First day of First Grade

I can't believe my baby is in first grade already! But she is and today was her first day. Big Sis completely shocked me by getting out of bed all by herself (on time!) and getting ready for school with only a minimum of fuss. She was nervous but you'd never know it!

Fortunately, L'il Sis was going to daycare after Big Sis went to school so her backpack was ready to go as well. She took that as a substitute for Big Sis's lunchbox that she was trying to carry (until Big Sis tucked it into her backpack). As you can see, both girls were more than ready to go well before we needed to leave.

Big Sis was so pleased when she learned that a classmate from kindergarten would be in her first grade class this year (no easy feat, considering there are at least 7 first grade classes at her school!). After school, about the only thing Big Sis would tell me about her day was that her teacher had taken all her glue sticks. She told me this over and over and over. Apparently, it was quite the tragedy and she is having a difficult time getting over it.

August pictures

I know I haven't posted any pictures lately. It's been a busy month. Although I haven't posted, I have been taking pictures. Here are some of my favorites from the past month:

Claire and Daddy share a dance.

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I had been telling Maeve we'd go to the Aquarium at the COEX Mall all summer. Finally, last Thursday, I realized it was my last chance before school started. Of course, it seemed every nursery school in Seoul was on a field trip that day! Maeve still had fun, though.

Claire looking sweet, while dressed in her princess/ballerina finery.

Claire eating her broccoli. This was a rare night when she announced, "I like broccoli! More broccoli, pease!" Of course, she only nibbles the florets off and leaves the rest.

Maeve and Claire coloring together:

2 year old carjacker

"Mommy! Look at Claire!" Maeve yelled. I immediately started looking around for Claire. She wasn't in the playground (like I thought she was). She was a few yards away, standing next to one of those motorized toy Jeeps, trying to pull a little boy out of it. Let me backtrack a bit. There were 2 little boys in the Jeep, both older and bigger than Claire. But she didn't let that stop her. She wanted to be in that Jeep, so somebody had to get out. So there she was. Pulling on that little boy, trying to get him out. As soon as I saw her, I yelled, "No! Stop that, Claire!" Not that it had any effect on her whatsoever. I had to physically pry her away and carry her away from the scene of the crime. Claire continued to tell me, "I sit in truck! I sit in truck!" She was plainly not listening when I tried to explain that (a) she didn't know those kids; and (b) carjacking just isn't nice!

how old are you?

Maeve is always saying the funniest things, usually made funnier in the context of her age and the fact she is saying them. This weekend she lived up to this again. It has been very hot and humid in South Korea lately. (They really aren't kidding about the dog days of summer here.) So, there we were, walking across a parking lot. Maeve was moaning and complaining about being thirsty. Then she startles us with, "I have to hydrate... to stay healthy!" Sam asked if she knew what "hydrate" meant. She didn't, but she still used it correctly!

Claire says...

We've been talking up the whole potty training thing lately. "Big girls use the potty, babies use their diapers...." you get the idea. The other morning, I tried to get Claire to just sit on the potty. Without looking at me (she looks away and ignores me if I'm saying something she doesn't want to hear), Claire responded, "No thank you sit on potty...[big pause]...'kay?" with a big smile.
Later, when I asked her if she was a big girl or a baby, she answered with an emphatic, "Baby!" So I guess that's that. She is definitely not interested for now!

Then there's the dinner battle. Lately, she hasn't wanted to eat much of anything at dinner. When we ask her to take a bite, Claire usually gives us a big grin (to the point I sometimes worry her cheeks will explode!) and says, "I drink-a milk!" One night, after 20 minutes of asking her to take just one bite, she finally did and pronounced, with great surprise, "I like it!" Meanwhile, I'm aging by the minute! Whoever it was who said that kids keep you young, they LIED!

military brat

Maeve really is a military brat. On last Friday's movie night, she opted for Bambi. During a scene with the hunters, Sam tried to assure her that the hunters weren't trying to kill ALL the deer, they were just looking for food. Maeve response was, "Why don't they just go to the commissary?" By the way, I don't think she ever says "grocery store."

I don't know if it's sad or funny, but C-O-M-M-I-S-S-A-R-Y was also one of the first words she could read (hard to miss those huge letters on the front of the building).