Clara's 1st Day of School 2016 - Kindergarten

Well, I'm only a month behind on this blog.  Whoopsies.  But better late than never, right?  

Clara started Kindergarten on Monday, August 15, 2016 at Dublin Elementary School.  She was so, so excited for school to start and had talked about it for days and weeks beforehand.  There was the slightest bit of nervousness about it the day before or the morning of and when it came time to walk into her classroom, meet her teacher, and find her seat, she was confident, grinning, and eager to get things started.  We couldn't have been more proud of her.  

A few days before school started, I took Clara shopping for school supplies and a new outfit for the first day of school.  I adore the dress we found for her at the J. Crew outlets and you could tell that she was really pleased with it.  But what she loved best, was going to Target and picking up school supplies.  I had the school list in hand and would tell her she needed 3 glues, or 2 boxes of crayons, or a box of colored pencils, and she would run around like she was in that old gameshow "Supermarket Sweep" grabbing things and tossing them into our cart.  She even crowed, "School supply shopping is so much fun!!" and my mother/nerd heart burst.  

I know that these photos are overkill but she was slaying me with her "Kindergartner poses" and kept telling me to take another picture.  I really don't know where she gets this stuff because I don't pose her when I want to take pictures.  

The night before school started, we had a "Back to School Feast" that consisted of Clara's favorite meal - whole grilled fish, a salad and vegetables, and cheesy garlic swirl rolls.  I decorated the table with a bouquet that Clara had picked out (it was just a grocery store one meant for a teacher with a fake little apple in it and as soon as Clara saw it she set her heart on having it on our table for our feast) and some printable vintage alphabet cards that I found on a blog through Pinterest.  And afterwards she and Rose both got their start-of-school-year father's blessings from Paul.  

I'm glad that we got to school plenty early on the first day because traffic was intense and finding parking was (and is) kind of difficult sometimes.  I wish that we lived within walking distance of her school so we didn't have to do the driving thing.  Clara was happy to see some friends from preschool last year and friends from church who are also going to Kindergarten or D-K (it's a transitional preschool program that is state sponsored for Sept.-Dec. birthdays - it's basically Kindergarten except the kids in D-K will do full-fledged Kindergarten the following year).  

When it was time to line up to walk into her class, I realized that Clara was the ONLY child without a character on her backpack.  My sister, Jennie, had mentioned that her oldest, Emma, had noticed that last year and brought it up when she was in Kindergarten.  I'm not sure if Clara has or will notice, but there were girls whose clothes, shoes, and even hairbows, not to mention backpacks and lunchboxes had Anna and Elsa on them.  Fortunately, Clara still seems pretty enamored with her all purple backpack and lunchbox set-up.  

Rose didn't cry when we dropped Clara off, but every single day for the past 4 weeks that Clara has been going to school, Rose has asked me at least 4 or 5 times where Clara is and suggests we go get her, starting about 5 or 10 minutes after dropping her off.  But she and I have been having some nice one-on-one time which Rose hasn't had a whole lot of, being the second child.  We have a fun tradition of pointing to each other back and forth as we are walking back to the car and saying "You & me! You & me!" which is something Rose latched onto that first day when I told her, "Well, Rose, looks like it's just you and me now" and she smiled and said "You - Me!" pointing between herself and me.  It's a fun little bonding thing we have that I just love.

Clara's teacher actually taught for 15 years or something like that before becoming a principal for 13 years.  Then she retired but after her husband died, she decided she wanted to go back to work, so this is her second year back teaching again.  So far she seems very nice and Clara seems to like her.  I finally have a volunteer schedule worked out and get to start working in the class next week so I will get to see more of what things are like then as the information I get out of Clara is still pretty sparse, other than recess is her favorite (she always says that she plays "Kitties" with a couple of other kids), she is super excited for the upcoming Jaws-a-Thon (the school's mascot is a shark so the jog-a-thon is a jaws-a-thon and at the room parent's meeting I heard more than one parent, on more than one occasion, describe upcoming events as "jaw-some" - it's super weird but I'm trying to not roll my eyes about it).

I made a short video of some clips of Clara getting ready for her first day of Kindergarten that I'm including with this post (and is one of the reasons it is so delayed).  This is only my second video and there is a lot I would have done differently, but I love that I captured some of her expressions and silliness at 5 1/2.  We sure love having a Kindergartner in our family.

