Pre-K Grad

Although she missed the festivities due to a fever and tummy ache, Stella, nonetheless, got her diploma yesterday upon returning to school.

I am (all at the same time):

• Proud beyond words.
• Shocked that the year passed so quickly.
• Thankful to her wonderful teachers Miss Cassens and Miss Henry who helped Stella grow so much.
• Sad that Pre-K is all over for her (and me).
• Amazed at how great her classmates are.

Today is her last day. A half day. I have lost my grip and will probably let Lisa take her. No need for the kids to ask, "why is Stella's dad crying?".

Stella's Pre-K 108 Dance Performance

On June 8th P.S. 39 presented its annual dance festival. Unfortunately, the weather didn't participate and the event (which usually closes off 6th Avenue) was moved into Camp Friendship.

Stella doesn't have a stellar record of performing in performances. Usually she will sit it out on the sidelines. As she explains it to us, she will perform when "her brain is ready". Ok.

But this year, Miss Kelly and Miss Cassens finally solved the problem that has stumped so many teachers before them. They devised a special "solo" for Stella to perform that got her brain's seal of approval.

We didn't know the details of the performance ahead of time, but I knew it had something to do with a balloon because I helped her carry it to Camp Friendship in a shopping bag.

Lisa and I and some of the other parents from Pre-K 108 took our seats on the floor and awaited the magic. Pomp, circumstance, Pre-K 105, and then it was time for Ms. Cassens' class to do their thing. While the rest of the class performed, Stella sat on the sidelines with her balloon. What was she going to do with it we wondered?

The performance by her classmates was spectacular.

Hafway through the dance, Stella got up and did her thing. Her performance piece was to keep the white balloon (which represented the moon) up in the air. And what a job she did! In front of the whole auditorium! Even while still holding the shopping bag under her arm.

It was so great to see her finally participate in a performance. Kudos again to Miss Kelly and Miss Cassens for listening to Stella and creating a very special part for her that her brain would sign off on.

Marni's "Graduation"

It's "get a grip, man" season... the time of year when kids graduate from one grade to another or from one school to another. A couple of years ago when Stella had her first graduation ceremony at daycare I was balling like a baby. I thought to myself, "get a grip, man".

The next year Marni graduated from one daycare to another. Again... balling like a baby.

So Friday was Marni's graduation ceremony at Raindrops and I was preparing for the waterworks.

After a nice brunch with the other parents, the kids performed two numbers and, unlike the past two years with Stella, Marni actually performed with her classmates. Quite a difference from the Stella era where her shyness prevented her from taking part in the performances.

And were there waterworks? Nope, not this year.

But Stella's "stepping up" ceremony is next week. It may be time again to "get a grip". Stay tuned and send me a case of tissues.

The Marni Whisperer

Nana Bev and Papa Art were taking care of the kids this past weekend while Lisa and I were away celebrating our 7th anniversary.

On Saturday night Marni started to complain about diaper rash. This is interesting if for no other reason than she really no longer wears diapers. She continued to pull at her underwear and got pretty agitated. Nana Bev took her to their bedroom where Marni demanded that she get diaper cream. Even after slathering herself with the cream, Marni was still upset and crying.

It was just about bed time, so my mother put her in her bed. But the crying continued unabated.

Enter Stella (The Marni Whisperer).

Our little Florence Nightingale knelt over her sobbing sister and applied the gentle forehead and nose "massage" that I have done to Stella over the past year or two. According to Nana Bev, after a minute or two of the massage, Marni was sound asleep for the night.

I smiled when I heard this sweet story from my mother and from Stella. Not only was I happy to hear that Stella finds the massage enjoyable enough to share with others, but I was especially touched to see Stella step up and help her little sister feel better.

I'm very proud of her.

Marni's Class Picture

Marni took her first class picture last month and here is the result. Please note the alternate spelling of her name at the bottom right. Looking good Marini!

The Tail of the Snails

It started with Stefan Rose... a little snail that Stella found in the playground. I didn't intend on the snail coming to live with us, but Stella had other plans.

