Christmas Highlights

Christmas was a success.  Avery was quite pleased with the transformers (along with other gifts) that Santa delivered on. Her big gift from us was an electric scooter, which she has taken to quite well.  She seemed happiest with a last minute gift request that we met - a Nerf gun.  There were several board games added to the collection, a bit of clothes, a few treats, all the good stuff.

From day 1 off Avery has been missing her friends, so I know she will be ready to head back to school.

Yesterday I caved and took her into the Pediatrician.  She's been coughing longer than I did - and I went down right after Thanksgiving.  Dr. D wasn't concerned, so at least I know we're good to go.

4 Foot!

We finally had a little bit of growth after stalling out at 47".  If you recall I was so hopeful she would get that boost before the end of July cruise, to no avail.  Well at last, we woke up one morning and she looking longer and leaner.  Yup, 48"!  With the max on her car seat having been 49" and the seatbelt hitting properly she is now using her booster instead -- officially one more check mark in the big kid column.

This helps her school clothes fit a little better too.  I anticipate another inch or two in the coming weeks if she keeps pace with her past growth spurts (a few months after her birthday we have always changed sizes).

First Semester Down

Well the first semester is already over.  Avery did great, no surprise there, but I remain very proud of her.  During parent teacher conferences her teachers were very positive and I'm confident that we are on track.

Each Wednesday she has been staying after school to participate in robotics and really seems to enjoy it.  The neighbor also alerted us to another set of swim lessons through PEAQ, so we are one lesson in there as well.  Avery went to a karate class w/ her bestie and seemed to enjoy it, which firmly puts that on our list for NEXT fall.  I say next fall because she will then be old enough to participate in the muay thai classes as well, making the weekly fee more reasonable if she goes to both muay thai and jujitsu.  Sure, this all presumes that she likes it, but we'll give it a go.

We keep on dancing in the mornings, it keeps us warm on the days that are brisk.  I enjoy my extra bit of time with her each day and I hope it helps get her day off on the right foot.

Dancing it out every morning

My apologies to my neighbors.  I'm not a good dancer or singer.  But each morning after we head outside to wait for the bus we turn on iHeartRadio's 80's station and start spinning and dancing.  There's something about JCM's Little Pink Houses that gets me going at 7:30am.

The day will come when she doesn't want me to even look outside, much less walk outside, when the bus comes.  When she won't dance with me.  When she'll be too heavy or too mature for me to spin.  Until then, we dance.

Awesome Progress

The very next day (after my previous post) Avery came home bounding off of the bus and telling me she made a friend!  There is now a girl that she turns back and waves to saying "I'll see you tomorrow!" every day.  My heart is happy to see her happy.

She seems to be doing quite well at school.  We had one day with a bit of "trouble" where she got a yellow star vs green, blue, or purple.  I can see the improvement in her handwriting.  Her reading too - we read Green Eggs and Ham tonight and she did a good bit of reading with some encouragement.

They just sent out an email looking for kids that want to do their 8-week robotics after school activity.  She didn't seem interested at first, but when I showed her the bee-bot videos the school posted last year she was into it.  Of course, she doesn't want to not ride the bus, but it's only 1 day a week for 8 weeks and a good excuse for me to cut out early to go pick her up.

Making Friends is Hard

It happens to all of us, and I knew it was coming for me, but I am so ill prepared to see my baby crying because of friends.  She came home tonight a bit tired, so that didn't help.  Before bed she told me that she didn't have anyone to sit with on the bus.  She said she asked a girl to sit with her but she ignored Avery.  I suspect that Avery whispered it and the girl didn't hear her, but still.  The tears came and she was so sad.

I did my best to tell her that she doesn't remember when she started at her previous school knowing no one.  Then we counted off all of her friends there that would scream her name excitedly to see her -- because they got to know her and how wonderful she is

Otherwise, school seems to be going well.  Lord help me to help her little aching heart.

Kindergarten.

