However, I can't remember much of what was going on on October 23 before the year 2006. I can make some guesses, of course. If I were in high school, this would be around the time of Homecoming, or if I were teaching this date might be around the time of a Fall Break. I think Calvin had a Reading Recess around this time as well.
But all that seems insignificant when it's held up to October 23, 2006. Or October 23, 2007, and now October 23, 2008. Each of these dates hold many vivid memories for me now that Hadley is here. Last night, after Hadley's bath she ran out of the bathroom in just her diaper; a new game she likes to play. As I watched her running around laughing and waving her arms in the air I remembered that last year at this time she wasn't even walking. And when Jesse comes home and Hadley drops whatever she is doing and yells, "Daddy!" and runs to the door to greet him, I think of the time minutes after she was born and she heard his voice. Hadley was screaming as the nurses were cleaning her off and Jesse walked over to where she was and said, "It's OK, Hadley. Daddy's here." Hadley immediately stopped crying.
This year, as Jesse and I told her that her bithday was coming up, she explained to us that she would be going to school with her backpack. So this morning when she woke up I brought in her first present - a little backpack filled with crayons, a juicebox and snacks, her toy truck and cellphone and some paper. I said, "Do you know what this is?" She said, "A backpack!" I told her, "That's right, and we are going to go to school today!" I took Hadley to Washington Christian Academy, the school I where I was a teacher, and we spent the morning going to school.
Hadley had a great time. One of the secretaries gave her a lollipop, an art class sang Happy Birthday to her, and the first grade teacher gave her a sticker and a pencil. Hadley made a trip the school's library where she was able to type on the computers and look at some books, she saw the cafeteria, and even got to sit in the Headmaster's chair behind his desk (how she managed that, I'm not sure but it made her mother a little nervous).
As always, Hadley had no problem being around other people, especially the students. At one point the kids I taught when they were in 8th grade, who are now seniors, came out to say hello. This was a real treat for me as I love this particular group of kids, and Hadley had no problems warming up to them either. At one point she even started "tap dancing" for them.
Here she is sitting at a desk in Mrs. Bratt's Science room:
Checking out the library:
Doing some work at the computer:
Sitting at Mr. Danner's (the Headmaster's) desk. If you look to the right, you'll notice that Hadley even put her snack down on his desk. Lovely.
Leaving school was quite a chore, however. Hadley did not want to go. She began crying as soon as we walked out of the building, and continued to cry the entire way home. Thankfully, we saw some school buses, garbage trucks and even a firetruck on the way home so that calmed her down. When we got back to our neighborhood, we stopped at the bagel shop to have a cookie. I offered to take her there for breakfast, but all Hadley wanted to do was go to school, proving once again that she is her father's daughter when she'd rather go to school then have a donut or a bagel.
The cookies that Hadley gets at this bagel shop are exactly like the ones I used to get at the Oak Park Bakery. If I have a taste of one, I feel like I'm 5 all over again.
It's been a lovely day to remember, although it's not over yet. Once Jesse gets home we have a tricycle to open up and ride on, along with lots of other presents from the family. For dinner we have her favorites: macaroni and cheese, bluberries, and ice-cream for dessert. I'll make sure I post more pictures of the evening.
1 comment:
That was a great post, Callie. And a really neat idea for a birthday trip. I'm not that creative - wish I was.
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