A Child's Garden

Today was Kate's first day at her new preschool, A Child's Garden. Kate had so much fun on Visiting Day that we were hopeful she would adjust easily. If we hadn't gone through the whole separation/school process in January, I would have been a complete wreck this morning. But both Kate and I were very calm and mature. Kate even said, "I'm so excited." As soon as Kate entered the cheerful classroom, she was greeted warmly by one of her teachers, Ms. Carrie, and then later by her other teacher, Ms. Mary, who complimented Kate on her shoes. "They're new!" When Chris handed Ms. Mary a stack of mini-cheese sandwiches for the kids for snack time, Kate said, "It's Laughing Cow cheese!" And when Ms. Mary replied, "I love Laughing Cow cheese," Kate lit up. Then Ms. Mary asked Kate if she'd like to glue something (Kate's favorite thing in the whole wide world), and Kate said, "Yes!" then left Chris and zoomed towards the gluing table. "I'm going to make you a picture, Appa! Bye!" Chris said goodbye, and that was that. No clinging, no tears. Our girl is all grown up! Sniff, sniff... When we came to pick Kate up a few hours later, we didn't see her. Then from a distance, we saw a child zipping down the path towards us on a scooter -- Kate! Usually when I picked her up from her last school she'd run screaming towards me as if I were springing her from prison, but this time, all I got was a casual smile, and a "Hi!" Kate's teachers gave us glowing reports about Kate's first day. Not surprisingly, the first thing she did was check out all three book stations in the room and look through the books. Ms. Carrie said she was impressed by how "independent and on top of things" Kate is, and said she's already emerged as the leader in the class. What a difference nine months makes. Maybe we'll enroll her in college courses next month.

These are pictures we took when we visited the school in the summer with Nana...

The school is part of an Episcopalian Church, founded in the 1800's. It's so beautiful and peaceful there, maybe we'll become Episcopalians. Just kidding, Mom! Maybe.

Kate and Lucy, Wonder Twins

Last weekend, we went to Lucy, Hilary, and Amy's house to play. Kate hadn't seen Lucy since July 4th, and missed her very much. She was excited to give Lucy the T-shirt she picked out for herself (and cousin Emma) at the Jersey Shore. After brunch at Du-par's in the Farmer's Market, the girls cooled off in the sprinkler. And Hilary and Amy gave Chris his belated birthday gift -- a cool vintage Boston baseball shirt and a funny book, "A La Cart: The Secret Life of Grocery Shoppers." Chris loved both gifts. No small feat, considering how difficult it is to shop for him. In the past thirteen years, I have gotten Chris maybe two shirts he's actually liked. Hilary and Amy get him one for the first time, and it's exactly what he would've picked out himself. Chris isn't the only one who benefits from Hilary and Amy's good taste. Since Kate is a size smaller than Lucy, her Moms generously give us Lucy's beautiful clothes whenever she outgrows them. Including princess outfits. Thanks to Lucy, Kate has always been one of the most stylin' girls in LA.

Kate's Last Day at Happy Sunshine Kids Preschool

Last Friday was Kate's final day at Happy Sunshine Kids. She will be starting a new preschool, A Child's Garden, this Wednesday. Having been at HSK since January, Kate was understandably sad and nervous about leaving, but we told her she would love her new "big girl" school and make a lot of new friends. By lucky coincidence, her beloved teacher, Ms. Candice, recently moved up the street, and promised Kate they would have playdates in the future. This made Kate very happy.

Kate and her friend, Colleen.

Kate's friend, Isa, was also leaving that day, so we threw a little goodbye party for the two of them at the end of the day.

While Isa's mother, Clarissa, made the kids a very healthy and tasty, lowfat yogurt and berries popsicle snack...

Kate and I made the kids a very unhealthy cupcakes "snack."

Frosting got all over the kids' fingers and faces.

Fortunately, all the kids ate the healthy snack, too.

Kate's friends, Truman and Dylan Z.

We bought Kate and Isa goodbye cards for the kids to "sign"/vandalize.

Kate giving Ms. Candice the goodbye present Isa's mother and I got for her.

This is Kate when she first started at the school in January, a little apprehensive...

...and this is Kate six months later, in July, older and full of confidence.

