Crazy Weekend

This weekend Andy had to be at work for a car wash fundraiser both Saturday and Sunday. Lilly loves her time on weekends with Daddy so this was not easy on her. Saturday she was ok because we had breakfast at the DiNunzio's and she loves to be with them. Then we went to the party store and she picked out her Halloween costume! It was a lot of fun. I intended on just looking to see what they had but you don't take a 2 year old to a costume store just to look so we left with the entire costume that she's been wearing ever since. You'll have to wait for the unveling...

Last night we lost power for about 4 hours (it went out at 9:00 p.m.). It complicated things since Lilly sleeps with a very loud fan and a nightlight. We have very very squeaky hardwood floors and the fan is the only way to keep her asleep while walking upstairs. It was also 90 degrees yesterday with high humidity so after an hour or so of no electricity Lilly awoke, hot and in the dark. She stood in her crib crying frantically wondering I'm sure why her room was so dark. I ran up with a candle and got her back to sleep. This continued a few times. I finally put a candle in her room but then couldn't go to bed myself knowing there was a candle in her room (even though it was a small Yankee candle in a jar). So I sat up waiting for the power to come back on. At 1:15 a.m. the power came on and I was able to take the candle out of her room and get to sleep myself. I was thankful it was not 6 a.m. as the man suggested when I called at 12:30 a.m.

This morning Andy had to go back to work for the final day of the car wash. Lilly did not make it easy for him as he was leaving. She started crying saying, "No work Daddy!" and walking around with a boo-boo lip and chin quivering. It was really sad. He felt horrible as he left. Once he shut the door she was really crying so I told her we could go surprise him. I made her breakfast (she requested eggs with cheese and a peach - love this age) and we both got ready and headed to Daddy's work. We talked the whole way about school tomorrow (God give me strength) and about surprising Daddy. She's so fun to chat with. When we were about 10 minutes away Andy texted me that he was heart broken so I was excited that we had decided to surprise him. Needless to say he was very happy to see us and we had a good time visiting. It was extremely hot out today (93 degrees and full humidity) so we headed in from the car wash and Andy let Lilly sing in the microphone on his stage. It was SO CUTE!! She doesn't have a shy bone in her body. Took that mic like she'd been doing it all her life. She sang, and sang, and walked the stage, and sang some more. She held it just right and sounded so cute! Some parents walked in to get things and she smiled and kept on singing. I tried to capture it on Andy's work camera but am not used to the camera and couldn't get great pictures but here she is in action...

Love her on her tippy toes in this one.

She was really working the stage...

Andy is now home and Lilly's thrilled. They're playing ball as I type. And I must admit - I love the break!!!

First Day of Preschool UPDATE

Ok a slight amendment to my former version of the first day of school...

So the director of the preschool wrote me an email saying, "Of course!! Kristin I want to talk to you more about this – I’m going to give you a call in a little bit. It will all be OK I promise!" I eagerly awaited her phone call.

She was lovely and sweet and had talked to the classroom teacher. Apparently there was some sort of "altercation" that left Lilly angry. They did not see the altercation but know she became angry. She then crawled under the table because she was mad. One of the assistants tried to go under and get her and hold her to comfort her but "Lilly wanted nothing to do with them." After a while they got her calmed down and had coaxed her out from under the table when she hit her head on the table. They said, "After that she was done." I have seen this happen many times before and the more attention I give to her at these times the angrier she gets. The behavior is often a response to feeling embarrassed.

While I still feel badly that she had a rough start I feel MUCH BETTER knowing it was anger and not Lilly missing us. In fact, this is one of the reasons we put her in a program - so that she would learn to cooperate with other children and handle discipline from other adults.

The director assured me that I could do an abbreviated version of school until Lilly is comfortable if there's a need. So Monday I will stay at the church and they will periodically check on Lilly and let me know how she's doing. If at any point she's upset and cannot get herself together I will take her home.

I am feeling better. I have great hope that this will be a good program for Lilly and that she will learn some of the necessary social skills that are pertinent to getting along with others. And I also hope that they will get to see how very sweet and loving Lilly is. She has so much to offer and has such a dynamite personality that they will really get to love and enjoy.

First Day of Preschool

Today was Lilly's first (unofficial) day of preschool! Monday is the real first day but today was also a first as it was orientation. Lilly would spend an hour in her classroom with her teachers while we listened to a presentation in the sanctuary. She was very excited to go to school. Here she is waiting for Daddy to come downstairs so we could leave.

Posing with Mommy on her first day. What a big girl!

My favorite shot. She was so happy and ready to go to school!

Her new backpack with her name on it.

When we got to the church there were many moms and dads dropping off their children. Lilly is in the "Lambs" class and her teachers are Ms. Donna and Ms. Susan. The class is capped at 10 children and there are 2 teachers and an aide with her at all times. This is Lilly playing with Ms. Donna right before we left to go to the sanctuary.
Lilly kissed me goodbye and started playing with baby dolls. There was a little boy that was hysterical but Lilly seemed just fine. I started getting upset and tried not to let anyone see me. As Andy and I walked down the hall I had to duck into a bathroom and cry. I pulled myself together and we headed to the sanctuary to listen to all the information about this new school. I signed up to be room mom and gave them our email addresses and turned in all of Lilly's forms. They told us we could go in and pick our children up at 10:15 (one hour).

