Jordan is now a full time student at Apple Montessori. And each time we see an apple or talk about apples she says, "just like my big girl school."
This is week 3 of the new school and so far she seems to be doing quite well. It was a rough go for the first 2 weeks, mostly for Mommy who seems to be suffering from separation anxiety, but we are making some progress b/c now when the school says to me, "Umm, Jordan's Mommy? You need to leave now b/c you are not a student here" I find myself listening and leaving. (kidding, I'm now the: kiss my kid goodbye, tell her I love her, watch her go into her classroom and I walk out of the buidling, sneak around back, hide in the bushes and observe to make sure Jo-Jo is okay)....(kidding again).
It seems that Jordan has taken on a new hobby in her life: torture Mommy emotionally and keep her up all night w/worry. Case and point: When I pick Jordan up from school she is RAVENOUS! It's as if she hasn't eaten a thing all day and for those of you who know Jo-Jo, she is never actually ravenous. So I ask Jordan if she is aware of the 'snack' (crackers) area in her classroom, to which she says no, and then I ask her if she eats any snacks or is given any snacks by the teachers b/een lunch and when I pick her up, and she says no. So I spend an entire afternoon and evening worried out of my mind that my child is spending hours w/out something to eat. I don't sleep that night and I can't wait to get to school to ask her teacher about this and to find out why my child is not aware of the 'snack' area. So I start to explain to the teacher how maybe Jordan needs to be shown the 'snack' area b/c she is so hungry when I pick her up. And this is exactly what the teacher said to me AFTER she stopped laughing: "I have never in my entire life seen any other child eat as many crackers as your child does. So yes, she is very aware of the snack area." Mommy has been played. SUCKER!
Another torture Mommy situation was when I asked her what she talks about @ lunch w/her new friends and Jordan proceeds to go into this long explanation of how they are not allowed to talk during lunch b/c those are the rules. WHAT? And once again I spent an entire afternoon & evening worried, concerned and lost another night's sleep anticipating my talk w/Jordan's teacher. Get to school, start to explain the story and after Jordan's teacher is done giggling she says, "The kids can absolutely talk. We try to keep their conversations at a calm level during lunch so they actually eat their lunches but when it's time for their dessert they can be as silly and wound up as they'd like." Mommy has been played yet again. SUKCER!
Jordan has had some concerns and requests about her new big girl school. She is somewhat aware of the much longer days that she is spending there and has said to me, "Mom, school is too many hours, I think you should tell my teacher it should only be 5 weeks." (5 weeks seems to be Jordan's new 'time') She has also said to me, "Mom, can you ask my teacher if she can cancel school for tomorrow b/c I just don't want to go outside." (Jordan is having a little issue w/the first of two outside play ground times. She claims there are too many kids out there, but when I asked her teacher about this I was told Jordan runs around like crazy outside and seems to be having a blast.......Mommy being played again?) Jordan wanted to know why her new big girl school is called Apple Montessori and not Banana Montessori......? Good friggin question right?
There are 3 teachers in Jordan's classroom. The 'main' teacher, the one she is VERY attached to, her name is Miss Ruchalski but if you ask Jo-Jo her teacher's name you will hear: "Miss MAHchalski". The other 2 are teachers aides. One is a tall 'older' woman w/super gray hair, her name is Mrs. Evans. The other one is a young woman who is Miss Sheppard and next to Mrs. Evans appears to be quite shorter. Jordan is having a hard time remembering their names so she refers to them as, "The one w/the white hair who is really tall" and "the short little one".
