I love the stories I get from TT's school teacher. This one was especially precious. The kids were sitting in circle for story and the little boy sitting next to TT pushed the little boy sitting on the other side of him. I guess this other little boy got to close to his personal space. Obviously, the teachers handled it. But TT needed to have her say. So she called the little boy's name who was sitting next to her. It apparently took some work to get his attention, but once she had it, she had a message for him. "You need to be more careful with my friend Josh". Said in the nicest way possible. It was a lovely message, said in the nicest way possible. If only everyone in this world could be so eloquent.

TT was coming down the basement stairs yesterday. I could barely see the top of her head coming down the stairs. She wasn't progressing down in her usual steady way. This way was slow and she looked slightly unbalanced. when she got to the bottom I realized why. Her eyes were squeezed shut, one hand was placed over the shut eyes and the other was extended out for balance. I had to ask "TT what are you doing?" She said "I'm hiding from my eyes"

Leaving for gymnastics class one morning Taylor says "Alphabet. A-A Alphabet starts with A. Annoying. A-A Annoying starts with A too" Yes, yes it does. Where does she get this from?

"Razzie poops in the snow. I'm very impressed. I'm not happy about it" Taylor says as the dog comes back in from outside.

One Liners

I love the comments little kids make:

We have a dog with long hair and I was cutting knots out of it.....Taylor was watching with great interest. Later that day after Taylor got out of the bath and as I was brushing her damp hair she says: "You can cut the knots out if you want"

Or when we were watching a video about airplanes, she asks: "Mommy why do airplanes fly through clouds"?

We hosted my brother's birthday celebration this year. As all of the adults are showing up Taylor asks: "Did anyone bring any kids for me to play with?''. Unfortunately the answer was no. But I did explain that one of his friends was pregnant and had a baby in her belly. To which she responded with: "Well is it going to come out and play with me?"

Small day-to-day things can be the cause of celebration to kids. My husband was using the bathroom and when Taylor heard the flush she started skipping around singing "There goes his pee".

Taylor, I have learned loves to snuggle in our bed and listen to her father's alarm clock. The wake up tune is a Cold Play song called: Viva La Vida. I rolled over and turned it off mid song, I mean really, who likes an alarm clock. Taylor bolted upright "Mommy you turned off my song". Apparently that is her song. My three year old likes Cold Play.

Taylor's 3 yr old Birthday Questions

I thought it would be fun to ask Taylor (and eventually Evan) a series of the same questions on their birthday every year. I hope to add to the list of questions as they get a bit older, just to see their answers, but keep the original list to watch how the answers evolve over the years.

Here were this years questions:

1. Favorite Color: Red

2. Best Friend: Arina

3. Favorite thing to do at school: Play with kids

4. Favorite ice cream flavor: White (I think she means vanilla)

5. What do you want to be when you grow up: A Giant

6. Favorite Toy: Silly Willy Nilly Evan

7. Favorite TV Show: Little People

8. Favorite Movies: Madagascar and Mary Poppins

9. Favorite Snack: Birthday Cake

10. Favorite Food: Sandwich

11. Favorite Game: Hide & Seek

12. Favorite Fruit: Cantaloupe & Strawberry

13. Favorite Outside Activity: Play

Things she likes: Finding the moon and star gazing. Playing T-Ball (she calls it baseball) in the backyard. Watching airplanes fly in the sky. Blowing bubbles. Running. Swinging on the swings with her brother. Puzzles. Games. Dancing. Coloring.

I had a few questions for her that she'll have to be older for.....things like: something you like about yourself, something you are proud of, favorite vacation, dream vacation.....etc. She'll get there.

If anyone can think of fun questions to add, either for this year or years to come please let me know.

Preschool

Setember 1st, 2010 was Taylor's first official day of preschool! The whole experience went off better then I could have ever hoped for.

We had been talking to her a lot about school in the weeks leading up to the actual start of school. She would talk about all the toys she'd get to play with, the kids, etc. She agreed that school was definitely not for baby Evan, after all he doesn't have teeth yet so how can he possible go to school. And readily agreed that school isn't even for Daddy. But she'd hesitate and look a bit worried whenever we explained that school wasn't for Mommy either. School was only for kids just like Taylor. The fact that school wasn't for Mommy also seemed like it would potentially cause her the most anxiety.

The day before school started Jay, Evan and I accompanied Taylor to an open house. She was very quiet on the way there, very reserved too. In the parking lot she showed very little enthusiasm for visiting her new classroom. Once in the classroom, she selected a corner or some other out-of-the way place to play and simply watched everyone. She met her teachers, learned where the potty was, etc. After an hour and we were on our way home again. T just simply met all conversations about school after this with a very quiet and inwardly thoughtful demeanor. Hmm, I was begining to wonder just how the first day was really going to go?

At last came the long awaited first day! We pull into the parking lot, park the car, and from the back seat comes this little voice....."I think I'm going to give this school thing a try". My brain goes "YES". And without further ado she leaps out of the car, lunch box in hand and ushers her father, brother and I toward the door of the school. Once in, I take her bag and lunch to her cubbyhole and find her happily playing with a little boy. We quietly watch her for a few minutes and after exchanging a few worried looks with one another Jay and I make our move to say goodbye. She gives us hugs, kisses and says bye without so much as batting an eyelash. Flawless. We exit the building still not believing how easy we feel we got off and wave at her through the classroom window. She blows me a huge kiss and says "I love you mommy". And that was that.

She did awesome. The teacher thought she was a little shy the first day, until she saw her running around with a pack of 5 year old's on the playground, complete with baby doll under her arm. Yup, my child is not shy about running around on a playground. All that being said, I don't think she used the potty on the first day......the first thing she did when we got home was do bee line for the bathroom. LOL. It will come.

I am so utterly proud of this kid. She's confident, self assured, and decisive. I love that she did so well on her first day in a new situation. I think she took all that time we were preparing her for school to deal with her any anxiety she had. I defiantly think the first day may have been harder on me then it was her. But I'm told that's normal.

The funny thing is, every time we pull into the school's parking lot Taylor tells me "I'm going to try this school thing again" Or some other variation of that. It's like she's giving herself a little pep talk. :0)