Queen of the Monkeys

I remember taking Julia to the playground the week before kindergarten started and she could only do one or two rungs on the monkey bars, and even then only after some help getting started.  Here we are in the last month of kindergarten, and she can easily pull her way across and back five or six times.  Her arm muscles are noticeably bigger as well.  It feels like a metaphor for kindergarten as a whole, with all of the learning and growth that happens in one short school year.  She is definitely my hero and my queen of the monkeys.

Field Trippin'

I took the day off of work on a beautiful Friday recently to take AJ on a field trip with his fourth grade classmates.  It amazes me after a day like this how teachers do it every day.  My senses are on heightened alert at being responsible for four other children in addition to my own.  There is something so much more stressful for me about being responsible for other peoples' children. I am, of course, very careful  with my own kids, but I know them so well and when to expect trouble or a challenge.  Plus, something about the idea of telling another parent that their child got hurt on my watch makes me incredibly anxious. 

Despite all of that, we managed to have a wonderful day. The weather was perfect, the kids were well behaved and I got to see Chicago through their eyes and marvel at things that I forgot to notice after awhile, like the Marc Chagall Four Seasons mural pictured above that was right outside my law firm's office. Nothing like seeing the world through your kid's eyes to make you appreciate it a little bit more.

Evil Princess Leia

The kids know I adore homemade Mother's Day gifts and that I start quizzing them early about what they are making me at school.  AJ seemed bummed this year when I asked him.  He told me that his class was doing a story about why their moms should be on the cover of People magazine, and while he liked his story, he had ruined it by making me look like an evil Princess Leia in his drawing on the cover.  I told him that was awesome because the picture would definitely become part of our family lore and be told with lots of laughs for years to come.  Introducing Evil Princess Leia, my alter ego. I like her already.

Double Thumbs Up

How can you not love this guy and his enthusiasm for life?  I was in Washington DC this week for work meetings, and David's coach posted this picture on Facebook of Davey at his baseball game. It is hard for me to be away from the kids when I travel, but this definitely gave me a double thumbs up day to see his joy even from far away.

Pretend Play

I love that they both, at ages 6 and 8, are still happy to wear their costumes to their big brother's baseball game and run around the whole hour and a half playing in their own imaginary world.  It feels like David is slipping in and out of imaginary play, and my sister says this is the age when he will developmentally begin to drop it.  I want to hold onto it as long as I can, and I know Julia does as well.

God Bless Davey

He made it!  Davey was called on to carry the Holy Water down the aisle, which made me a bit nervous.  He did look over at one point with a mischievous grin, but the Holy Water made it down the aisle with no mishaps.  Davey danced and pretended to play the trumpet as a real trumpet played during the ceremony, and at one point he may have dabbed, but all in all, it was a success.  

It Fits!

We are preparing for David's First Communion this weekend, and one of the big things on the list to get ready was to try on the family blazer that has been worn for this occasion by Joe, all of his brothers, their family friend, AJ and now David.  He slipped it on and seemed proud to have his turn in the tradition.  Why do I feel like I look at this picture and can suddenly see David at his eighth grade graduation, at prom, at a job interview one day?  Now if we can just get him to sit still in one place for the hour and a half ceremony...