Nothing To See Here

We had a lazy day today. Peeper woke up way too bright and early for a Saturday, but I guess it's good that she's staying in her routine.

We blew off the Farmer's Market and just hung out at home. Shrike went to work, and Peeper and I did not much.

Didn't even take photos, evidently.

"Help Me!"

What's a little dog butt on your head, between friends?

Potty Prize

Peeper finally got her ten stickers for staying dry all day a few days ago, so Shrike took her bouncing today, as her prize.

Back to Work

Today was Peeper's first "full" (3 hour) day of school, with all of her classmates there, and it was also my first day back to work at the college where I'm a professional tutor for the Anatomy and Physiology classes. (For those just joining the program, I started that job last January, working 10 - 15 hours a week.)

Of course, as luck would have it, I was supposed to show up at the exact moment that Peeper was scheduled to be picked up. Today and tomorrow are meetings and trainings, though, and we started with lunch today, so I arranged to go in a bit late in order to spend at least a little time with her after school.

Shrike and dropped my car off at the college, then picked up Peeper and they took me to work.

After work, I ran by the farm to pick up a friend's CSA share because they're out of town. (That's not as big a deal as it sounds, the farm is about five minute from our house.)

After working sitting around a table talking for five whole hours, I was exhausted. Too tired to take photos, evidently.

Panda Pics: 58 Months

On Monday, when I told Peeper it was time for photos, she ran and sat by Mr. Panda, because that's usually what that means. When I offered to make those her "official" panda pictures for the month, she protested and insisted that we take more the next day.

Yesterday, as we were getting in the car, she said, "Oh no! We forgot to take a picture with Mr. Panda!" I assured her that we'd do it after school, but well, nope, that didn't happen.

So, here she is, fifty-eight months and one day old.

Graffiti Artist

Once again, the MOMS Club left back-to-school messages in sidewalk chalk at several area schools. Last year, we did all nineteen schools of the district where most of us live, and this year, we did those, plus three in another district where we have some kids, plus K (AK's mom) and I did the Montessori Academy.

Peeper went out with me Friday evening and Sunday afternoon to work on the public schools, but we waited until this evening for Montessori, so it would be fresh tomorrow morning for the first full day of classes with all the students.

Peeper got into the act, adding the details of my Smiley Face Guy.

I had the circle colored in and she asked to add the face. I told her where to put the eyes and mouth, and then she got kind of carried away.

He now also has a nose, cheeks, ears, hair, chin, skin, body, legs, and I'm really not quite sure what else.

This is how I looked when we finished.

When I was taking photos of the chalk, Peeper decided to do a little photo shoot of her own. Here she is with the chalk outside the door of the Children's House wing, where she is dropped off and picked up.

And she wanted to take a few by the playground, too.

Day Two

Peeper had another 75-minute "phase-in day" at school this morning. We were a little confused about whether to take her in like we did yesterday, or drop her off at the side door like we will in the future, so there was a little extra wait time at the drop off, which gave her a chance to start getting nervous, but by the time we were at the front of the line and it was her turn to get out, she did okay.

Here she is waiting to go in. That's her book of photos of her classroom in her hands.

When we picked her up, she once again told us that "it was awesome," so yay!

First Day of School!

Peeper went to her first "phase in" day at her new Montessori school today. It was only an hour and a quarter, but we're calling it officially the First Day. With photos, of course.

She did really well, just expressed a bit of hesitance. While doing her hair, she said, "I don't really think I want to go to school," and "Why can't I learn things at home?" and as we got out of the car, she again brought up, "Why can't I learn things at home? I like reading and learning things." We assured her that she will still read and learn things at home, and she was pretty okay with that.

When it was time to leave for school, I told her, "Okay, time for pictures, and then to the car!" I couldn't find her, and it turned out she'd gone to her bedroom and sat down with Mr. Panda. Since tomorrow is the 27th, I suggested making this her official panda picture, but she was having none of that, and said she wants to take pictures with him again tomorrow. We'll see.

Heading out the door.

On the front porch.

Here's a better view of her sign. At the bottom, it says "When I grow up, I want to be a baker." That's the first time she's said that. Maybe she was watching a video about bakers when I interrupted her to ask.

Of course, I can thank Pinterest for the idea of having her write her name on the sign and include what she wants to be when she grows up.

Pay no attention to the awful garage doors.

Hopping in the car.

All buckled up.

In front of the school.

In front of the school.

In front of the school.

All the kids (just the new 3/4/5 year olds) and parents waited in the lobby for the teachers to come out and get them. When this photo was taken, the teachers were going around finding their kids and we were waiting for Peeper's teacher to spot her.

She found her!

The Head of School asked us to give them about fifteen minutes to get the kids into the rooms, and then we were welcome to go spy on them through in the two-way mirror.

Peeper seemed to be doing great. Today seemed to be about starting to learn the basics of How Montessori Works. They practiced getting out mats, unrolling and rolling, and putting them away, as well as walking around the room and not stepping on mats.

They were introduced to the pink tower and the brown stairs, and Peeper was the one that the teacher used to demonstrate the pink tower. That's what's going on in the photo below. The skeleton-under-a-dome is blocking the view of the tower.

After that, she worked on the pink tower independently while the other little girl did the brown stairs and the boys did transferring work. Then they traded and she did some transferring. She was in a part of the room that we couldn't see at that point, but she told us that she'd poured beads from one jar to another. She also said that they went all over the floor. Oops.

When we lost sight of her, we went back out and chatted with other parents for a while, then drove around to pick her up, the way we'll do it on regular days.

When she got in the car, I asked, "So, how was it?" and she said, "It was awesome!"

After school (at 10:15 am) we went out to brunch, with our MOMS Club friend K and her daughter AK, who is a Kindergartener in a different classroom. She declared it, "Schoolioawesome!"

Peeper thought her chocolate chip pancakes were pretty awesome, too.

Hey, Peeper?

What?

Last Swim

Peeper and I went swimming this afternoon, for one last blast before school starts. I actually remembered to take my real (waterproof) camera, and got lots of photos of her in the pool, and she took lots, too.

But, although I can see them when I have the card in my phone, I can't seem to see them on the card when I put it in the reader on the computer, so for now, you'll have to settle for these photos of her eating a donut afterward.

Yarrrrn!

Peeper and I went to the children's art studio and place-of-awesome-toy-collection with the MOMS Club today.

The newest thing there is a "pirate ship." After playing the captain for a while, Peeper decided to repurpose a couple of hooks and a fishing net.

She's knitting.

Montessori New Parent Orientation

This evening was the new parent orientation meeting at Peeper's new Montessori school. After the meeting, I poked around in her classroom and took a bunch of photos to put in an album for her, so she can get an idea of what to expect.

What she can expect is awesome!