First Day(S)

There is little i can say to explain what the last few weeks have been like. Actually, there is plenty I can say.... horrible, brutal, stressful, heart-wrenching, adrenaline packed, miserable, four letter word, four letter word, four letter word... (repeat).

So... yes, our nanny moved on. And because I want to remember our first year with her instead of what this year was like (or at least, I say I want that because otherwise my head will explode), I am focusing on NOT talking about that.

And so, as mentioned, what did we do??? We made it work. Whether it was high school sitters, bringing children to work, leaving early, going in late... we just made it work. 

 I kick ass in a crisis.

We tried one school, and it seemed ok, so long as we were in the 3 year old room, where the kids remotely resembled Daphne in her precociousness. But, as we learned halfway through the first day, she couldn't BE in the 3 year old room, because that entailed a different playground, which only 3 year olds could play on, and she wouldn't be 3 for another thirty some odd days... (enter head exploding).

Despite offering to:

(1) sign (and/or draft) a waiver releasing said school from any claims in the event of an injury on said playground,

(2) pay for a 1/2 day sub to come in and watch Daph at the 2 year old playground during the THIRTY MINUTES A DAY THIS WAS EVEN AN ISSUE,

(3) trying to REASON with the school that, if instructed not to, Daphne would be able to refrain from plaing on the (apparent) death traps of the 3 year old playground for the 20someodd school days between now and when she actually turned 3 and

(4) deliver my still beating heart to theheadmaster 

they STILL wouldn't have any flexibility on this issue (or find some way to have someone escort Daphne 20 feet to the 2 year old classroom for 30 minutes a day), thus, we were only enrolled for a split second before unenrolling... returning to work and then re-enrolling in a new school... which seems to be a good fit (hallelujah!!!).

Thus, Daphne has had 2 first days of school. Only one involved blizzards (DQ style), but BOTH involved tears (mine) and rockstar behavior (hers).

I couldn't be any more proud or amazed by the awesomeness that is Daphne. She is a love, a light and a trooper that adapts to change better than I would, did, could or have. Meanwhile, I have watched Cooper step up to the plate and be the most amazing big brother, sometimes going so far to help her in this fragile time as to rotate her plate so she can reach her fishsticks on the plate and then reach the ketchup without ever having to remove herself from the couch (which, quite frankly, is too ridiculous to encourage, but too cute to discourage).

Back to Daphne, which is what this is about, it has been easier than it should have been, and yet harder than hell. There have been tears and sadness at drop off, and waking up early and no naps and early bedtimes (sucks for mom who barely can make it home in time these days). On the flip side, there has been excitement for school, sleeping like a rock and appreciating the ability to take my child to work when I have to.

This is our life. This is being parents. This is having kids. This is being 31 (closer to 32) and feeling both 80 and 15 at the same time. Too tired to be this young and too scared to be this old.

In short... Happy First Day of School my love. You are my heart and I am so glad we have, seemingly, found a place deserving of you. Being your mother has given me opportunities to be so proud, so terrified, so overwhelmed and so in awe. I am brave for you and because of you.  I hope to be just like you when I grow up.

First day of school 1:

First day of school 2:

Perfection. 

Girl Time: Working It

I try to make this a happy place and so rather than linger on the abrupt resignation of our nanny upon the return from 3 consecutive "sick" days I will instead write this about what you do when you have one child still not school aged, 2 closings, a spouse with only 2 sick days left (thanks to said nanny'a time off pre-resignation) and absolutely no back up child care during school hours..., you take your child to work!

  Holla!

On the upside, I got to bring that little nugget in with me - the one I every day want to slip in my pocket and not leave behind because... Well... Have you met Daphne?  Not to mention HOV access. 

 

But on the down side... I brought Daphne to work. 

Blessedly, I have amazing bosses. 

And an office with a door that closes. 

Sure, many of my calls had the beauty and the beast track in the background. But you would have had to really listen to notice. 

Awe!  I love her. 

Mommy is going a little bonkers trying to handle all this. 

See the tension in my expression?

Daphne is loopy tired from getting up early

We can't even synch our faces we are such hot messes. 

Mommy is screaming for help!!

Mad at the world. Except for her. 

Seriously.  This is wiping us both out. Fortunately I got us home safely. 

Key Lime

Totally didn't make the radar when considering buying the house, our keylime tree has become one thing that would make me so sad to leave. 

We have made homemade limeade before, but today we did something new. 

It required quite a few limes... Though we had plenty to spare:

Keylime pie. Homemade from the graham cracker crust (graham crackers crushed courtesy of the kids) to the keylime juice (by little hands until they got worn out). 

Yummy!!!!

Play on

We have entered a new era of parenting. Yes, Cooper has been on "teams" before to "play" "sports"... but, well, those activities were always qualified by ""... because they were really not on a "team" so much as clustered up and/or standing in line, and they were not so much "playing" as attempting to learn the basic fundamental skills, and without a team or playing it was hard to feel like we were spectating a "sport". Don't get me wrong, those things were GREAT - Cooper did learn how to stand with a bat in his hand, dribble, shoot, etc., and they were the wonderful stepping stones to get us into this new era both unscathed and semi-coordinated.

But into the new era we are, and it is TBALL with a TEAM (Go Hot Rods!!!!) and while we had a few weeks of practice, they are definitely PLAYING a SPORT with INNINGS and ... ok, so they don't have "outs" or "pitch counts" or true "positions", but oh my goodness... they (or rather we) do have batting gloves:

I cannot say enough glowing things about the coaches, one of which includes my sopumpedtobeonaballfieldcan'tbelievehegetstodothisthisisahugepartofwhathehopedfatherhoodwouldbe husband, also, affectionately known by a teammate as "Mr. Coach Cooper's Dad" (how ADORABLE is that???)

Their head coach has been fantastic in practices - having a plan for how each minute will be spent - keeping the kids engaged - offering positive encouraging feedback. All of the assistant coaches have been so engaged and upbeat and helped set the right tone of having fun, but taking this seriously. While the kids range in ages of almost 4 to 6 and consists of both boys and girls, they are this little cohesive unit that circles up at the end of a game, that takes turns and cheers each other on.

I was never a huge baseball fan before I met Steve and had only a brief (and unsuccessful) Tball career myself, but am completely in love with being a mom of a kid in the baseball pipeline. He may hate it in a few years, when the ball isn't just sitting atop the Tee with a guaranteed hit every time up to bat, and a guaranteed turn to bat every inning, but for right now, he LOVES it, and I am enjoying every minute watching him and his team in their games. Enjoying the camraderie with these other families we would have otherwise never met, who are all so positive and fun.

Last night was our night to bring snacks. Blessedly, I remembered to make a quick run to Target the other day at lunch, and plopped the boxed apple sauce squeeze packs, fruit leathers and juice boxes right in front of the door so we would have to literally TRIP over them to forget them. When the game was over, Daph and I set up right outside the gate of the field and handed out snacks to 9 hungry little players. And I think every single one of them said "thank you". And one even gave me a high five when I told him "good game". What is not to love about this?