Keep a Stiff Upper Lip

I went to pick up the kids last Wednesday. Stephanie was over by her class and then Meredith came out. I turned to talk to Meredith and Stephanie was behind me and she just hit the ground. Just fell flat on her face. She scraped up her left knee, her right hand, and her upper lip just under her nose. Poor little girl - she screamed bloody murder. We had to take her in to the bathroom and get her a cold wet towel for her lip. Then when we finally got to the car, she saw her knee was bleeding and it started all over again.

Friday I got a note from the school nurse saying if she still has a sore under her lip by Monday, she needs to see a doctor. Ummm - no. I am not taking her to the doctor for a scrape. And I'm annoyed because this happened at the school. Her teacher was right there and other people saw me carry her to the bathroom so I'm just going to send the nurse a note and tell her what happened.

{Is it sad that I have a label for Stephanie's site called "Injury?"}

Just Call Her Grace

Stephanie's been to the nurse's office every day this week. Just minor cuts or scrapes from the playground. I did warn the nurse she would be seeing Steffi often but even I didn't realize it would be every day.

Here's hoping she outgrows this clumsy phases. (Please let it just be a phase!)

Probably doesn't help that her sister slammed the bedroom door in her face the other night either. Luckily, there was no swelling or bruising from that - just a whole lot of hurt feelings and needing some cuddle-time with Mom.

Five Years Ago. . .

Five years ago on August 29th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans.

Four days later, my little Stephanie made her appearance. She was delivered by the nurse since she refused to wait 3 minutes for the doctor to get there.

She was my tiniest baby ~ weighing in at 6 pounds, 5 ounces.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Today she is 5 years old. She is 3 foot 9 inches tall and weighs 48 pounds.

She's already been in school for a couple of weeks. And it's taking some getting used to! It's hard work sitting in a classroom all day and having to learn and pay attention. When she gets home, she's usually a little tired and very - emotional, I guess I would say. Everybody "be's mean" to her when we first get home. I probably need to spend a little quality time with her when we first get home but normally I'm downstairs working then. Poor little GooGoo.

Other than that, she loves school. She loves having friends that she gets to see every day. And she loves her teacher too. The other day she counted to 39 for me without any help. (Then I just had to help with the transitioning to the next step, i.e. 40, 50.) Before she started school, she would always skip either 14 or 16, but she's been practicing! She's still having trouble remembering how to spell her name but she does have 9 letters so that doesn't make it easy.

She loves to play games on the computer. Mostly WebKinz or Wizard 101.

Duck Blankie is still around. He is needed always at night and sometimes during the day too. Luv Frog is another lovie that goes hand-in-hand with duck blankie.

She's a sweet little thing and probably too smart for her own good ~ definitely too smart for her parents' good!

First Day of School

Yesterday was Steffi's first day of school! This week is Kindergarten Jumpstart and the kids are going from 9:30-11:30 every morning to get used to school before all the big kids show up. It's a good idea. A lot of the kids were kind of anxious about going to school and having their parents leave them. One girl was standing in the doorway and her mother was trying to get her in. I couldn't get around them but I sent Stephanie in. Her teacher said she walked right in with confidence and said, "My name is Stephanie. I'm new."

She LOVES her backpack!

New Suit

Stephanie outgrew the swimsuit I bought her last year even though I bought it big hoping she would still fit in it this year.

So I found her a new one at 'Once Upon a Child.'

It's not pink.

Butt (haha), it does have flamingoes on it.

Stephanie-izms

Driving around with Stephanie today. . .

* * * * * * * * * *

{I bought us a Mountain Dew to share because the only choice was that or Pepsi.}

S: I've had Mountain Dew before.

Me: Oh, really?

S: Daddy got me one at King Kong Burger.

Me: Well, you're a lucky girl.

S: Daddy had a pirate drink before.

Me: A pirate drink?

S: Yeah.

Me: Rum? - the only "pirate" drink I could think of

S: Yeah. Can kids have pirate drinks?

Me: No, it's alcohol and kids can't have that. And adults shouldn't have too much of it either.

S: Why?

Me: Because it makes them act silly and . . .

S: NO! Because it turns them into pirates!

* * * * * * * * * * *

{Same trip a few errands later. I was very tired and thought I was driving on 14th Street but then realized I was actually on 27th...}

Me: Oh. I'm not driving on the street I thought I was on.

S: What? Are you driving on the sidewalk?

Some Questions

Who are your friends? ... Paula, Diego, Khaia (from daycare), Jay (from one of Meredith's soccer games), Clancy (from Meredith's birthday party)

What is your favorite thing to do? ... Fingerpaint

What is one of your skills? ... Making necklaces

What is your favorite sport? ... Softball

Favorite hobby? ... Drawing

Favorite movie? ... The Princess and the Frog

Favorite book? ... How Many Ways to Cut a Pie

Favorite song? ... Rudolph

Favorite game? ... Dora and the Snow Princess (Wii game)

What do you want to be when you grow up? ... Princess, Mermaid, Cowgirl, Astronaut

What is your most memorable experience? ... Playing the pencil game