Nandi's Week of Firsts

The past few weeks have been really exciting for Nandi. She had a lot of firsts that I thought I'd share......

Her first birthday as part of a family!



That's right. Nandi is now FOUR!

We had a great time. It was very small. We just went over to my grandad's and had some pizza and cake and ice cream. (Oh, and Noah said, "Ice Cream!" clear as day while we were there.)

As you can tell, there was a doggy theme. She is obsessed with all things dog. In fact, she was deeply upset that her greatest wish in the world did not come true - and that when she woke up on her 4th birthday that she was still a little girl and did not magically turn into a doggie overnight.

Quirkiness obviously races through the veins of this family.


I was very proud of myself that I did not go overboard on her gifts. She is so easy to please. Do you know how many stuffed animal dogs you buy for a quarter at a garage sale? She got 2 of those, a thrifted toy dinosaur, and a package of underwear with dogs on them (bought new of course!). And that's really all that we gave her....

Except, for some reason, I let stupidity and some irrational guilt over not buying a new toy get to me. And I bought the toy dog with the toy purse/carrier and the toy bowl and the toy bone and the toy clothes that Nandi had been drooling over in Walmart.

I totally caved and bought into mass consumerism and fell for the trap that toy manufacturer's lay out on parents.

Ooh, it's pink!

Ooh, it's got a purse like mommy's!

Ooh, it says on the back that the doggy is four. Nandi's four. It's a sign!!

I must buy it!!

Where is that doggy now? Heck if I know. It's been two weeks and the doggy has not been played with once. Not once. Nooooooooooo.... the garage sale dog that we bought 2 months ago is still her most beloved.

And the miniature fluffy dog with it's miniature coat and it's miniature house with it's miniature bone is lost in the depths of a sock drawer, a couch cushion, and, most likely, underneath a car seat.

Can I just say that Santa is seriously rethinking the notion of giving her the Loving Family Dollhouse - complete with over a hundred accessories - that we bought for 8 bucks at a garage sale last April? Seriously reconsidering....

Anyway..............

Nandi also had her first day of public school!

Isn't she cute with her embroidered lunch box and her little fall tights? The girl loves her tights.

I hadn't really posted about her school experience because I didn't want any fellow homeschoolers saying, "I told you so!". It was, needless to say, a bit traumatic in the beginning - and I was really worried that we were seriously damaging her and causing future ruin by sending her each day.

And the Good Lord knows we can't afford to have another child in therapy.

The first day? Fantastic? After that? Horrible. They literally had to pry her off me. And I mean that literally. It was one of the most excruciating things I've ever witnessed. But then we had a turnaround...

I have mentioned before that I am inherently lazy. Well, that laziness worked to our advantage. I couldn't be bothered to pack her lunch. I mean, have you seen the price of a pack of 24 cheesesticks?? I was tired of opening her lunch box every day and seeing half eaten cheesesticks and yogurt that hadn't been touched. She was wasting food.

It would've been cheaper to buy a milk cow.

So, I gave her some lunch money and.......... that made all the difference.

Apparently, Nandi was the only kid who brought her lunch. And she felt different. But giving her $2 every day made her feel special. And she got to pick out a milk carton and eat what the other kids got to eat.

And it made all the difference.

Yesterday, she actually beamed all the way to school (clutching her little envelope of lunch money) and when the teacher opened the van door, Nandi turned around, grinned, and said,

"See ya! Wouldn't want to be ya!"

And then skipped all the way to the front door.

Okay. That didn't really happen. But now that she's hanging out with all those thugs on the playground I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

She'll be asking me to let her off a block from school before I know it.

But she truly did skip and hop all the way to the front door. Yay! We have victory!

Oh, and she also celebrated her first Fall Festival and her first Halloween.

Remember how lazy I am? Yeah, I totally missed all the photo opportunities. It's shameful. But, check out the above pictures. See? It wouldn't have really been that great of quality.

Hope you all have a great weekend!