Wave Hello to Thomas! No, really, “Wave Hello to Thomas!” … it’s Felicia’s new favorite book, replacing Maisy’s Bedtime in her required bedtime ritual. We read it three times tonight; no other book was allowed.

It’s a “Lift-and-Peek-a-Board Book” and it’s our first foray into the Tank Engine (which was one of Jocelyn’s favorite characters, too). This exact book was also a gift to Jocelyn; we know this because it bears the famous “frog stamp” from Grandee & GrandPa … right inside the front cover, just below the pop-up window that hides Sir Topham Hatt. It’s fun to recycle favorites!

Jocelyn is ready for her California vanity license plate. Thanks to good friend Kaitlyn (Happy Birthday today!) for introducing us to this beginner reading series of books.

“When I’m older and can drive, I know what I will put on my license plate: PONYPAL! I love the books and it’s seven letters.”

Karen and I are in Chicago for the annual convention for Rotary International (also the official celebration of Rotary’s 100th Anniversary). The girls are in Milwaukee and Nana & Papa.

On Saturday, Jocelyn and I hopped on the train (Amtrak’s Hiawatha Service) to Chicago for a day-long adventure in The Windy City. Our train left at 8:00 CDT (yikes!). Along with several other passengers – and more than a few American Girl dolls – we enjoyed the 90-minute ride into Chicago.

After arriving, we walked ten blocks to Milennium Park to watch the Rotary Centennial parade. There are more then 50,000 Rotarians in town for the conference, and the parade included units from a variety of countries. Jocelyn had her usual Rotary geography lesson, enjoying the delegations from India, New Zealand, Australia, Alberta (including Canadian Mounties), Mexico, The Phillipines, Madagascar, England, Hawaii, and Taiwan. Because she’s a cute kid, she was given more than a few flags and other national souvenirs.

We met up with Cecelia Babkirk for lunch, and then walked up Michigan Avenue and joined Cecelia, Gary & Jeannette Arita, and Marv & Bonnie Bamburg for an Architectural Boat Tour along the Chicago River. Jocelyn really liked the boat ride, alternating between imaginative play, site seeing, and listening to the docent. She was a little disappointed that our boat was not tall enough to trigger the 20 draw bridges that cross the river, but the tour seemed to be the highlight of our day anyway.

After the boat, we went to the observation deck of the John Hancock Building (on the 94th floor). She was impressed with the tall building, particularly with the fake window washing photo opportunity. After the fast elevator ride, we had to catch a cab for the train home.

We returned to Milwaukee, and I traded Jocelyn for Karen … four days apart to celebrate Rotary. On July 1, I take over as President of our local Rotary Club. Wish me luck!

Jocelyn insists that she is still a Kindergartner.

We have yet to agree on the exact date, but she says that we shouldn’t call her a “First Grader” until we’ve reached the half-way point of the summer. With Kindergarten classes ending on June 15 and First Grade classes starting in the Fall on August 24, I guess she won’t be a First Grader until approximately July 20. We’ll keep you posted.

No matter her title, today was definitely the last day of Kindergarten classes. We’ve had a great year, with an incredible room of kids and parents, who have really bonded as a group. We love Mrs. Fenn and her supportive, loving approach to teaching our children. I’m sure that many of those friendships will continue over the summer and into the higher grades (both for the kids and for the parents). Thank you, everyone!

OK. That was easy. Kindergarten officially ends on Wednesday, June 15, at 11:20 am (an early dismissal).

Before the memories fade too far into the past, I have prepared a recap of posts related to our Kindergarten experience.

• The Girls chased the boys in “Kiss Tag” in September.
• Felicia tried to eat Jocelyn’s Homework in October.
• The first Rainy Day of Kindergarten was in October.
• Grandee went to Kindergarten in October.
• The biggest event of the schoolyear had to be Halloween.
• Jocelyn celebrated her birthday in November with a picture in her Kindergarten Birthday Crown.
• Then, she received the Lifeskills Award for Cooperation in her classroom later in November.
• We hosted several school friends for Lion King II Movie Night during winter break in February.
• Jocelyn’s first lost tooth was featured on Share Day in March.
• Heart Waffles became a homework assignment in April.

We are ready for First Grade! Bring it on!

Although technically 16.7 months, Felicia had her 15-month check-up with her pediatrician today. For the statistically inclined, she weighs 24 lbs 13 oz, and is 30.5 inches long (tall?). Both figures are entirely average, and she’s been growing at an even pace.

She hasn’t really mastered any words yet, but she is very rumbunctious and independent. In case you were wondering, she really is an entirely different child from her sister. Rules are not important to her, aside from the entertainment value our faces provide when we’re correcting bad behavior.

She loves to climb things (especially forbidden things) and is very strong. She doesn’t mind falling, really … perhaps a few tears and she’s back on that horse. She hasn’t enjoyed swim lessons very much, but she’s very good at climbing over the wall to get out of the pool.

She’s not a very picky eater (yet?), but especially likes green beans, strawberries, avocado cheese, and banana. But once she sees potato chips or pretzels, the food party is over … like a zombie, she must eat what’s in that cellophane bag!

Felicia definitely understands that some food can be hot, but she hasn’t yet registered that patience can save a few tears. We’ve taught her that things are hot, and you can blow on them to cool them down. She understands that much … here’s how we know:

Since she hasn’t learned to verbalize any words yet, she’s had to develop other methods of getting what she wants. As she’s developed food preferences, she’s also developed an urgency about eating her favorites. She begs (or more accurately, screeches and squeals) for things. If we say “No,” she gets louder. If we say “No” again, she starts to blow air out of her mouth, as if to say, “It’s OK mommy and daddy. I don’t care if it’s hot; I’ll blow on it.” Frequently, she’ll do this for pretzels, the kind you find stored at room-temperature in our pantry.

Today, I was using the grill to BBQ some halibut, while the girls were playing in the backyard. Both Jocelyn and I were keeping Felicia safely away from the BBQ. Whenever she came near it, we’d tell her it was hot, and she should stay away. At least twice, she looked in the direction of the Weber, and tried to blow out the flames.