The Many Faces of Anna Maynard, Preschooler

Here she is. Our preschooler. Anna Maynard.

I love every single one of these pictures. Bottom row center - yeah, that's what 70% of the shots look like. The kid has timing...takes after Grandpa Hans, closing her eyes for every shot. Thankfully I took 2 million pictures, so we were able to get some pictures with her eyes actually open. ;)

Neither one of our girls are very clingy, but if you had to call one of them clingy it would be Anna. Last week I was pumping her up for starting school and she'd say, "I just want to stay with you, Mommy." So I was a little bit worried...there was no need. The girl was in HEAVEN. When we went to the open house last Friday, she actually got furiously mad when it was time to leave. When we took her to her first day yesterday, she could have cared less when we left her at school. That's just the way I like it.

It was SO cute when we were walking into her school. She's just walking, carrying her Thomas the Train lunchbox (which, by the way, just barely edged out the Spiderman lunchbox). As she got closer to the building, her pace quickened to a full-on run that nearly ended in a catastrophic collision with the gate. Thankfully, she recovered well. It was just so cute seeing her speed up the closer she got.

Here's the big girl all ready to go into her new classroom!

I think what she is most excited about is being able to paint. She keeps talking about it and it was one of the first things she did when we got to school.

I love preschool. It's so perfect for these little ones. Everything in the room is right at her level and exactly what she is interested in. From the fish tank to the little jars to the painting easel, it's heaven for Anna.

Anna, we love you! You're growing too darn fast...but we still love watching it happen.

the girls love each other

I just need to write a few things down that I don't want to forget about anna and cate and their sweet relationship.

anna is hating having cate in kindergarten. she frequently tells us that she misses cate, doesn't want cate to go, etc. yesterday she was really feeling it. she told me those things a few times. then, when cate got home, she left 15 minutes later for a play date. anna cried for a few minutes, and then told me she wanted cate to come back. it makes me sad that she's feeling such a hole, but thankfully she'll be starting her own preschool next week for 2 mornings a week, so that should help. but this really is an evolution in their life and relationship. after being together a LOT, they just aren't anymore...and won't be again. and anna is not happy about it. I'm SO grateful that this is how she feels...what a blessing to have her love her sister so much.

on cate's first day of school, the teacher had them draw self-portraits to hang on the wall, next to a photograph of themselves. when we went to back to school night and looked for cate's picture, we found and it just went "awwwww." there was a picture of her and anna standing outside together. are you kidding? she drew anna into her self-portrait? how sweet is that?

oh, and when they watch movies/tv together, they always sit RIGHT NEXT to one another. it is the cutest thing ever.

just now (and what spurred this post) cate said the cutest thing. it's morning, anna is still in bed. anna lost her two my little ponies this week and we've searched everywhere and couldn't find them. last night, when we were searching for something that I had lost, we found the ponies. nate set them on a bureau in the living room. so, cate gets up this morning, sees the ponies and says, "oh mom! I found anna's ponies." I told her, "oh, dad and I found them last night in the pocket of the thinking chair." cate said, "who put them there?" I said, "well, anna did." then cate said, "no she didn't." me: "well, did you?" cate: "no." me: "well, then it had to be anna, since none of us put them there." cate thought for a minute then said, "but anna usually doesn't forget!" okay, this may be a story just for me...but I just loved how cate feels like she knows anna so well, it was just the sweetest sentiment in our little conversation.

don't get me wrong. they have their squabbles. what siblings don't? but for the most part, they are thick as thieves...or sisters. :)

Kindergarten!

And just like that, Baby Cate is a Kindergartener! I know time flies, but seriously? Kindergarten?

Cate has been counting the days until the start of school. Yesterday we had the chance to go check out her classroom and meet her teacher Mrs. C. As Cate looked longingly around the room she exclaimed, "I wish today were tomorrow!"

As we walked to school this morning with Dad and Anna, I turned to Cate and said, "Well, tomorrow is today!" She was beaming with happiness.

As soon as they opened the door, she was in the room, I think maybe the first person in. By the time Nate and I could get into the room, she was already sitting at a table lacing a card. She was very focused, it was super cute. (Sidenote: A place where there are hundreds of crayons organized by color is going to be HEAVEN for Cate.)

We put Cate to bed last night at 8:00, 30 minutes past her bedtime. She laid in bed WIDE AWAKE until 10:30. She just couldn't fall asleep. Then she woke up on her own early this morning. She told me "I just don't want to miss the first day!" Cate and I decided the first day of Kindergarten is a lot like Christmas morning. Cate seriously felt just as excited for today as she does for Christmas morning.

I only started to tear up once during the drop off, but I was able to hold it in. See, you can't even tell that at this exact moment my eyes are full of tears.

Mrs. C gave each parent a little white bag as we left this morning. I started to read the note on the outside and immediately started crying, so I stopped reading and stuffed it into the back of the stroller for later. What a mean teacher. Just look what she wrote to us:

Dear Parents,

Here's a little gift for you as you leave your precious one with me on the first day of school.

As you hold this cotton ball in your hand {editorial note: this is where I stopped reading while at school. brutal.}, the softness will help you to remember the gentle spirit of your child.

After you've gone home and dried your tears {she included a tissue in the bag}, make yourself a hot cup of tea {tea bag also included}.

Put up your feet and relax.

Remember that together you and I will work for your child to be the best s/he can be.

Thank you for entrusting your child to me for this special year. I will do my very best every day to be a nurturing guide for learning about and exploring this bright new world called "school."