And just like that summer is over!  Our vacation at the end of July was amazing.  Avery and I had a blast at the beach -- literally, as we got to see a SpaceX launch from the beach.  We also loved our pre-cruise hotel and made many a circles around their lazy river.  The cruise itself was also fantastic, particularly getting to go to both Labadee and Cococay, but we also loved the port area in the Dominican Republic too.  I am very grateful for that quality time with her before the chaos that is school years commenced.

Speaking of school - we wrapped up at Up with Kids back on the 17th leaving a few days off where she got to sleep in, veg in front of the TV, and hit a few doctor appointments (dentist, chiro, and eye doctor).  We also had kindergarten orientation to attend.

The first day of school went well. To my surprise and her extreme pleasure she actually got a bus and not a van.  Did I cry?  Yep, you bet I did. I even cried the second day.  She did so well and popped on that bus looking confident.  She had green and blue stars for her first two days, so it looks like we're off to a good start.  She bought school lunch the first day (and came home excited that she got to pick between chocolate and regular millk) and packed the second day.

Getting things in order

After a few appointments not only is Avery's back looking better, but she's feeling better.

In the past few weeks we've been busy.  There was a Thursday trip to Kennywood w/ her bestie.  She had a blast!  She is also quite brave and was willing to ride everything that she was able to ride.

Last week she attended vacation bible school at the church where her daycare is.  She has talked about last year's VBS ever since, so I knew it was a win.  She again had a blast.  This week she is at summer fun week at our church.  I'm hoping they make it fun, but I suspect she isn't going to be impressed.  Let's put it this way:  1).  We pulled into the parking lot and she said "wait, it's at the church I don't like?"  2).  They do mass right at 8am.  The good news is this week is all day (from 8am-4pm) rather than half day like last week.

I tried to capitalize on the time w/ her last week in the afternoons.  We went to the pool a couple of times, where she got to play with some friends.  We also got her hair cut and had our nails done in prep for upcoming vacations.  Yesterday we capped off by hitting the pool again with her bestie.

She's crooked I tell you.

Her back that is.  I was washing Avery's back; she was leaning forward with her head bent down.  I could see the bones in her back and straight they were not.  I freaked out inside, I'm not going to lie.

Fortunately, our chiropractor got us in, even though neither of us have been there in prb 2 years.  No need for xrays etc, but they did adjust her.  She's was a wee bit sore last night and this morning.  We do go back again next week to make sure she's staying in place.  She did say she felt better ... and here I was not knowing that her back even bothered her!

Super duper officially a kindergartener

Today Avery had her graduation ceremony from Pre-K2.  She has the certificate, cap, gown, photos, balloons, and flowers to show for it.  Aunt Jackie is in visiting, which was perfect timing to be here for the big event.  Aunt Susanne and cousin Katie also came in for a few days, and Nonna and Nonno made the drive to participate.

All of the kids did a great job singing.  They also had a blast running around at the reception that followed.  Avery got photos with most of her friends.

So there you have it, she's ready to start kindergarten - and if you ask her she's ready to go tomorrow.  Slow down kid.

Catching up...

Avery had a blast on our vacation.  She will definitely remember the beach and cruising now.

We've been back for weeks at this point.  Those days have been filled with (outside of school) playing outside in the nicer weather, wrapping up dance for the year, and swim lessons.

She loved the swim lessons and successfully 'leveled up' - so she will be in the 'advanced beginner' classes come June.

Today (Mother's Day) she touched my heart with the home made goodies she made for me; but she drove it home at bed tie when she repeatedly wished me a Happy Mother's Day.  She truly is my everything.

It's all about the keratin

Avery and I went to get a pedi today - her first one!  She also got her nails painted.  We match with a beautiful sparkly blue.

Later in the day Avery got her third haircut and first one away from the person I have trusted.  It was time to get the ends tidied up.

Official

Last week Avery went for Kindergarten testing.  We received feedback promptly.  They provide a score on several individual skills and an overall readiness rating.  She had a raw score of 36/41, ranked at 80% in the national percentile and got a "R+".

