Michael Turns Two! (dun dun dunnnn....)

Michael turned two on October 8th. He was particularly attached to his blankie and his doggie that day. When it was time for cupcakes after dinner, he was thrilled. He learned to blow out candles this year (and uses his new skill to this day if a fly gets in the house!).
He is the basic embodiment of a cherub, which makes the "terrible" part of the age a lot more forgiving. How long could you stay mad at cheeks like these?

We just decided to have him go shirtless since he's such a messy eater right now. ( On that note, he has just begun a phase that my other two never went through-the strip phase! For some reason he just doesn't want to wear a shirt most of the time right now-it's November, California November mind you, but still!). Here he is enjoying his chocolate-like father like son!

Philamena's First Day!

Here's our Phi Phi on her first day of school. She was so excited to ride the bus for the first time, that I had to let her-even though, being the protective Mom that I am, I met her at the school before and after for the first two days!

When I was taking this picture a sixth grader came running up and thanked me for taking it because it bought her time to catch the bus that day. As soon as Philamena saw a "big girl" get on the bus she wanted to be her friend. The girl, Ashley, has become a family friend-and our babysitter. She also took care to watch over Philamena on the bus those first few weeks as she got adjusted.

Philamena's teacher, Mrs. Camp, is quite possibly the sweetest kindergarten teacher on the earth! Every time I spoke with her those first few days (and every time since, as a matter of fact!) I have felt very strong impressions that this was exactly where we were supposed to be for Philamena to start school. As many of you know, and some of you don't, I had a lot of anxiety about putting my children in public school, having had a terrible experience with it growing up. Although I admit I am still open to private school or home school later on, it is a great source of peace to know that for elementary school at least, my children can thrive at the school that Phi's at.

My little darling is soaking up all the knowledge like a sponge. We are careful to always make homework time focused (boys in bed!) and fun. At first, when Philamena didn't write a letter correctly she sort of took it personal-we've noticed she is a bit of a perfectionist. (I can't imagine who she got that from! ;) She's doing better about not getting emotional about mistakes and realizing that that's what erasers are for. I try to have her practice her letters as perfectly as possible and she has really been able to do them just right when I sit there and coach her. She's got her first name down (of course every once in a while she'll bring home a paper with her name written backwards-oops!) and now we're working on her last name too.

I just finished reading her The Magician's Nephew of the Narnia series. She loved it and comprehended a lot of, although I suspect she especially likes the special alone time it provides for just us girls. We are three chapter's into The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. She is really getting it now because she's seen the film. I am excited to see her enjoying classic literature-this is something I've dreamed of sharing with my children for some time now.

Well, I've strayed a bit from the intention of this post, but a lot has happened since September and I am marveling at the progress of my daughter. This I can say regarding school, she is getting along very well with the other children and is very happy with her teacher. What a wonderful thing, having been one to hate school myself, to be able to raise children who positively LOVE it and get the most out of it! This is very exciting indeed!