Naomi loves to go to school by bike. I have no trouble getting her out of the house when it’s a bike riding day. She sings for most of the trip with her arms spread wide, waves to people on the street, and otherwise has a great time. She has about 4 more pounds left on the green thing though, then we have to get something that attaches to the back which might not be as fun.
Naomi is a little under the weather… A cold. Here she is laying on the sofa being interviewed. The end of the movie got abruptly cut off…
Naomi sings the theme song to herself often…
Today was Naomi’s official first day of school. Yesterday was a pseudo-first day. We all went together at the normal start time, but instead of dropping her off, Chris and I hung out with her in the class room. Naomi immediately jumped into playing with play dough and then migrated her way around the room playing with blocks, babies in water, washers, plastic animals, etc. She interacted some with some of her classmates.
After about a half hour the kids went outside and the parents stayed inside for an orientation. At one point Naomi came back in to sit next to me, but the preschool coordinator managed to escort out after her introduction. When we were done with the meeting and went outside, Naomi was happily playing with a water table.
We then went and had a snack at Dolores Park Cafe then headed back so Chris and I could have our individual parent-teacher meeting. Naomi hung out in the yard. When we left she was playing with some bigger kids also waiting for their parents. When we got back she was hanging out with the gardener collecting palm tree seeds to plant at home.
That was all well in good, but today was the big day. The day Chris would drop her off and she would stay at school ALONE!
I was slightly anxious (but not showing it) and we definitely decided that Chris bringing her to school is the best option until she settles in (even though that requires him waking up at an ungodly hour for him). We were a little late in getting out the door today (time to adjust the alarm) and Chris was the last parent to leave the class. Oops.
I was wondering how it was going to go. Chris called me right away with an update. She was excited the whole way there. When she got to class, she dove right into playing legos with three classmates and Chris tried twice to interrupt her and let her know he was leaving and he was ignored. So there, first day drop off – accomplished. We were guessing about 1 hour into it she would go looking for him and perhaps get concerned when she discovered daddy was really not there… I don’t know – he is picking her up now and I expect to hear an update soon.
I know Chris has had mixed feelings about this. He has been taking care of her for many years now, but I will say that he had a noticeable look of freedom and joy on his face when he got back from the drop off. 5 hours of precious freedom :)
How long have we been home? A long time…
Time is flying by… I can’t believe Naomi starts school in less then four weeks. I think she is going to love it.
As predicted, Naomi did indeed have her mind blown at Disney World! Just today as I was explaining our agenda for tomorrow (hike, shoe store, food shopping) she said, “can we go back to Disney World?” Ah, not so soon, sweet one… I definitely don’t intend to go back when its 100 degrees. Oh, no. I was sweating at 10pm. It was not pleasant (as depicted above). That said, we did well in managing the heat and the excitement in general – very few meltdowns and what not… An overall success.
Naomi was probably most impressed with the characters. She enjoyed meeting all of them but was most impressed by Mickey and Snow White. She hugged up on any character she could get close to – many of whom she didn’t know. She isn’t super brushed up on her Disney characters but it didn’t stop her.
Second to the characters was the parades. We had to stop for every parade. She especially liked the one that involved everyone getting into the street to dance with Goofy, Donald Duck, and the dancers. She also liked the electric parade quite a bit. We stayed on SF time and stayed up a bit late so she was able to catch the 11pm showing a couple of different nights.
Next up were the rides of course. She liked the Dumbo ride although it wasn’t worth the wait in my opinion. She enjoyed the similar magic carpet ride which had a much smaller line when we hit it up. Much appreciated by me. She was frightened by the Snow White ride (aka the “witch ride”) and asked to not go on it again…
We fit in long naps, plenty of ice cream, fireworks on two occasions. It was an all around festival of fun for Naomi. The adults survived it as well. We stayed cool and didn’t over exert ourselves to see everything. I can’t forget to mention dinner in the princess castle. She enjoyed that immensely. She got to meet Cinderella, Snow White, and all those other princesses who are unfamiliar to me… She hasn’t seemed to have caught the “princess bug”. I am hoping we got out unscathed…
So all in all it was a fun trip despite the heat. Here are some more photos. Coming soon – a post about MAINE!
Dear Naomi,
I can’t believe you are three! It’s amazing what a little person you are and how quickly time has flown. When I think about how long your first eight weeks felt to how quickly the next 148 weeks went by… Whew. Well, your birthday came and went – we were all very excited for it. And you had a great time. Here is some proof!
First off, the birthday song! For comparison sake – here is a link to the video from last year.
Your birthday week started with a visit to my office on Friday. You love coming with me to work. It’s the second best thing to my not going to work! Aside from getting to be with your mom (which you enjoy at this stage thankfully), you also like coming to work so you can go riding on the bus, riding on the train, riding up the escalator, riding in the elevator, playing with all the toys in the office (we have lots of toys in the office), getting treats from my coworkers, getting treats from the owners of the restaurants in our building, and running down the halls. It’s an all out fun fest then you crash in the car when your dad picks you up after lunch…
The next day your grandma and grandpa arrived, but you were asleep. But you were excited none the less knowing that when you woke up you would get to see them. That next morning you woke up to your grandma-grandpa and the realization that your birthday party day had arrived! Months before when I had asked you what you wanted for your party you said, “puc-cakes and ponies”. You mispronounce cupcakes, puc-cakes… Anyway, later that day I google pony rental and found a place called Once Upon a Pony. They bring a pony to your party! How awesome!
The party and the pony started at 11am and the guests were late to arrive. That meant a pony to yourself for like a half hour! You loved it. The pony’s name was shorty and he was very sweet! After that we had pizza, cupcakes, presents, and lots of hours in a bouncy house with your friends. You had a blast!
The next day you hung out with your grandma and grandpa most of the day. On Tuesday – your actual birthday – I took most of the day off and we went to the Discovery Museum in the morning. You love it there and go a lot with your dad. I don’t get to go often and really enjoyed exploring the outdoor, “cove” part with you. It was a blast! After that we ate lunch at a nice restaurant nearby called Murray Circle. You had your own special lunch plus a mouse made of mousse! After lunch you even got a tour of the kitchen, got to meet the chefs, and shuck fresh peas (which you then ate)! It was a full day.
Wow – it’s been busy! It’s been a good month since an update! I can’t believe its almost time for Naomi’s third birthday! Whew… Here are some of the goings-ons for the past month.
