Andi's first day of 'school'

Andi’s first day of ‘school’ was this past Thursday, September 8^th, 2011. She did great! Of course she did! I wanted to be able to take her on her first day. We walked into her classroom and she walked over to the tables and quickly began working on a puzzle. She then interacted a little with some of the kids. I was unpacking her bag and putting items in separate bins in the room. She came running to me saying, “Momma!” Reaching out her arms she said, “Hold you.” So I picked her up and held her and gave her lots of kisses. It was soon time for me to go so I put her back down and told her I loved her. A couple of other kids were crying and I hoped that Andi would not cry; that would make it really hard to leave her. Andi looked at those other kids as if to think, “What’s wrong? Should I be upset?” But she did not cry, she just continued on exploring her new classroom. I gave her one more kiss and walked out. I so badly wanted to go back in and peek in the room to see if she was ok, but I knew that if I did, she might see me and want me to hold her or cry. So I held strong…that is until I started driving away. Then the tears began to flow. I think I cried all the way to work, a 30-minute drive! During the day, I wanted to call and check on her, but I did not want to be THAT mom. And I knew they would tell me that she was doing great. My dad picked her up that afternoon and the teachers said she did wonderfully. The only thing, they could not find her pacifier for naptime. (I put it in her bag in a little zipper pouch. Guess they did not look there. I will have to tell them exactly where it is for next week.) So I wonder how naptime went. Andi does fine without her pacifier during the day, but still prefers to have it to sleep. Especially sleeping somewhere new, on a nap mat, in a classroom, surrounded by other babies. All-in-all, her first day as a success! I already know she is the smartest in her class!

Speaking of Andi being so smart…J She has been speaking sentences and phrases all the time now. She doesn’t just say one word anymore. Andi will say, “Mommy/Daddy/Nana help,” “Pearl/Mommy/Daddy/Andi sleepy,” Pearl, Where are you?’” “Mommy/Daddy/Pearl/Maverick, Come!” “I’m coming,” “Watch Elmo’s World,” “Andi hungee” (hungry), Pearl/Mommy go upstairs/downstairs,” “Pearl, go outside.” She does not like things messy or out of place and she will say, “Put E Up” (put it up), and put the object where it belongs. Love this quality about her. Maybe she will help Mommy stay more organized and keep a tidier house. Andi’s vocabulary is outstanding and how she can put sentences together amazes me. The list could go on, and on, and on…

The best phrase, by far, is “I love you, Mommy!” “I love you, Daddy!”

Andi is excellent with her manners. She will always say “please” and “thank you.” She will ask for help if she cannot or does not want to do something on her own. If she does was to be independent and do it on her own, she will say, “Andi’s turn.”

I love how when she is asked something, and it is something she wants to do, Andi will say, "Yes!" and give give a very exaggerated head nod.

Andi loves to dance and sing. She can sing the entire song of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” Really! I was singing it to her a couple of nights ago and then she began to sing it, so I stopped and Andi sang the entire song! Wow! Andi will also sing her “ABCs,” although she only gets as far as “A-B-C” and … “sing with ME!” Andi has started counting. She will count her steps as she goes up the stairs. She is pretty good with 1-5 and improving with 1-10. WE have 16 steps, so pretty soon I think she will be able to count from 1 to 16. What a little smarty!

Love, love, love this girl and she continues to impress and amaze me everyday!