Growing up with a little of both and the lessons learned along the way
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In the first grade, Maile and her classmates are spending these first few days of school getting to know each other and themselves. Today they used a mirror to make a self portrait of themselves.
Great shot of Maile Girl working hard on her self portrait
Maile's self portrait - she wants you to know her hair is longer, but she is showing it pulled back in this picture
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Last week as part of settling in, Maile and her first grade classmates talked about their “hopes and dreams” for first grade. We received an email from one of her teachers on Thursday night with the picture below and a note saying:
“We had a great second day in our first green class. We talked about our hopes and dreams, Please see attached Maile’s hope and dream: reading books. It seemed that she is very good at drawing, she drew the reading corner of our classroom, with details: turtle and giraffe on the bookshelf.”
Maile definitely picked up some reading over the past year, but she’s not at the point where she’ll curl up in a corner and read by herself. Looking forward to reading with her to make her dream a reality!
Maile's Hope & Dream for Grade 1 - reading books!
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(Presidio Knolls staggered the start for the little ones – so although Maile started today, Lauren doesn’t start until tomorrow. So we get two first day of schools this year allowing each girl to star on her own day!)
So. Long. Ago.
That was 4 years ago. Today it looks more like this…
So. Old.
It was awesome walking back on to the Presidio Knolls campus – the place was buzzing and when we left her Maile was already running around and catching up with her friends. When she came home she declared it was the “best day ever” – that sounds like a good start to the year to me.
Daddy, Maile and Mommy and day 1 of first grade...
Maile is very curious about having Lauren at school. She told Christine that if she needs to come out of class to help, she will. But she doesn’t want to miss too much.
Lauren is very excited for school.
Maile and Mommy
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Hard to believe it’s already here … almost.
Maile starts 1st grade on Wednesday. And Lauren starts preschool on Thursday(!)
On Sunday, the school had a “practice run” play date. It was a really great way for both girls to get acclimated before the start of school. Maile met her teachers and dropped off some of her stuff. And then she ran around all around with her friends.
Lauren checked out her classroom for the very first time and I think came away impressed. She touched as many toys as she could, met her teachers (“Hi, I’m Lauren”) and even made passing contact with some soon to be friends. The teachers did a circle time with some singing, we washed hands and ate snack (Lauren wasn’t a fan of the offering) and then hit the playground outside for some serious sand time. She even told us on the way in that we were supposed to leave now – hopefully, she’ll remember that come Thursday!
Here are the girls on their way in…
Maile and Lauren are ready for the school year!
Notice the similarities in outfits – dress with leggings and fancy sandals. This is not a mistake. I remember the first few months of school we were able to dress Maile how we pleased. That all ended pretty quickly. I imagine the same will be true for Lauren – except will have the added challenge of her wanting to match Maile every day.
Should be an exciting year – we’re looking forward to seeing what it’s like having both girls at the school, how much they’ll interact, etc.
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Tonight Maile and I went down to The Warfield to see American Idol Live, featuring Maile’s favorite Jax and the other top 5 contests including the winner, Nick Fradiani. I purchased the tickets for Maile’s birthday and we’d been counting down the days all summer. It was truly a night to remember…
First, we had to make sure we were properly dressed. Maile Girl picked out a great outfit for herself and Christine helped her put on some finishing touches. We spent A LOT of time deciding which necklaces and bracelets to wear.
Initially, I thought I’d pull my old sleeveless jean jacket out of retirement. But Maile had other ideas. When I put it in on, she told me in no uncertain terms that it “wasn’t very Nick Fradiani” and I “should change”. She let me keep my Bon Jovi t-shirt (that was cool enough), but instead put me in a darker color pair of jeans and a sport jacket. Judge for yourself, I think she was right…
Daddy's initial outfit for the concert...
... and the update after Maile's improvements!
Lauren didn't join us this time, but we'll get her to a concert soon enough...
After we were properly attired we headed out for the show. Here’s Maile describing what was about to happen…
Along the way we stopped for some rock star poses...
And there it is - outside Maile's first concert, American Idol Live at The Warfield!
First concert t-shirt - Jax! Never taking it off...
Daddy and Maile before the show started...
And then the show started – basically consisted of the top 5 contestants taking turns singing covers. We had pretty solid seats off to one side, but that allowed Maile to stand on the chair and dance around with me. We were also right in front of a gaggle of 15 or so screaming girls – Maile was almost as transfixed by them as she was by what was happening on stage…
Oh my god! Jax is RIGHT THERE!
Jax came down into the crowd and Maile ran over (and then got run over) with a bunch of the other teenage girls and Jax sang right to them. You can’t see much here, but posting anyways so when Maile checks this out later she can see how close she was to Jax…
We didn’t make it until the very end – around 9:30, Maile started to get really tired. She actually asked me to leave early. It doesn’t matter though – it was an amazing night. Perfect venue and small concert to get Maile started – just overwhelming enough to blow her mind, but still keep it mostly intact.
(Click here for the first video.)
(Click here for the second video.)
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It wouldn’t be much of a Michael Jackson dance camp if the moonwalk wasn’t prominently involved. And sure enough, Maile brought home the beginnings of what I have no doubt will blossom into a killer moonwalk. I love her focus on the steps in this video…
And, of course, she taught Lauren too…
(Click here for the first video.)
(Click here for the second video.)
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Maile is at Michael Jackson dance camp at Nagata Dance this week. If the moves she came home with from day one are any indication, we are in for quite the treat!
A good first Michael Jackson pose...
Pretty good. Mommy noticed something was missing though…
Nailed it.
Word on the street is that tomorrow they learn the Moonwalk. Stay tuned…
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One last memory from our Cape Cod vacation before we move on. Maile and I went to a store in downtown Chatham and picked up a kite. I’ve mentioned this before, but I love kite flying. Our Cape Code kite flying was short-lived (apparently there are endangered birds that are scared of kites so it wasn’t allowed on the beach we were on), but we had fun while it lasted…
Getting things setup with my two little helpers...
Great success! We are airborne...
Just a little girl and a string to the sky...
A perfect picture.
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So it’s Tuesday, not Thursday – but one of my favorite videos came across my Timehop app and I had to repost. From 5 years ago today…
Man, time flies…
(Click here for the video.)
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The best part of our vacation to Cape Cod was that we were joined by Grandma Jill and Papa Mike for the first part of the week and Auntie Elyssa for the whole thing!
Only thing better than family time? Family time + ice cream!
And yes, plenty of time playing with Auntie's old dolls with Grandma Jill...
Swinging with Grandma Jill
All the ladies on the see saw...
Selfie time with Auntie Elyssa!
Family Picture (Maile 6, Lauren 2.5)
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