4.25
This quarterly is already a month late, but I should get something down before baby brother is born, or it's not happening at all!
Ingrid has transitioned so well to the new house and routine. She occasionally says she misses Miss Sherri and our old house, but mostly she has settled in and not looked back. It's nice for her that there are more doting adults around, since she was always the one most likely to be middle-childed and get shortchanged on individual attention. She is enjoying being the "big kid" of the girl cousin coterie, but she also plays really well with Alden. The pattern is often that Henry, Alden, and Ingrid start out running around together, then she gets tired of the rowdy and splits off for awhile, then Alden tires of trying to keep up with Henry and reverts to doing 4-year-old things with Ingrid and the two of them settle in to play something together.
She discovered Netflix and movies. For the last two years, we had to limit Henry on the screens because he would have watched all day if we let him, but Ingrid would watch one show and then get bored. All of a sudden, they seem to have switched roles. Henry comes home from school and either goes outside in his snow gear or sits down at the counter to write a million books, cards, and signs. Ingrid snuggles into our big bed and disappears into the iPad. I'm pregnant and it's -10 degrees outside, so I can't really complain about spending the afternoon cuddled up with her, but I'm hoping her passion for the Minnie Mouse Christmas Special will dissipate soon without a serious intervention.
When we moved, I originally considered finding a new Montessori program for her. She could have done a full year and a half to finish the primary cycle before starting public school in first grade. But then 1) we decided that she should probably just start in the neighborhood kindergarten this fall, and 2) she visited some schools with me and just loooooooved this one preschool. She visited the traditional preschool with all its bright colors and sensory tables and play stations, and then after the subsequent Montessori visits, was like, "that was nice, but when can I go back to Berry Patch?" So Berry Patch it is. It's three minutes from our house (still requires 30 minutes of fighting about coats and gloves to get out the door) and full of other kids from the neighborhood. She goes four mornings a week and loves it. She also enrolled just in time to perform in the holiday concert, which was every bit as ridiculous and adorable as you might imagine with a large group of two- to four-year-olds.
She is off school on Fridays and has been going to Northfield with Dave and Carol to visit GG Bob and Joan. They share a love of chocolate doughnuts and Ingrid leaves them with reams of artwork. I think she loves that these visits are her special thing, and really, is there anything to brighten up a retirement center like a four year old girl in sparkly shoes?
Speaking of baked goods, Ingrid approves of mass holiday baking. With Karl and Eric back in town, the Schrader cousins decided to revive their tradition of making lefse like they did with Grandma Joyce. Karl was always the designated roller and Ingrid proved a very competent apprentice. Fitting, since she is the only one of our kids who looks like a Schrader. She also looks adorable in a Scandinavian-style sweater dress. Then she helped the cousins and aunts bake fifty million Christmas cookies (our giant open kitchen is proving every bit as functional as we hoped). She's going to coast on sugar and flour until January. I'm too pregnant to fight it.
With all the baking done, she's just waiting for a baby brother and Christmas. It's a toss-up which one she's more excited about. She requested figure skates from Santa and he is going to deliver some super cute pink-and-white ones. She doesn't really like the cold, but we might turn her into a Minnesotan yet!
Ingrid has transitioned so well to the new house and routine. She occasionally says she misses Miss Sherri and our old house, but mostly she has settled in and not looked back. It's nice for her that there are more doting adults around, since she was always the one most likely to be middle-childed and get shortchanged on individual attention. She is enjoying being the "big kid" of the girl cousin coterie, but she also plays really well with Alden. The pattern is often that Henry, Alden, and Ingrid start out running around together, then she gets tired of the rowdy and splits off for awhile, then Alden tires of trying to keep up with Henry and reverts to doing 4-year-old things with Ingrid and the two of them settle in to play something together.
She discovered Netflix and movies. For the last two years, we had to limit Henry on the screens because he would have watched all day if we let him, but Ingrid would watch one show and then get bored. All of a sudden, they seem to have switched roles. Henry comes home from school and either goes outside in his snow gear or sits down at the counter to write a million books, cards, and signs. Ingrid snuggles into our big bed and disappears into the iPad. I'm pregnant and it's -10 degrees outside, so I can't really complain about spending the afternoon cuddled up with her, but I'm hoping her passion for the Minnie Mouse Christmas Special will dissipate soon without a serious intervention.
When we moved, I originally considered finding a new Montessori program for her. She could have done a full year and a half to finish the primary cycle before starting public school in first grade. But then 1) we decided that she should probably just start in the neighborhood kindergarten this fall, and 2) she visited some schools with me and just loooooooved this one preschool. She visited the traditional preschool with all its bright colors and sensory tables and play stations, and then after the subsequent Montessori visits, was like, "that was nice, but when can I go back to Berry Patch?" So Berry Patch it is. It's three minutes from our house (still requires 30 minutes of fighting about coats and gloves to get out the door) and full of other kids from the neighborhood. She goes four mornings a week and loves it. She also enrolled just in time to perform in the holiday concert, which was every bit as ridiculous and adorable as you might imagine with a large group of two- to four-year-olds.
 |
| Back row, third from right, not singing. |
She is off school on Fridays and has been going to Northfield with Dave and Carol to visit GG Bob and Joan. They share a love of chocolate doughnuts and Ingrid leaves them with reams of artwork. I think she loves that these visits are her special thing, and really, is there anything to brighten up a retirement center like a four year old girl in sparkly shoes?
Speaking of baked goods, Ingrid approves of mass holiday baking. With Karl and Eric back in town, the Schrader cousins decided to revive their tradition of making lefse like they did with Grandma Joyce. Karl was always the designated roller and Ingrid proved a very competent apprentice. Fitting, since she is the only one of our kids who looks like a Schrader. She also looks adorable in a Scandinavian-style sweater dress. Then she helped the cousins and aunts bake fifty million Christmas cookies (our giant open kitchen is proving every bit as functional as we hoped). She's going to coast on sugar and flour until January. I'm too pregnant to fight it.
With all the baking done, she's just waiting for a baby brother and Christmas. It's a toss-up which one she's more excited about. She requested figure skates from Santa and he is going to deliver some super cute pink-and-white ones. She doesn't really like the cold, but we might turn her into a Minnesotan yet!
Comments
Post a Comment