Posted on

Time flew.

Today is Sophie’s last day of kindergarten. As cliche as it sounds, I can hardly believe it.

First day on the left, last day on the right
First day on the left, last day on the right

 

When I first sat with school staff in a conference room two-and-a-half-years ago to write Sophie’s first preschool IEP, I was asked what my goals were for her. I said, “I would like for her to go to a regular kindergarten.” Well, it soon became apparent, even though she was in therapy for another year, that that goal would be attainable.

And the truth is, Sophie shone in kindergarten. She sailed through kindergarten like a BOSS. And she loved every second of it. Honestly, at this point, I don’t expect her to have any trouble academically. But if she does, we will cross that bridge with determination.

I am very thankful for her sweet teacher who encouraged and guided Sophie this year. She is truly a gift to her students and their parents.

I would go on, but then you might not read the post I plan for next week with COPIOUS pictures of Sophie in her graduation gown. Graduation is at 2 p.m. today and my waterproof mascara is on deck. Cue the ugly cry! I’m going to try to keep it in check, but this is my baby girl,so…we’ll see.

Happy graduation, Sophie!  I can hardly express how proud I am of you and how much I love you. Thank you Lord for all her achievements!

Post to Twitter

Posted on

Don’t trip on your lip

We have had kind of a rough week this week. Sophie was sick and missed school Monday and Tuesday (after being off Thursday and Friday last week for teacher in-service, of course), and by yesterday Jonah had caught her cold and is now coughing his head off in full-force. Sads. :/ But the real trauma came on Wednesday afternoon, Sophie’s first day back to school in a week. I had just arrived home from a doctor’s appointment for my variety of unsettling aches and pains (a CAT scan reveals I’m not dying – yay!) when my phone rang at 2:10.

“Mrs. Rapson? This is the school nurse. I’ve got Sophie in the clinic here. She tripped and fell on the way in from recess and has a pretty bad fat lip. I wanted to warn you so you won’t be alarmed.”

Sophie gets out of school at 2:45, so at that point there was no way I could’ve gotten to her before the carpool mom did, so after the nurse reassured me that she was fine and a “trooper”, I waited for her to get home. I expected a girl with a dramatic story and a puffy lip. I did NOT expect THIS:

Sophie 0, Sidewalk 1.

OhmahGOSH!!! My poor baby! I couldn’t believe how bad it was. I couldn’t believe it didn’t need stitches (the nurse assured me it did not.) I couldn’t believe all her teeth were intact.  Praise the Lord, her teeth and gums were fine.

So. We iced it as much as she could stand Wednesday night, and put her to bed confident it would look much better in the morning.

Except it did NOT look better in the morning. I was pretty freaked! I decided to keep her home from school…again…so we could ice it, disinfect it, and just keep an eye on it. I checked her gums and teeth again just to be sure everything was still intact. I couldn’t believe how bad it still looked!

Fortunately, after lots of ice, cold drinks, and food cut up into tiny bits, it did improve. This morning she was all ready for school, looking like this:

No, she’s not a hipster. That’s a bruise, not a mustache.

She was really excited to get back to her friends! And to be wearing this season’s hot new shade of lip gloss, “Neosporin Spring”.

I guess maybe this injury was well-timed…I’ve been blazing through season 4 of “Toddlers and Tiaras” on Netflix and the idea of a full-glitz Sophie was starting to get appealing. Oh well, I guess the fake teeth, hair piece, and spray tan will have to wait until her lip heals!

Post to Twitter

Posted on

A Monster of My Own Making

Sophie, her doll Marie-Grace, and my niece Murrin (herself a vintage American Girl owner).

Well, the Christmas surprise gift for Sophie was a hit! She loves her Marie-Grace American Girl doll. But it may have been too big of a hit, actually. Now she sleeps with the catalog and is totally devastated that the 2012 Girl of the Year is no longer available because, “Now I can’t have all the dolls. I want all of them.”

This is actually quite exciting for me because I can remember quite clearly a time when Sophie was in the midst of her developmental delays and she wasn’t interested in dolls or pretending in any way. So it does thrill me to have her so excited about American Girl.

Ready for bed with all the essentials!

She has all the characters and their life stories memorized already – even the ones whose books we haven’t read (we’d read several books and she had three mini-dolls before she got her big doll).

I could afford to make Sophie’s doll dreams come true of course…if I sold her brothers.

But I’m pretty attached to those boys.

So…what I’m saying is, “Call me American Girl. I’m really great to work with, and I can totally be bought.”

And isn’t Sophie the cutest??

Post to Twitter