A day or two after Stefan Rose joined us, Stella found another snail (the girl has special talent). With the addition of snail number two, Stella did some renaming. Snail #1 became Stella Rose and snail #2 became Stefan Rose. Depending on what day it is, the snails are either both girls or a girl and a boy.

When Lisa was carrying the new snail home in our snail house, she said she felt the little house shake and noticed that the new snail was on top of and "attacking" the first snail. Later that night I had to explain to Lisa what sex was all about. This is strange considering we already have two kids.

In any event, Stella is a proud mom and daddy gets to take care of the snails and clean their poop. BTW... the snail on the left is Stefan Rose and the snail on the right is Stella Rose.

The Artist Currently Known As Stella

Have I mentioned that the PTA at Stella's school is a money making machine? Their latest scheme was an Art Fair.

They gave out special paper to all the classes at the school. Each kid in each class created some sort of artwork on the paper. They then collected all the artwork, framed it, and put it up for sale at the Art Fair. Then they invited all the parents to come and buy their kid's artwork. Quite a racket. Great idea.

So we did our part and went to the Art Fair. Stella excitedly showed me to the Pre-K area. All of Miss Cassen's class did their art in charcoal. Luckily, her art was pretty good (I hate to buy bad art)! I whipped out the debit card and did my part to support P.S. 39.

The beautiful piece of art is now proudly hanging in our main bathroom (where it fits in perfectly with the gray paint job). Come to think of it, all of Stella's great art is hanging in bathrooms (the other installation being in a law firm in Salem, Mass.).

A Flower

Artist: Stella Shepard
Date: 05/31/09
Medium: Dry-erase board and markers

Stella Biking at the Beach

Cheering on a Friend

Laurie-Doo Shayler ran her first half-marathon on Saturday and the Shepards were there to cheer her on.

Our two little cheerleaders first caught up with Laurie in Prospect Park. After watching her make two laps we packed up our "Run Laurie Run" sign (made by mommy) and headed to meet her at the finish line in Coney Island.

Unfortunately (for us) Laurie was a faster runner than we thought and she finished before we got there. That didn't mean the fun had to stop though. The gang headed for lunch near (not at) Nathan's. The party-pooper adults went home after that, but the Shepard family had rides to ride and beaches to dig in to.

Marni rode the Wonder Wheel (again). This time it was mommy's maiden ride.

After we exhausted our supply of ride tickets we headed to the beach. The gals got in their bathing suits and dug and splashed for another hour.

It's no Old Orchard Beach, but Coney Island is certainly a good, close alternative.

Overheard #17

Marni was doing something this morning that pissed off Stella. Stella's response was "Marni, you're ruining my life!".

Memorial Day 2009

Shepard family tradition requires us to pack up the car and motor up north on every Memorial Day. So the five Shepards (including newest member Stefan Rose the snail) headed up to Natick on Saturday morning.

We met up with Nana and Papa at Joan & Ed's Deli for lunch and then dropped off the littlest Shepards (Marni and the snail) at my parents' house so we could take Stella to the bike store for her birthday present.

The bike store where I bought my first bike as a child has changed a bit over the past 35 years. It got a lot fancier and a lot more expensive (or so it seems). Stella's bike at this store was going for about $200. That would have been about $39 in 1972 money. But $200 for a 5 year old's bike is too much. So over to Walmart so that we could help destroy America.

In the end, we bought a nice purple and pink bike for Stella and a bonus bike for Marni for less than half the cost of the bike at the cycle store (no doubt built for my children by other children... in China).

Stella immediately took to the bike and rode up and down Possum Hollow Lane with glee. Marni, not so much.

As dinner time approached, Lisa and I snuck out the back door and head to The Natick Collection for some shopping at Nordstrom. I bought stuff for the kids and Lisa bought stuff for Lisa. Then... off to see the new Star Trek movie.

The next day we packed up the family (snail included) and headed up to Old Orchard to open the cottage. The weather was dreary and cold as we cleaned and installed screens, moved furniture, and swept the place clean. Lunch was at our favorite fried seafood joint, Ken's Place.

When we returned to the cottage, the weather turned warm and sunny and the girls broke out the bikes and rode around the neighborhood. When they tired of biking, they stripped down to t-shirts and underwear and played on the beach.

