Cerin Amroth

Poor Ella — I took her to the doctor this afternoon, expecting to discover some mild infection somewhere, and walk out of there with a prescription for antibiotics. But there was nothing. So we had to go to the lab for “blood work” — never a fun phrase to use in the context of a five-year-old — and we’ll have to try the urine test again tomorrow.

Meanwhile she was fine most of the day but her fever returned, predictably, in the late afternoon. So that means no school tomorrow even if she’s feeling OK.

NOT fun …

Ella offered some interesting perspectives today that I thought were worth sharing. It’s amazing the wisdom that comes from a 5 year-old.

On Presidents – I had to catch up on some work this afternoon, and Ella was watching me on the computer. She asked me what I was doing, so I told her I was helping the President of my organization with a speech he has to give. She said, “I guess some presidents rule countries and other presidents rule [insert name of my organization]. That’s pretty good.”

On Battles of the Sexes – As I was strapping Dominic into his carseat and Ella was buckling her seatbelt, she said, “If two boys were against one girl, the boys would win.” I said that’s probably true and asked her what would happen if it were two girls against one boy. She said, “Probably the girls would win. If it were one girl against one boy, they would both win.”

In a month full of new school-related milestones, Ella experienced one of the unfortunate ones this week:  missing school due to being sick.  Though “sick” in this case is a little hard to pin down.  She’s been running a temperature.  And that’s about it.  No coughs, no aches, just sometimes feeling a little cold.  She missed Thursday and stayed home Friday too just because she had been warm still the night before, then was totally fine all day Friday until the fever resurfaced (or, at least, ascended to a noticeable level) late in the day.  Similar pattern today, but a bit less so.  A tenacious and yet extremely mild fever … weird.

But, of course, we’re keeping a close eye on Dom to see if he picks it up from her.  Today after getting his hair cut he tripped and managed to bang his mouth real good, so now he’s walking around with a big swollen lip and has been out of sorts for most of the rest of the day.  But, despite our repeated checks on him, thankfully, no fever.

Hopefully Ella’s will clear up by Monday!

Apart from the new Spanish words she has been learning, one of the things that is most noticeable about Ella since she has started school is all the songs she now sings. Songs are apparently a big part of her kindergarten classroom, which is great to hear. I know I remember things a lot better if I have sung them in a song. Did you know that the sun is a mass of incandescent gas?

We were at the table building a Lego vehicle this evening, and she continuously was chanting “there are 12 months of the year.” She never sang more words than that, but she was clearly improvising on the main melody.

Last week, she was quietly chanting a song in Spanish as she was eating her breakfast and getting ready for school. I picked up a few words here and there, and the tune sounded familiar.

I asked her tonight if she learns these songs in music class (which she has once a week) or in the regular classroom. She said they don’t sing in music class – only play instruments. So the singing must be something that her daily teachers weave in.

It makes our home a more musical place these days, which is nice. Dom has been regularly coming up with songs on his own, as well. It started with Elmo’s World and – thank goodness - hasn’t stopped there. None of it is Grammy-winning music, just a really pleasant thing to have as a regular part of the sounds of our home.

Dominic’s diaper leaked during the night last night, so changing his diaper at 6:30 this morning involved getting him dressed, as well. His room is the coldest in the house because the air conditioner is in the attic above him.

I had his diaper and shorts on, and his shirt off. With the temperature in his room, his nipples popped out, and he thought that was pretty cool. “Look Mommy, they’re growing!”

And since I’m telling funny body stories, I’ll share this one, as well. Nate has been trying to get Dom interested in potty training this week. Once a day Nate fills him with juice and puts him infront of the TV on the potty 45 minutes later. He’s had several successes with this method, but Dom is clearly not aware yet of the need-to-pee sensation. The first time, it caught him completely offguard, and he was so delighted that he stuck his hand in the stream to check it out.

He’s also not clear on the difference between pee and poop. No matter which one it is, he tells us that he’s pooping. This may be – in part – because we ask mainly about the pooping.

Tonight’s potty-TV-viewing was not successful. He did it almost immediately, however, after he had his diaper and clothes back on. He insisted that he was pooping. I checked his diaper and found the warm area in the front. I told him that it’s pee in the front and poop in the back. He took a moment, and then decided that he liked that distinction.

As is our usual Saturday routine, I got to sleep in while Nate got up with the kids. The hour was earlier than usual – 5:30 – but they were both up and ready to go. At 8:30, I took over, and Nate went back to bed for much-deserved rest.

After doing a puzzle and eating breakfast, the kids and I went to the farmers’ market to get some fixings to make salsa. We went to the market in our former neighborhood because it’s bigger. On the way, I asked Ella if she wanted to drive by our former apartment building. We moved from our one-bedroom apartment shortly after Ella turned 2.

She was so excited to point out the buiding to Dominic. She told him about the pool and wanted to drive by the back, so we could see the pool. She explained that we lived there before he was born. She said that she liked it so much there.

At the market, I lost sight of Dominic and had a momentary panic. Ella helped me find him back. He had wandered about 30 feet away and was just starting to get a paniced look on his face. It was so good to see him again.

I bought a half-bushel of tomatoes and had to carry them back to the car. I asked the kids to wait in the shade of a tree, and Ella made sure that Dom stayed right by her.

