Kindergarten Graduation Take 2

Finally, we are done with Kindergarten!  These two are officially first graders, and boy, are they ready!

click to view larger

We have been learning a huge lesson about fairness and how life is not fair.  Gracie earned a medal for citizenship and Lucas earned two medals, one for academic excellence and one for leadership. Gracie is having a hard time because Lucas is so confident about what he knows and Gracie is terrified to be wrong.  She hesitates and, as a result, people think she does not know as much as she actually does. Lucas is super speedy and can read with confidence.  He is really fast at math and can add and subtract in his head like nobody's business.  Gracie loves to draw, read, and write.  She especially loves to pretend she is a teacher and "grade" all of the books in her room.

This should be our last year in a classroom together! Hello, grade school!

Lucas - Star of the Week - 2013

Lucas was sick the entire week he was scheduled to be Star of the Week.  He stayed home with Daddy and Abue Rosi.  He simply wasn't feeling well.  Luckily, Mrs. Flores rescheduled his Star of the Week for March 1.  Lukie helped me to design his poster, but he wasn't as picky as Gracie was

Lukie's favorite things include:

Spaghetti and Meatballs

The Chicago Bears

Swimming 

His bike

His sister

Gracie started the presentation with him, but since she could not hold the poster high enough, Mrs. Flores took over.

Lukie with Gracie holding his poster

Lukie presenting his poster

Gracie - Star of the Week - 2013

At Gracie and Lukie's school, each Kindergartner gets to be Star of the Week.  They create a poster of their favorite things, pictures of them at different ages, and then they get to present it to the class and lead the class in the recitation of the months of the year, days of the week, and the dates on the calendar.

February 1 was Gracie's big day.  She worked with me to go through pictures and find all the right ones to tell her story.

Here are some of the highlights:
Her favorite food - bacon
Her favorite number -16
Her favorite book - Pete the Cat
Her favorite color - pink
Her favorite princess - Ariel

Gracie presenting her poster with Mrs. Flores

 Even though I could not be there, Daddy and Tio Freddy did go.  They reported that Gracie did a great job!

Gracie with Tio Freddy (he came to see her presentation)

Our First Day of Summer School

I've waited 5 years for today.  Today was the day that Gracie and Lucas got to come to work with me.  It was their first day of Summer School.  I planned our morning carefully to get us out of the door in record time.  I was very impressed by how hard they worked to get dressed and ready to go.

We arrived a little early and snapped this picture:

And this one

 And this one

We never did get a truly perfect photo.

At the end of Camp Mustang and Afternoon Athletics and After School Care, this happened on the way home.

And then there were the impressions of the day:

 

Our Michael Jackson craze

At the beginning of the summer, Gracie and Lukie's teacher mentioned how much they liked the hip hop class on Thursdays.  There was a new session starting and the teacher had invited Gracie to participate.  Apparently, Gracie was all over dance class.  She sashayed and jumped and had some serious rhythm.  I looked at the price of the class and almost choked.

However, after a sibling discount (who hoo) and two very excited kids, I found the money hiding in my savings account to make hip hop class a reality for them.  I'm so glad I did it!  Not only are they having a blast, but they are discovering music that we haven't introduced them to.  I can do without Justin Bieber and the Baja Men, but they've absolutely fallen in LOVE with Michael Jackson.  So much so, that we have spent several hours watching videos and dancing to Michael Jackson songs.  I burned CDs with their favorite songs on them and they are what we listen to in the car.  They love to sing "Beat It", "Black or White", "Smooth Criminal", and "Bad."  They are also discovering "The Girl is Mine."  They love hearing the stories of Michael Jackson from when Aunt Bec and I were little.  Lukie is excited about dancing like him and keeps practicing his Moon Walk.

Lukie's dancin' moves:



He loves dancing like Michael Jackson so much that he even dancing to MJ in the car:

A word we are NOT allowed to say at school

Where the Heck are Gracie and Lukie?

Oh, stop! Have you really been asking that question? Really?

Some of you actually have. To be honest, we've been right here. I've thought almost every day about coming to update, but honestly, I've been enjoying Gracie and Luke too much to take the time. I apologize for that. Prepare to be bombarded with news!

Item 1: Learning, Learning, Learning
Daycare, also known as preschool, has been a ton of fun lately. I can tell because the laundry I've been doing is full of dirt, finger paints, glue and feathers. We've received weekly reports on the Twinsies. Apparently, they sometimes remember their numbers, sometimes remember their shapes, and sometimes remember their colors. Which is weird, because they always remember them with me. Hmmmm. Performance anxiety? I don't know. We've also tried our hand at potty training. But let's face it. Gracie and Luke are just not ready. They think the potty is exciting, but unless someone runs them there, they will happily pee in their pants. Not fun. They like underwear, though, so we'll keep trying them on.