We are finally learning some of the kids names in Jo-Jo's class. She seems to be very found of the younger kids in her class, there are 3 younger ones and Miss Ruchalkski tells me that Jordan likes to take care of them. There is one boy in her class who is the same age as Jordan and his name is Elijah. Elijah is a very cute kid who happens to have long hair. So when I talk to Jordan about Elijah I of course refer to Elijah as, "You know who I'm taking about, that boy Elijah? The one w/the long hair?" and Jordan IMMEDIATELY stops me and says, "Mom. Elijah is a GIRL. She is not a boy, she is a GIRL. Stop saying she is a boy b/c she is not a boy, she is a GIRL b/c when she laughs she has a really pretty GIRL face. Next time you come to my class you have to see her laugh, okay Mom?" OMG - Elijah is NOT a girl, Elijah is a boy but Jordan will not listen to reason and insists Elijah is a girl. So now we refer to Elijah as 'the girl who has the pretty face when she laughs."
Enough about school.....let's talk about how I think Jordan is so super funny and silly and how I had no clue she was going to start talking like me!
The other day we were trying to get ready to leave the house and I was in super hyper get-out-of-the-house mode. Jordan says, "Mom. Here's the deal: first I will brush my teeth and then I will brush my hair. Ok? That's the deal Mom." (love that!)
Mima wanted me to do something, totally forget what it was, and Jordan turns around and says, "Mima. That is not Mommy's thing so stop asking her to do that." (love that too!)
Jordan missed her 2nd ballet/tap class b/c we were away in Maine so I was explaining to her how we are going to take a make-up class b/c we missed our regular class. And this is what I hear from the back seat of the car....."YIPEE!!!! Oh Mommy! I get to put on make up at my make-up class???? Oh yay Mommy!" (so funny!)
Sometimes it takes Jo-Jo a little while to finish telling me a story and sometimes I interrupt her attempting to help her along w/her story. This never fully works the way I intend it to b/c it always ends with: "Mommy! You messed up my talking! And I wasn't done w/my words!"
One day we were hanging w/Chase & his brother Myles (who is 1). Myles spit up so Jordan comes running to me to let me know that "something came out of Myles's mouth" so I say, "Oh, did Myles spit up Jo-Jo?" and she says, "No Mom. Myles just spit down" b/c it was on the floor and floors are not up........clever right?
Jordan hasn't quite grasped the concept of not interrupting when I'm talking. So I continuously attempt to explain to her the "excuse me Mom" thing but it never really gets into her brain b/c by the time I'm doing the explanation of this she is so upset w/me and says, "You are not listening to my words Mom. Listen to my words." (oh boy)
Her new favorite thing (which I now realize I say all the time) is the "or what?" Like the other day we were slow in getting her out of the car and she says, "Are we getting out of the car or what?" (trouble for sure)
There seems to be a large interest in Heaven and how to get there. Jordan is convinced you have to take an airplane to get to Heaven. And she wanted to know if the people in Heaven were eating Chinese food at the same time that we were eating Chinese food.
She wanted to know if Aunt Christy and Uncle Jeff were going to have honey on their honeymoon. And is the moon sticky if there is honey on the honeymoon?
We had a few weeks of reading "The Giving Tree" over and over again. Everyone know about this book? Tree gives this boy everything to make the boy happy: apples to sell to make money, branches to build a house, etc. So, the dry cleaner we used went out of business and Jordan wanted to know why. I explained how they were not making any money and they needed to close their store b/c of that. So Jordan says: "Mom!!!! I've got a great idea! Next time we see the dry cleaning people we can tell them to climb a tree, get all the apples and sell them and then they can make money and open the store up! Is that a good idea Mom?????" (best idea ever Jo-Jo!)
Jordan wants in on the Volkswagon game. The one everyone in country plays, you know, when you say: "RED ONE" if you see a red VW.......so we now play this game in the car but she seems to think every single car we pass is a VW: "Black one!' "Green one!" "White one!" "Mom, is that a VW?" "Blue one!" (trying to teach her the 'punch buggy' VW game, not going over so big)
This morning when Jordan woke up she had a little scratchy 'morning voice' so she says to me, "Mom, I think I'm getting a new mouth b/c my voice is a little different so that means I'm getting a new mouth." (okey dokey)
And for now, that is all I have from The Land of Jordan. More to come for sure as Jo-Jo gets even more settled into her new school!