Sunday and Monday of this week I worked to get an account and to fill out the school registration forms.  They are submitted and our registration fee paid... I hope that means it is a done deal?  Kindergarten, here she comes!

Slowed... but still

There was more vomiting, but the events are definitely further between. She had asked for food but by the time I readied it she was feeling off and tired again and instead went to lay down on the couch where she zonked out.

One thing I never mastered when she was little was sleeping when she sleeps - obviously.  I'm so tired since I didn't get much sleep last night and today I didn't want to sleep knowing that she was still having periodic issues.

Again?!

Once again Avery went down quick for the count.  Before 1am last night she called for me from her room - which is very abnormal for her.  I went over and she was complaining about her belly.  I cuddled with her for a while after asking about the pain and was startled out of half-sleep by puke.  Mind you this is only the third puke episode she's ever had and it has been years.

Got her cleaned up and changed, pulled the sheets and blankets into the wash and moved us to my room after she seemed to be settled back down.  My efforts to cover things didn't go well so the next puke episode caused me to strip that bed as well.  Fortunately I have other sheets and we made due with blankets and towels.  At this point she knew what it felt like and was able to help out and subsequent waves were into a garbage can.  She finally fell asleep around 4 for an hour, waking again after 5 to puke again, then back out for a couple of hours.  When she got up to potty around 7 she threw up again, in the toilet.

I got her settled in and she slept for several hours without incident.  I stayed close and managed to go through my drawers to pull clothes for donation or to make space from those that don't fit right now.

At noonish she woke and claimed she felt really good.  A small sip of water stayed until 12:30 so I gave her another sip.  That stayed until 1pm so we came down and went outside to get a bit of sun since the weather is so nice today.  She isn't loving the pedialyte, so I gave her a freeze pop in an effort to get a little more fluid in.  So far so good.  She's now downstairs watching TV with a garbage can at her side.  I am hoping this one is over.

Speaking too soon

Well the mini-cays I mentioned in my previous post bloomed in numerous ways.  While she was off at our desire on Friday she ended up coming home before 10am on Monday and staying off Tuesday.  She wasn't quite herself on Sunday and developed a slight fever along with a rash on Monday morning.  We did head into the Dr and verified that she didn't have strep.

I also ended up booking another cruise, not out of Baltimore as previously indicated, but definitely sooner than the previously booked cruise.  Snagged the flights too.  I even booked us to go a few days early since we're leaving from Galveston, so we can enjoy the beach before departing.

Today she was well enough, thank goodness, and was able to go with me to the open house at her would-be school.  I remain very impressed with what they have the kindergarten doing at this point in the school year and I'm psyched on all fronts.

Mini-cay

I haven't been able to vacation like I would _want_ to in a while, but I am trying to create mini vacas before big-girl school kicks in. That includes: allowing Avery to skip school and stay in her PJs most of the day, cutting out of work early so we could hang out, and allowing her to try out the hot tub for the first time.  Admittedly the nudge came from school being short handed (still) with a sick teacher and needing a few ppl to bow out.

I did (finally) book us a cruise for the later half of the summer, which I am crazy eager for.  If the status quo can just chill we will get to go to Labadee, Cococay, and Dominican Republic.  I wanted to book another for March out of Baltimore (baby step before I need to fly for one) but go figure every sailing is sold out.

It isn't all unicorns and rainbows

I know I am spoiled with my kid.  She has made it too easy for so long that when normal, age appropriate behavior pops up loudly it can be frustrating.  When I go to pick her up at the end of the day I am the last person she wants to see.  It breaks my heart. I know she just enjoys playing with her friends, it isn't personal, but it hurts.

She has been testing boundaries and getting grumpy when she doesn't get her way.  It's so atypical of her.  We'll get through it, I just hope I am approaching things in the best way possible.  I don't like to punish her by taking things away or saying no, but let's be honest -- a good dose of no is healthy in the long run.

Open House

Kindergarten open house.... Feb 8!  Oh my.