It's Annabeth's Turn

Annabeth was really bummed when Jackson started school and she didn't. That morning as we walked out the door, she said, "Where's my pack-pack!?!?" and I sensed the potential for a meltdown. We had to break the news that her school didn't start for another week.

I completely expected Annabeth to be devastated that her brother was gone all day, but she does not seem to mind. She likes having the whole house and all the toys to herself. I thought she might be bored and therefore more of a handful, but that has not been the case.

It took two days to learn that the first hour after Jackson gets home from school is volatile. The power struggle between my kids is something to behold. Brother wants to tell sister what to do and what she can and cannot play with. Homegirl is no longer having it. For now, I'm trying to avoid the power struggle by having Jackson go straight into the game room to watch a movie and rest. If Annabeth can be calm and sweet, she can join him.

I've enjoyed getting out and doing things with Annabeth that I would not normally do with two kids in tow. The grocery store isn't too bad if I can bribe her with a Dum Dum to sit in the cart. For some reason she really resists the carts.

On Wednesday we got to spend some girl time with my sister. We picked up lunch from Zoe's Kitchen and took it back to her adorable house. (I had the chicken roll ups - so yummy!) We had a sweet time together. I still get giddy about having spontaneous sister dates.

Annabeth dropped her nap the minute we moved her into her big girl bed. I'm still holding out a little hope that it might come back. Last weekend Curt got to her nap both days, but when Monday came she refused to sleep again. I'd had visions of taking a long nap every single day while she slept and I was really disillusioned when this happened. Once I accepted that she was not going to sleep, I turned down the monitor in her room and I slept anyway. (It seems like the ongoing theme lately is Mama's tired.)

A couple of days ago, I thought I heard Annabeth yelling "Poo poo!" during her rest time, which sent me running up the stairs at the speed of light. I opened the door to find her staring at her leg and crying "Boo boo! My boo boo hurts. Kiss it, Mommy." Upon inspection, I found that this boo boo was actually pizza sauce.

Annabeth went back to mother's day out on Tuesday morning. It was nice not to be nervous or emotional about it at all. Although I did get a little lump in my throat when I picked her up and we walked past Jackson's old classroom. It was weird not having him there.

This is our fourth year at this preschool and I feel like an old pro now. I remember my first day to take Jackson at age 2.5. I was a couple of months pregnant and just getting past the morning sickness. I had on some frumpy workout clothes-slash-pajamas and no makeup, but all the other moms were dressed up and perfectly put together. I was mortified. I never really saw that happen again, but I realized the irony on Tuesday when I put on a sun dress to take Annabeth. But it was only because it's been melt-your-face-off hot (truly, it was like 110 degrees) and nothing else would do. And I was meeting friends for lunch at a tea room.

Annabeth's teachers are incredibly warm and kind. Yesterday one of them got down on her knees and welcomed AB with a hug. There are lots of little girls in her class, as opposed to last year when she was 1 of 3. It is a very ethnically diverse group and I'm glad about that.

Here's the sis before school. She looked so cute.



She reminded me of a turtle with her big ole back pack.

After school we had our third annual Back to School play date with Missy and her kiddos.



Cookie cake!

Ellison and Annabeth put on princess shoes and started jumping up and down. We think they might have a future in tap dancing.