photo from Sophie’s birthday celebration at the big BK
This girl. I feel like she’s getting the spotlight on the blog a little bit right now, but I have to remind myself it’s seasonal. Ella gets in a mood where she doesn’t want her picture made or she’s too embarrassed by something to share it publicly so we go through a dry spell. Then all of a sudden it’s dance season and she’s posing all over the place. Since this little nugget had a birthday party last month and is crossing off milestones left and right, she’s sort of taken over for a bit.
I wish I could bottle her up and share this slice of her life with you all. I feel like part of her spark and spunk is lost in translation and I want you all to know just how sweet and funny she is in real life. Videos don’t do her justice — her voice is amazing and she has this little lisp and a few words she can’t quite pronounce just right (she just discovered yesterday that she can’t quite say “world”). I get so sad when people correct her or try to teach her what certain words mean or tell her that they aren’t even words at all. Part of me wants her to learn and grow and be super smart, but the other part of me will miss those sweet little things she says. I’m not ready for her to grow up and grow out of all those sweet baby ways. Josh & I laugh that she is not our most photogenic child. Every once in awhile I’ll capture a genuine smile in a photo, but more often than not she’s just trying to make you happy so you’ll move on and she can be busy again. She moves so quickly that you can’t quite capture her on film. She makes funny faces or fake smiles or does some equally dramatic pose when you just wish she’d give you that perfect smile. I know I won’t regret capturing the many faces of Taz when she’s grown up and smiling just right.
As this “school” year comes to a close, I find myself feeling a little bittersweet about it all. On the one hand, I’m writing my very last daycare check next week and thrilled to be completely over having babies. I’m not typically sentimental and I’m almost always excited to move on to a new stage of life and enjoy our girls as they grow up and experience new things. But then I can’t quite wrap my mind around the fact that I’ll have two girls in elementary school next year. No more pajama days or bedhead on the way out the door. No more dragging pink in the car every morning. No more packing “one more fing” to take to share with her friends. She’ll be eating breakfast at home and brushing her teeth next to Ella and sitting in carpool every day with her dad. I’m not second guessing our decision to be a family of four and I’m not even nostalgic for the days of diapers and formula, I just can’t believe that I’m a mom with two big kids. No more babies or toddlers or preschoolers. It’s just plain weird.
We signed Sophie up for the same 4 year old kindergarten class that Ella attended at our local elementary school. It is rare for such a small community to have a school that offers this opportunity for four year olds and we are so fortunate that both of our girls have been able to attend. It’s a full day program, just like Kindergarten, where they eat breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria, have PE class and get to experience “big” school for an entire year before it really counts. I had to fill out all of her paperwork this week and we’ll get to meet the teacher and explore the classroom over the summer. She is so excited to be a big girl and was thrilled to hear that she knew several other children in the class. Sophie hasn’t been in a preschool program of any kind, so we’ll be starting from scratch. She is so smart, but is really different than Ella when it comes to learning. It will be hard not to compare them, but so fun to see how well she does and in what areas she thrives.
I know I won’t be home with her all summer, but I’m looking forward to enjoying these last few months with my little Taz before she discovers that other girls get to pick out their own clothes and not every mama insists on healthy lunches and hair bows!
