School Daze

I can't believe it's been two months since I've written! Where, oh where does the time go? We have had an amazing couple of months and there is so much to report. Events won't appear chronologically, but it's all late anyway.

The biggest news is that Amelia started pre-school Aug. 24 at a wonderful school called Windermere Union Church Preschool. It's been around for 50 years so it's well-established in the community. We spent a lot of time talking and preparing for the big day - reading books, decorating her new school bag, meeting her teachers and seeing her classroom. And when the big day came for me to drop her off with virtual strangers for the next three hours, Amelia was SUPER! Not a tear was shed from her little eyes or mine. ("Only the babies cried, Mama," Amelia cheerily reported back on the first day of school.) Details of her days trickle out and this is what I can surmise. She eats a snack most days, successfully uses the potty (big news when you're 2 1/2!) walks in line, goes to gym class, sings in music class, does art work, reads books and plays, plays, plays!

Amelia is in a class with other 2 1/2year-olds so everyone is about the same developmentally. She goes Tuesdays and Thursdays mornings and talks about some friends more than others. She says she really likes her teachers, Mrs. Jones (pictured here) and Mrs. O'Leary. They seem like very caring, committed teachers who love their jobs and appreciate their students. We have our first parent-teacher conference on September 30. Stayed tuned.

Lumpkin, Sumpkin. . . . .

"POOOOOF!"

Everybody knows that Amelia is the world's Number One Abby Cadabby Fan. And Sea World has the REAL Abby Cadabby and Elmo and Bert and Ernie and Rosita and Cookie Monster and Grover. That's right. They are ALL at Sea World during the summer when they are on vacation from Sesame Street. They all star in a show and you can meet them before and after the show, too.

The highlight of our most recent trip to Sea World was meeting Abby Cadabby herself. We were in the park for about 15 minutes when we almost ran right into that adorable fairy-in-training. Amelia was beyond thrilled - gasping, staring at her and generally enamored by the REAL ABBY. It was even more special because Amelia had an Abby tattoo on her arm that day AND was wearing her Abby ponytails, all of which she pointed out to Abby.

During the Sesame Street show, Amelia sat on Jason's lap and was very serious about the whole thing like she is when she is absorbing every moment of a new experience. And when we met Abby after the show, Amelia got to hold her wand and practice some fairy tricks. As Abby would say, the whole experience was "SO MAGICAL!"

Sea World!

This year, we decided Amelia was old enough to REALLY appreciate going to theme parks. And we are lucky to have plenty to choose from in Orlando. Several of our friends recommended we get passes to Sea World (Florida residents get a GREAT deal and Amelia still gets in free) and we have braved the spring and summer crowds several times.

As we expected, Amelia LOVES going. She is mesmerized by the underwater dolphin viewing, fascinated by the sting rays and enthralled with the Shamu show "Believe," during which she actually sits still and watches! (Yes, we do recognize the differing opinions around keeping wild animals captive - especially killer whales - and training them to perform. But that's a whole other story.) She's not too crazy about the sea lion exhibit because folks feed them fish and Amelia thinks that's "stinky."

We're lucky that our tickets allow us to go back as much as we want for a year so we don't have to cram everything into one day. I don't know how families do three, four or five parks in a week!

Sun, Sand and Surf

The wonderful thing about living in Florida - even though Orlando is smack dab in the middle of the state - is you're never very far from the beach. And after a cooler-than-normal winter, we were glad to welcome beach weather! We love going to Cape Canaveral National Seashore near Titusville because it's unspoiled and there's plenty of room to roam. Also, if there is a space shuttle about to launch, you can see it on a launchpad, which is always a spectacular site.

Last year when we went to the beach, Amelia loved the water but wasn't so sure about the sand. This year, she is all about the sand - scooping, shoveling, digging, burying her feet. With Jason's help, she built sandcastles (which were really more like mini sand dunes) and looked for shells. She's so good about wearing her sunscreen and was so patient while we slathered it on and even wore her hat for awhile. To quote Amelia's swimming teacher, it's never too early to start teaching little ones about sun safety!

And One, Two, Three!

Amelia LOVES dancing. She counts out steps, bounces her head and knees and waves her hands around like dances she sees on a Sesame Street DVD we have. But it's very hard to find dance classes for two-year-olds. (Most start at age three.)

So I was thrilled to learn about one called the "TuTu Two" class in nearby Winter Garden. And last Monday, we went for the first time. Amelia wore her leotard and tights (which she wears to gymnastics, too) AND got some new ballet shoes. I was a little nervous because unlike other classes we go to, mommies are not allowed to stay druing this 30-minute ballet class. We talked about this beforehand - how she was going to be in class with the teacher and other new friends and Mama would watch her through a window. Since I've never left her in a "strange" place, I wasn't sure how she would handle it. But she did great!

Before the class, there were a few mommies gathered in the room and she looked around and said, "O.K. Everybody leave now." It was so funny. Since we can't take pictures during class, here a few from before class started. Doesn't she look like such a big girl warming up for class?

Cherry Blossom Princess? Well, Sort of.

Another highlight of our trip to Washington D.C. was going to see the National Cherry Blossom Festival. It is one of the most breathtaking sights I have ever seen. The weather was perfect, the blossoms were in full bloom and even though the crowds were out, there was plenty of space to run around and appreciate the blossoms and the sights and sounds. Amelia is still too young, but I will remember this day forever because it was so beautiful.

These pictures say it all.

Oh, and can you believe Amelia fell asleep in her stroller? With all those people around? And the very loud sounds of the city? She slept for close to an hour in the shadow of the Washington Monument. Now THAT is historic.

Twin Cousin Everett

Everett Scandlen - the oldest son of my cousin Ben and his wife Mandy - and Amelia are twin cousins. They were both born on January 30, 2008 - with Everett about 7 1/2 hours older than Amelia. They first met when they were three months old and even though they have seen each other only a handful of times since, they seem to have a special bond. (The Scandlens live in Virginia, just a few minutes from Chris and Yoko.)

As you can see from the pictures, Everett and Amelia had a BLAST together this visit. They were having so much fun they could barely sit still. They talked and laughed and jumped and climbed ran around together. It was SO CUTE and so much fun now that the two of them are talking. What a treat, too, to meet Everett's baby brother Rollin, who is adorable and happpily took in all the toddler craziness spinning around him.