This week, Kattiana has been home for six months. Half of a year. In some ways, it feels like a blink of an eye, and in other ways, I can hardly remember life before our littlest sissy was home.
Eisley started kindergarten last week. If you ask her how it's going, she will loudly exclaim her excitement about it. However, the transition has been harder than we expected, and every drop off has been drawn-out and tearful. Kattiana, of course, has been along for the ride, going with me each day to drop off and pick up Eisley. From day one, she has told me repeatedly and emphatically that she wants to go to school: "Mama, you drop me! Mama, I 'garden too."
I had grand plans for K to ease slowly into preschool in late October, beginning with just a few hours a day. Despite her excitement, I was concerned that she didn't realize that I would not be there with her. There would be new routines to learn, new rules to follow. New friends, new teachers, new new new.
But, as she has continued to plead to go to school, we decided to start her a bit earlier. So, yesterday, she confidently marched into her class, pushed her way between friends to get a place at the sand table, and got to work (er, play). As I left, I was teary and emotional, and she barely made time to say goodbye. My big girl. Two hours later, when I came to pick her up, and she screamed and cried that she didn't want to leave.
Writing this now, I am misty-eyed thinking about it. This vignette is a prime example of her bold approach to life. Her resilience and bravery continue to astound me.
Highlights for Kattiana from the last couple of months include:
My time off of work is winding down, with just a few months to go. The last six months have been a complex and often comic parade, traversing as a newly formed family of four through ups and downs and winding turns. I reflected recently, not as a complaint, but as a realization, that I don't feel like we've had a sense of stability for quite some time. Saying this aloud, it seems incredibly obvious. But, somehow, I underestimated how many things would feel like change, and how every new transition would impact all four members of our family so differently. And, that together all of these varying experiences would add up to yet another tangled shared experience.
I've not been my best self during much of this new journey, and I'm working hard to take deep breaths, allow myself time for self care, and to remember to pause and express gratitude for the beauty by which we are surrounded.
We're coming out of a season of incredibly fast (and thus, often painful) growth and into a season of building new family routines and regularity together. I couldn't be more proud of my girls, and more appreciative of the support of my partner through all of this.
And now, on to the good stuff!
Eisley started kindergarten last week. If you ask her how it's going, she will loudly exclaim her excitement about it. However, the transition has been harder than we expected, and every drop off has been drawn-out and tearful. Kattiana, of course, has been along for the ride, going with me each day to drop off and pick up Eisley. From day one, she has told me repeatedly and emphatically that she wants to go to school: "Mama, you drop me! Mama, I 'garden too."
I had grand plans for K to ease slowly into preschool in late October, beginning with just a few hours a day. Despite her excitement, I was concerned that she didn't realize that I would not be there with her. There would be new routines to learn, new rules to follow. New friends, new teachers, new new new.
But, as she has continued to plead to go to school, we decided to start her a bit earlier. So, yesterday, she confidently marched into her class, pushed her way between friends to get a place at the sand table, and got to work (er, play). As I left, I was teary and emotional, and she barely made time to say goodbye. My big girl. Two hours later, when I came to pick her up, and she screamed and cried that she didn't want to leave.
Writing this now, I am misty-eyed thinking about it. This vignette is a prime example of her bold approach to life. Her resilience and bravery continue to astound me.
Highlights for Kattiana from the last couple of months include:
- Joining her first dance class. If you don't find joy in watching two and three year olds run and dance, you clearly don't have a heart.
- Taking swim lessons with Eisley. It was an incredible challenge for both girls, and they faced new fears like champs.
- Our first mini-vacation as a family. We road tripped down to Portland to spend the weekend with two of our most favorite friends. The trip included backyard chickens, a lot of delicious food, and playing in the sunshine. Overall, both girls were fantastic, and it's eased my fears about taking a family vacation.
My time off of work is winding down, with just a few months to go. The last six months have been a complex and often comic parade, traversing as a newly formed family of four through ups and downs and winding turns. I reflected recently, not as a complaint, but as a realization, that I don't feel like we've had a sense of stability for quite some time. Saying this aloud, it seems incredibly obvious. But, somehow, I underestimated how many things would feel like change, and how every new transition would impact all four members of our family so differently. And, that together all of these varying experiences would add up to yet another tangled shared experience.
I've not been my best self during much of this new journey, and I'm working hard to take deep breaths, allow myself time for self care, and to remember to pause and express gratitude for the beauty by which we are surrounded.
We're coming out of a season of incredibly fast (and thus, often painful) growth and into a season of building new family routines and regularity together. I couldn't be more proud of my girls, and more appreciative of the support of my partner through all of this.
And now, on to the good stuff!
Fashion and personality.
Bunk beds at our rented house in PDX, Eisley's dream.
An impromptu trip to the zoo!
Working on shapes, colors, and manipulatives.
K's first outdoor concert: Caspar Babypants. It was a dance party!
Our beautiful littlest girl (in a very old family heirloom).
Careful coloring. I love watching her brain at work.
Chasse away, my love.
Singing a favorite lullaby in the car to their stuffies.
"Working out" with me. She doesn't know yet that burpees suck.
I mean, she'll eat pretty much anything once. She'd already tasted a lemon, and despite the fact that I told her the lime would also be very sour, she had to decide by herself.
