Kindergarten Update

Two weeks of kindergarten down... thirty four more. Or something like that. It has been a rough two weeks in some ways, but good in others. For example, we have all had to get used to the schedule and Abbey it not used to being so busy all day. This has led to occasional after school meltdowns.

Am I mean to take a picture of this?

(Please note she did not wear that dress to school, it is for dress-up only!)

But it was actually Elliott, not Abbey, who had a rough first week of kindergarten, even though she was not the one going to school. She had a stomach virus for a couple of days, which meant none of us were getting much sleep, she was totally pitiful, and also meant Chad and I really didn't get to enjoy his last few days of post-deployment leave. By last weekend we were all ready for a couple of days to relax. This Monday Chad went back to work, and it was just me and Elliott for the first time in a long time. It was nice, but definitely quieter!

Here we see Elliott experimenting not only with the properties of sand, but also with fashion.

Elliott misses Abbey while she is at school. She has not cried for her, but asks when we are going to get her, and one morning was sad that Abbey "no say bye me." Since then we have made sure Abbey gives her a hug good-bye. Whenever we are waiting outside for Abbey after school Elliott is very concerned until she sees "my sus-ter."

Elliott walks a mile in a kindergartener's shoes... and with her backpack.

Overall, Abbey is doing well and enjoying school. I am so proud of her. We really like her teacher and she is making friends. We are still working on our morning routine. Abbey makes it very stressful by moving SLOW or flat-out refusing to do certain things to get ready. It may be her way of showing some anxiety about going to school, or just waking up grumpy, or who are we kidding, she is often like that with me anyway. I know it will get better and I just need to work on my own morning attitude! Unfortunately, she has already broken her perfect attendance. :0( the school nurse called me to come pick her up on Thursday afternoon with a 103 degree temperature! She is still not well, so please pray for her.

Last week Abbey was working on an "All About Me" poster for her classroom and wanted a "new" family picture for it, so we hooked our handy Gorillapod onto a chair and got this one.

I almost cropped Chico out of the picture for not looking and the camera and his poor posture, but Abbey insisted he is part of our family. I love my school kid!

She has a small family picture in her backpack and one in her lunch box, and says she likes to look at them when she misses us. Now she will have one on her classroom wall too!