Edie's 9th Birthday Party

With so many people in our area who leave town for some or all of the summer, the "summer birthday kids" all try to cram in birthday parties before school ends.  Edie included.  This school year was shorter than usual because we had NO snow days, so the party frenzy was crazier than ever.  School let out on Friday, and Edie went to a party Friday evening, her own party was Saturday morning, her piano recital was at 1pm on Saturday and she had a pool party to attend at 2pm.  Wow.  Such is the life of an almost 9-year-old.

Edie's party, held three weeks in advance of her actual birthday, was at our community art center where the girls made "secret books," which are actually little boxes for special possessions.  They are a really nice group of girls and I manned almost the entire party solo while Chris and Gemma were at soccer.

Gemma and her 5th Grade Posse

For better or worse, Gemma has assembled an entourage of 5th grade friends this year. On the day she registered for Kindergarten, the 5th graders happened to be on the blacktop for recess when we pulled up in front of the school. A group of them ran to the sidewalk to "escort" her to the doors of the school.  She just smiles and nods as if it's all expected.  Like she's a celebrity.  Sigh....

So, it should not have come as a surprise to me that following 5th grade graduation, Gemma was asked to sign 5th grade yearbooks.  I spotted her from across the playground, but another mom (parent of the 5th grader in this photo) actually captured the moment.  I believe a line was forming.  We are in BIG trouble!

Last Day of Preschool for Gemma and Last Day of 3rd Grade for Edie

The girls' schools ended on the same day this year!

It was hard to see Gemma leaving her preschool and Edie's former preschool - Bowen Cooperative.  I loved Bowen and having spent the last two years as a co-president of the Board, I feel closer to the school than ever.  Our family made incredible friends at Bowen - the warmth and support of the community has always been amazing, and we will miss all of the teachers and especially the big red door that welcomed us each morning!  It will be wonderful to have the girls at elementary school together for the next two years - so with the sadness of leaving Bowen is also the excitement of knowing the girls will have that special time at school together next year!


Edie finished a fantastic year in 3rd grade.  Chris and I feel that she made great strides in math, literacy and composition this year.  She loves school and always puts forth her best effort.  Her teacher had nothing but good things to say about Edie and she especially praised her willingness to work hard, take academic challenges and her kindness to her peers.  We are very proud of her.

Happiest Hubby Ever

Chris went fishing with some work friends in early June, and had a fantastic day.  Here he is with his proudest catch (no, not me!):  a 25+pound striped bass.  I believe this was the largest striped bass he has ever caught!

Gemma as Claude Monet

One of the loveliest spring activities for the 4 year old class at Gemma's preschool is painting "en plein air" as Claude Monet.  Here is Gemma painting water lilies.  The class also learned about other painters - such as Van Gogh, Renoir and Paul Klee - and learned their styles of painting as well.

This is Gemma....

I have been updating the blog and found this photo, which to me is Gemma's personality shown perfectly in one photo.  She is (1) using something that "big kids" use, (2) making a loud noise, and (3) loving every minute of trying something new.  This is our Gemma!

Epic Sleep Battle

Let me start by saying that helping a child who was adopted as a toddler learn to sleep through the night is much more complicated - like TONS more complicated - than helping a newborn child learn to sleep through the night. I used tried and true techniques to train Sam to sleep through the night when he was a baby (with minimal tears) and never had sleep problems with him. Until he turned into a teenager, but that is a story for another day.....

When you adopt a toddler, they are absolutely traumatized and need to have every ounce of security in the world heaped on them by their new parents as they adjust. Co-sleeping is strongly encouraged, followed by a gentle transition to sleeping in their own cribs/beds. Check. Okay, now you have a 2-year-old who has grown to depend on you at night and whose attachment to you is still forming. So when, exactly, do you cut that little person off and let them cry their eyes out at night?? With Edie, the answer was never. She has always been a nervous sleeper and she was close to 4 years old before we got her to sleep through the night without us. Without tears. She liked the door open and lights on in the hallway (still does). But she slept ... until one year later when Gemma arrived on the scene. For a variety of reasons that aren't appropriate to share on this blog, Gemma's sleep patterns were even more troubled when she came to live with us. It took her longer to settle and feel secure. Getting her to sleep now is not the problem - that's easy. The problem arises during the night. At age 4 she still expects us to come when she calls us at night - and we come because if we don't Gemma screams at the top of her lungs and wakes Edie up and Edie starts to panic about losing sleep. Then we have two children who can't sleep, plus two adults who can't sleep. So one of us has slept with Gemma for part of the night for the past three and a half years, with probably a 5 or 6 nights in TOTAL she has slept through the night without us.

It is HELL, I tell you.

We have been working on small changes over the past 6 months, to encourage Gemma to get back to sleep on her own. We have had some success, but not enough. Last week, we decided that the time has come for, drum roll please...... the Epic Sleep Battle.

Phase I: For several days, Chris tried to bribe Gemma back to sleep at night with the promise of a small candy the next morning. This worked, sort of, but is not really sustainable. For her teeth, if nothing else.

Phase II: Supernanny. Gemma woke up at 10pm last night and asked for me. I told her to go to sleep. She cried. She got out of bed. For the next 45 minutes, I carried her back to bed with no words and no eye contact approximately 60 times. She tried everything, every tactic she could think of throwing my way. Then, for the next hour and 15 minutes, she would alternately cry, talk, yell, get out of bed. But each time with a longer cycle. After almost 2.5 hours, at 12:20am she gave up.

Who knows what tonight will bring, but I feel emboldened. Bring it on, Gemma, bring IT ON!

Meanwhile, I think someone is a little tired. :)