My Echo is in kindergarten

My love Echo,

It's almost Thanksgiving, and I am thankful everyday, for the wonderful you.

You started kindergarten this year. Your teacher is Mrs. Tamura, and she is very calming. At home, you repeat some of the things she says,  and spread the calm. You rub our backs, and soothingly say "calm down, calm down." You taught me the rainbow breath, and hot coco breath, all intended to create internal tranquility :-).

Here is you and me, in the courtyard, the first day of school.

And here you are, in your classroom - room 116, sitting across from Jahan.

Our neighborhood school, Daniel Bagley is having renovations, so this year the school is at an interim location. You were familiar with Daniel Bagley, from your visits to Zoe. The new school is so big, even I get lost in it. On the bright side, you get to take the school bus every morning. I think walking to school with mama is the best, but for one year, you get to experience riding the yellow school bus. Next year, when you are in first grade, you me and Zoe will walk to school together again. Zoe and I used to love our morning times together. We used to take different routes, and check out the books in the "Little Library" boxes at the corners of some of the streets on our way to school. Next year you'll join us too.

For now, once in a while when I work from home, I visit you during lunch. I come unannounced, because I usually don't know if I can make it or not. When you see me, you turn to your friends with your beaming smile, body jittery with excitement, words spill out of your mouth "my mommy is here! my mommy is here!" In my first visit, I bought lunch for me at the cafeteria (you bring lunch from home) It included chocolate milk, which I gave to you. From then on, we made it a pattern that every visit, I buy cafeteria lunch and give you the chocolate milk. You eat very slowly, so we always move to the "extra time" table," missing some recess time. Then we go outside and play in the yard until bell time. Sometimes your friends join us. I line up with you, and walk with you and your friends to your classroom. It's hard to part. We eventually do, blowing kisses, making heart shapes, until we meet again at the end of the day.

You have a knack for numbers we think. You count for the fun of it, and when I review your school work, it's always right. But you have a mind of your own, and it's hard to get you to study things you don't enjoy. You get upset when we practice reading, probably because you don't know how to read yet and it makes you feel bad. So I'm learning to be patient and playful. Everybody eventually learns how to read, and so will you.

I love you!

Mommy.

First lost tooth

My dear Echo,

Few losses are occasions for joy, like the loss of baby teeth, and you lost your very first one.

In the last couple of weeks I noticed that you avoided biting into food with your front teeth. Multiple times I asked you if you had toothache. I was concerned about cavities, since you like your sweets so much. You said no. On our 4th of July camping trip, we stop by a small town restaurant to grab some lunch and there again, you pushed the food toward your side teeth. I leaned super close and thought that your lower front tooth looked a little crooked - like bent sideways a tiny bit.

"Do you have wiggly tooth?!" I asked in total surprise. It didn't make sense that you would. You just turned 5. I pushed my finger gently on your tooth and yes, it wiggled! Later on the campground, Zoe continued exploring your mouth and discovered a second wiggly tooth, adjacent to the other one. We all thought it was crazy and we we were all so excited for you. I started chopping your food into tiny bites.

A week later, during our Friday Family Movie Night, while having dinner on the carpet, you held your hand out, and with a confused face you said "this tooth just fell out." We were all super happy. At bedtime, Zoe let you her tooth fairy pillow where you hid your tooth and put it under your own pillow. At night, I took away your tiny cute tooth and left a $5 bill in its place.

It all happened so early and so fast that we weren't set up for it like we were with Zoe. For the time being, I stored your precious tooth in a ziplock bag, until the cute keepsake box arrived. Your tooth is now safe in the box, waiting for your other teeth.

I love you!

Mommy

You are 5 years old!

My love Echo,

You are 5! Yesterday we celebrated your birthday with your favorite cake - the purple cheese cake, made of purple yams, and gifts.

You asked for a Fluttershy pony, from the My Little Pony show, and a book where she is the main character. Your favorite pony is Twilight Sparkle, but you like them all, you have plenty of Twilight Sparkle dolls. Papa brought a huge calculator from work, with big friendly keys.