Clara's First Day of Kindergarten - 2016 from Amy Nash on Vimeo.

Tiny Dancer

A friend told me about a girl in another ward in our stake who does dance classes out of her home for girls ages 3-8.  We got lucky and there was actually a spot open in the 4-5 year old class when there is usually a wait list, so Clara got to do a ballet/jazz dance class this spring and they had their recital the same day as Clara's preschool graduation.  

Clara says that she doesn't want to do dance anymore and she always grumbled about going, but every time I picked her up she was so happy and told me how much fun she had and how much she loved it.  By the end of the season, her attitude had somewhat moderated and she didn't complain as much about it but still says that even though she had fun she doesn't think she wants to do the Christmas show.  I wish she would because I can tell that she loves it - I think what she doesn't really like is that it is more disciplined than gymnastics where she still gets to kind of do her own thing and there isn't a memorization component with repetition yet.  But man, when she got on stage for her recital, she just shone (says her mom with stars in her eyes).  For reals though, her smile was so big and genuine and you could just tell she was eating it up performing on stage.  Which we really weren't sure whether she would enjoy or not - I was even prepared for her to get nervous and decide not to go on stage last minute, but she was totally comfortable and went right up.

Afterwards she got purple flowers (she was thrilled!) and we took her picture with a friend from church who is a little older than Clara and who Clara really looks up to.  

And then a week after her recital, we got an email that Clara's dance teacher had learned that there was a spot open to perform at the Alameda County Fair and wondered whether the dancers would be interested.  So she got to dance one more time on an even bigger stage with probably twice the amount of people in the audience.  It took me WAY back to my days in a kids performing group called Showbiz Singers when I was in probably 5th grade through 7th grade.  Again, she had a great time and had a huge smile the whole time she was on stage, and not just a performing smile - like a real, genuine, "i'm-loving-this!" kind of a smile.

Afterwards we took advantage of our free admission and free parking and bought a few tickets to go on some of the rides (the girls were in heaven) and get cotton candy.  Then we ended by walking around the animal stalls to see the cows, sheep, goats, and pigs.  It's a decent fair, but so expensive if you have to pay for the ticket and parking too!  (Adults are $12 each and parking is $10!)

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a video of each of Clara's numbers in her dance recital.  I think you will be able to pick her out but she is on the far right in the front in the first dance (Somewhere Over the Rainbow - she runs up at 00:12 seconds into the video), she is on the far right in the back row in the second song (When Will My Life Begin - she leads her row in at 3:41) and she is in the back right in the finale number with all three classes (When Can I See You Again - she gets to her spot a little bit late around 5:35 and she is right next to the blond Annie dancer.  I die over her cute hip sways in this routine, which was her favorite of the three.).

Clara's Dance Recital June 2016 from Amy Nash on Vimeo.

Urban Farming

Clara told me this week that she wants to be a farmer when she grows up.  I think every child must say this at some point and love that she is in this stage.  It makes me so glad that we went ahead and got four baby chicks for the girls for Easter because now that the weather is turning nicer and they have outgrown their brooder in the garage (just a big cardboard box that we kept them in with a heat lamp), they are ready to move outside into their coop and we are all having so much fun hanging out in our backyard watching the chickens (they are hardly chicks anymore even though Clara still calls them that) peck around for bugs.  

So within about 30 seconds of seeing the chicks on Easter morning, Clara gave them names like Fluffster, Puffster, Chirpster and something else (I can't really remember).  After explaining that they were girls and we should really give them girl names, she immediately set on Anna and Elsa for two that look very similar.  Then it took a little while to come up with the other two names because I kept vetoing Fluffster but the other two are Gertie and Dorcas (although Dorcas is still called Chirpster half the time, which admittedly is pretty fitting since she chirps more than any of the others when we go to grab her).  Dorcas, a Barred Rock with mostly black feathers, is named for the dark-haired girl in 7 Brides For 7 Brothers.  She is also Rose's favorite chicken, which is obvious because she is the one that Rose follows around the yard, scooping her up when she gets close enough and holding her proudly for us to see.

