Happy Halloween!

Hope you all have a safe and happy Halloween!

Here's Kumi for her 4th Halloween!  You can scroll back a few pages to see her costumes for the previous years.

0 years = Pea in the pod

1 years = Blue butterfly

2 years = USC Cheerleader

3 years = Doctor!

Teddy?

 So about the second week of preschool, Kumi started mentioning a boy named Teddy in her class.  She said he plays with her on the playground and in the classroom "kitchen" area.  Naturally we wondered what kind of boy she would make friends with on her own.  Her other friends are mostly kids of our friends and family.  Her auntie Darlene tried to extract information about "Teddy" from Kumi but to no avail.  None of us, except for Kumi, had ever seen any of the kids in her classroom so we had no idea what kind of boy "Teddy" was...until last Monday.

As I was dropping Kumi off at school in the morning, she pointed to a little boy and said, "Daddy, that's Teddy."  There he was, a cute little boy a bit smaller than Kumi, with big eyes.  Kind of looked like a doll.  When I picked her up that afternoon, I gave Kumi the little digital camera that Weston gave her, and she took this picture of Teddy.

Here is one I took with my cameraphone.  Her picture is better than mine.

Her life is getting more interesting all the time...

Fantastic?

It's been a few weeks since Kumi started attending the Lumbini Child Development Center Preschool.  By the end of the first day, she had already learned the ins and outs of preschool life.  She likes going to school ALOT.

As with most kids, getting information about what she is doing at school is difficult. 

Me:  "What did you do in school today?"

Kumi:  "I played on the jungle gym."

Me:  "What did you do in class?"

Kumi:  "Some boys got in trouble for not sitting nicely."

Me:  "What else happened?"

Kumi:  "They got a time out."

Me:  "How about you?"

Kumi:  "I didn't get a time out."

Me:  "No, what did you do in class?"

Kumi:  "I played with the kitchen toys."

Me:  "How about work?"

Kumi:  "Yes."

Me:  "Did you use your crayons?"

Kumi:  "Not today."

Me:  "Did you use your pencil?"

Kumi:  "Not today."

Me:  "Did you use scissors?"

Kumi:  "Not today."

Me:  "So what did you do today?"

Kumi:  "A boy spilled his lunch on his shirt."

So I decided to call the teacher myself.  She wasn't much better at getting specific information.

Me:  "So how is Kumi doing?"

Mrs. Catalina:  Oh she's doing FANTASTIC!"

Me:  "Is she behaving herself?"

Mrs. Catalina:  She's FANTASTIC!"

Me:  "Is she listening and obeying instructions?

Mrs.  Catalina:  "FANTASTIC!"

Me:  "Is she keeping up with the rest of the class?"

Mrs.  Catalina:  "Don't worry she's doing FANTASTIC!"

So I spoke with the Director of the preschool.

Me:  "Is there anything I should know about Kumi at school?"

Ms. Leslie:  "She is going great.  Don't worry about a thing."

Me:  "Is she fitting in?"

Ms. Leslie:  "She eats all her food, she recognizes her name on the cot and she sets up her own bed at naptime, she actually sleeps at naptime, she uses the restroom, takes turns, sits nicely, speaks clearly, don't worry about her.  We are very happy she is here."

I've heard some horror stories about kid's adjusting to preschool and kindergarten so if my only problem is not getting specific answers from Kumi or her teachers, then I guess there isn't a problem at all...so far.

And she cried...

Well Kumi's first day of preschool is over.  Her Jiji (grandfather) picked her up around 4:45pm and she cried...because she didn't want to leave!  I picked her up at Murasaki around 5:45pm and Hideki and Jamie were there and Kumi was happily eating spam musubi and fried rice.  She told me about playing on the slide and the playhouses outside and eating snacks and naptime, and boys that spilled their lunch all over themselves and other boys that got in trouble for not "sitting nicely" and on and on.  She had a good day and I'm happy, relieved, and very proud of her.

Now scroll down a bit and look at her nice new first day of school outfit.  When I saw her it didn't look like that anymore.  She had popsicle drip stains all over her pants and shirt, there were dirt stains on her butt and knees, and...ohmygod, her white socks were...let's say they weren't white anymore.  Mika says she going to wash her school clothes separately from her other clothes and far away from any of our clothes.

And all in all, the brave little , hard playing, clothes dirtying, food spilling, 3-year old girl not only survived her first day at preschool, she thrived.  I know she is proud of herself.  In the life of a child, this is one of the "big ones" and I don't think very many of the "big ones" to come are quite as important or memorable...as the first day of school.

Kumi's First Day of Pre-School!

When you get to be my age (yeah yeah shut up!), having a first time for something is somewhat unusual.  Pretty much everything is... "been there, done that".  For Kumi, her life is still filled with first times.  I know she looks at her adventures with both excitement and trepidation.  She really wants to spread her wings and fly solo but finds it hard to let go of daddy or mommy's hand.

So today was one of the "big ones."  Kumi's first day of preschool.  It is the first really big solo adventure for her (she has done things on her own before) and the first time I would leave my daughter by herself in a stranger's care.  It was something she has been wanting for a long time...to go to school...but it was also probably the most frightening day of her life.  To be at a new school where she does not know anyone...by herself.

At this moment I'm not sure how she is doing but I'm confident that she will be fine and will have stories to tell when I pick her up this afternoon.