Back to School and Big Girl Stuff

Every time I post, it seems like there are so many milestones that I have to skip over a lot of them and just focus on a few. This time, I promise to hit the big highlights. As I posted earlier, Sophia was "learning" to ride a bike without training wheels. She finally did it! Now she is flying all over the place, and my and the hubby had to get bikes of our own to keep up. Celia is not a huge fan of the helmet I force her to wear, but she does enjoy riding with me, so it's a wash and she puts up with it so long as I go fast. Monday was the first day of school for both Sophia and Maia. Last year I bawled when I dropped Sophia off for preschool. This year, not so much! I had a little moment when I dropped off Maia, but I didn't cry, and I was good after Miss Sophia got on the bus. Both girls seem to love school, and I am loving the break I am getting while they are gone. Maia is definately not a morning person, so it's hard to get her moving in the morning. She just cries and says it's too early to get up. Can't wait for the teenage years! All in all, things are going smoothly, though we almost missed the bus this morning, and I'm sure the girls will continue to love school.

On the darker side, the girls are having to learn a bit about the sad side of life lately. My grandmother was found wandering a few weeks ago, and since then was diagnosed with two different forms of dementia, and later we discovered she also has stage 2 lung cancer. The girls have visited the nursing home my grandma is now at, and have been so wonderful by not asking too many loud questions while we are there! It is a side of life that we all must deal with at one time or another, and it is an awesome responsibility to teach your children the proper way to handle and cope with the situation. We don't know what the outcome will be yet, as there is a lot more testing to be done, but regardless, we have been trying to see my grandmother as often as possible and are so grateful to have her in our lives.

Lastly, Celia has become a monkey on speed set on fire with the way she moves. That kid is so fast, so dexterous, and so smart that there is no way to keep up. I've actually lapsed into fantasies of having a giant monkey cage in my room to safely sit her while I do such exotic things as clean or cook lunch. I don't have any pictures of her doing her typical stuff because I'm usually too busy yelling and running to catch her to take a picture, but I think the sitting in the drawer picture is cute. I will try and calm myself enough to take a picture of her standing on the table/counter/computer desk next time she is up there, which shouldn't be too long. When I do, I'll be sure to post it. Now, I'm going to enjoy the next 1/2 hour of silence!