Rocky's First Week of Kindergarten in Paris

Rocky's first day of school in Paris - Waiting to go in

It's here.  The first day of school in Paris.  According to the birthday cut-offs in France, Rocky qualifies for grande section (which is kindergarten); whereas in the States, she'd still be in preschool.  Here in France, you don't find out who your teacher is until the first day of school.  In addition, French schools do not allow parents to walk their children into school.  Parents walk their child to the entrance of the school, then the kids walk in by themselves.  On the first day, the teacher led them in because they don't know where their classrooms are, but on the second day, Rocky walked in by herself.

Flowers for her teacher

My friend Joe is probably laughing at me for sending Rocky to school with flowers, but I thought it would be nice to bring something to brighten the teacher's hectic morning.

I couldn't have asked for a better first week for Rocky.  On the first day, she was a little apprehensive when we were outside, but once Rocky knew it was time to go in, she left without any hesitation.  On the following days, Rocky seemed to look forward to going to school and her only complaint is they don't get a snack.  She hasn't made any friends yet, but Rocky is a little slower at warming up to people.  She also thinks that none of the kids in her class speak English, which isn't true.  After school on Friday, I organized a playdate with some the kids in her class and the other Kindergarten class, which might have helped.

We've met at least 2 other families whose children have cried before leaving their house in anticipation of going to school.  These poor parents, who relocated for work, are quite stressed out and worried.  I feel for them.  If lack of snacks and not making friends yet are our only obstacles, I can handle that.

Quote: Stella is Nicer Than Me

There are many days when my lovely kids drive me up the wall.  But then there are those moments when I just can't help but smile at how fortunate I am to have them.  Zachary is Peanut's classmate at the French school.  This is a note from his mom, Micky.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~

Micky M (Gmail)	Mar 26 (2 days ago)
to me

So today z told me that Stella is so nice, that she is even nicer than me!!!

In the past few days he told me a few things she did that I feel are really sweet

The other day, Z had black ink squid pasta and kids were teasing him about it and z said "it is good" but kids kept saying it was not good, and Stella leaned over and told him "I believe you it is good"

Then today a boy told Z that Z is not part of his team anymore, and apparently that made Z cry.  Z told me that both Stella and Simon went to Z to tell him he was part of their team (other wording but that is the idea).

Lovely eh! You must be very proud!

I hope things are well w you all.

Ciao

micky (from iPhone)

Happy First Day of School

Both kids had a great first day of school.  Rocky started the three-year-olds preschool class at Peanut's Spanish immersion school and Peanut is a full-fledged kindergartner.

Look Who's Writing in Cursive

Age 5 - Peanut

Who is Rocky at 2.5 Years Old?

Rocky at 2.5 Years Old

My little girl is not a patient person, but with puzzles, she's surprisingly focused.  I saw an interview with Sheryl Sandberg on 60 Minutes where she says, "I want every little girl who someone says 'they're bossy' to be told instead, 'you have leadership skills' because I was told that and because every woman I know who's in a leadership position was told that."  In that case, Rocky has amazing "leadership skills".

Rocky is quite the little talker nowadays and is understandable to most people.  I always thought the second child would walk, talk, climb, etc. a lot faster than the first, but it's quite the opposite in our house.  Rocky predominantly speaks English, but can count up to cinco in Spanish and mười [ten] in Vietnamese.  Out of the blue, she'll spice things up by using the few Spanish and Vietnamese words she knows. For example, "Mommy, I want to eat kho bo [beef jerky in Vn]" or "This is my boca [mouth in Sp]".  Her favorite colors are pink and purple and number is two.


Growing up with a big brother means you're into what he's into.  Not because you're trying to please him, it's just reality.  You were born and there were all these cars, Legos, and Power Rangers at your disposal.  Additionally, it's fun to steal the one toy your brother told you not to touch.  Rocky loves playing with Peanut and misses him when he's not around.  I can tell he feels the same way.  Rocky loves to do this thing where she stands with her arms out to block your path and says, "say the password".  And the password is "samurai".  Can you guess where she learned that?