I also got you a doll, that looks just like you. She has curly brown hair, and "huge puppy eyes," as Zoe describes your eyes. It came with a little oven, a molding tray and some play dough so you can prepare food for her, feed her, and then she poops! So you get to change her diapers. Both you and Zoe really loved the doll. I loved her too. Playing with her made me realize that stopping after two babies was a good idea:-).

The week prior, we had a birthday party for your classmates at Seattle Gymnastics Academy. You all ran and bounced around, and then we had snacks and an amazing two-tier cake, with My Little Pony theme. Your friends brought you gifts, and everyone had a great time being active.

Now that you are 5, it's your time to start kindergarten. You recently had preschool graduation ceremony which was amazing. You all made your own graduation caps and your own tie-dye shirts. Yours looked like it was made professionally. So much so that Zoe borrowed it to wear as a sleeping gown at a sleepover.

Since I haven't been writing frequently, let's capture a few other things that have been going on lately.

-You are spicy and feisty, also sweet and so loving. You are our number one fan - mine, papa's, Zoe's. Sometimes you say things that utterly melt us. You always tell us that we are the best, and you give us hugs and kisses

-When papa went to Canada, he asked you over the phone what you'd like him to bring you:
-"Anything you bring me is special enough" you said with your sweet musical voice.

I was holding you in my arms, as I often do:
-"Your arms are my safe place" you said.

-You are always ready to help us with anything we do. When papa was working in the yard, you asked "do you need help with that?" when you saw Zoe do her homework, you asked "do you need help with that?"

You have been secretly eating from the stash of chocolates I keep separately, and give a piece to you and Zoe after your bath. A practice I learned from my grandmother. My mom once told me that my grandma used to put a piece of candy in the pocket of her bath robe. So I've been doing the same for years. I started with Zoe, and continued the practice with you. Well the stash has been disappearing. Zoe also knows about the stash, but she doesn't sneak up into the kitchen and eat the chocolates. So I moved it to a higher shelf, hidden from the eye.

You've been sucking your thumb less and less. We told you that we'd take you to Disneyland if you stopped sucking - we would take you either way, but just to give you a bit more motivation. But I think we have Zoe to thank for. She established a reward system where she gave you one of her stuffies if you went a day, 2 days, 3 days without sucking. We let you suck at night when you were trying to fall asleep. Looking around Zoe's room, I noticed that she barely had any stuffies. "Echo's effort to quit thumb sucking has been draining my stuffies," she said jokingly. Zoe is an amazing sister.

I love you my baby Echo. Can't wait to celebrate your next birthdays.

Mommy

The life outdoors

My lovely!


Winter came and went, and with it a new snow child is born. The little girl who would ski only between her mama's skis, holding onto her mama's poles is to be seen no more. Instead, there is a snow monster, who zooms down the slopes at light speed, scaring her parents, who yells at people who want to help her get off the chair lift, because she can do it all by herself, a monster who wants to get on the "expert chairlift" and ski down the most difficult slopes, legs shaking, a monster who goes up levels as fast as she skis, and keeps on skiing even if she can't feel her frozen fingers.

We had lots of snow time this year - Sunday lessons at Alpental, winter break at Big White in Canada. I already made reservations for 4 weeks of skiing at Big White next winter. I can't wait to ski  with you again.

Skiing is not the only thing we did this winter. We also went to an alpaca farm. We stayed in a yurt, which is a slightly more protected tent. We cuddled all four of us in one bed to stay warm. It was a working farm where we joined the morning chores, feeding the alpacas and the chicken, and cleaning their living space. We got to rake lots of poop, and papa hauled them away with a big shovel. The alpacas were so curious about us. The first day you were scared of the alpacas, especially of the one llama - was bigger than the alpacas. But you were calmer on the second day. Both you and Zoe got freshly laid eggs, and we made an omelette at the outdoor kitchen. It rainy and cold, but great fun. We went hiking on the snow, and warmed up in a cafe in town. We loved it so much that we will be back during sheering week in summer.

They make yarn out of the sheered fiber. On our second night, I stayed up until past 4am, knitting 2 hats from the yarn of the alpacas on the farm. The main house where we check in had a bowl of chocolate. Every time we stepped in, you girls took multiple pieces. You still love chocolate and deserts. And I love you.

Mommy