At 10:15 everyone headed to the classrooms. We were in the back and I had to squeeze my way through to get a glimpse of Lilly in her class. Her back was toward the door and she was standing and coloring a picture at a table. She looked so cute! I went in and sat down beside her when I realized her nose was running and she'd obviously been crying. She took one look at me and got hysterical. She was crying and trying to talk at the same time. It was absolutely heart-wrenching. The mom across the table from me even started crying and she said, "My heart is breaking for her." I was ok because she used to cry every time we picked her up from the church nursery though she'd been fine while we were gone. And then...

...one of the teachers gave me a really sad look and said, "She had a rough time." Well kill me now. My heart was ripped from my chest. I then found out that she cried most of the hour and even hid under a table and cried. I couldn't believe it! She's so very independent and I have left her before for church and at a drop-off babysitting center to prepare her for this. But for some reason she had a very difficult time. I went and spoke to the teacher (briefly) and she confirmed that yes, Lilly was upset most of the time and that she did hide under a table (crying again as I type this). I expressed my concern for Monday which is 3 hours long and the teacher said, "She'll be fine they need time to adjust" and that was that.

I left the classroom with so many emotions. What had I done to my sweet and happy child? This is totally unnecessary. I only signed her up because I thought she'd love it. Poor thing was scared and lonely. I could go on and on...

In the car we talked to her and she said she wasn't going to go back. She was pretty upset and we let her have her time to feel this way. When we got home I took her down the street to a friend's house so she could get it off her mind and enjoy playing with her friend Lindsey. It also gave me time to debrief with Kristen, Lindsey's mom, who is a mother of 4 girls and has been through this many times.

After I came home we were planning on going out to lunch (a treat) but Lilly didn't want to leave so we stayed home. I sent an email to the director of the preschool (don't have the teacher's contact information) telling her that I would like to arrange a plan so that Lilly does not spend 3 hours crying on Monday. I told her I wasn't comfortable with her spending that much time crying and would feel better if someone checked in on her and let me know how she was doing and if she was still struggling I would take her home. We'll see how she responds.

For now, I still feel like total shit. I feel like I was a horrible mother and blind-sided my child with something she was not ready for. I also feel torn because I know she'll love school and will flourish once she's adjusted.

I will update more on Monday!

Sweet Baby Girl

This morning I had an orthodontist appointment. Lilly always sits in her stroller and has a snack while I lie in the chair and get my braces adjusted. Here is the conversation that went on while I was lying flat with my mouth open...

Lilly: "Doctor?"
Dr. Foley: "Yes Lilly?"
Lilly: "You take care of Mommy? Make her all better?"
Dr. Foley: "Oh yes she's doing much better now."
Lilly: "Oh I glad. Mommy you hold my heend. You be alright. I make you all better."

I was melting... She is such a cute age. So very social and verbal. Talks to everyone she sees. After the orthodontist we went to Target. She wanted popcorn. I told her I didn't have any money for popcorn today. She then found 2 pennies on the floor and carried them over to the food court and asked a girl that worked there if she could have popcorn with her "two monies." I of course stepped in and told her that we would get something in a little bit. Lilly agreed and we went on to shop for a couple items. Along the way Lilly was saying hello to everyone telling them, "Hi, I Lilly. I two and a hass" and of course telling them she wanted popcorn.

As we were finishing up our shopping, the original girl Lilly had asked for popcorn earlier showed up with a small bowl of popcorn. She asked Lilly if she had been good for Mommy. Lilly said, "Oh yes, I good in Tawget." The girl then gave her the popcorn. We thanked her and went to leave. Lilly said to me, "Awww, Mommy, that soooo nice!!!"

I just love our conversations all day long. She is really so much fun to spend my days with. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Puddle Fun

Lilly loves to play in puddles and after yesterday's flash flood warning there were puddles to play in. In true Lilly fashion she went puddle hopping in a t-shirt and boots ONLY. I often wonder what people think about her naked ways! Oh well she is who she is and has a very particular fashion sense!

Flash Flood Warning

Today Lilly and I ran out to do an errand and this is what happened while we were out...




I was so nervous! I don't like storms very much and especially didn't like the flash flood warning that broke into the broadcasting. We were at the store for about 5 minutes when I decided to go home. It wasn't worth it to be out.

We did get bad thunder and lightning but it lasted about 10 minutes! Now the temperature has dropped and the sky is white. Pretty amazing.

Thank You May I Have Another?

When I was pregnant with Lilly a colleague said to me, "You're definitely having a girl because she stole your beauty!" She was a very close friend and I never really forgot that comment.

Last night we were at our neighborhood pool when a former parent of one of my students came over to talk to us. She and her husband were going on and one when she said the famous words... "I bet you're having a girl! Am I right? I can tell because girls steal your beauty and your face is all morphed!" Then she proceeded to use hand gestures to show me (on her face) all the places my face was morphed. Andy was sitting in a chair next to me (I was standing) and when I got the chance I looked down at him and he just gave me the 'I have no clue what's wrong with them' look. I'm sure he was also thinking, 'Oh great I will now hear about this for years'.

I think I am more perplexed by how someone can look another person in the face and bluntly insult them for no good reason. Sure, I know I'm not a beauty queen. I have darkened my hair, cut my hair, and I have braces. On top of that I'm almost 30 pounds heavier than my usual self. But do you really look someone in the eye and go on for 5 minutes about how ugly they are???? I would never do such a thing!!

So I am left feeling morphed and wanting to hide under a rock until our baby girl is out and I'm my un-morphed self again.