1st Day of Pre-K

Katie had her 1st Day of Pre-K last week. She is enrolled in the same Preschool program as last year --- 5 days a week this year. She was very excited to see her friends, as 8 of the 9 children from last year are back again. Its a great class of 4 girls and 5 boys --- an even mix of sugar and spice.

My mom and I have both noticed how different the classes' attitude is this year. After all, they are the big kids on the playground this year --- and my how confident they seem. Most of her class will be headed to Kindergarten next year. Katie and one other little boy are the youngest in the class. Because of her age, her size, and her timid personality --- I'm very hesitant to say she will be ready for Big K next year. My gut says hold her out for another year --- but for now, we will just see how the year goes.

The picture below is the response I got when I asked her if she was excited about her first day. :-)

Round the Bases

Matt and I both had a 4 day weekend over Labor Day. I'm getting ready for a huge project deployment in mid-September, and he's headed into another busy fall semester. We knew we better make the most of our 4 days off --- and basically packed as much family time into 4 days as was possible.

Sunday afternoon, we took Katie to the Salem Red Sox game. Sadly, we had not been to a game there all year. Memories, Memories, and more memories for us at that ball park. Matt worked there for 4 years, and if it weren't for that job --- he and I never would have met. My girlfriend interned there --- and introduced Matt and I. Its crazy to look back on those days, 10 --- almost 11 years later. One interesting little fact --- the last time Salem's baseball team won a championship was the evening of September 10th, 2001. Matt woke up the next morning, turned on the news --- and was shocked. He said both the championship, and what he woke up to the next morning, is something he will never forget. He called it the ultimate high and the ultimate low --- within a 12 hour swing.

On a lighter note ---- Katie had a great time at the game. She enjoyed the clapping cheers, the between inning games, the bouncy castle, a snow cone --- and of course a ball park dog. The best part for her though came at the end of game. The Salem Sox have a "Kids run the bases" event at most games. Essentially, they invite all children 12 and under to come down onto the field after the game is over. Each child gets to announce their name into the microphone, and then run the bases. One baseball player stays on the field to give the kids a high-5 just before they reach home plate. Oh boy, did that trip around the bases make Katie's day. I just wish I had gotten a picture of her face when she came off the field.

She Did It!!

For as long as Katie has been living, she has HATED (strong word, but accurate) water on her face. Not once has she enjoyed it in the bath. And quite frankly she has been terrified of putting her face into the water at the pool. Her first 2 years, I figured don't push it. When she turned 3, I thought swimming lessons might help (they didn't).

This year we just focused on baby steps. Our baby steps included just Matt and I working with her....first, just blowing bubbles with her mouth in the water (no nose or eyes). Then we progressed to goggles that covered the eyes and nose. And finally, this past week --- she has gone fully submerged under the water with regular goggles. Wohoo --- Major milestone for us!!

We decided to spend today, the last official day of summer (boo-hoo), at Splash Valley Water Park. The park has a big kids, medium size kids, and little kids section --- complete with two big water slides for the adults/big kids. Katie loves the lazy river and the kiddie section. Matt loves the water slides. And this preggo lady enjoys the cool water. We actually got a semi-decent video of Katie swimming in the kiddie section. I have hope for her yet. She does love the water, if we can just help her overcome her fears.

I'm sad that summer is ending, because I feel like Katie will regress when she isn't in the pool as much. Since we are members at the YMCA, I'm considering some fall swim lessons. However, Katie is a little resistant to try her skills with a teacher instead of mommy and daddy who she trusts a bit more. We'll see ---- I've got another week to decide.