Graduation

Last week Erin had an official "graduation" from kindergarten. I figured it would be kinda corny, I mean, Kindergarten graduation? But it was very cute. All the teachers read off the names of each of the kids in his/her class. They got to walk across the stage and get a "diploma" from the principal and they had a professional photographer and everything. The principal even gave a little speech at the beginning. Then all the kids stood up and sang 5 or 6 songs that they had been working on.

We were so lucky this year that Erin had THE BEST teacher. She was simply wonderful. She created a loving and warm environment where all of the kids clearly wanted to be at school. Erin learned so much from her. She started school not interested in reading at all and finished above the required level for kindergarten. She also made some wonderful friends. I'm hoping that Erin gets just as lucky next year. I asked Miss. Smiley if she'll be around in two years for Jeffrey and she said she's not sure. I certainly hope she is, because I'd love for him to have the opportunity to learn from her as well.

So here are some pictures and a video of her big day. The friend she's with in the songs is Brandon. They've been best buddies since early on in Kindergarten. It's quite cute to watch them play together and I'm glad she's found a best buddy.

Hamming it up with Brandon

Status Update

Jeffrey finally had his annual physical last week (yeah I know his birthday was over a month ago but combine busy doctors with stupid insurance people and well...you know). Our pediatrician does the big Kindergarten physical at 4 instead of 5 because often the kids are 4 when you register them for school. At least with Jeff I was prepared, poor Erin got surprised that she needed 4 shots when I thought she didn't need any.

Basic stats: Weight - 37.5 lbs -- yep that's 3 pounds heavier than his sister. Height - 43" -- yep that's the same height. No wonder people keep asking if they are twins.

The Dr. gave him a good bill of health. The hearing and vision tests went off without a hitch. We talked about the wasp sting (of course I forgot the camera so I had to describe it). We're going to watch Jeff pretty closely, but because it was a wasp, there's no history of allergies to stings in immediate family, and the swelling dropped after a few hours he didn't seem to think we needed to run out and buy an epi. pen.

We did discover that Jeffrey does have a skin condition called Mollescum Comtagiosum. These are the small bumps that he gets on his back, and now his neck, that have gotten infected a few times. We've now got an $80 cream to put on them. Hopefully that will last us for the next few millennium. His body should start fighting off the virus in the next few months and we won't see them any more.

Jeff also had to get 4 shots as menioned above. The Dr's office has this procedure down to a science. It takes 2 nurses, 1 care-giver/mom, 1 blankie and about 15 seconds to get all 4 shots in. He was very good. He did shout and scream, but didn't carry on too long. And for that the nurse rewarded him with 5 stickers, 1 book, 2 pencils and a toothbrush. Pretty sweet deal if I might say so.

So that's it for another year. Hopefully no visits are needed between (this year I think we only went in once...if that). That is unless he gets stung by another wasp and we discover that he IS allergic to them.

End of School Year Fun

As we reached the end of Erin's school year the first few days of June, there were lots of fun activities. The kids had a special field trip to a big wooden playground (knows as Kids Castle). Although the day was chilly and dreary they still had a ton of fun playing around. Erin also got to participate in her first Field Day. Jeffrey and I went to watch the games at Field Day and it was so much fun to see the kids playing. They had a dance party where one of the teachers taught them some silly dances and also just let them dance around the cafeteria. The PE teachers led a class vs. class tug-of-war. Watching 5 and 6 year olds at tug of war is hilarious. Finally one of the teachers organized a bunch of relay races, most involving water. This was Erin's favorite part of the day. She got totally soaked - which was the whole point. I also found much humor in the teacher's "release" during the water relays. I think the teachers were doing just as much soaking (including dousing the principal) as the students were.

So here are a few pictures from her field trip and then Field Day.

With her best friend Brandon

Carrying a "boiling" chicken in the relay races

She's the orange shirt in the middle of the picture....next to the blond girl in the yellow shirt.

Boy meets wasp

Unfortunately Jeffrey had his first run-in with a wasp yesterday. We always have had wasps around the house. Might be something to do with the yellow siding, might have something to do with the deck, who knows. What I do know, is that Jeffrey got too close to one who was building a nest and it retaliated.

