School Days!

Today is picture day at school, so before we left for school I took a few pictures of Sofia to get her to "practice" her smile. She originally wanted to wear her hair in a braid, which along with a ponytail is basically the only way she wears her hair. However, when her hair is braided it can look messy, plus, her hair looked so good this morning that I convinced her to wear it down with a clip on the side to keep the hair out of her face.

She LOVES school and informed us after her first day that she "loves Mrs. Schultz" her 1st grade teacher. Last week I had a conference with Mrs. Schultz to talk about Sofia's reading and was told that she's at a level 20! At the end of 1st grade the requirement is level 18, so she's already reading at a higher level than 1st grade! She loves to read and now that school is in session, she plays with her dinosaurs less and now spends her time writing on the white board, coloring or cutting things out. Her writing has become a lot more clear and she rarely gets her "Bs" and "Ds" mixed up, although the "Ys" and "Zs" are still backwards sometimes. She writes messages often and although she doesn't know how to spell, she does a decent job of sounding words out.

Sofia's favorite part of school remains recess and she loves Wednesdays when she buys lunch at the cafeteria (it's pizza day every Wednesday). Otherwise, I pack either a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or send her to school with a cheese stick and several pieces of sliced ham. Right now she loves apples, so I include one in every lunch as well as something else: crackers, pretzels, banana, granola bar, and a little something sweet (a cookie, an oreo, a piece of chocolate). She's become a much more adventuresome eater in the past months, although she sure loves her peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!

Sofia's favorite color is pink, purple, violet-red and red. Her favorite breakfast is pancakes and scrambled eggs, lunch is peanut butter and jelly sandwich and dinner is spaghetti. Her favorite book right now is "Tickle Monster" and she still loves reading the Magic Tree House series. She wants to be a paleontologist when she grows up, although I'm guessing that may change to teacher by the end of the year. She loves making up stories and playing make-believe and one of our favorite things to do at bedtime is to tell each other stories. She's very good at taking over a story once I start it and is very imaginative and creative.

She started taking the bus home from school three weeks ago when I had jury duty. I originally thought she would take the bus home for the week of my jury duty, but she ended up loving it so much that she continues to ride home and it's become such a luxury for me! Now, I put Olivia down for her nap at 12:30/1:00pm and she is often still sleeping when Sofia gets home or wakes up around 2:45, which is the time I would normally need to be at school. After her second day riding the bus, she asked if she could walk home alone without me meeting her at the entrance to our neighborhood. I told her she could as long as the bus driver allows it (they don't allow it for Kindergardeners). The bus driver said yes, so now she walks along the sidewalk to our house, although I'm usually in the front yard when the bus arrives. She wants to walk the whole way by herself, so I stay in our yard.

First grade is off to a great start and I've noticed that Sofia is far less emotional after school and easier to wake up in the morning. Usually once she's home I give her a snack and then she plays for a bit before practicing her piano for 30 minutes. She hasn't had any homework yet, although spelling tests are coming up, so I know that will change. She has a busy schedule right now that includes piano lessons with Sven and her friend Ainsley, who stays with her family for dinner on Monday nights. Up until a few weeks ago, Thelma and Isabella were coming over for piano lessons, but they had to change due to a theater class Isabella goes to at the same time. On Tuesdays Sofia recently started tennis lessons at Lifetime gym! She really enjoys it and is totally focused on her coach which I've never seen before. She wants to be better at it than she is, so I have to keep explaining to her that it's a lot like piano and takes time to get better. She then has soccer practice on Wednesdays and games on Saturday mornings. Thursdays and Fridays are free and I'd like to keep them that way. It's so easy to over-schedule since there are so many fun things out there to do!

Sofia's beautiful "practice" smile

All set for school

Olivia and Sofia

Sofia getting off the bus on her first ride home

Our big girl bus rider!