Blake, Tiffanie, Emery, Everett, and Delaney: Emery is five and a half

Emery Annabelle is five and a half! And just in time to start Kindergarten!

In April, our beloved daycare provider whom Emery had been with for nearly 3 years, Mrs. Diana, and her husband moved to Kentucky to live near their children and grandchildren. We miss them terribly, but we know they're very happy being so close to their family! So Emery started at a local preschool, Springfield Academy, with a full class of 20 "junior kindergarteners" and two teachers. They were working on the same curriculum Emery had been working on - only they were a full year behind her. Emery had been working on the K-5 curriculum with Mrs. Diana - so this was a little frustrating for our girl. In June, Emery graduated with her class from junior kindergarten and they all moved up to the kindergarten class for the summer - a new set of teachers, more kids, field trips, trips to the pool, and some fun projects. Therefore, if you asked Emery if she was excited to start kindergarten (at public school in the fall) she insisted she was already in kindergarten - sometimes hoping she'd move up to first grade in the fall!

Some things about this school were tough for Emery (2 hour nap time when she never actually slept, but couldn't do anything else but lay in the dark - not fun) and a very large, noisy, busy class. But some things were good too - she met a lot of great friends, and four of them are with her at her new elementary school. And some were tough for mommy (field trips and trips to the pool without me, which made for very nervous days twice a week!). I joined the class on one trip to a Smithsonian and planned to join on another day, but Emery was sick that day. But Emery and mommy survived the summer. We're all ready for a new class with new opportunities, fun activities, and specials like art, music, PE, and strategies lab - all chances to challenge our bright little one.

Also in April, Emery found out she's going to be a big sister! She's been super excited about it from the start. And although she was hoping for a sister, when we found out we're having a boy, she really was on board! Every day leaving her school, she insisted we stop and peek in the baby room and wave to the babies. At the store or at church, she loves seeing babies, waving to them, and talking to them. And she's already tested lots of the gear we've gotten for the baby - her dolls have enjoyed the bumbo, baby swing, and some of the clothes! We think she'll be a super big sister! The baby is due in October.

And again in April (April was a big month for our family!), we moved a few miles closer to our jobs so Emery would be placed at a public school much easier to access from my job. We like our new neighborhood - one set of neighbors has a little one also starting kindergarten, another set brought us baked goods to say welcome, and the woman next door knitted a blanket for the baby! Wow. Plus "Aunt" Cindy teaches at the school we can see from our window, so we're happy to let her keep snacks in our fridge! Haha.

Emery enjoys reading and reads very well. This weekend, we got some library books and she's already read several of them, telling us what happens in the story before we've had a chance to read them to her. The last time we went to the library, we got several thin chapter books and only read two or three to her at bedtime before they were due back to the library. So Saturday morning when she woke up much earlier than the rest of us, she read another of them, telling us all about the story when we woke up. After reading some Nancy Clancy books this summer, Emery has decided she wants to be a detective when she grows up. I think Nancy's hot pink trench coat had at least a little to do with it!

That's not to say she knows every single word in a book like that, but she can skip past words she doesn't know and still get the idea of the story. Her teacher asked us to fill in a "get to know you" sheet about Emery, asking about things she's good at and things she need to work on (glows and grows). I wrote about her "glowing" reading, and then wrote that she needs to "grow" in her handwriting/fine motor skills/drawing/coloring. She may know the letters and numbers, she occasionally writes some backwards (which is normal for her age) and she still has trouble with spacing and consistently writing letters in upper/lower case and also drawing and coloring.

Emery likes building Lego sets and disassembling them and rebuilding them - over and over. She's getting better at pulling those little teeny pieces apart on her own (amen!).

She likes to play outside and run with Blake. We occasionally take walks after dinner. We signed her up for a swim class starting in September at the local rec center. She took a swim class at the pool this summer with her summer camp, so we're hoping this will build on that.

It's been a year of changes for our family. We're happy to start this new school year. We love our sweet girl who is blossoming into a lovely young girl!