Back to school

Kaiya started another year of preschool yesterday and I'm happy to report that she LOVED it! I am so excited for this year for her!

(This is Kai, not sure what this face is she is making, but anyway, she is with her little best friend, Paige, who is also in her class. Such cuties!)We were talking about how different it was yesterday with Kaiya even from last year when she started preschool. She was soooo scared last year and cried and didn't want us to leave, etc. This year could not be more opposite! Sweet Kai has come out of her shell so, so much this past year and we are so proud of her! I walked her into her class and she immediately left my side, sat down at her table and began coloring. I had to say good-bye to HER because she had already forgotten I was there! She was smiling and exploring and didn't need mom at all! What a relief for me and what MAJOR growth for her! Her new teacher is really amazing and I am already soooo impressed! She came to our house a few weeks ago to meet Kaiya on her "turf" and brought her all sorts of fun things to help her get ready for preschool. She is so on the ball and organized and so nice! She also had an open house last week so that the kids could come and check things out. I think it made Kaiya feel so excited and ready! We also ran into her teacher at the store and Kaiya thought that was the coolest thing ever! Who knew teachers grocery shop too?! ;)

Anyway, some of the things Kaiya has been working on to get ready for school are: practicing writing her name (her teacher brought over a laminated practice page where Kai can write her name over and over again, erase, and start over), writing her alphabet letters (same laminated idea where she gets to trace over the letters), and some refreshing from mom -- alphabet sounds, counting, shapes, colors, etc. It's amazing how much they forget over the summer, but luckily it all came back pretty easy! We also had some projects to work on with Kai. Her teacher has a "puzzle wall" where all the kids have a puzzle piece that they decorate with pictures and things about themselves, then she puts all the pieces together on her wall in a big puzzle. It's so cute! She also gave Kaiya a big brown sack and told Kaiya to put 5 things in there about herself for the first day of school so all the kids could get to know each other. So, we talked to Kai about what she wanted to take in her sack. Of course she wanted her sisters in there, so we put pictures in of her family. Of course she needed a book, since she is obsessed with books! Of course she wanted her pink baseball mitt because she loves to throw and catch. Of course she wanted to bring cookies for everyone, but we decided that was too much of a distraction, so we put in mixing spoons and our favorite cookie recipe, since Kaiya loves to help me make cookies! And of course she wanted to literally put Chase in her sack and take him too. Hmmm, what to do about that one? Well, you get creative, right? So, we taped together some huge poster board (it took THREE pieces, by the way) and taped it to the wall. Then we coerced Chase to come stand next to the wall and I traced him. Ridiculously funny and not sure if it would work. But look how cute! It turned out great and looked just like Kaiya's pup, full size and all! We taped a picture of Chase to it and rolled him up and put him in the bag. I thought Kaiya was going to have a heart attack, she was soooo excited to take him! And all she could talk about when I picked her up was how much her new friends loved Chase! Success!

When I came to pick up Kai, she was literally bouncing in her shoes and looked like she was about 14! Such a big girl! She had had a wonderfully fun time, was happy and excited, and can't wait to go back again today! It is such a pleasant surprise to see her jumping in full speed this year! It is going to be a great year, I can tell! My little girl is growing up fast and we could not be more proud of her progress!