Happy to be Inside

It is sunny but COLD outside and K, M and I are SO happy to be home for the day! Mark is picking up C and P so we don't have to venture out at all.

Yesterday was a different story. I was on the road from 8 am until 4 pm with children in tow. P, M and I set off for Manhattan through the newly fallen snow. Wind was blowing in our faces and we were cold by the time we got to the end of the block and went into the subway. We warmed up for awhile at P's oncologist office. His blood counts were all normal. Yay! I had been worried because he has lost weight, had a couple of fevers and seemed a little tired. I'm always thrilled when I find out that I am worrying for nothing.

The three of us walked from 3rd avenue across town to 6th avenue to get a faster subway back to Brooklyn and take P to school. Okay...I admit..we made a quick stop at H&M to return some furry booties that wouldn't stay on M's feet. The snow wasn't really accumulating but it was still blowing all around. We got to school at 12:30 and then M and I had 2.5 hours to kill before picking C and P back up. What to do? There isn't really anywhere to just hang out indoors and we couldn't go to the playground. I decided to go and check out the clearance sales at the "other" Target (not my usual one). The 35-minute walk there took me past Brooklyn College which was a flurry of activity for the "State of the City" Address given by Mayor Bloomberg.

M had some milk and I some coffee, we walked around Target and then set off back to the elementary school. By this time, the sun had come out and the wind had died down but it was still cold. I felt like I had been out in the weather for days by this point but C and P were thrilled to play in the snow when they got out of school. I must be getting old.

Back to the subway to go towards home and pick up K from her pre-school. She wanted to know if I had the car outside. Ha! I do have a license but I NEVER drive in the city.

We got home at 4 and the kids wanted hot chocolate. I was exhausted so I gave them a chocolate truffle instead and sent them to the basement to play. I do make hot chocolate sometimes though!

Anyway...yay for a day inside. We made cinnamon cookies this morning...as requested by K. She needs her purse to make cookies. See photo.

After Dinner Dance Party

Now this is family fun. Check out these moves!

A Belated Birthday Post

K turned four on December 28th! We celebrated with a party on the 27th. Three of her very best friends from school came and our christmas guests were still in residence so we had a nice crowd for snacks, games and cupcakes. K really had a blast. I think she enjoyed playing freeze dance the most. She is suddenly so much more grown up...articulate and imaginative...she is a great big sister to M and a loves to play pretend games with P. Her teachers say she is a "delight" and a friend to all in her class. She has developed an interest in the more traditional "girly" stuff in the past year...dolls, lip gloss, purses!!! (K's purse obsession is a whole separate post)...and her very best friends are girls. She isn't immune to drama...she cries at the sight of something I've cooked for dinner at least once a week.

According to New York State...she will be ready to attend Kindergarten next year. The cutoff is Dec. 31 so she would be the youngest in her class. Why, oh, why didn't she just wait a few days and enter the world in January? Through my semi-extensive research I have determined that NY and CT are the only two states (that I can find) that have that late cutoff. Most states have Sept. 1st as the date by which a child must be 5 to enter Kindergarten. I don't think the I would be so concerned if our school's K program wasn't so intense academically. K will be expected to be reading by December...really right at or before she even turns 5. Some european countries don't even teach reading until children are 7 years old. Additionally...Kindergartners only have recess 2x a week and full-day kindergarten is mandatory in New York City. Kindergartners have homework most nights.

I've been weighing the pros and cons for months and I have no answer. K is tall so she won't appear young if she does go. I have no idea if she is ready academically. She pretends like she can't count in my presence and then I hear her counting with her dolls...up to 20. She is loving pre-school but she only goes two days a week. She does have some anxieties about change and being away from me.

I think that some parents are perceived as wanting to give their child a leg up in school by holding them back. This is not my motivation. I just really want K to go to school when she is ready.

The boys did just fine in kindergarten but it was a big adjustment for C. He was stressed by the schedule and had a hard time focusing on another 1-2 hours of homework after 6 hours of school. He had no recess at all. P has really embraced every part of school...but he was also the oldest at the start...being 5.5 in September.

I am up way too late and I'm thinking that this post makes no sense! The kindergarten question will be there tomorrow.

Baby M Has Teeth!

Another milestone for my last baby. She was nine months old on December 21st and had no teeth but we could see that they were coming. On Dec. 26th...I checked and still none had emerged. The afternoon of Dec. 27th I could feel two teeth had broken through...one on the bottom and one on the top. Two more have since arrived for a total of four. She was toothless a week ago and now has a mouthful! The "firsts" (first tooth, first step etc.) are always thrilling. This time it is a little bittersweet. I feel like time is rushing by and I am trying to suck up every moment of M's babyhood and no matter how hard I try...I just can't get enough of it. Thankfully...she still isn't really crawling and she loves to cuddled and held. There is no doubt that she will soon be moving though...crawling, standing, walking is coming quick and I'll be excited and happy for her when it happens. I just hope that she wants me to hold her and cuddle for many months (years?) to come.