Item 2: Talking, Talking, Talking
I can remember when I wished Gracie and Luke could express themselves. I no longer need to wish for that. Both of them are very good at communicating (when they want to) and their vocabulary is changing like crazy. I've been a bit sad, actually. Other people's kids mispronounce things in cutsy ways. Not Gracie and Luke. The most exciting thing they mispronounce is "strawbaberries." Well, there is Lukie's pronunciation of anything with an "r" sound in it. For example: "dey-er" (there). They've gotten so good at talking, I thought I would interview them.


Item 3: Playing, Playing, Playing
During Spring Break, I took Gracie and Lukie to the park almost every day. It was great to get out and we tried to go to a different park each time. Some trips were more successful than others. I counted any trip where we got back into the car in one piece as a success. Of course, I noticed somethings while visiting the park: 1) Lukie only likes to play with Gracie, but at the park, he's a total loner. 2) Gracie could make friends with the meanest person on the planet and they'd smile and play with her for an hour.


Item 4: Singing, Singing, Singing
Just as their vocabulary has exploded, their singing has too. They have many songs memorized and love to sing. We do have to hear "Round and round" about 50 times when Gracie gets stuck on "The Wheels on the Bus". By far, the best is "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Gracie says, "Bup, a-bup the world so high..." Lukie likes to make up his own songs. Daddy and I sit there trying to translate. I'm afraid we just don't speak "Lukese." Although, yesterday, his song sounded like "A Fed-co," but then, how would he know about Fedco? They closed before Ed and I even got married. Here's their latest favorite. A song I sing just for them.


I have lots more to share, but I don't want to overwhelm you!

Daddy's Lament

"It happened."

This was how Daddy started our conversation last night about the events of yesterday morning. 

"What happened?" I asked, not sure if I needed to be concerned or not.

"Well, Grandma and Grandpa were helping me get Gracie and Luke dressed this morning and as soon as he was dressed, Lukie walked over to the door and stood there.  Then he said, 'Friends.' "

 (Friends is our magic word for school.  As in:  "Gracie and Lukie, let's go play with your Friends.")

Daddy continued, "So, I called him over to put his backpack on and then we put Gracie's backpack on and they led me out the door.  They walked me to school."

So the days of not wanting to go to school are over.  No more attempting to run the opposite direction down the street to avoid crossing at the crosswalk.  No more crying when Daddy and Grandma drop them off.  No more falling to the ground in an attempt to avoid being taken over the threshold. 

Gracie and Luke love school. 

I'm not sure why this makes Daddy sad.  Especially when you consider the reception when he goes to pick them up!

There are pictures!

Thanks to Grandma Rosi, there do exist pictures of the first day of Pre-School!

If you click on them, they will open a larger image.

Packed up and ready to walk to school.

Daddy leads the way.

Can you see those lunch bags and their back packs?

Truly on their walk to school.

Thank you, Grandma Rosi for taking these picture for us!

First Day of Pre-School

Let me start by saying there are no pictures. Daddy was in charge and you can't expect him to pack lunches, wrangle two 2 year-olds, and walk to school with two 2 year-olds by himself AND take pictures.

One moment while I try to recover my breath. I'm still trying to get over the whole "walk to school with two 2 year-olds by himself" image in my mind.

Monday night, Daddy and I were up late preparing our very first school lunches for Gracie and Luke. We had no clue what to pack for them. Well, we did, but we weren't exactly sure what they would eat. They are very inconsistent about what they will eat and when they will eat it. In the end, their first "take to school" lunch was peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwiches, string cheese, grape tomatoes, and apple sauce for snack. I was in charge of labeling the lunch bags (Gracie has Elmo and Lukie has a firetruck) and labeling their plastic ware.

Here is Daddy's accounting of yesterday (please note I have no way to corroborate this story in any way):

He woke up at 6:40 am, got himself dressed, packed the kiddos' lunches, took all of their various bags to the car and came back inside to wake Gracie and Luke up at 7 am. Everyone put on their shoes and followed Daddy out to the car to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

At Grandma and Grandpa's, they had breakfast (which they scarfed down) and got dressed for school. They ate a banana because they were still hungry and then it was time to start walking to school.

Grandma was unavailable to walk with Daddy and the Twinsies, so Daddy put a backpack on each of them, handed them their lunch bags, and the three of them started off down the street. Gracie and Luke walked behind Daddy as they looked at the flowers, bees, the sky, and anything else that caught their eyes. When it came time to cross Devonshire Blvd, Daddy told Gracie and Lukie to stop and taught them about red lights and green lights. He had them pass their lunch bags to him and hold hands. When the light turned green, they carefully crossed the street, no problem!

Hold on. Deep breath. Okay, I'm fine.

