of Ella. To sum up a long story, Ella was originally signed up to go to a different preschool. And then due to various reasons I decided to switch schools and enroll Ella at her current preschool, but in a different class because the one I really wanted (Kathleen's class) was full. Trust me, this was all very traumatic at the time. But what matters is that Kathleen dropped out of the class, Ella got in, and the rest is history.
I don't know why Kathleen dropped out of the class. Maybe she moved. Maybe her parents decided to send her to a different school. Maybe she just switched classes. If she had stayed, I'm sure Ella would have had a perfectly fine year in the other class, but I don't know if it would have been anything special. So I just have to say thank you to Kathleen for giving Ella the chance to have such an amazing first year of school, and for allowing me to find the friends I didn't even know I was missing all this time.
Now, who's going to help me keep two kids entertained all summer long?
Some of you may remember the way Ella reacted to the cake at her first birthday party. Well, we had a little party to celebrate Claire turning one on Sunday afternoon and the reaction was much the same. Is this a genetic trait? I am thinking that I may be destined never to experience my own child's joyful first birthday cake smashing.
First, Claire wondered what in the world was going on, and started plotting her escape. I'm not completely sure, but I think this was when we started singing to her.
I love this one. You can still sense a little of the concern on Claire's face even though it's blurred in the background.
Nope, she's definitely not feeling it. I think her birthday wish was to just make it all go away.
Ella didn't know what the problem was. This cupcake was pretty much the highlight of her year so far.
At one point, Claire stopped crying and actually started eating her cupcake. A hush fell over the room. It was like watching an animal in the wild, with everybody trying to be as quiet as possible so as not to disturb the creature in her natural habitat. She still doesn't appear all that excited about the excessive amount of sugar right in front of her face.
Her main birthday present was this adorable Wheely Bug, and it was a much bigger hit than the birthday song singing/candle blowing/cupcake eating portion of the party. Claire thought the antennae were fun to play with, and I'm sure she'll enjoy the rest of it even more once her big sister stops racing it around the house for more than 1.5 seconds. Sometimes being one is hard.
Claire's party guests were the same ones who showed up for Ella's first birthday - cousins Ryan, Lauren, Abby, and Alex. Thank goodness these guys decided to follow us from California to the East Coast!
Happy birthday Claire! I'm sorry we traumatized you with chocolate cupcakes. It won't happen again, I promise.
We're all healthy (finally).
It's the first day of spring (hooray).
And oh yeah, somebody is turning one today...
Two weeks ago, Claire experienced snow for the first time. She was not a fan. I'm not sure if it was because the snow was cold on her bum, or because she didn't take a long enough nap that morning, or because the faux fur on the hood of her snowsuit looked like a cheap Tina Turner wig.
Whatever her reasons, I feel Claire's pain. I was excited for winter this year. I was ready for sledding, hot chocolate, and snuggling with my family. And while I have enjoyed all those things, no matter how positive I try to be, being cooped up inside, the production of putting on hats/coats/gloves/boots every time we leave the house, and the constant shoveling of snow (or at least, the constant watching of my husband shoveling snow) has taken its toll.
And so I have officially entered the "winter blahs" stage of the season. If I am not blogging as much, it's because I'm hiding under a blanket on the couch, watching mindless television and waiting for spring.
The girls are in bed, and while I am waiting for Matt to get home with pizza and salad so we can sit down and watch our show I went ahead and chose the giveaway winner. Thanks to everyone who entered. I am so glad I didn't have to flip a coin! I asked the Random Integer Generator to choose a number between 1 and 54 and the lucky number is:
Raven, your DVDs will be in the mail shortly! Go forth and enjoy. :)
For those of you who didn't win, I have a consolation prize for you:
Ella Dancing from Jennifer Woodbury on Vimeo.
Yes, she still has the same dance moves that she had two years ago. It appears that her best dancing makes its appearance while Daddy is browsing iTunes.
Speaking of two years ago, today marks exactly two years since we stepped off the plane at JFK in our California version of "winter" coats and began our lives here on the East Coast. I can't say, especially on freezing days like today, that there aren't times when I daydream about the warm California sunshine (and the huge soaking tub that I used to have there with plenty of hot water), but this place finally feels like home, and that's all that matters.
It's no secret that I have a deep and abiding love for Friday Night Lights. I can't articulate why exactly (well, I could but you would probably be asleep by the end of all my rambling). I suppose "It's awesome" is not really a compelling argument. Maybe it just comes down to the fact that when Kyle Chandler wears a baseball hat on the show, he reminds me of my husband. Or maybe it's this.
Season 3 of the show starts on NBC on Friday night and I am really, really excited. As in, my heart starts racing just thinking about it. It's absurd, I realize this, but I really can't help it. I don't want to help it. Luckily, I have a husband who shares my feelings. We are clearly soul mates.
A while ago, one of Matt's friends from business school who works for NBC and knows about my obsession with the show, was nice enough to give me the Season 1 DVD set and a Friday Night Lights branded cooler. I'm totally keeping the cooler, but since I already own the DVD set and this extra copy has been sitting in my house collecting dust (travesty!), in honor of the new season starting I am giving it away.
I feel a little bit ridiculous doing a blog giveaway. I've never done one before because (a) I'm really not cool enough for one and (b) I've never had anything worthwhile to give away. One could argue that this isn't really that worthwhile, especially since you can already watch full episodes of the show online here or here. But realizing that I am no Pioneer Woman giving away cameras or Kitchen-Aid mixers, if you still think you might be interested in owning these DVDs either because you want to check out the show or because you are already a fan, then leave a comment. On Friday the 16th, right before the season premiere, I will choose a lucky winner via the ubiquitous Random Integer Generator. Unless of course I only get two entries, in which case I'll just flip a coin.
A photo a day.
I didn't start until January 4th, 2008, but from that point on I managed to take a picture every single day for the rest of the year. That's 363 consecutive days of photo taking. The first few weeks were the hardest. In the beginning I was constantly thinking and worrying about what I would take a picture of that day. But as time went on, finding photo opportunities around me became almost second nature. As I reflected on this last year, I made a list of the good and the bad about taking a photo a day:
The Bad
1) There were days, although looking back there are few I can actually pinpoint, when I just really didn't want to take a picture. On those days, finding something to photograph seemed like a big chore. May 8th and July 28th are two days that come to mind. And I hate when it is late at night and I haven't gotten my photo yet. Instead of relaxing after the girls go to bed I wander the house trying to come up with something creative, like I did on this night. (Yes, it took me two hours to eventually come up with that. Pathetic, I know.) I know that some people who take on this project allow themselves a day off here and there, but if I had missed a day I probably wouldn't have picked up my camera again for weeks, so I didn't even make that an option for myself.
2) I feel like working on my photo a day album took away from some of my blog posting. I don't think I had as many "in depth" blog posts this past year. If I posted a picture in the photo a day album with a short caption, I often didn't feel as motivated to tell the more detailed story.
3) This one may seem silly, but the photo a day project made me want to redecorate my house. Our home is small - under 1200 square feet excluding the basement - and so during the cold months when we mostly stay inside, the majority of my pictures are taken in the house. And in such a small space, you run out of interesting and/or unique places to take photos. I got tired of seeing the same backdrop in all my photos day in and day out. Although it did force me to be more creative with my shots, which I suppose is something that belongs on the next list...
I've decided to change the format a little bit this year and create a separate blog for my photo a day pictures. Here's to 365 more photos in 2009!
