Week In Review

I'm sitting here on the couch in our living room and the house is completely quiet. It's oddly quiet. No roar of some sporting event coming through the t.v., no squeak of Dora The Explorer's voice shouting "Come On Vamonos!" from the playroom and no tiny stomps as Madison runs from room to room on a mission to complete whatever task she has come up with. Ryan is playing golf and Madison spent the night with my sister.

While I'm sitting her all alone in our quiet home, I'm thankful for this time to just relax and do what I want to do and that is to catch up a bit on our blog.

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Father's Day

I took Madison to the dollar store to find a card and a gift for her dad. She carefully reviewed each and every card to find the perfect one. The first card she chose had a gnome holding a golf club and said something about daddy on the front but that one just didn't do it for her and she settled on the card that said "Happy Father's Day Son". Yes, Ryan was a bit puzzled when he opened the card but was filled with laughter once he learned that his little girl carefully chose that card for him.





She also picked him out a Scooby Doo washcloth that had been smashed into a disc shape. I guess a girl knows that a daddy needs a washcloth from time to time. She was also considerate enough to pick herself one up too.



I helped her with the last gift we gave to Ryan. I found this questionnaire on the Internet and spent the morning randomly asking Madison the questions. I wanted to get her honest answers and didn't want to force them at all. Once she popped out her answer, I stifled my laughter and ran into the kitchen to jot it down. We added a picture, inserted it into a frame and added a little banner across the top. Ryan loved it!





Here are the questions I asked her and her answers:

My Dad's Name is: Sophie
He is 39 years old.
He weighs big & tall pounds.
His hair color is: black
His eyes are: brown
His favorite TV show: Him gonna watch golf.
He likes to go to: Golf with Pap and Nana.
His favorite food is: Him like to eat pizza and coffee.
For fun he likes to: Shake around, hands in the air and say blast off!
His favorite drink is: Coffee too, like me.
My favorite thing about my dad is: I daddy's girl and you a girl too like me.

For the record: Ryan doesn't even like coffee and we have never given Madison coffee ever. Additionally, I would pay money to see Ryan shake around with his hands in the air and saying blast off.



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Summer Camp

Madison started summer camp on June 11th at the same Montessori school that she be attending in the Fall. The summer camp is running through the end of July in which she only goes every day until Noon. We thought this would be an excellent way to get her familiar with a new place, new friends, teachers and daily structure. I have to admit that I was a bit apprehensive about dropping our two year old off at a place that she's never been before and where she doesn't know a single person. I mean how scary could that be for a child?

 

Well, my apprehension proved to be correct. That first day was torture. Probably more so on me but she also had a rough morning. I took her in and we were introduced to everyone as she clung to my leg. The teacher showed us activities that she could do to get her mind onto something but she didn't want any part of it. She then reached for me to hold her and that's when she asked for me to stay and "no go to work." Then her tears began to fall and my heart started breaking. The teacher thankfully took her from my arms. Madison then started sobbing and calling for her Mama. I knew my tears were about to fall too and I needed to get out of there quick. As soon as I was outside, I lost it. I walked back into my office and every mama there knew exactly what I was experiencing.



Around 9:00, I decided to call the school to see how Madison was doing. She had been there for thirty minutes so things had to be better right? Wrong! The director told me that she was sitting in her cubby, holding her baby, lunch box and water bottle while the other kids are in another room at circle time. Again my tears began to fall as I pictured our little girl sitting there holding her belongings. But I had to be strong and let our little girl work through this on her own.

At 11:00, my boss talked me into calling the school again just to try to help ease my mind. I promised the director that I wasn't going to be "that mom" who called every half hour but I just had to know. I was comforted when she told me that after we spoke in the morning she coaxed Madison out of her cubby and sat with her as they sang songs and Madison was doing much, much better. In fact, at that moment she was outside playing with the other kids.



She's just completed her second week on Friday. She's still a bit apprehensive and shy in the mornings but I can already see that she is much more comfortable with the new surroundings. Additionally, she loves it. She wakes up asking if she's going to summer camp. Which is so awesome and makes me so happy to know that we are doing the right thing by pushing her into new situations because ultimately it's going to help her grow and succeed.



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An Evening With Friends At The Winery

The title is self explanatory so no words, just pictures.













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Saturday Morning Outside

I spent yesterday morning outside playing with my girl. I can honestly say it was one of the most enjoyable times I've had with her yet. She's silly, she makes me laugh, she's creative and imaginative and frankly, she's a lot like me. So, we spent the morning doing things we both like and it was awesome.









See, I told you she was silly.





To confirm, yes, we are in the front yard. I have our naked child, in a bucket in the front yard. As she got out of the bucket she proudly exclaimed "I done with my bath. I all clean!"

Yee Haw!







Toodles!
Love,
Kimberly