They arrived at the school and Daddy told them that this was where their new teacher and friends could be found. Gracie was a little hesitant, but she wandered off when she felt safe to meet new people. Lucas, on the other hand, was having none of it. He knew exactly what the new school meant and started to cry. Daddy tried to calm him and reassure him, but it wouldn't work. Eventually, Lucas found his sister and Daddy left (read: sneaked out). Daddy felt horrible leaving Lukie when he was so sad and he cried all the way back to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

After his dialysis, Daddy returned at 2:30 pm sharp. Recently up from their naps, Gracie was very happy to see her Daddy. Lukie was still waking up and cried to be held. Gracie patted him on the back and helped Lukie wake up a bit more. As they left the school with Daddy, Gracie and Lukie chatted about their day (At least that's what Daddy assumed they were doing. It sounded like they were speaking Japanese to him!)

When they got home, they turned on the "elphant!" (aka Horton Hears a Who) and snacked on some crackers until I got home and made dinner. They were both very tired, so we made quick work of dinner, bath and books. They were in bed and asleep about a half an hour early.

All in all, it was a good day. Daddy and I both noticed that despite their sleepiness, they were both very talkative and happy to see us. It will take some time for them to get adjusted to their new school. This week, they are just playing and getting to know each other. Next week, the individual instruction will begin.

What a two year-old should be learning, I haven't the faintest!

Girl pants on a boy, a side ponytail, more markers

When I packed the bag this morning with Gracie and Luke's clothes, I put a pair of jeans in for each of them. One pair had little silver hearts on each pocket and the other pair was very plain. I figured that the silver hearts would be the indicator that they were girls' pants. For a split second, though, I thought "What if they put the girl pants on Lukie?"

Sure enough, when I picked them up from day care today, Lukie was wearing the girl pants and Gracie had on the boy pants.

You'd think someone would have noticed the hearts.

The other thing I discovered was that Grandma Rosi did Gracie's hair today. Normally, I do a giant center Pebbles kind of pony tail or 2 pony tails. Today, Gracie was sporting the side pony tail.

Well, as "side" pony tail as it could be given that she has so little hair!

Finally, it was clear that the markers came out again today. Lukie colored with blue and green...on himself and on Gracie. I'm starting to suspect there was no paper.

It took a half an hour letting them soak in the tub and then scrubbing their skin to get the marker off of their hands and arms. How are these things "washable?"

From the "Whose idea was that?" Files

Apparently, the day care teachers have been letting the Twinsies experiment with Crayola markers. They are washable, so technically they are safe.

The first time I discovered they were using markers was when my son had orange and green marks all over his neck, chin and ears. I may be wrong here, but I am pretty sure they are supposed to be drawing on paper or something like that, not on themselves. Admittedly, it was easy to remove the marks, but they were alarming when I first discovered them.

Today, I arrived to pick Gracie and Luke up from day care and their care giver, Viviana, said proudly, "Look at what Gracie and Luke drew!" They are 16 months old, so you can't expect it will be a masterpiece. Instead, it was a series of lines, swiping across the page. Some dots and dashes speckeled in between the lines.

"Nice!" I said, making sure that I sounded excited. All I could think was, "Oh, poop, they are going to have marker all over them!"

Lukie reached me first.

Gracie did not have a mark on her.

When we got home, I let them play to get some of the wigglies out.

First Parent-Teacher Conference?

Today, Eddie and I went to Gracie and Luke's Day Care (a.k.a. school) for our very first Parent-Teacher Conference. While we were waiting for Miss Joanne, we sat in the infant/toddler room and watched as our Twinsies sat in chairs, at a table and used spoons to eat Cheerios and milk. Huh? I've never even handed them spoons! Needless to say, I was a bit stunned to see them using utensils and not flinging Cheerios across the room. They sat and ate their breakfasts with gusto while other kiddies finished and started wandering about the room.

When Miss Joanne was ready for us, we went into her office and sat across from her. Here is the short version:

Gracie - Is able to follow one-step instructions and requests, is very close to speaking one or two word sentences, shows empathy toward others, defends her "territory" and stands up for herself, is doing much better at self-soothing at nap time, but is still working on it. Miss Joanne seemed very happy at Gracie's accomplishments and seemed especially pleased with Gracie's most recent advances. Since I've seen the difference in Gracie at home in the past two months, I heartily agreed. They are working on removing her binky for the majority of the day, exept at nap time. Miss Joanne seems to think that it will be just a bit longer and the binky will be history.

Luke - Communicates using gestures and is starting to use sounds to communicate ( is developing words), plays well with others, is still learning that it is okay to defend his "territory", and requires more hands-on time with the teachers, eats very well. He is still working on self-soothing at naptime, but is doing much better. He used to wake up several times each nap period, but now he sleeps solidly.

