About a month ago I mentioned that Zoe was really tired out by first grade. Shortly after writing about it here, I sent her teacher an e-mail – asking whether this was typical (though I assumed it was). Her response:

The transition to first grade is huge!! And it takes time. I am sure most of the children are coming home exhausted - they are on the go from 8:15-3:15, and even longer if they have an after school class. Her tiredness and crankiness is completely normal and to be expected. I find all of the school holidays makes the transition even harder for students and teachers; I will be happy to get into the school routine in October. Trust me, Zoe and the other kids will get used to the routine of longer days and harder academics, I would give her another few weeks.

How right Mrs. Eisenhauer was! Though Zoe still has her tired moments, the tears, tantrums and un-like Zoe behavior that we saw in the beginning of the school year did indeed go away. I’m happy to have my Zoe back – and happier to have a teacher who is there for us when we need her!

-M

Avery was supposed to be napping the other afternoon, but what she was really doing (as I found out by peeking in her window) was caring for and taking pictures of her baby. I wish I had gotten video of her rocking the doll – she stopped, natch, just as I started the camera – but the video is pretty sweet regardless.

-M

Last weekend, the girls and I met up with Angela in Petaluma, about an hour north of the city. We explored yet another pumpkin patch – this one with a totally different (i.e. more rural) feel than the others we’ve visited. The girls had a really fun time playing around on a huge pile of haystacks, going on hay rides and navigating through their first real corn maze; as I told Ang, I think we created another annual tradition!

-M

Last week, Zoe was “Student of the Week,” a title that’s rotated among her classmates throughout the school year. As part of the festivities, she made and presented “My Very Own Poster,” read a book and presented zucchini muffins to the class (with me and Avery in tow), and even quizzed her classmates on “10 things you might not know about Zoe.” The fact that really stumped the class? That she was born with a crooked nose.

-M

Out of curiosity – and because I don’t think I’ve ever asked her before – I asked Avery over the weekend what she wanted to be when she grew up. Her  simple answer (quite appropriate, given her Halloween costume) was, “A princess.”

-M

Another of our favorite October activities is to trick-or-treat (and greet the Peanuts gang) at Great America. Here are my favorite photos from our visit there on Saturday.

-M

Some readers know that this past week was a big one for me: Stanford’s med school had two Nobel winners (one in medicine, the other in chemistry), which means I was up at 3 AM doing communications work on Monday and Wednesday. By Wed. afternoon I was, of course, ridiculously tired – and the first thing I did after picking up the girls was peel off my clothes and jump into bed for a nap. Q was still at work, but here’s something that made me proud: The girls, now old enough to understand that Mommy really, really needed to sleep, entertained themselves (and didn’t get into trouble!) for the hour or so between my drifting off to sleep and Q arriving home. When I woke up that evening (just in time to bid the kids good-night), I gave Zoe a dollar and told her much I appreciated the fact that she had “babysat” her sister.

There is a lot to miss about having babies and small children, but having older ones is pretty great, too.

-M

When Q brought home a singing skeleton a few months back, I rolled my eyes and secretly plotted to return it before Halloween. (It was silly and loud, I thought.) But once the girls saw it, my plans flew out the window: As Avery demonstrates in the video below, they love this thing!

-M

Before visiting the pumpkin patches last weekend, we did a few other pumpkin-related activities: posing with them at a Farmer’s Market, and painting them at Michael’s…

-M

Some observant readers noticed that Zoe’s mouth looks a little empty: Days after she lost one of her two front teeth, the other one popped out as well! (Actually, her dad wound up pulling it. It was dangling and bothering Zoe, so he asked her if he could do it; I was really proud of her for letting him!) As I told Zoe, the timing of her toothless smile couldn’t be better: She looks like a jack-o-lantern!

-M

And some more photos…

-M

An October tradition dating back to 2007 is our trip to the pumpkin patches at Half Moon Bay. Here are some pics from our recent visit.

-M

The latest from the little one: A self-portrait, now hanging in her classroom.

-M

Zoe’s first field trip of the school year was to Hidden Villa, a farm about 35 miles south of the city and just moments away from my work. I took the day off to go with the class and was treated to a tour of the farm, a meet-and-greet with numerous animals, and a tasting of various plants and flowers. (Zoe, to my surprise, tried and liked the beet!) Afterwards, we got to picnic outside and pick out a pumpkin from their little patch. Added bonus: They let us bring one home for Avery, too.

It was a really sweet day and one I won’t soon forget. (Zoe was excited about it, too – so much so that she had trouble sleeping the night before and woke up super early that day!) But next time I volunteer to chaperone, I think I’ll skip out on the bus. Though I was super excited to get the chance to ride with Zoe, I hadn’t taken into consideration how loud and hyper a group of 6- and 7-year-olds can be, and how slow a school bus moves! Thank goodness I packed the Tylenol…

-M

When putting up Halloween decorations last night I commented to Avery that I wasn’t sure how to get one of Zoe’s – a hanging spider - to hang from the ceiling like I wanted. “C’mon, you’re Mommy!” Avery cried out in a girl-power voice. “You know lots of things!” I was touched by both her support – and confidence in me!

-M