Sadie's Reading!

In the last few days, Sadie has gone from recognizing/memorizing sight words to full on, sounding out and reading. I am so excited/happy/proud, as is she. It is all she wants to do now, from the moment she wakes up. And, she's noticing that words are everywhere, and loves trying to decode them. Such an exciting milestone...!!!

Of course, Eden wants in on some of the attention that is being given to Sadie now. So, she's making a big deal out of pretending to sound out words and read them. It is very adorable. I actually captured some of it on video last night, and if I can find my usb cord for the camera, I could actually upload it for posterity.

A Step Backwards...

I don't think I updated here, but Sadie has been doing really well with adjusting to both kindergarten, as well as her new morning day care situation. We implemented a reward chart in an attempt to stop the crying at drop-off at Cindy's, and it worked remarkably well. So far, kindy drop-off hasn't presented any problems. For whatever reason, she has been a real trooper about that one.

But today, there is no school (closed for Rosh Hashana) and so my plan was to leave her at Cindy's all day. She got hysterical at this notion this morning and made me feel really bad. I'm not sure why she was so upset about it, though I suspect it may be because she spent the day with her grandmother yesterday (they took her to temple).

Anyway, the short story is that in a moment of weakness, I told her that I would leave work early and pick her up. I don't know why I did that - while it isn't a problem to do this today, generally, it isn't something I can do, and I probably just reinforced for her that crying will get her what she wants.

update: I just called over to Cindy's and she's fine (as I expected), so Cindy is going to tell her that I called and she and I decided that Sadie's having a great time and that daddy will pick her up at the normal time.

I wasn't kidding...

...when I said I'd have more time for blogging now that I'm back at work. Yep, I'll now have time to detail even more mundane stories from our lives - brace yourselves!

Actually, I do have a cute story I wanted to note down for the memory keeper...

Yesterday, we were driving and we passed by my work. Sadie recognized it by the large, black, iron gate that encircles the entire campus -- in fact, she has mistaken the soon-to-be closed army post in the area for "mama's work" because of a similar gate. Anyway, we happened to go past campus from a different way than normal, and she got a sense for the size of the place. She said "wow, your work is very big." I told her that it was big because it was a university--a school for big kids. I then told her the name of it (Monmouth University). To which she replied, "yes, of course. Mama's University." That kid makes me laugh every.single.day.

Revelation

Sadie and Evan were both sick for most of the weekend, so I had a lot of alone time with Eden. And, I've come to a revelation. I've been thinking for a while that Eden is in a really active and difficult to parent phase, and that is why it has been hard to be with both of them. Because I've had the opportunity to do things alone with Sadie, and they've been really easy and pleasant, I've been blaming Eden for my overwhelmedness (is that a word) when the three of of us go anywhere ("it is just hard now because Eden is into everything...").

Spending the days with her alone at the beach was a pleasure. She is easy and happy and not difficult to manage at all. She can sit and amuse herself with the sand toys for ages. I'm realizing that each of them is at their best when they have me to themselves, and that what is hard and overwhelming for me is simply the act of parenting two children who are competing for my attention. I feel so bad that I've haven't been able to recognize that. I think that I've been so focused on making sure that Sadie doesn't feel 'displaced' by her little sister, that I haven't really tuned in to the fact that Eden needs my undivided attention, too.

I've been sending Eden to the sitter's house one day a week so that I can have a day alone with Sadie. I'm going to start figuring out how to fit in more one on one time with Eden, as well.

File this one under "???"

The other night, as I was putting Sadie to bed, she said, "tomorrow, let's build a golf course." "Huh?" I asked her, prompting her to say "I want to turn our yard into a golf course." I have no idea where she came up with this idea...honestly, I didn't even think she knew what golf balls were, let alone a course. In any event, Evan and I decided that maybe we should take her to play mini-golf, so she can get an idea of the game before we break ground on the new course ;-)

So, Evan is off with her on Friday. If the weather cooperates, I think he's going to take her to the mini-golf place on the boardwalk.

A Week of Lasts

Sadie graduates from Pre-K on Friday, so this is a week of 'lasts'. Last swim day (today), last science experiment day (Thursday), and of course, the very last day (Graduation). I'm going today to watch her swim. I'm trying not to get too emotional over all of the 'lastness' of it all, but it is hard. I have a feeling I'm going to cry on Friday. It is so hard to watch them grow up!

Wordless Wednesday - How can she be ready for kindergarten already?

It really just dawned on me this morning

that Sadie only has nine more days of school before she graduates. I cannot wrap my head around this fact. She is going to be done with preschool. I'm not sure if she is totally ready, and I know I sure as heck am not. It does seem as though the years just keep flying by faster and faster.

It is really a neat thing to have two kids...because you can see forwards and backwards, in a way. Watching Sadie get to an age where we can really do fun things together, it makes me excited for the time when Eden will be old enough, too, and we can embark on the next phase in parenting. On the other hand, watching and treasuring Eden's babyness is wonderful, too, and something that I'm not sure I did enough of with Sadie (because I was always anxious about her getting to the 'next' stage).

Anyway, I do feel like graduating pre-school and starting Kindergarten is really the end of an era. I'm looking forward to a last summer with my 'not yet big enough for real school' kiddo before September rolls around and she makes that transition.

Wordless Wednesday - Sadie's First Trip to the Salon

Horseback Riding Lessons

I just signed Sadie up for an introductory lesson at a local stable. I'm so excited! The stable runs an "Itty Bitty Program" for kids ages 3-7. It is a two hour lesson, per week. 1/2 hour is to tack up, 1 hour of saddle time, and a 1/2 hour of after-ride stuff that has to be done (no clue what this is, as I've only been on a horse twice in my life). I was a little hesitant to just sign her up for the lessons, because I want to make sure she's going to have the attention span and interest for two hours at a pop each week, before I fully commit to lessons. But, I do think she is going to love it.

