Arlington

Today was Arlington's first day of Kindergarten. I can't believe we have a child in Elementary school. It doesn't seem real! Where did the last 5 1/2 years go? This post is only going to be about our little girl. We had a fun weekend and some surprise visitors, and I will blog about them on Saturday.

Anyway, Arlington was so excited this morning. She got right up when I went in to get her. Mat stayed home from work today, but we needed to get the babies to their first day of daycare (which went fine BTW). I got her up and got her dressed and did her hair and sprayed it so much that it didn't move the whole day! Daddy was nervous about having to do it again, so we wanted to make sure he didn't have to.

After dropping the babies off at daycare, I went on to work and Mat and Arlington came home for their "first day of school" breakfast. Which was.....pancakes of course! For all of you who know Arlington, she could live on these things. She and Mat watched cartoons and played all morning until it was time to catch the bus at 12:00. She did such a good job. She was excited to see the bus come and she and our little neighbor hopped on the bus and away they went!

We did have one little snag in our perfect day. Even after a phone call, and email, a letter to the teacher, and a daycare reminder to the school, they sent Arlington home on the wrong bus. Imagine our panic this afternoon when we saw the bus and didn't see Arlington on it. They had sent her accidentally to the daycare. I was really mad and called the school and gave them "what for" on the phone as we drove to the daycare to get our little girl. Arlington told us she even told them she was going home, but no one believed her. Poor thing. She was fine though - took it in stride, like always. She was happy and playing when we got there. The daycare even apologized because they tried to help and the school still did it wrong. Oh well. Hopefully tomorrow they will send her to the daycare - where she NEEDS to go!

Anyway, she was so excited and talked all the way home. We even took her to McDonald's for a special treat for her first day of school (and the bus incident). She and the babies bounced off the walls all night, so we finally had to shoo them outside to play before they went nuts.

But she had a great day. She had a little name tag at her desk. She has "special" activities everyday (art, music, gym). She loved her teacher. She made some friends. She loved the bus. She loved aftercare. And she didn't cry at all. (although her mom can't say the same!) She is just a big girl. Arlington is the kind of girl that will always - at least to us - be mature beyond her years. She is smart, thoughtful, kind, caring and will always be a good friend to everyone. We have always taught Arlington that you never judge anyone - you accept EVERYONE for who they are. And she has taken that advice and run with it. I am proud of the girl she is becoming and the woman I know she one day will be. I couldn't ask for a better daughter, and her siblings have the best sister in the world. Arlington is as unique and special as her name. And she will always be my baby - no matter how big she gets.

So we sent her off into the world today. I decided to put together a little video below of our girl over the years. It is only 5 minutes long, so I hope you will watch it. Make sure you turn the volume on your computer so you can hear the music. The pictures of her first school day are at the end!!!

Enjoy!