Our next stop was Karen and Glenn's house in Salem for dinner. It's always an adventure when you mix our two girls with their two dogs. But no one was hurt and dinner was delicious.

Sunday morning included biking, hiking in the woods, and swinging on Nana and Papa's swings. Marni continued to ask about the big animal that lived in my parents' backyard. The "woodchucker" (as Marni called it) didn't make an appearance for her, but she'll be back next month to watch for him again.

Luckily the holiday traffic wasn't bad and we ate, peed, and pooped our way back to Brooklyn in good time.

By 8 o'clock the girls and the snail were tucked in their beds and another fun Memorial Day weekend was fodder for my blog.

Snail Update

Guess who came home yesterday in her Chinese food house? Stefan Rose (Stella has dropped the Hannah portion of the name).

So I did a little research on snails. Did you know they can live up to 5 years?

Since Stefan has come home to stay, I decided to get her a real house. We picked up a plastic house at the pet store and transferred Stefan over.

Now lets see what happens.

Stella's Performance Day at Pre-K

Taken by professional photographer Susan Stripling.

Stella's First Pet

Well, strictly speaking, Marni is Stella's first pet. But we won't count her for now.

Yesterday Stella found a snail shell on the sidewalk while going to dance class. She carried it with her to class, showed it to the kids, put it in her pocket, and did various things with the shell all afternoon. Later in the evening she came running up to me all excited.

"The snail is still in there! He's coming out!" she exclaimed. She handed me the shell and, I'll be damned, there was a living snail in there. This poor snail was being abused all afternoon because everyone thought the shell was empty.

Stella told me to put the snail in a tank. But I explained to her that we didn't have a tank (aquarium) like they did in school. I told her I would put the snail in one of our plants on the patio, but she was having none of that. Eventually, the snail ended up in a Chinese food container along with some lettuce and water. Stella was happy. Tomorrow she would take her snail (now named Hannah Stefan Rose) to school.

The first thing Stella said upon waking up this morning was how excited she was about taking her snail to school today. We all went outside to check on Hannah. All was ok.

Stella carried her snail all the way to school and showed her off to all the kids in class. She was very happy to bid me farewell at the goodbye window while holding Hannah. Later today, I hope they put Hannah in with the other snails in the Pre-K tank.

I'm not sure if Stella will put up with this though. I half expect her to come home with Hannah in her Chinese food container house.

Stella's 5th

Stella's 5th birthday double-header went off without a hitch yesterday with a morning session for P.S. 39 classmates and an afternoon session for friends and family.

Why two parties you ask? Because another classmate of Stella's had her party the same day at 1 p.m. So we, being the team players that we are, offered to move the P.S. 39 portion of the party to 11 a.m. to avoid any conflict.

And speaking of conflict, this year's party was primarily planned by yours truly because Lisa had to attend a bridal shower in Boston the day before Stella's festivities. So daddy took over the planning and made maximum use of outsourcing! Pizza for party number 1 and Chinese food for party number 2. Plus, I outsourced child care and party set-up to Nana Bev and Papa Art who came down a day early to lend a hand.

Party 1 guests included Mara, Marley, Hazel, Uma, and Livvy from P.S. 39, and Julia from next door. Stella was in her element and required no warm-up time with her school friends. She even started the party by introducing Mara to her grandmother.

Once everyone showed up we got down to business with an arts and craft project with colored sand, shells, glitter and glue. All the girls huddled around the dining room table with Lisa in charge and parents assisting and made beautiful sand artwork. Next up was a "pin Cinderella in her castle" game. The gals all lined up and took turns being blindfolded and spun around. Even little Marni took a turn (and almost stuck her Cinderella sticker on the plasma tv).

The final game was a fishing game supplied by Nana and Papa. All the girls lined up on chairs and tried to "catch" green and purple fish.

Pizza was deliverd right on time and everyone then moved back to the repurposed diningroom table for lunch.

The girls reached a frenzied pitch when the cake was brough out. After an energetic redition of "Happy Birthday To You" (led by Hazel), the candles were blown out and the cake was cut. Everyone wanted pieces with pink and blue writing, so I had to cut everyone a piece from the middle of the cake.