Things That Go Bump in the Night

I am weary, today. I know, I know...looking back through my posts, it seems as though I say that every Friday. But, really, today I am truly tired.

I was tired last night, and hit the hay a bit on the early side (for me, even). I'm sure I was fast asleep by 10pm. At 1am, I as awakened by a loud "bump!" Before I had time to try to figure out what made that noise, I heard Sadie crying out for me. She had fallen out of bed! I got her settled back in and she fell asleep instantly. Me? Not so much. It probably took me close to an hour to fall back asleep.

Then, at 3am, Sadie called out to me again. She had falled out of bed again, only this time she was twisted up in her covers, so the impact wasn't as hard. Once again, resettled her, got into bed and took a while to fall back asleep.

Sometime later (I stopped looking at the clock at this point), I was awakened by a very loud thunderstorm passing by. Thankfully, it didn't wake the girls, but I was up until the worst of it passed.

A bit later (still dark, but surely it must be close to morning at this point?), the sump pump (which is directly below our bedroom) kicked on, thanks to all the rain, and the noise jolted me awake.

I think I managed to half-doze for a bit longer, but all too soon, it was time to get up and get on with the day.

So, tonight I am either putting Sadie's bedrail back on or removing some of the gazillion stuffed animals that she has taking up space in her bed, so that we don't have a repeat performance. And, hopefully, I'll get some sleep.

My Little Philanthrop

Sadie has expressed an interest in 'earning' an allowance. In her words..."I want to do my responsibilities and then you give me money for it." So, we have agreed that each night after dinner, she is to help clear the table. If she does this every night, on Fridays, she will earn $1.40 (she came up with this amount).

In anticipation of her getting her hot little hands on the money, I've been talking with her about the concepts of saving, saving up for things, spending, and giving. At her school, they focus a lot on tzedukah (charity), so she is familiar with this one. So, this morning, I asked her what she was planning to do with her money that she will get tomorrow. Her answer? "I'm going to give it to you!"

Kind of negates the whole idea, doesn't it?

So, I did a Bad Thing

I mentioned in an earlier post how Sadie has been crying at drop-off in the mornings. This just started a couple of weeks ago. I have spoken with her teacher about it, and she has assured me that she stops moments after I leave, and that she has a great day. We both feel that Sadie has just gotten into a routine with it.

So, I had told Sadie that when she cried, it made me feel really bad, and that even though she stops crying as soon as I'm gone, I don't know that, and it makes me feel sad all day long. I told her that if she couldn't stop crying at drop-off, I wasn't going to do it (drop her off) anymore. I told her that her grandmother (who teaches at her school) would pick her up and take her to school. Sadie immediately said "ok, ok...I won't cry anymore", so I really thought it was going to work.

Well, yesterday morning on the way to school, I reminded her that this was the morning for her to show me that she could be a big girl and not cry. She agreed. Well, the second we stepped through the threshold to her classroom, she burst into tears. On top of her usual "I want you to stay with me" mantra, she added "I don't want Grammy to drive me to school". She was soooo upset. Obviously, I made it worse. So, I assured her that I would continue to drive her to school (I know, probably bad to not keep to my original word, but I just felt bad).

This morning, when she was brushing her teeth, she asked if Grammy was going to pick her up. I told her no, that I would drive her. She said "I didn't want to cry yesterday, I tried really hard, I just couldn't help it." I told her that it was wrong of me to make that threat, and that if she felt like she needed to cry, then so be it. I would still drive her to school every day.

So...we get to school and the drop-off was tears-free, for the first time in two weeks. I cannot, for the life of me, figure that kid out sometimes.

Some Big Girl Time

I think Sadie and I are in some serious need of one-on-one time. Even though we spend a lot of time together (well, relatively speaking for a mother who works full-time out of the house), the time we spend together--especially during the week--isn't often 'quality.' It is just so hard when I'm trying to juggle her needs with keeping Eden out of trouble (that in itself is a fulltime job) and whatever tasks I need to attend to. Don't get me wrong...I'm not one of those parents who puts chores over time with my kids (trust me. anyone who has seen the state of my house can attest to that). But still. There are things that need to be done (lunches made, general chaos contained, diapers to change and babies to nap) that keep me from giving Sadie my full (or, sadly, even much) of my attention a lot of the time.

Anyway, the past week or so, she has gotten very clingy, and has started crying at drop-off at school. I've spoken with her teacher, who assures me that nothing is going on at school, and that she's fine 5 minutes after I leave. So, my takeway is that Sadie is needing some extra attention from me.

I'm going to try to have just the two of us go out to breakfast or lunch one of the days this weekend, and maybe do a little shopping (her favorite activity!). Hopefully, some extra alone time with me will help her get past whatever is bothering her these days.

A Milestone

Yesterday, Sadie's final pre-school tuition check cleared.

Yes, the school that we send her to is frightfully expensive and we are on a payment plan with them.

Anyway, I can't believe that a) we're done paying out $xx a month to Center Play School (ok, I had to include that link b/c Sadie's picture in on their homepage)--at least until Eden starts there in Fall '09-- and b) my BABY is going to start Kindergarten in the fall. Where has the time gone?!?!?

Here is a photo of Sadie, taken on her first day there--September 19, 2005.



If she looks a bit dazed, its because she was! The poor child had been through quite a weekend. We sent her to her beloved sitter for the last time on a Friday, relocated from Massachusetts to New Jersey on a Saturday, and Monday morning she was starting her nursery school career. Again, I can't believe that 'career' is nearing the end.