As we were getting out of the van at home, I accidentally pinched his arm in the side door. I swooped him inside and tried to convince him to let me hold ice on it. There was a small bruise. I think he was more scared than hurt, and he was also very tired. While I unloaded the food, Ella made up a bed for him with her pillow and blanket on the couch. She also let him hold her beloved Pooh and explained that he helps her feel better when she is scared.

Dom basked in all her love and attention. I turned around and noticed that his bed had moved from the couch to the floor, so they could lay side-by-side. He couldn’t believe his great fortune and was eagerly saying “Night, night Mama,” and pretending to go to sleep.

It was hard to believe that the brother who had brought tears earlier in the morning when he hit her on the head with a puzzle piece was garnering such love now. Alas, the togetherness didn’t last through the nap.

Nate took them upstairs to try to sleep together on Ella’s bed. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but Ella was asleep on the couch when I returned from borrowing a pot from a friend. I suspect he just couldn’t contain his excitement, and Ella was more serious about getting some sleep. Despite the momentary separation, they were together again after naps – Dom eagerly watching Ella play Lego Batman. For the time being, watching her is fine with him, but that won’t last forever, of course.

It’s been fun to watch Ella and Dominic reunite at the end of every school day.  You’d think they hadn’t seen each other in a month or more.  Here’s a typical exchange as we’re walking home:

E:  C’mere Dom!  Give me a big hug!  I missed you, little brother!

D:  I miss you too Ewwa!

E:  Did you have a good day while I was at school?

D:  I wub your hair!

E:  Awww, but I love you, D!

D:  I miss you Ewwa!

etc. etc.

It’s usually a good hour afterward before they find something to fight about.

Ella had her first day of kindergarten on August 3. She had a great first week. Despite my assumption that she’d come home dog-tired every day, she didn’t take a single nap the whole week. Indeed, she seemed to come home with more energy than I’d ever seen her exhibit in the afternoons. That may be partly because Matt and Sarah were visiting, but I think it was mostly due to her enthusiasm and confidence about her experience.

We also thought we might have to wake her up in the morning because she had been sleeping in past 7 several mornings over the summer. Nate had the excellent idea of making sure she went to bed and woke up on time each day for the week before she went to school, so that helped her get into the rhythm. On the morning of her first day, Dom woke up early, so he and I were sleeping on the couch when Ella woke up on her own at 6:30. At 6:35, I felt a tapping on my shoulder and rolled over to find Ella – completely awake and fully dressed in her first-day-of-school outfit. She was very pleased with herself for waking up on time and getting dressed all by herself.

Not once that first morning did she express the slightest anxiety or trepidation about going to school. She quickly devoured her breakfast and couldn’t wait to put on her sandals and head out. In fact, Dom seemed more nervous about it than she did – not wanting me to put him down when we got to her classroom. When Ella’s teacher said it was time to say goodbyes, Ella didn’t hesitate a bit. I gave her a hug and kiss and told her I was proud of her. Dom gave her a hug and kiss and said that he loved her. Nate said we’d be there to pick her up that afternoon.

At 2:35, we were waiting for her to show up at the dismissal door. She hugged Nate, Dom, and me, and then looked around at all her new friends and their parents. She gave me a few more hugs and said, “Momma.” She eagerly took us up on the option to head out for ice cream to celebrate her first day. She even indulged our many questions. She liked gym the first day and saw one of her preschool friends there. She liked eating in the cafeteria and almost fell asleep during rest time. She wasn’t sure which of the new friends she would like most, but – per the usual – talked the most about the boys. She thought her teacher was very nice. Over the course of the week, she talked with us a bit more about the Spanish words she is learning. On Friday, she liked going to story time at the library, but did not take part in the acting out of the story. The teacher (a woman in her first year of teaching) told us that Ella doesn’t talk much, but she is opening up to her. She is also very good at helping her friends in the classroom. She helped one of her fellow students spell his name by writing it out for him in her own book.

It’s great to see everything we know and love about Ella become visible to others as her confidence and comfort grows.
She jumped into this new adventure with both feet and eagerly told us after only the first day that she really likes school. All in all, it was a fabulous week. Here are some pictures from her first day.

So, Ella starts kindergarten on Monday, which is to say, in two days.  She’s at our local school just down the street, which does a “year-round” schedule, starting August 3 and running a little later into June on the other end.  This week we’ve been busy trying to nudge her sleep schedule into the right place for earlier wake-ups and breakfasts.  But really for her (and most especially for me) the adjustment will be going from leisurely summer mornings doing not much of anything to being out the door by quarter to eight.

Ella met her teacher and saw her classroom at an open house yesterday, and she seems to be pleased with both.  It’s likely we’ll see some anxiety kicking in on the actual day, but right now she’s just excited.

Dominic is excited too, a little jealous that Ella gets to go to school, but he also understands that he, too will go to school at Ella’s old preschool, though that won’t be for another month or so.  When we talk about it he says proudly “I will see my FWIENDS!” which is sweet and sad and true because the poor guy leads a very tagalong life with respect to his big sister right now, and doesn’t really have friends of his own, and he’s very exicted to be getting some shortly.