Rosalie has been enjoying her new school, but it has also been a big transition! My own new job, which originally was three
8-hour shifts, has had to change to four 6-hour shifts so I can get home early
enough to pick her up right when school gets out (rather than having her play
at extended day).
We found that she really needs some
down time, more than she needed when she went to BP. Our time together in the afternoon has been
really nice. It’s been wonderful to watch
her get “lost” in what she’s doing, whether it’s drawing a chalk rainbow on the
sidewalk, building a balloon collage, or just building a fort for her animals,
singing a song.
She also likes to create grand inventions:
(That is face paint on her cheeks from her friend Owain's birthday party)
Our down-the-street neighbors have given Rosalie a cookbook,
“Pretend Soup and other Real Recipes.”
She loves this book, with its illustrated step-by-step recipes.
It’s fun to cook with her.
She does sometimes say she wants to be a chef when she grows up. If she does wind up wanting to do this, she
would be great at it.
One day we had neighbor friend Lily over to make a few fun things from the cookbook. Rosalie's got pesto in her food processor, there.
Meanwhile, back at school…she’s actually starting to
read! It’s amazing how quickly she’s
been picking it up. She recognizes words
out in real life, uses context clues to figure other ones out, and she also can
read from booklets that have a root sound that you can add a first letter to (such
as her “–at” book that has cat, bat, rat, etc.)
Because she has a social studies teacher(!), Rosalie has
been in the know about the election. They
built a voting booth and even did their own voting at school recently. She and her classmates voted for Obama; it
was a landslide.
Earlier in October she came home asking to watch the
presidential debate: Specifically, she said she wanted to see Barack Obama and
Romney talk on t.v. and argue about how they both want to be president.
When I suggested that we do bath and dinner early so that we
can watch it, she was thrilled.
Rosalie: Why is everyone wearing bow ties?
Anne: They’re wearing neckties because it’s important that
they look professional, and nice, and-
Rosalie: -and fancy?
Yeah. And fancy.
The rainy season has brought with it some, you know, rain. At
school they run three laps around the park each day, rain or shine. This has led to Rosalie becoming 1) a great
and joyful runner, and 2) not afraid to get a little wet, which I think is
important for a Seattleite. The other
day we walked/ran to the park in the rain, and she played on the equipment in
the rain. It was just the two of
us. It felt fun—like we were quite the
hardcore outdoorswomen. Where were all
the lightweights?!?
For Halloween, R wanted to be a butterfly. When we found
some wings that were red, her favorite color, she was over the moon.
The wings are made of feathers and cardboard,
though, so I have to say it was a stressful (for me) costume. There
were flimsy armbands to deal with, ripping and tearing and feathers
coming off…and think about the rain. Not
pretty.
Fortunately she got lots of
mileage out of the wings before Halloween itself. We went to the zoo a couple of weekends,
where they were doing mini-trick-or-treats at different stations around the
facilities. And of course hanging out
and coloring was a good opportunity to sport wings as well.
Anyway, thank goodness for Stacey, who last year sent R an
astronaut jumpsuit in response to her interest in outer space. Because we sure did use that jumpsuit for
trick or treating on this rainy Halloween day. We just
layered clothes underneath for warmth, and she was unencumbered by the need to
be careful all the time and could focus on the task at hand: loading up that
pumpkin bucket. I like how more and more
places are offering alternative “treats”, such as stickers, spider rings, and tiny
toys. It’s nice. Anyway, butterfly or astronaut, candy or stickers, Ro had a ball.
Speaking of the astronaut costume, I loved the adventure
that Rosalie and her Daddy went on the other day. I came home and they were traveling to
different planets (Rosalie had her suit on).
Afterwards, they sat down and drew a map of their adventure together,
with planets and meteors and stars. It
was fun to hear them discussing the names of different planets and moons. Michael really does know a lot about space.
Yesterday we went to (Rosalie’s first) IMAX film. It was about Monarch butterflies, and it was
in 3D. She kept reaching out to try and
touch the butterflies. At one point,
when one butterfly flew especially “near” to her, she looked down at her arm to
see if it had landed on her. It was the
most beautiful, endearing moment.
Anyway, the current excitement around here is waiting to see
who wins the election. Also, there’s a
lego masterpiece in the living room that Rosalie says “looks like the Ballard
Locks (it does!), but with a bouncy slide.”
After school we’ll either work on that some more, or bike to the
park. Or both. Thanks for your patience in waiting for this blog post; it has been a wild and wooley time with all of our transitions!
