I've been feeling terrible that I didn't get around to writing your bday post for 6 so I'm going to write you a Happy Birthday post because you are officially 6 1/2!
You started Kindergarten this year and I'm not going to lie...it didn't go so well for the first half of the year. You had Mrs. Francis who you already knew since Brenna had her and you would see her around town or at school and even give her hugs but to my surprise, you did not just breeze right into Kindergarten. We had a rough start. You were really nervous the first day of school and we had a plan that Brenna would walk you in to the school and bring you to Mrs. Francis. Well the first day was chaotic and all the kids I think scared you and at the very last minute of you walking through the doors together hand-in-hand, a teacher stopped you and said "oh you're in kindergarten, so you should go through that door (pointing to another door)," so you and Brenna had to have sort of an abrupt separation and you pretty much cried through the entire first week of school all day. Mrs. Francis was so sweet and concerned and I knew you would get the hang of it but Elementary School was a big change for you. Much bigger than CEC. You told me you didn't like that you didn't know all the teachers and that Brenna was in an entirely different building than you. And if there was a substitute, well just forget it, you were not having any part of going to school that day.
It took a while, but you eventually started to enjoy school. You came home one day with the funniest story. You said that today a couple kids got into trouble for arm wrestling in the cafeteria and I said "Oh, well that doesn't sound like a good idea. You weren't arm wrestling were you?" And you said with a little smile "Well yea, but I didn't get in trouble." And I said, "Well I don't think you should be arm wrestling, that's against the rules and next time you could get in trouble too." And you said to me with the most serious face, "But I won." LOL I'm not surprised at all that you won.
You had a great time at the Daddy Daughter Dance.
You started speech at school to sharpen up on your R's and you also got your first pair of glasses and I noticed that you started to be more content after that. I was surprised at how much better you could see with your glasses. You liked to wear them cause you could see so much clearer.
This year you have enjoyed gymnastics. You don't do as many endless cartwheels as you used to do...that has been replaced by back-bends and then back walk-overs.
You also do a combo tap/ballet class at Performing Arts Academy and you really enjoy that with your best friend, Brookie.
You and Brookie also played t-ball for the second season with your dads as the coach. On the first day of practice someone noticed a raccoon hanging out in the tree and your team all yelled "RACCOON!!!!" over and over again so your team became the Blue Raccoons! You are a good little tball player and Daddy is looking forward to coaching you next year when you move up to the coach pitch position.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=19c2QQXXXqGlDhTyywla0Hejma8xhCqsJ
You are a very picky eater. You don't like to try new foods. Your diet basically consists of plain pasta, rice and beans, turkey rollups, and black bean and cheese tacos.
You don't like to do homework but you are very smart. Mrs. Francis says you are extremely well-behaved in class and are very detail-oriented. Brenna can't ever remember what day she has her fine arts rotation but you always know and Mrs. Francis says you remind her what day it is when she can't remember.
Here you are reading one of your favorite book series, Elephant and Piggie, by Mo Willems.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/121K3LMGPWzX6Owv7Y8Zo3OLM51cTsRJv/view?usp=sharing
And another of you reading to Brenna: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ey8wz5S363SXU0rznFQpnBlkJYY_wNky
You were super eager and excited to lose your first tooth.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1raZrZ_Da5hhFdRnWSf9HEKuRcujEFKkH
You are loving our new pool!
One of the things I LOVE most about you is how witty you are. You are hilarious. You understand sarcasm and many times you'll finish a joke or say something at the exact right time that is intentionally hilarious to lighten the mood.
We faced our biggest family challenge ever this year with the loss of our dear friend, Carley. We miss her terribly and I hope you'll always remember her sweet gentile nature and how much we loved her and she loved you. She wasn't just Brenna's friend, she was yours too. You will sometimes draw pictures and put her name on them and you told your teacher all about the tree we planted for her. I'm sad that you had to face such sadness at such a young age but we'll never forget her and I bet this will make you into an even kinder and more empathetic person as you grow up. Carley was one of your favorite friends and first words to say.
Brenna is still your favorite person and also the person you love to pester and fight with the most. But you LOVE her and she LOVES you. All of Brenna's friends at school seem to like you a lot too and you get picked up and hugged quite a bit. I love you, Lou! I'm sorry I got a year behind on my updates for you. I hope you'll keep being your sweet and silly self cause you make all of us so happy! xoxoxo
