Just call me Mama

Every night at bedtime, Ari asks me, "What am I going to do when I wake up?" No matter what my answer is, she usually doesn't react much.

But last night, when I said, "Well, you're going to go to Zane's house--"

She interrupted me excitedly with, "And go to preschool?!" When I said yes, she replied, "Woo hoo!"

(Oh yeh, by the way... Ari's starting preschool. Through a lady in our church, who also has a little boy around Ari's age [which is why she calls it "Zane's house"].)

This morning, I was running late and asked Tony to help me get her ready, which meant he had to wake her up. Her first words to him were, "Daddy, Mommy said when I wake up today, I'm going to go to preschool!"

Maybe I should have taken a picture of her this morning, to mark the occasion. She's been going to this house for the past 2 weeks, though, so it doesn't feel like a big change yet. Maybe it will sink in later this week or next week, when I realize I'm taking her there every single day.

I'm really hoping she does well with this, and I think she will. It's not like she's been home with Tony all the time--she's gone to a babysitter's twice a week for the past 3 years of her life. I'm assuming she'll adjust easily to a 5-days-a-week schedule. And it will be different because she'll be with other kids her age now. And besides all that, I really think she's ready for it. I'm excited to see all the things she's going to learn.

Speaking of that, her drawing skills have really improved lately. And by "lately" I mean literally within the past week or so. She's enjoyed drawing for a while now, but it's usually mostly unrecognizable scribbles. And even when it is something recognizable, it's just a few random shapes, or a couple numbers or letters--nothing that really looks like a purposeful drawing. But last night at the restaurant, she drew a picture of a monster on the back of her placemat. I really should have kept it, or taken a picture of it before we left, because I was so impressed. She made the outline of the monster in jagged lines, and drew 2 eyes and a mouth (a smiling mouth, too, which she said meant it was a happy monster). Then she drew what looked like 5 or 6 buttons going down its body. There were 2 crooked horizontal lines for arms, and 2 vertical ones for legs--and at the bottom of each leg was a little scribble that looked like a foot.

Her imagination is expanding too. Her newest thing is to make her toys talk to us. For example, we'll be in the car, and she'll say, "Mommy?" When I reply, she'll say, "No, Bunny wants to talk to you." And then Bunny (or whatever toy she happens to have) will ask a question like, "When we get home, can we play outside?" Yesterday, she was playing with her plastic spoon at lunch, and when I asked her what she was doing, she said Spoon was singing a song. Then she said Spoon wanted to tell me a secret, and held the spoon up to my ear, right next to her mouth, as she whispered to me. I'm just waiting for her to learn how to disguise her voice when she does this.

She told me a few days ago that she wants to be a princess. When I told her she already was, because she's my princess, she replied, "No, I want to be a REAL princess." If I hadn't known better, I would have sworn she rolled her eyes at me. As imaginative as she can be, she can also have her moments where she's amusingly realistic.

The next day, I watched her kiss Tony on the cheek and declare, "Daddy, now you're a prince!" I giggled and told him, "I guess that means she thinks you were a frog before."

She's taken to calling me "Mama" now, which totally baffles me. She alternates between "Mommy" and "Mama" but I really have no idea where she's getting "Mama" from. We never use it ourselves, and I don't think I even know any friends of hers who call their mothers "Mama." Sometimes it even comes out as "Mumma" which amuses me even more.

I have just been so moved lately by how big she is getting... all the things she can do for herself now, the way she can carry on a conversation, the crazy things her imaginative little brain comes up with, and so much more. And yes, there's the flip side--the meltdowns and pouting and tantrums and yelling and downright meanness. But as much as all that kind of stuff frustrates me, I can't help but realize that it's just further proof that she's growing up, trying to learn to deal with strong emotions and the unfairness of life and the rejection of friends and not getting her way all of the time.

I really need to take some videos of her soon. If not for posting here, then at least for my own sake. She's growing and changing so rapidly lately that I feel like mere words are not enough to "capture" her.

Just got a text from the preschool teacher (sent to all of us parents)...

I just love your children. Thank you for this opportunity! They are all truly wonderful, so good, so helpful, so kind... just all around great! Hope u have a great afternoon!

Guess they're all having a good first day. :)