Leadership

I was talking with our neighbor Aime this afternoon and I learned from her that Penny is quite the bossy-pants at school. Apparently any time Ms Nancy tells one of the other students to do or not to do something and they don't listen, Penny will repeat the instructions to them. For example, when they go into the gym for indoor play time at the end of their morning, they are supposed to stay in the circle on the floor while Ms Nancy goes to get the toys out of the toy closet. If any of her classmates attempt to leave the confines of the circle, Penny will get on to them. They are also allowed to stand up during snack time if they stay in front of their chairs. If any of the kids moves from their zone, Penny will remind them of where they are supposed to stay. I recognize that this will not make her popular in the long run, but I find the behavior hilarious. She is such a stickler for the rules. Just like her mom. She still makes valiant attempts to stay on her sticker during dance class by the way. What I can't figure out is, if she's so good about following directions to the point that she can't stand to see someone else not following them, why doesn't she listen to me when I tell her to do something? Hmm?

First Day of School

Penny's first day of school was actually very exciting and not at all traumatic for any of us. She really wanted to go to school and her excitement was contagious. On the way out the door she gathered up a bunch of rolly-pollys just like I used to do on my way to school. (I could never figure out why they weren't in still in my jacket pocket at the end of the school day - ha!) She had such a great first day too -- all she could talk about was how she got to go back the next day and how she couldn't wait. It was almost too good to be true. And it was, because day two did not go as well. I think reality set in for her, and she came home swearing up and down she was never going back to school. Day three was the hardest of all for Tray and me having to leave her there crying and upset. However, Ally's mom Renee volunteers at the school and our next door neighbor extraordinaire Aime works as a float/teacher's aide. The two of them tag-teamed to cheer her up and check on her off and on through the morning. By the time Tray picked her up she was happy as a clam again. All we've heard since Thursday at noon is how she can't wait to go back on Monday. I don't know what next week will bring, but two out of three days coming home excited about school isn't bad. I'm so proud of my little girl.

Hearing and Boys(!)

Penny's hearing test was normal. She's super congested right now though so I hope it all clears out before school starts next week. She's such a trooper going through all the medical tests she's had to go through. She officially hates going to the doctor at this point.

In other news, I found out that Penny's class will be eight boys and four girls, including her. I'm actually kind of excited about that though. She and her friend Allie play similar games, but they are a year apart. The girl friends/acquantences that she has all usually want to play house/dolls at the playground while she's all, "let me find the highest possible point on this equipment to jump off of before my mom sees me." I've been wondering how she might interact with boys of her same age. Not to gender stereotype of anything, but I think she might enjoy having a lot of boys in her class to be rough and tumble with on the playground.

4 Year Old Visit

I haven't posted in forever, I know. I couldn't figure out a way to get back into it, but today Penny had her four year old well-visit so I decided I could write about that. She weighs 30 lbs and is 39 inches tall.  This means that she will probably be in high school before she is big enough to ride in a booster seat. Ha! She seems to be doing fine. She had to have 5 shots: the Measles/Mumps/Rubella, the Chicken Pox, the Hepatitis A, the Tetanus, and the Polio vaccines. They were going to do Hepatitis B as well, but discovered she'd had it already in Florida (which is on a different schedule than Alabama). She also had to have blood drawn for a lead test. Troy is home to Wiley Sanders which is a lead company. Anyway, she was not a happy camper. She already had a fever before bed. Normally she's fine until the next morning when she wakes up with one, so it definitely kicked off earlier than usual. Then again, that was an awful lot of shots. They said she's done until she turns 11 though. She already told me she doesn't want to go back to the doctor when she turns 11!

She had her vision and hearing tested today. Both were just screening tests, but they found that she had some trouble with her left ear. Since I have a hearing loss, they went ahead and referred her to a audiologist. We have that appointment next Wednesday. I'm hoping it's just fluid or something. I'll keep you posted. I hope to post more regularly now that I've officially started back. (Yay!)