Busy Month for a Laylee-Bug

Tomorrow will mark the completion of Leyland's third week of 3K at Hope Christian Academy. She absolutely loves it! The week before starting school was quite eventful for the little Laylee-Bug. She gave up her pappy, and she pooped in the potty. If you don't have children, or if it has been a very long time since you had toddlers, you might not know, or might have forgotten, what a milestone this is. We have pretty much kept the pacifier company in business for the last three years, and at any given time there might be 12-15 of them lying around, and then the next day not one to be found. Giving up the pappy was a huge thing. Once she relinquished them, it was cold turkey all the way. It helped, of course, that at the same time Corey gave up the pappy during the day, only taking it at night and naptime. Giving up the pappy and completing the potty training process in one week is pretty incredible!! And that amidst the excitement of starting school the following week!! She got the hang of #1 a couple of months ago, but had a terrible time correlating #2 with the potty... preferring rather to take care of business in the corner of the living room, or other unlikely places which shall remain undisclosed at this time. Nevertheless, the light bulb clicked, and not only does she poop in the potty, but she has decided she's too big for the potty chair and must use the grown up potty. Fine with us... one less thing to stumble over when we're rushing to the bathroom because "Mommy, I gotta go NOW!!!" Since then, there have been very few accidents, and we are so proud of her! But wouldn't you just know it.. one of the aforementioned accidents happened on her first day of school! Wow. Way to make a good impression, Laylee-Bug! However, it became evident that afternoon that she had a mild tummyache, and combined with the excitement of the day, she just didn't make it in time. Now, lest you think this entire post is devoted to the bowel habits of The Little Princen, allow me to reassure you. I'll move on to other subjects... albeit of the Princen variety.

She loves school, loves her teacher and her classmates. Her teacher said in the beginning that she was fairly shy, and didn't much want to participate in any activities such as singing, clapping (sitting quietly in her chair, cleaning up after playtime...) On Monday of this week, "Miss Everik" (Miss Everett) sent home a note that pretty much said Leyland was wreaking havoc on her formerly well-behaved classroom, and that the other children were all mimicing her little devil-like behavior. Well, no, it didn't really say that... but to a mom and grandma who want so much for her to do well, it was a bit of a disappointment.. and a reality check. Yes, Leyland is a sweet, precious angel. Just ask anybody who spends time with her in Sunday School or Children's Church, or play dates with friends. They just go on about how sweet and wonderful she is. Well, 3K is a lot different from anything she has ever been exposed to, and it has been a little challenging for her . Which is exactly what she needs! Whitney wanted to get her into a situation where she would develop social skills with other children, and learn how to thrive in a structured environment. From what I can gather, the school is fairly regimented, and "structured environment" is definitely the order of the day. At any rate, after much talking, cajoling, encouraging, a tiny bit of forewarning, and promises of a treat when she got home, the next day "Miss Everik" sent home a note that her behavior was MUCH improved, and she was beginning to cooperate. she only had to stand in the corner with her nose against the wall one time (along with three other children, who, NO DOUBT were to blame for Leyland's having to put her nose against the wall.. just kidding... haha). We were ecstatic to see improvement. Yay Leyland!! And to our delight, the note today said she had a perfect day, that she sang along, recited what she was supposed to recite, and cooperated the entire time. Yay!!

Normally, she doesn't want to "talk about" what she learned at school, and won't recite or sing for us. Maybe she's feeling more comfortable with the whole thing, because today she has recited (along with Whitney and I) the Pledge of Allegiance, Pledge to The Bible, and Pledge to the Christian Flag (well, mostly she just faked it on that one.) She has recited the months of the year" "Chanuary, Febulary, March, April, May, Chin-Chuly, August, September, Optober, Novlember, Optober, Novlember, Optober, Novlember........" She sang "I will make you fishermen" (fishers of men), and "I've got the choy, choy, choy, choy down in my heart.. WHERE? Down in my heart....."

The little Laylee-Bug has had a busy month indeed, what with all that potty training, pappy-relinquishing, new-routine, peldge-learning, song-learning, months-of-the-year-learning going on.

And of course, Greemaw thinks she a genius. :-)

Here's a few shots of Leyland on her first day of school.

Hope Christian Academy

Backpack is almost as big as she is.

Yep, she'll fit right in.

Got the booger-pickin' thing

goin' on already.