Kate with her very first crush, Dylan Polanko. She would never refer to him by just his first name. He was always, "Dylanpolanko."

For a while there, he was all Kate could talk about. Not only did he do weirdo-goofy things to make her laugh out loud, but he was highly verbal, like Kate, and noticed everything. Funny, chatty and observant, a boy after Kate's heart -- he was just like her Appa! Many, many times Chris, Kate, and I would be going somewhere, or eating dinner, and completely out of the blue she'd say, "I love Dylanpolanko. He's so funny."

The crush ended a few months ago (fizzled by Dylanpolanko being "rude" to her one too many times). But then just recently, while we were shopping for a big girl bed for Kate, she climbed onto a bunk bed set and asked if we could get it for her. "So Dylanpolanko can sleep on the bottom bunk bed." Chris said, "Uh -- no."

Isa and Kate.

The lovely ladies on sprinkler day. Isa, Kate, Ava, and Sylvia.

Kate and her classmates "sun bathing."

Over the past nine months, Kate has matured tremendously. She learned a lot in the socialization department and even developed a thicker skin. When she first started, she would be devastated when someone was "rude" or rejected her, but now when it happens, she just shrugs and walks away.

I'm sure Kate will do wonderfully in her new school.

Disney's California Adventure! Part Two!

Kate desperately wanted to meet Minnie Mouse. There was already a very long line of people waiting to meet her, but she chose to wait as Minnie's handler tried to shuffle people along. So when did Disney start this official line and handler thing to meet the characters? When I was at Walt Disney World in the early 70's (I'm a very old lady), there were no lines or handlers. We just walked up to Mickey Mouse and said "hi." Life was so simple back in the Vietnam War days. Minnie was worth the wait. She was definitely the friendliest character we met that day. She took her time, gave Kate lots of "eye" contact, and even got down to give her a hug. Kate was so happy, she gave Minnie a kiss on the nose. My first thought was, "Aww." But my second thought was, "Ech. I wonder how many germs are on that nose?" This was Minnie's handler. Is Disney really the "Happiest Place on Earth?" She was probably counting the minutes till she could punch out and get a drink.

Soo and Elizabeth met up with us again after riding the crazy rollercoaster and the "Tower of Terror." Kate was so happy to see Soo she busted out some dance moves.

This is a video of Kate dancing with Soo while waiting for the Pixar Play Parade to begin. Chris has a walk-on as "background."

The Pixar Play Parade!

Jellyfish. Ladies. Kate reached out and touched an orange hand. It belonged to this guy. Who is this guy? Boo. Don't know who she was supposed to be, but the ladies on the left were enjoying her. Kate waving at The Incredibles. She's never seen the movie, but Mr. and Mrs. Incredible were giving her lots of "eye" contact and it made her happy. Kate heading down the bunny trail.... Kate really liked the very tall chefs. Remy from "Ratatouillle," or as Kate used to say, "Rat-tat-tat-tat!" Heimlich, the overeating caterpillar. I love that his name is Heimlich. Though that might imply he's bulimic. Soo felt sorry for the guy who had to be Heimlich's butt. Flik and Princess Atta! Kate waved wildly at them. She really loves the first ten minutes of "A Bug's Life." When the evil grasshopper, "Hopper," shows up, she turns it off. The alien guys from Toy Story 2 sprayed water at us. Kate hid under her towel. "I don't like that, Mom." Soo, Elizabeth, Chris, and I didn't like it either. Actually, I'm not sure that anyone around us did. Several other characters hosed us, getting us really wet. Not sure why. Kate's favorite character -- Jesse! Yeeee-HA! One of Kate's favorite bedtime songs is "When Somebody Loved Me" (aka "the Jesse song"). "To infinity...!" This guy was one of the float-traffic controllers. Little scary. The parade ended. I was ready to go home. But then they blasted a VERY PEPPY Disney song through the speakers and Kate went to town again. She needed back-up dancers. After Kate's final number, we said goodbye to Soo (she was going to Newport Beach for the night), and headed home. Kate was so exhausted, she passed out in the car and snored all the way home. Before Soo left, she gave Kate a wonderful present -- Korean books! Kate loved them and wanted to take a separate photo with each book. She had a different pose for each... We convinced her to take a photo with all of them at the same time. She thought that was a pretty good idea. Thanks, Soo!