Ready for school

I'm trying very hard to keep our schedule clear this week to get Molly calmed down and ready for school to start next week. It feels so good to just be home. Plus, it gives me time to update the blog with the busy things we were doing before I cleared the schedule. :)

Molly had a dentist appointment last week and I wish I had brought the camera in. She dressed up in a pink dress and Mary Jane shoes with white socks. It was especially cute when they put the adult-size sunglasses on her. Molly was shy that day and didn't want to talk to the hygienists but when it came time to open her mouth for the toothbrush she didn't hesitate. The dentist again said she was perfect!

We went to a playground later in the day, just for fun.

There were some older kids there and Molly did what she's always done to make friends in a crowd -- she finds an older girl and follows her. Well this time the older girl she followed turned around at one point and said, "stop following me." I was bracing myself for hurt feelings but Molly just kept right on following the girl. I think it might be time to help Molly with other ways to make friends. :)

We had a fun and relaxing weekend. Lex and Eve came to visit. We had ice cream, fun on a playground. Molly's still telling me stories about it.

Yesterday we went to yet another playground, even though it was raining lightly. We had to pick up a form from the doctor's office and this is right around the corner.

Molly was quite proud of herself for pumping on the swings.

Kate was good-natured about the rain.

The big find of the day was a little area near the playground with cattails you can actually reach. It was Molly's first time touching a cattail. She brought it home and snuggled with it in bed during her nap.

We even braved the little trails in the woods, after discovering over the summer that this place is overgrown with poison ivy. I figured it was safe as long as we were wearing pants and Molly was willing to stay on the trails.

This morning we had a trial run at the preschool. It was "form day," meaning we had a half hour appointment to be in the classroom to go over paperwork and just play. Molly was kind of a mess this morning, which doesn't bode well for next week. She had near-tantrums about little things -- her glitter glue was dried up and I wouldn't agree to take her a store today for more, she wanted "too many" raisins in her porridge and I only gave her just enough, etc.

Then she got kinda weird about getting dressed. She decided she wanted to be matchy with Kate and that she wanted to wear jeans like Daddy. Well, this is a kid who almost never wears pants that zip and snap. We had to go digging through boxes in the basement. She insisted on jeans with embroidery because Kate's had embroidery, which meant squeezing into a 3T pair that barely fit and walking around looking like a 10-year-old.

We had a nice time in the classroom. Molly made pretend snack for a bunch of dolls and then played on the indoor slide while they ate. I thought we were going to have trouble picking up and leaving (always embarrassing in front of the teacher) but once she decided to pick up she was focused and thorough. (Big sigh of relief). We stopped to play on the elephant on the way out.

When we got home she immediately took off her big-girl outfit and played the rest of the morning naked (occasionally accessorized with one of Kate's baby hats). When we did our monkey stories before quiet time (a little story we make up most days) she wanted it to be about the monkeys going to visit their preschool classroom. I think she's trying to make sense of it all.

Meanwhile, Kate's happily along for the ride on all this... during the day, at least. We've had a week of terrible nights. She's up every couple hours crying (one night it was every hour) and often needs to be soothed to get back to sleep after nursing. Ack!! At first I thought it was an ear infection, then teething (which is bothering her during the day), then maybe reflux again? I have no idea. I'm resisting the urge to take her to the doctor or give her baby motrin just to get us all through the night. She seems fine, just restless at night. Oh, well. That's life with a baby. Good thing she's learning to give hugs and kisses!! It's hard to complain when she's so cute.