What's the password?

In Rocky's teachers words, potty training is going "remarkably well".  Rocky's starting her third week back at school and has had only a couple days with accidents.  She's pretty much accident-free at home and doing a good job of telling us when she has to go.  I think Jared and I are pretty happy with the results and thankful this went as smoothly as it did.  I was pretty excited yesterday when I put away her diaper Genie.  My days of changing diapers are over!

Rocky is still a picky eater mainly dining on eggs, peas, and some kind of carb.  She naps once a day for about 1-2 hours and sleeps 12 hours at night.

Peanut at Age 4.5+

This is deja vu.  We were at a birthday party for Peanut's friend when one of the moms came up to me and said that her daughter loves him.  Another mom overheard and told me that her daughter says she's going to marry him.  (Girls sure do mature fast.)  They started comparing notes and the words "casanova" and "ladies man" were thrown around.  I was beet red.  

Mister Personality is learning how to ride a bike.  One of his best friends has already mastered riding without training wheels, but Peanut is just starting and isn't as in love with it as I'd hoped.  I remember as a kid, I loved my bike and could have ridden it from morning til night so I just can't understand why he's not more excited.

Peanut is learning about the numbers 1 through 5 in school and is practicing writing.  There are various exercises and games the teachers teach the kids.

One of those exercises is below where you match the ducks to the number.  When we talked about the worksheet, Peanut pointed out something much more important to him ... he colored the five ducks in corresponding Power Ranger Samurai colors.  Jayden (red), Mia (pink), Kevin (blue), Emily (yellow), and Antonio (gold/blue).  Peanut informed me they're only learning up to the number five, so the sixth ranger, Mike, was left off.  I didn't know Power Rangers were back in style and how did he even learn about these characters?

Here's a sample of Peanut's writing.  He drew some pictures of the animals that make up the Power Rangers Samurai Megazord's body then asked us how to spell every family member's name.  You'll notice that we have an extra family member named David.  One would think that Peanut wrote that because it's his middle name, but you would be wrong.  Peanut says that my friend's son, David, is his older brother.  In fact, Peanut's Tae Kwon Do instructor asked him for his siblings' names and he said, David and Stella.  Jared and I have told Peanut to call David his "friend-brother" and he totally gets it, but I think he just like the idea of having an older brother like his buddies at school do.

In addition to school, Peanut is learning Tae Kwon Do and soccer.  He seems to like the martial arts, but can take or leave soccer.

Rocky is Two Years Old

Two years ago on ten-one-ten, we welcomed this little lady into our home.  Back then, she had her nights and days confused, spit up all over everything, and had blue eyes.  Who is Rocky today?

Mini Fashionista and Photographer

At age two, Rocky loves going to school everyday from 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM where she naps and knows all of her friends' names.  We're not sure if it's because of school or she's getting older, but language has clicked for Rocky.  Referring to herself as LaLa, she calls me Kim, Peanut as Anh Hai (which is how you refer to your eldest brother in Vietnamese), and seems to say new words in English and Vietnamese everyday.  She even knows a few Spanish words such as hola, adios, and agua.  I'm probably the one who understands her the best, but Jared and Peanut can make out most of the words.

Rocky showing us she is two.

I really enjoy reading with Rocky because she sits and makes it very obvious that she's following along.  Dr. Seuss' Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You is her favorite book.  She reads along and shouts out words so loud that it makes her cough.

Unlike her brother, Rocky is a picky eater.  She eats scrambled eggs with peas every single day.  I give her the squeezable baby foods so she gets some variety of fruits and vegetables in her diet.  Something I've passed onto my daughter is the love of ketchup.  She calls it lee-lup and cannot get enough.  Jared and I have to cut her off.  Here is Rocky eating lee-lup with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  (The sandwich is basically a vessel for the ketchup.)

More ketchup please