Now we are four

It was a gorgeous day so CJ and I packed a little picnic and brought it along when we went to pick up Amelia from preschool. Then we all headed to the park to enjoy lunch and a romp. And romp they did. Apparently there is nothing more exciting to the girls than when the water disappears from the large fountain in the middle of the park.

Over the weekend we visited the jardin botanique and its annual display of Chinese lanterns. We paired it with the Halloween activities currently on at the jardin, which made the price of entry a little more palatable.

It is highly likely that one of this series of photos will end up as our holiday card this year. But I don’t think it’ll be any of the ones below so I’ve convinced myself it is alright to post a sneak peek.

This is the photo Ian sent while I was away in Boston playing frisbee on the weekend:

The girls had their appointments with the doctor early this week. Amelia weighs about 26.5 pounds and is a little over 36 inches tall. She’s in the 20th and 25th percentile, respectively. Clara Jane weighs about 24 pounds (60th percentile) and is about 31 inches (75th percentile). CJ got two shots and didn’t really cry for either. On the second one she did give the nurse a look that seemed to imply that she was not impressed.

Otherwise we’ve all been adjusting to Amelia going to preschool. Clara misses having her sister around, but seems to be enjoying doing things with mama. This morning, for example, she helped me make chili as well as banana, carrot chocolate chip muffins. CJ also likes picking up Amelia from school. She nods enthousiastically when I ask her if she wants to go pick up her sister, and once we get there she smiles and interacts with all the other siblings there for pickup. She also knows exactly where Amelia’s classroom is and makes a beeline for it as soon as we get up the stairs.

Amelia wasn’t upset about leaving us for the first week. Despite two fire drills that were a surprise (to her, me and her teacher), Mimi made it all five days without suggesting that she didn’t want me to leave at drop-off time, or that she would rather be at home. I tried to set it up so there was something special occurring right after school each day last week so she would have something to look forward to in the class.

This week, however, has been a different story. She has been struggling with not wanting to go and crying on the way there and once we arrive and when I am leaving. However, her lovely teacher has told me that as soon as I leave she stops crying and settles in and has been having so much fun. She is participating in all the activities, playing by herself or with some of the other kids, and has been trying very hard to understand all the French everyone is speaking around her. When I arrive for pickup she doesn’t rush into my arms or start sobbing. Rather, she is sitting happily waiting for me to come in and say hi to her teacher and the other kids. Then sometimes she wants to stay and play longer or show me something in the class.

Nonetheless, it is hard to drop her off there every day, hard to ignore the pleas and tears; “I don’t want to go to school mama. I want to go home, please. No thank you.” I have heard that the second week is the toughest. I am sure each child is different so we shall see how long this phase lasts. But I really hope that it does not continue like this for much longer. It hurts my heart.

Amelia has been writing an A for several weeks now. Sometimes she writes Cs or Ws or other letters, but never in a sequence. Today she was practicing her A and I asked her if she wanted to write her whole name. She said yes so I showed her one letter at a time, and on the first try she wrote her whole name. It isn’t linear, but all the letters are there, in a circle going clockwise, starting at the top left. This kid just turned three and has spent one week at preschool. What will she be able to do next week? Or in a month?

With Amelia in preschool in the mornings now, CJ and I have been testing out some new activities. We started a Petit Gym class a few weeks ago and although she’s only been a couple of times, she is already able to swing from the bar, do a somersault, and walk on the beam by herself. She’s definitely going to be trouble!

After reading about the unprocessed challenge on one of my favourite blogs, written by a fellow Montrealer, I decided to take the pledge. We mostly eat unprocessed food but I think it’ll be a fun challenge to keep a closer eye on exactly what we eat for a month. Luckily, our neighbourhood organic market is still taking place once more this Sunday so we can stock up on fresh, local food.

3-2-1 go! Who’s joining us?