There was some mighty screaming and it took us a few minutes to get him to tell us where it stung him. Finally he was able to explain that he got stung on the lip. We would have figured it out within a minute or two as his lip swelled up to about 4 times regular size. I quickly got him a freezer pop (glad Tom bought some that morning) to numb the sting. Then gave him some Motrin to hopefully help the swelling and made a baking soda paste to put on his lip. Poor kiddo was miserable. He still wanted to come to auditions for the summer show though (and after he felt better he even insisted on singing for the director).

Since it swelled up so badly we are going to watch him pretty closely for any other stings. A few parents mentioned that allergies often start with a slower reaction and can build in the future. He has a doctor's appointment on Friday so I'll mention it at that point.

He's much better today. Poor kiddo.

Regular Picture

Stage One

A Few Minutes Later

Shades of...

Back in February Erin was studying about Abraham Lincoln (Presidents Day) and Martin Luther King Jr. The process of talking with her about MLK provoked some interesting thoughts. When do kids start differentiating by race? Does she see, or realize the difference? How do we teach her about such an important person as MLK and not discuss race?

Her teacher dealt with it quite well. They learned that he gave an important speech. They learned that he dreamed all children to be able to go to school together. I talked with her about his passion for teaching peace. I think she grasped the important concepts.

Fast forward to just last week (June). Erin was working on a project for school. She was drawing a picture of herself.

"Armone has brown skin" she said. Armone is in Erin's class. Has been since September. Yet it took until June for Erin to think enough of her physical appearance to mention it.

"Jonathan has brown skin too."

Tom was walking by, and paused. I didn't say anything. I wanted to see what Erin was going to say next. It ended up something like "Mommy, can you pass me the blue pencil, I need to make my blue pants." So I said something like

"So Armone and Jonathan look different than you?"
Erin -- "Yep" (still coloring away on her drawing)
Me -- "And that's OK right?"
Erin -- "Yep"

That was it. The conversation had ended. I'm hoping I handled it correctly. Erin certainly doesn't seem concerned with it. Actually, the topic hasn't resurfaced since that short conversation. But I know now that her vision has broadened somewhat. She's noticing and recognizing that people are taller or shorter, lighter or darker skinned, blonde or brunette. She's seeing that there's a great big world out there full of so many different people and adventures. I'm watching my baby grow from a little girl into a young lady, right before my eyes. And how amazing it is to watch.

Off to "Meet College"

Last weekend was reunion at Allegheny. Tom and I haven't been back in 12 years. With rumors that our choir director, Chief, will be retiring soon, we decided this would be an important year to go back for the reunion choir. We brought the kids with us so that they could meet some of our friends from school.

Grandma came down from New York to play with the kids so that Mommy and Daddy could go to the rehearsals for the choir. We spent most of Friday and Saturday at rehearsals. Aunt Katie and cousin Will even came down for the day on Friday. They got to swim in the pool together and even take a trip to a nearby spillway and feed the carp.


It was important to us to show the kids around campus. We went for a walk Saturday afternoon and showed them were mommy and daddy first met. We also showed them where Daddy proposed to mommy (the bench is still there). Saturday evening we got to hang out with some college friends and their own families. Erin has seen pictures of "Mr. Jeff", heard him on the radio and even talked to him on the phone when she wanted him to play "Over the Rainbow" for her. We also got the chance to meet his family.



On Sunday before we headed back to the 'Ville Erin and Jeff wanted to show us the spillway with the carp. Honestly I thought it was rather disgusting. There were thousands of carp just swimming on top of each other. Waiting to be fed bread. We bought two loaves of bread and went through it in about 15 minutes.





So we had a special weekend. The kids got to spend some time with Grandma and Tom and I got to reconnect with some very special people from college. We promise it won't be 12 years again.

The results are in....

After a belated trip to the pediatrician for her annual check up we got there today. The Dr. is really pleased with how Erin is doing. Had some tips to fight off the headaches too (water, water and more water).

Of course my biggest concern...and always is...Erin's weight.

^^^^drum roll please^^^^

A whopping 34.5 pounds. I think the nurse could see the concern on my face as soon as Erin stepped off the scale. Really she's 6. 34 pounds? She only gained 4 pounds from this time last year. She shouldn't even be in a booster seat. She should be harnessed still.

Dr. Q. is not at all concerned. Erin's perfectly healthy. Her skin is good color. Her fine and gross motor skills are right on target. Her mental abilities are outstanding. She's just tiny.

I was hoping that maybe, just maybe we'd be a little closer to 40 pounds. Maybe by the time she's 8?