All of Her Latest Firsts

Even though my daughter has already been on this planet outside of "the package" for over two years, she has experienced a lot of firsts these past few weeks. It is so much fun to look and her and think about how she has never done these things before. I remember when she was first born, I was so excited about the fact that everything was new to her. That I would get to teach her about everything and watch her experience it all for the first time.

Baby Bean has been on planes many times already, but our trip to Cancun a couple of weeks ago was her first vacation. It was also her first time going outside of the U.S. Her first time on a beach. Her first time seeing the ocean and playing in it. Her first time building a sand castle, or even playing in the sand. I loved that vacation even more because so much of it was brand spanking new to her.

Then last weekend I got the bug to go buy her a tricycle. Her first bike. She loves the thing, and I love watching her figure out how to push the pedals. Even more, I loved watching my husband, her daddy, teach her how to ride it.

As if that wasn't enough firsts, I decided one night over the weekend that it was time to paint her toe nails. Within minutes she had pretty toe nails the same color as mama's. Every day since then whenever I change her diaper or get her dressed for the day, she asks if her pretty toe nails are still there. Yes, baby, they are, and they are so pretty.

Monday was also her first day in her new Montessori school. For those of you who don't know what that is, Montessori is a different method of teaching children. Everything they learn is hands on instead of out of a book. Instead of seeing 1+1=2 in a book, they have something like blocks, and they can see and feel that one block + one block = two blocks. The children learn quicker and easier and test higher than when taught through traditional means.

Every day her daycare sends home a sheet that tells us what she learned that day, as well as what she ate, what time her diaper was changed, etc. My favorite part of reading through what she learned yesterday was, "I learned Mandarin Chinese." That's right, my daughter is being taught Chinese! Not only that, she is being taught Spanish as well. She also has time devoted to music classes where she learns from a teacher who was trained at Juliard. She will leave that school being tri-lingual.

I know this all sounds hoity-toity, but anyone who knew me when I was pregnant and ever asked, "What do you want most for your baby?" knows that my answer was always, "I want her to be smarter than me." And I'm no dummy. After leaving this school, my daughter will be smarter than me. I can't tell you how much I love this daycare and how it will help her all throughout her life.

The best comment I have had so far was when I went to pick her up after her first day. Her teacher asked if my daughter had transferred from another Montessori school. When I replied that she had been going to traditional daycare, the teacher was surprised. She said my daughter was so well-behaved and learned new things very quickly. She went on to give me examples. I was beaming on the inside. I told the teacher that was why we changed schools, because we wanted to give our daughter every advantage when it came to learning. Her dad and I are so happy and excited about her potential in the new school. In fact, when I picked her up today, her teacher told me Baby Bean was using the potty regularly, and she wants to start full on potty training her in a few weeks, once Baby Bean is settled in the new environment a little more.

As I have said before, I am so happy with my life right now and the way everything is going. I know I am so blessed, and I don't take any of it for granted.

My most favorite moment this week: tonight when I was snuggled up next to Baby Bean in her toddler bed she looked at me and said, "Mom, you're my best friend." Oh.My.Gosh! I melted. Puddle of mom on the bed, melted. I could not possibly love my child more.