Eddie and I were very pleased at Miss Joanne's report. It is nice to know that our Twinsies play well and are well liked by the other toddlers and the teachers. I think the nicest thing was that Miss Joanne really seems to have this age nailed and has instituted several activities/policies designed to help the children develop new skills. One thing she has started is family eating time. The children used to be served all at once, but now, each item is brought to each child and they are asked if they would like to have some.

"Luke, would you like some corn today?"

"Gracie, would you like some fish sticks today?"

Overall, we were very pleased and came away with some important new ideas for interacting with Gracie and Luke and helping them to continue their development. I wonder if all of their Parent - Teacher conferences will be this nice?

We were so pleased, in fact, that we sat the Twinsies at their own table for dinner that night. Gracie was happier to eat than Luke. This scene did not last long.

Our first incident report

Gracie has a permanent record.

It isn't her fault! Apparently, a little boy at Day Care decided to take a swat at her. She now has a mark on her face. No biggie! She doesn't even notice it is there. I only notice it because, hey, I'm her Mommy.

(see, it's there under her left eye - her left, not yours!)

The nice thing is that when Ed arrived to pick up the babies yesterday, the head teacher had a Boo-boo report for him to read and sign. Not only did he sign that he read it, but the parents of the little boy who hurt Gracie have to sign that he did it. I love accountability!

Well, I will until we have to sign a report about something Gracie or Luke did. Grrrrr.

Mommy's Day Off

Today is Yom Kippur and, as a result, a No School Day. Many of my students are Jewish and had services starting last night and into today. So, I get to stay home!

Gracie and Luke were unaware that I got to stay home today. Lukie, thinking it was a normal school day, was up at 5:45 am. Of course, he woke up his sister and everyone else. Somehow, I was elected to take the babies to the living room instead of getting to sleep in a little more. How lucky was Daddy to get to stay in bed until almost 8 am? Very lucky.

Gracie, Luke and I ate breakfast, played with newly rediscovered toys (I sorted toy baskets last night), pulled wipies out of boxes and then decided to try on our backpacks. Monday, when Daddy took them to day care for the first time, he made the rookie dad mistake of putting their belongings into a plastic bag. All the mommies showed up with cute little backpacks for their babies' things. Daddy was so embarrassed that he told me we had to go shopping asap. We bought Lukie a Spiderman backpack (Daddy picked it out) and Gracie got a pink one with a weird little monster on it and lots of flowers. The cool part about the backpacks is that they have little motion lights. As they are moved, the lights go on and off; a fun thing for babies to look at as they walk around.

This morning, I decided to see if the babies would let me put their back packs on them. Gracie and Luke are small enough for the straps to go to their absolute smallest point. I put the back packs on each baby and for the next 10 minutes, they were obsessed with walking around the room following each other to watch the lights.

When Daddy finally decided to join the fun, it was time to pack up for day care. Gracie and Luke wore their backpacks out to the car, causing Daddy to laugh (I think he may even have giggled). They also have their binkies firmly attached to little leashes on their arms. Lukie has taken to throwing his binky as far as he can. Yesterday, he was out of luck when Daddy could not find it in the car. The day care ladies told Daddy that Gracie and Luke spent the day passing Gracie's binky back and forth. Before you get grossed out by that, they do it all the time. In fact, if you look in the back pack photos from this morning, Gracie has Lukie's binky in her mouth and vice versa. We've taken to calling them the Binky Stealers.

What are my plans for the rest of the day?

Sleeping in until noon? No.

Getting a pedicure? No.

Cleaning the living room so that we can reclaim the 50% until now lost to debris? Yes.

Cleaning laundry that is piling up all over everywhere? Yes.

Buying Gracie and Luke a little toddler table so that they will sit down to eat instead of walking around the room during meals? Yes.

Ah, bliss! Maybe I'll actually get things done today. Yay for Mommy's Day Off!

Mommy's Day Off Follow Up:

Well, Ed called me when he got out of class and distracted me into going out to lunch alone! We actually ate our entire meal without babies trying to escape seats. We also got the toddler table. Yay! And, I managed to put away 2/3 of the laundry. The living room still needs help.

Oh, well...

Side effects of Day Care (aka "School")

Twinsies, who are used to being rocked to sleep and are overstimulated by their new environment, tend not to take naps when they are at school. Gracie would rather walk up the ramp and down the steps, while Lukie is the first to gobble up his morning muffin. Reports are that they had a 1/2 hour nap today, by accident.

When we got home, they were so tired they did not want to eat dinner (even though they ate everything we managed to get near their mouths) and they cried all through their 10 minute bath. It is 6:45 pm and the Twinsies are asleep. Exhausted from their day of no naps and so much to do.

By the way, Gracie is indeed the only girl in the new walker/toddler room. According to reports, she is Miss Independent, the sheep hearder to the little boy sheep. Good gravy, what are we in for?