Paul spent a good part of this past Saturday building a pen for the chickens in our side yard.  Their coop is for night-time and laying eggs (in a couple of months once they are even bigger and start producing), but they need more space to roam while still being protected from predators like raccoons so Paul used wood and chicken wire to build a pen around the coop to keep them safe.  He didn't use any plans or anything - he just came up with how to construct it off the top of his head because he is a genius and super handy and very manly.  He is also a really good sport because the whole backyard chicken thing was totally my idea that he has been good natured about.

And speaking of our backyard, it's a complete wreck right now.  Our big remodel project for 2016 is going to be the exterior of our home, so Paul has been working hard tearing out bushes, cement, and moving dirt, etc. to get ready to install french drains and new retaining walls since the old walls were failing.  It is going to be a long, long process but we are planning on repainting the house, installing new retaining walls in the back, side, and front yards (we live on a hill and have to have them), and probably pouring new concrete for a back patio, side walkway, and maybe even a new driveway as part of the whole project.  And then there is landscaping on to of all that.  It's pretty overwhelming thinking about it and I'm not even the one doing any of the work (until it comes to landscaping and then I'm pretty handy with picking out plants and doing a lot of the planting).  Until then, the girls and the chickens are enjoying having a dirt/root/rock pile to climb on in the backyard.

Clara has a favorite chicken of her own.  It's Elsa and she let's Clara carry her around and pick her up and set her down over and over.  If Clara wasn't as hypervigilant about pointing out every time Elsa poops, she would probably try bringing her into the house and making her a house chicken.

We sure are looking forward to having eggs to gather and eat here in a few more months!

Clara's First Day of Preschool

Yesterday was Clara's second first day of preschool.  Last year we did a preschool coop that was more like homeschooling with four other moms and kids from church.  This year we are in another coop preschool but it is much larger with 24 kids in her class, 3 full-time teachers and a classroom and everything.  The parents are required to work there two days at a time about once a month, so there are always 3 parents there in addition to the 3 teachers.  It is also super convenient for us because it is just around the corner from our house so we can just walk there every day. 

We visited the school late last spring when we found out we were on the waitlist and Clara has been talking about "her new school" ever since.  A few weeks ago we made a countdown chain together so that she could tear off rings and see how close we were getting to her first day.  She even took the last chain to bed with her the night before school started.  Paul also gave her a father's blessing and she was very reverent while receiving it and as soon as she stood up Rose jumped off my lap and climbed into the place Clara had just vacated and indicated that she was ready for hers too.

Clara's first day went great - no tears or fears or anything.  She went right in and joined the other kids and just had a wonderful time.  If anybody had a hard time, it was Rose, who cried when we left Clara (although it could easily have been because she wanted to play with the preschool toys as much as not wanting to leave big sister behind). 

She reported that they ate Star Wars crackers and she got to pour her own juice, played on swings, tricycles and with dress ups, sang songs, and did an art project.  On the walk home she told me that she thought her teachers were very nice and she played with two little girls named Alanna and Indiana.

She took me to the arts & crafts area where we found her painting still drying.  I'm impressed how Clara knows to look at the name tags to try to identify names start with "C" to see if she can find her own.  She jumps the gun at "Cassidy" or "Christopher" until she is reminded or remembers to look for the next letter in her name, but she has got the idea in her mind about how to identify her project by her name rather than by what the project looked like.  Oh, and incidentally, those white hair clips that Clara is wearing?  She puts them in herself and is so proud that she can do her own hair now.  I straighten it for her to clean up the ends a bit and part it, but then she wants to brush it and changes her clips in and out all day long switching between her favorite colors and trying to match her outfits.

We just can't believe what a beautiful, confident, fun little girl Clara is growing up to be.  She has a great imagination and a sweet heart and is just so willing and eager to be helpful.  We are so proud of her.  I took her measurements this morning for the record and she is just short of 42" tall and weighs 35 1/2 pounds.  I wasn't planning on school shopping for clothes for her, but as we have started to feel just the tiniest shift in temperature I went through her closet and realized that Clara doesn't have much cold weather attire that will fit her anymore.  So when we were at the store the other day I mentioned getting her an outfit for the first day of school and oh man, was she thrilled about that idea.  So she has a few new pair of leggings, shirts, cardigans, and dresses to wear and has been pleased as punch to get to cut the tags off and wear something new each day.  We did a few photos at a park in another one of her school outfits before school began and the poses were all her own.

We are thrilled to watch how she grows this year in preschool!