The girls then assembled into a circle and assisted Stella in ripping open every one of their presents.

Soon it was 1 o'clock. And, as the girls filed out with their gift bags on their way to Ava's party, the next guests for party 2 began to arrive. We quickly reconfigured the room, freshened the snacks, and deployed Nana Bev's shrimp.

The Chinese food arrived just in time for the crowd.

Papa Art busied himself in the girls' room putting together Stella's new dollhouse (which Marni then spent hours playing with). A little later on Stella dolled herself up with jewelry from Salty.

After a second birthday cake (ice cream), the crowds began to head home. The house was in shambles. The kids were exhausted. But Stella had two great 5th birthday parties. And that's all that counts.

Click here for more pictures and video from the party.

Gone

It happened so quickly, I didn't even have time to be sad.

We had put the girls' crib up for sale. It was time for Marni to move into her big-girl bed. A friend of our housekeeper wanted to buy it and they came over today at 5. Within 15 minutes the crib was taken apart and was out on the street.

Marni and Stella were at the playground at the time with my parents so Marni never saw her bed disappear. And I wasn't sure how she was going to react.

I quickly leapt into action and started to put together her big-girl bed to fill the void. Marni came home before I was done. She wasn't upset. She was thrilled that she was getting her new bed and stayed in the room to watch me put it all together.

There was no drama at bed time. Marni went into her bed and stayed there (unlike Stella who took weeks to adjust to her new bed). In the morning Marni called for me as usual and waited in her bed for me to come and get her. She doesn't yet realize that she can come out on her own.

So, after five years, we have no more crib in our house. The crib that our two little girls grew up in is gone. If I had my way, we would have stored the crib for the next 30 years so that we could pass it on to our grandkids. But who, in the year 2039, will want an old wooden crib when everyone else on the block has the latest Internet-enabled virtual holographic levitation birth pod?

But for now, we carry on with two kids in two big-girl beds. And later, when I have time, I will be sad.

Life at 100%

Mother's Day 2009 was spent at Brian and Jill's house. The rain had finally cleared, the sun was out, and the cousins picked up just where they left off the last time they were together.

As I watched Stella play with Tyler, Delia and Marni, I marveled at how amazing she can be when she's living life at 100%.

100% doesn't always happen with Stella. The shyness thing often gets in the way. But with the cousins, Stella is always at 100%.

The kids immediately headed for Tyler's green battery-powered jeep. Unlike other times, there was no fighting over who was going to drive. Everyone shared. Stella was laughing and screeching with joy as they drove around the yard. And very unlike other times, Marni was finally old enough to take the wheel and drive.

This was a far cry from the past when Marni had to settle for being the passenger (see the post in November 2007). Now she takes her sister and cousin Tyler for a spin around the house. Laughing and screaming all the way.

Later in the day the kids all participated in their favorite summertime activity of painting the Hoffman deck with water. Stella was barking orders at the kids and making special announcements to the grown-ups. Eventually the cousins all stripped down to their underwear (or worse) and finally ended up with everyone wearing a Tyler bathing suit.

A couple of times during the afternoon we noticed that the kids had disappeared altogether. After hurriedly searching the house, we found them all playing in the front yard and driveway... with no supervision. Maybe this doesn't mean much to parents of older kids, but this was a big deal for us. We never let the kids play outside without keeping an eye on them.

But they were living life at 100%. Unsupervised. Uninhibited. And loving every minute of it. I stood back and watched in awe as my two little girls did their thing. On their own and on their own terms.

They are amazing kids.

Hip Hop As A Second Language

Stella and I were driving home from Isabella's birthday party today and I had the radio playing nice and loud with Z100. This is an unusual situation because Lisa ain't down wit dat kinda music.

Flo Rida's "Right Round" was playing. When it finished, Stella asked "what language is that?".

My kid is so not cool.

Overheard #16

The girls were watching a Looney Tunes cartoon in the car the other day. When Bugs Bunny said "eenie meenie miney moe", Marni commented to me "Daddy, the bunny is speaking Spanish".