To my sweetie

I love you sweetie
especially when you rub my feeties.
You are so cute
even when you toot.
Sometimes I want to run away
but something keeps pulling me in
always.
You are the best I could ever do
hopefully you know this is true.
I love you sweetie.

Part of the machine

Annika officially started her entry into the public school system this morning with little fanfare and a packed lunch she reported had melted before lunchtime. "The banana was disgusting!"

Her schedule is a little odd since she got the lottery-dictated "later gator" schedule which means her classroom day starts at 10:30 am. You can imagine how super convenient that is. So she goes to the on-site school daycare starting at 8am every day and is walked to and fro class at 10:30 and 2:30, respectively. Then she stays in daycare until a little before 5. It's a long day, but she's been a pretty lucky kid so far with her schedule...I have every confidence she'll adapt very well.

She told us that she made a new friend ("I am sorry to say I can't remember her name"), that her teacher was "really, really nice" and that overall, "this was the best day of my life!" Well, OK then!

We already had homework that we wrapped up before dinner, and she's now enjoying some evening downtime.

I did not cry. I think that the process was too fascinating for me as an observer - the parents, so very many parents, having the same experience as us - watching their pride and delight and fear...and watching them all box out the other kids who were trying to get into the classroom. It was contained pandemonium and before I knew it....it was over. And so are the days where she was our very little girl whose schedule we entirely managed...she's part of the machine now. Wow...I think I'm having a delayed reaction. Bye bye!

Boring but good

Not much new going on in this here parts....oh, well, Annika is starting Kindergarten this week. Ok, that's a big deal! She's been acting up lately...maybe related to the whole life-changing thing, but maybe it's actually how 5 year olds act. We've been pretty spoiled. More to come on the Kindergarten front. For now:



We went to Sacramento last weekend to visit our cousins for their birthday party. These kids cannot travel. Declan is good for two hours; tops (Sac is a nearly 3-hour drive) and Annika (literally) asks "Are we there yet?" 448 times. I might need to work on my patience, but I vote that they need to work on their travel tolerance.

But they're so cute:



Annika asked me "Why is Declan's hair so dark?" Um, what do you mean, honey? "I mean, why is it brown while mine is blonde?" Hmmm... Darker brown? You decide:

The boy

I was paging through some pics and came across this one...I know...he's in Christmas pajamas. But it's August, you say. Well, I say Hannah Anderson is expensive and it still fits, so it's Christmas in August!



I post this picture because this is how he is...all the time. Underfoot, getting into trouble. When he's not scaling his toy BBQ to get onto the coffee table, he's trying to eat one of Annika's toys or wants to use the remote control to use as a phone. Chris and I regularly refer to him as a "menace". Why didn't anyone warn me about boys? Oh, many of you did. Woops.

However, when he's been naughty, all you have to do is give him a stern "Declan!" and then command him to give you a kiss. He'll walk over to you with that grin you see in this picture and open his mouth, lean into you, and give you a nice wet one. Maybe boys aren't so bad.