Clara's Broken Clavicle

On Monday when I went to pick up the girls from the Kids Club at the gym after my workout, Clara was sitting coloring at a table and one of the childcare workers started telling me how Clara had been playing on some low platforms, jumping from one to the next like lilypads (they were about 6 to 10 inches off the ground) and had missed her footing and landed on her shoulder.  They said that she had cried about it a bit but they had given her an ice pack to make it feel better and nothing looked swollen and she calmed down so they didn't come get me.  But as Clara walked over and heard them retelling the story of the accident her eyes started welling up again and she pointed right to her collarbone and told me that it hurt.  I got the girls out to the car and started loading them into their carseats and could immediately tell that Clara was majorly favoring her right arm, and when I buckled her in she started crying even more because the jostling and adjusting of her arm and shoulder into the harness hurt her even more. 

 

So as soon as we got home I carefully slid off her shirt as best I could so I could really get a good look at her shoulder and figure out what to do.  Through all of this Clara was a little trooper.  She whimpered and tears rolled down her cheeks, but she was pretty brave about the whole thing and I felt all around the shoulder joint, first thinking that maybe she had dislocated something.  But I couldn't see any bruising or swelling or anything at all really and the only place that Clara identified pain in was on her collarbone.  The only thing I could physically see was that her right shoulder was hanging lower than her left shoulder, so at that point I was pretty sure we were dealing with something like a fracture.  I called Kaiser and got the last appointment of the day with Urgent Care, which was lucky because otherwise we would have had to wait until the next morning to see somebody about it.  So while we waited for her 3:00 appointment, Rose took a nap and Clara and I watched Wild Kratts and I showed her pictures of x-rays and explained how they worked. 

 

Sure enough, after an initial exam followed by an x-ray to confirm, we learned that Clara had a broken right clavicle.  Poor little thing.  She was cheerful throughout the process though and was such a good sport, even though she was obviously sad that something in her body was "broken".  Mostly she was afraid that it would be something that couldn't be fixed, I think.  Now she has to wear a sling for a few weeks and has to miss out on gymnastics and swimming lessons.  Which was hard for her this morning when she could only sit on the side and watch Rose participate in her gymnastics class and wasn't able to go join her own class that practices at the same time.  Her coach and class members came over to say hi and see what happened, which was sweet.  The break doesn't seem to bother her too much unless she moves her arm too much and then she gets this sad, teary frown.  She keeps saying that she only has to use the sling for 3 days and I have to correct her to say it is for 3 weeks, which I can tell she is still trying to wrap her mind around.  3 weeks must seem like an eternity when you are 4 years old.

We had to give this form to the nurse when they came to call Clara's name and I spent the time entertaining Clara by "reading" the instructions and making things up like "please be sure that Clara gets some medicine to make her arm feel better.  She needs to eat lots of candy so her arm won't fall off..." and other ridiculous nonsense like that.  Clara loved it and eventually took the letter from me and came up with increasingly silly prescriptions like needing to smell dirty laundry, etc. 

 

She was very brave and listened well to the directions when getting the x-ray taken.  Also, the doctor commented on how intelligent Clara is because he tried to trick her a few times about where the pain might be but she was very specific and was never confused about what was wrong with her body and he said that is unusual in someone her age. 

When I wasn't distracting her, she would start to get a little nervous or sad, but if I told her stories or silly jokes, she would perk up and smile again.

Dr. Rose did her own diagnosis while we were waiting.

I think the x-ray is pretty straight forward - there is a definite break in her clavicle where it snapped when she landed on her shoulder wrong.

 

She has to wear her sling all day, except for at night when she can take it off to go to bed.  So far, she hasn't had too many complaints about it.

 

Poor little miss.  But really she is doing great and you would hardly know she has a broken collarbone except for the way she is cautious with that arm.  We have been singing "Five Little Monkeys Jumping On the Bed" and talking about that because she is constantly jumping off couches and beds and rocks and basically anything and it finally seems like that lesson might stick.  I also think that Clara is a little pleased with the attention the sling is getting too because she has told the story of her fall to multiple adults now, somberly including all the important details about where and how the fracture happened and using new vocabulary words like collarbone and sling.

 

This is the first broken bone in our family (neither Paul or I have even broken anything) and hopefully it will be the last.