Ella is Officially a Preschooler!

           A few weeks ago, we discovered that there was an opening for Ella to go to preschool two mornings a week at the same school as Anneka (in a different room).   We jumped on this opportunity, as Ella has been showing signs of readiness for school, and we've seen how it's helped with Anneka's Russian like nothing else.  We want to give Ella this chance, too.  This meant that we had to to a battery of medical tests.  (You can click here to see what all is entailed).  Ella doesn't love doctors like her sister, but she was very sweet about everything, and I discovered that she loves gum so much that if I bought gum and gave it to her each time we headed to the clinic (I had to stock up- there were MANY visits!), she was happy as a clam!!  I tried to make it into a special mother-daughter time (as much as trips waiting in lines and going to a bizillion doctors can be).  We always packed books, and while at first I wouldn't read if we were actually IN an office with a doctor, by the end, we just did whatever to make things fun and smooth!!

    One day Leif asked me how our doctor's visit went, and I said something like, "well, first we started on floor 2 and then they sent us up to floor 6, but they sent us to floor 3, but that doctor was in the hospital, so they said to call back next week.  And then we went to floor 5 and waited in a long line, but we didn't make it in time before we had to leave to pick up Anneka from kindergarten".  And after I said this outloud, I realized that I'd left out a couple of floors and it seemed completely nuts because we hadn't accomplished anything!  The first half of filling our our medical card, was pretty much like this for over a week.  I really felt that God wanted me/us to praise Him in the middle of it and to keep our eyes open for His goodness and His opportunities.  One day, as we were leaving the clinic with no stamps in our medical book because of time, we ran into our friend Masha outside.  She sweetly volunteered to take Ella for me and when I came back an hour later, she had seen TWO doctors!  Another time, we met a really nice mom and her son and had a good conversation with them.  God provided fun things like this slide (pictured above) in the hallway of floor 2.  And the second half of the medical card process went very quickly!  Once we got three stamps in one day!

     After we got our final stamp, Ella and I were so excited!  We asked a lady to take our picture outside, and we told her that we were celebrating because it was like a holiday to get our medical card filled out!  She gave a knowing smile, as it is not easy for people here either!  I had one friend say that the next time they buy an apartment, they will buy one next to the clinic because they have to go there so often.  And she was serious!

     The very next day, Ella had her first day of school!   Ella was excited, and Anneka was so excited for her, too!  Ella walked right into the classroom without even looking back.  And since she's begun I already hear her using more Russian with people.  

     I made a special lunch for Ella that day and we had a special "first day of school cake".  

     Ella's regular teacher has been sick, so she's had substitutes.  One day it was a mom that I've met on the playground and have talked with several times over the past couple of years. (her daugher is a friend of Anneka's)  She said that Ella had played really well with the kids and did great!
   
      I am also amazed that there's one teacher for sixteen 3-year-olds and they all get totally changed out of their clothes into outdoor clothes (this is very cultural- you wear different clothes outside than you do at home or at school) and into their coats, hats, and boots.

  By the second week when Ella's teacher returned, she got really sad as I was dropping her off and cried really hard.  Leif was out of town, and that morning I'd had to get all of the kids up and ready and out the door pretty early (and Ike dropped a glass on the tile floor right as we were leaving that I needed to clean up really fast so no one would get hurt).  When we got there, another kid's clothes were in Ella's cubby and her clothes had been moved.   I'm guessing that all of these things added to her feelings, but it was SO SAD leaving her.  Ike and I could hear her crying all the way outside.  She was okay when I came back to get her 3 hours later, so I'm praying that it was just one of those hard mornings because of all of the abnormal circumstances.  Ella is so brave.  I'm so proud of her!  I love her love of learning and watching her interact with both kids and adults.  She is a treasure.