Sincerely, Mrs. C

I like this lady. A lot. She's going to be wonderful. And I'm not even mad at her anymore for making me cry. That was going to happen anyway, she just helped it along...and even gave me a tissue. :)

I actually didn't cry that much when I read the letter later. But then Anna and I sat down to read a book. She picked an Angelina Ballerina book, one of Cate's favorites. About one sentence in I totally lost it, could barely get any words out. Anna just looked at me, sucking her thumb, and put her little hand up on my shoulder. I just told her I missed Cate (which she had told me herself earlier) and that I love them both very much.

I just love our little girls.

P.S. This is what the little sister's hair looks like the first day of school for older sister. Think I was a little more focused on Cate, perhaps? At least Cate's hair looked smashing, even if Anna looks like Einstein's protege.

Jelly Belly Factory!

Since we only have one week of summer left, I decided it was time to finally drive a kabillion hours to take the girls to the Jelly Belly factory! We went today and had a perfectly fun and wonderful morning together. I wrote about it more on the food blog, but I had to post this picture on here because Anna just makes me laugh.

Our Brave Girl

A few months ago, Cate's classroom had a traveling Bug Exploration Lab come to their school with GIANT bugs. Cate was completely unphased.

In fact, when we were driving home that day I was going on and on about how big the bugs were. She said, "They weren't THAT big." I think she was expecting human-sized bugs or something, so rat-sized bugs weren't all that impressive. {Shivers}

things to remember

today is a post mostly for me...things I don't want to forget.

I love how anna pronounces the sound "K." there's a subtle "T" before every "K." Miltk. Yutcky. Nitkki.

I love how anna has started saying "huh?" at the end of various statements. "the dolly's sad, huh?" "they're clean, huh?" the "they" in that second statement is referring to her beloved spiderman pajamas. gotta love this girl.

cate is obsessed with Star Wars. she asks us questions about the plot all the time - detailed, thought-provoking questions. she watches the movies any chance she can get (which is far less than what she wants). she knows which movies are which - maybe not the titles, but she knows all 6 of them. she knows exactly which ones she's seen - in case you're wondering, she's seen all of star wars 1, 4 and 5. half of star wars 3 and 6, and none of star wars 2.

the best part of the star wars obsession is that she knows all the music and hums it to herself constantly. she even puts in the sound of symbols crashing. she really knows the music. and she has favorite songs. the best/worst part is that anna has even picked up on it. I catch anna humming the main song all the time now, too. you know the song, "duh-duh-duhhhhh duh, duh-duh-duh duhhhh duh, duh-duh-duh duhhhhh duh, duh-duh-duh duhhhhh"

for the record. nate and I are NOT obsessed with star wars. we have never attended a convention. I've only seen episodes 1-3 (are they even called episodes?) once.

both girls like to shoot us all the time now, with the cutest little sound effects. who knew violence could be so endearing?

another cute cate thing. a few weeks ago the recycling people came to cate's school to talk about recycling. when I picked cate up that day, her teacher was gushing about how cate knew the answer to EVERY question that the recycling guy asked, that he was very impressed with her. I'm sitting there thinking, "wow! she must have really been paying attention to how we recycle." so, when we got home later I said to Cate, "Wow, sounds like you did a great job talking about recycling today." To which she replies, "It's from my Wall-E game on my Leapster!" Thanks, Wall-E. I appreciate you stepping in to help fulfill my parental duties. Can you teach her to read while you're at it? Oh wait, you already did. Thanks! :)

2-Year Old Potty Humor

Anna just came over to me, made a raspberry noise with her mouth and said, "Who tooted?" and then laughed.

Wow, potty humor starts young, eh?

Anna's First Visit to the Dentist...and Funny Cate Stuff

Anna visited the dentist for the first time today. She did FANTASTIC. Her teeth are healthy and she totally cooperated with the hygeniest and the dentist. When the dentist walked in and looked down at her first thing she said was, "Oh my goodness, she is so cute! I'm keeping this one!" Then later in the appointment she said she would happily babysit our girls any time (she saw Cate yesterday, too). I just might take her up on it...if nothing else, the girls would have very clean teeth after a babysitting session! :)

Anyway, Anna did great. It was really really cute. She and Mr. Thirsty (the sucky thing) had an interesting experience together...it was pretty much a competition to see who could suck harder. Mr. Thirsty won. Barely.

Cate did great at the dentist yesterday too and has uberhealthy teeth. Good job, girls!

Two cute Cate comments from yesterday that I don't want to forget.

I checked her lunchbox to see if she'd eaten her lunch at school. The fruit snacks I had thrown in for a special treat were untouched. I asked her why she didn't eat them and she said, "Because they aren't healthy for your body." How about that? She and I had watched part of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution the day before. I'm also always talking about healthy food and I know they have been discussing fruits and veggies at school recently. I'm glad the message is sinking in and she even made a healthy food choice all on her own! What a cutie.

Later in the day we went to the park and she got a pretty nasty splinter that we couldn't get out. I told her that maybe we could wait until Dad got home to try again, maybe he would have a good idea on how to get it out. Cate said, "Yeah, because Daddy's smarter than you."

Jane's reply, "What? Why do you think that?"

"Because Dads are smarter than Moms."

Don't worry, I straightened her out. ;) Just kidding - but I DID tell her that I am smarter at some things, and Nate is smarter at other things. Nate said Arnold Schwarzenegger says he's smarter then me and that's that. (Arnold's signature is on his PhD degree. PhD Schmee-H-D.)

Sweet Sisters

what makes cate angry

yesterday for "communication" at preschool, the topic was anger. they were discussing how to handle angry feelings. the teacher was going around the room asking the children what makes them angry. the responses were all in the ballpark of "when my sister hits me" and "when my brother takes my toy."

when it came to cate, she said, "when I don't get my way." the teachers loved it. and, we all must admit, it's pretty right on for cate. the girl knows what she wants!