Wednesday, September 8, 2010

I KNOW…..I need to catch up!!

Ok Ok, I know …. I’ve been sorely lacking on my blog these days which is really kind of sad because I really enjoy doing it. I won’t even begin to promise you I’ll be better – because we’ve been there, done that.

So………..how do I go about GOING BACK to tell all you wonderful people about what has been going on in the Tramontana household over the last umm, 3 months (eek!)

I think this is what I’ll do. I’m going to start with the most RECENT events and go backward to try to get all you inquiring minds up to speed. :) By recent events, I mean TODAY’s events. And those events were………….all three kids left the house for school today!

Oh. My. God. Can you all remember when Zach was born? I mean, wasn’t he just this tiny?

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Seems to me like it was yesterday! And now, almost SIX YEARS later….

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He’s gettin’ on the bus with his big boy backpack and a lunchbox. Where the heck did the time go?? Seriously, people tell you how fast time flies and if you’re like me … you’re thinking (on a …challenging day) “yeah, yeah sure wish they were old enough to be in school full time” …. and then it happens. Your making your 4 pound preemie a cheese sandwich and it hits you. He’s not a baby anymore. He’s not even a “toddler”. He’s a KID. And you’re surprised at the moment of sadness you feel because time is just whizzing by (as if the 342 people who have told you that wasn't enough warning.) Heck, his backpack weighed twice as much as he did when he was born with all the school supplies and sanitizer and zip loc bags and baby wipes the kids have to bring. Oh, and by the way --- have you heard? They don’t teach cursive anymore. Apparently it’s a “lost art” thanks to computers. (They do however, expect a first grader to practically know how to PROGRAM a computer so I guess it's really just trading one skill for another!) Someone told me over this past weekend that her daughter had civics and economics the previous year. This wouldn't seem so surprising to me, except she is in EIGHTH grade!! At my high school, you took civics and econ as a junior or senior. You take it in eighth grade now? Unreal! When does a kid get to be a kid anymore (besides at Chuck E Cheese, of course)!

And just to let y'all know – while he didn’t LIKE being at school ALL day, he did (I think) enjoy the day and he said he had fun eating lunch with his friends (although I am still wondering what he did with the huge lunch I packed him AND the 2.00 I put in his backpack for future days if he ever wanted to buy milk - which is a quarter. He "claims" he gave the lunch-lady his money for one milk but didn't get any money back. I'd be inclined to be suspicious ... but then he started talking about some kind of cereal they sell at school, so I'm thinking he must have just been REALLY hungry today.) So a fun lunch and he didn't get any warnings, that was pretty much all I got out of him. He claims they just sat there all day. LOL. Well Mrs. Curran better get on the ball pretty quickly here becausewho knows, by the time he gets to 6th grade they'll probably be teaching civics and econ! (Maybe babies of our future will have their DNA genetically programmed somehow where they come out of the womb already talking and doing their multiplication tables!!)

Here’s Zach when he started pre-school: Copy of Copy of 080902 056

And Kindergarten:

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And 1st grade:

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So the twins also had their first day of school today and they, unlike their mama’s boy brother (just kidding Zach – I know you can read this now!!) they did perfectly fine. They were excited and went into class with no problems at all. I imagine it has something to do with the fact that they’re together, but if you ask them if they would be OK in separate classes they both say yes. When we had the preschool orientation (AKA Teddy Bear Tea) it was very interesting to see how they each went their separate ways – Ave to the artsy stuff and Addie right to where all the kids were playing Legos on the floor. It amazes me to see how different they truly are – not because I don’t think they should be, but because I know their complete genetic make up is identical, they’re raised in the same house, with the same people, watching the same TV shows, reading the same books (you get the gist) and yet they are so completely different. It’s a good thing...although it surprises me.

And to touch on what I said in this post: http://tramontanamemories.blogspot.com/2007/09/what-do-you-think-identical-not.html we think it’s pretty evident that they’re mirror identicals. Seeing as when I wrote that blog post exactly three years ago, their shoe size was: Avery (Left) 4, (Right) 41/2. Addison (Left) 41/2, (Right) 4. A few weeks ago when we nearly went bankrupt buying three pairs of shoes (thank God for Nana who bought Addie’s “twinkle toes” at fifty something dollars!!) we learned that Avery’s left foot is a 81/2 and her right foot is a 91/2. Well I bet you can guess what I’m going to say next, right? (Drumrolll) Addie’s left foot is 91/2 and her right foot is a 81/2. Tell me that’s not weird!! And they’ve been that way their entire life – when they were measured for dance shoes each of their feet were exactly one shoe size bigger – and it was opposite of each other. At their 4 year old check up last week (where I learned that Addie had just a summer cold, Zach had a NASTY ear infection and oh, by the way Avery had pneumonia…) they were exactly the same height (they’ve ALWAYS been the same height) but Addie weighed 3 lbs. more than Avery, which is a first. Though not really surprising, she usually eats better than Avery. Now if only they would pick out the same shoes, we wouldn’t have the dilemma – get them too small or get them too big …we could get both sizes and let them each have the opposite shoe so they’d get a pair of shoes with 2 sizes, but shoes that actually FIT. But they are, as I mentioned, independent and they like their own things. (By the way, Avery still says she is going to be a “Beterinary” when she is a “grown up” and Addie still wants to be a “Mommy!” <—Aww!!! Zach’s future occupation is up in the air – he definitely wants to be a Daddy … but also a scuba diver, a fireman, a doctor, an astronaut…..he can’t make up his mind. Guess he still has like a year or so left to decide before it’s off to college, right??)

So back to the point of THIS post…..in the same fashion as above,

The twins went from this:060205 024

to this: (***sigh***)

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Here are some more of their “first day” pictures….I can’t believe how they’ve grown up on me and are all going to school. Addison is on the left in her favorite color (pink) and Avery is on the right and is NOT wearing her favorite color (which is purple) but they didn’t have a purple dress that matched the pink one, so she got stuck with the green which she ended up loving anyway. (BTW, don’t ask me who is who in the baby picture, I couldn’t even tell you.)

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(Note – even the dog was sad when everyone left today!!)

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Hope you enjoyed the pictures if you want to see more go to Facebook, that’s where I’ve been posting most pictures and updates these days. I’ll start to go back over the last few months because we’ve had a lot going on and I’ve gotten quite a few photos since both Kayla and Ben were here over the summer.

x0x0x0x0,

Rachel

OH AND ONE (or two) MORE IMPORTANT THINGS:

Kayla started her SECOND year of college and is living in her own apartment and still cheering for the U of MN. Ben has started 8th grade (and is playing football and hockey….after finishing up baseball and a very exciting half-century bike ride with his Dad this summer!) Have lots of pictures of everyone….will post over the next few weeks!

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