Francesca Turns 4

Francesca at 4 has greatly expanded her vocabulary and repertoire.

"Yes" has become "I bet so." As in, "Did you sleep well last night sweetie?" .. "I bet so!"

"No" has become "maybe tomorrow." As in, "Can you tell me what you did in school today?" .. "Not now ~ maybe tomorrow." Another favorite: "I told you that already."

And "What are you thinking?" has become "That's not for you." As in, "Francesca, do you think these sandals are nice for mama" .. "[sigh and slow head shake] "Those are not for you ... try these pretty ones!" Guess which ones her mama ended up buying.

Francesca has also expanded her collection of comic material, setting up with "I have a joke" and delivering the all-in-one punch line such as "apple bapple sapple -- HA HA HA!!" or "cherry pie - apple TURNOVER! HA HA!" Or any variation on the theme of "Papa, you are a parrot! Raawwwk, whee-hoo!" She also greatly enjoys when she and her mama are kitty-cats.

We imagine she's picking up some of these new refinements and phrases (along with others not so fit for publication) at her new school, Growing Light Montessori, which she has been attending since June. Francesca is a Sunflower (the pre-K class) and has taken to school like a fish to water. She has not had one teary drop off in the morning and loves being in her class, participating in circle times, learning right from left, taking pre-soccer, and all sorts of other activities. Francesca has shed more than a few tears over having to leave at the end of the day, even if it's the end of a nine-hour day, and sometimes proclaims that she wants to stay at school overnight.

Or perhaps she picked up these new elements from her zio David, who came to visit at the beginning of September. Up top are pictures of them together in San Francisco (for a pro bicycling race) and at a Berkeley cafe. We go to various cafes at least once or twice a week and have introduced her to our hands-down favorite restaurant, Oliveto. On the way home from dinner at Oliveto one night, Francesca said 'I see the Bay. Balls don't go across the Bay. Don't throw a soccer ball in the Bay. It will get wet and hurt a fish.' There's no messing with 4-year old logic.

Francesca continues to be highly focused on being with her friends. As she likes to say, "I want everyone to come to my house, and I want to go to everyone's house." In the pictures you can see some of her new school friends. Maya and Bella are on the horse with her ~ Marcos (a long-time friend who is also in her class) is in the pit of blue balls with her ~ and the gaggle of girls are Lovebirds (a younger class). Turns out that Francesca loves spending her afternoons with the younger kids and at snack time wants to sit next to a particular 2-year old, Eleni, so that she can "take care of her."

Francesca no longer attends her various classes now that she is in school full-time, but the weekends continue to be full of adventures. Favorites continue to be ferry boat rides to San Francisco followed by fries at an upscale restaurant on the bay, the Oakland zoo (see pictures of Francesca sliding down a frog and imitating a spider in the new kids' area), Lawrence Hall of Science (including its new dinosaur exhibit), and Tilden Park (especially feeding the animals at Little Farm). As you can see, all adventures continue to call for dresses. The sole exception to the dresses-only policy mandated and strictly enforced by miss Francesca is an outfit of striped boot-cut pants and a tee emblazoned in glittery pink letters with "Dude, where's my couture?"

The bottom rows are pictures of Francesca's fourth birthday art party at MOCHA, the Museum of Children's Art here in Oakland. We had a big studio to ourselves with a couple of great instructors and everyone had a ball making playdough, painting, drawing, and making a sand project. Afterwards, Francesca kept saying "I was so surprised that all my friends were there!"

Last but not least, on October 12 Francesca rode a bicycle with no training wheels for the very first time! Watch out Lance!

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