Lola Chooses a Winner: Herself

At Lola's new school, they have a monthly assembly where they draw names of children who have been "caught being good," which is to say, a teacher noticed them being nice. The child whose name is chosen gets a prize. Lola was asked to help draw names..Guess who she picked? (It was Pajama Day, hence the nightgown.)

The Lalaloopsy Halloween

This year, Lola became enthralled with a set of seemingly handmade-but-actually-made-of-plastic dolls, each of which has its own little speciality and is known as a Lalaloopsy. Here, she is dressed for a Halloween-themed birthday party as one of the dolls, Spot Splatter Splash (she's an artist.) All similarities to Raggedy Ann are strictly coincidental. The snakes were a party favor. And yes, they're real.

A Day at the Beach

Lola's kindergarten class had their lessons at Leo Carrillo Beach last Friday. The day was crystal clear and breezy. The kids were wiggly and eager, squinting in the bright sunshine, making "sand angels" and trying valiantly to pay attention to their teacher Miss Jo's diatribe on sea creatures and the ocean. Finally, mercifully, the kids were allowed to frolic in the surf. But the undertow was so intense, that this photographer had to put down the camera to keep an eye on her own little sea creature. We all went home sandy and windblown, filled with lungfuls of ocean air.

Even Kindergartners Have Jobs

Every morning, all the kindergarteners come to class a little early to complete their "jobs," from crossing out the day on the calendar to helping dump out the recycling bins. They take great pride in them. Throughout the day, they put their artwork in their cubbies. Each cubby is its own little work of art.

The Wonderful World of Kindergarten

Here's a bird's eye view of Lola's classroom. The place is massive and every spare spot it filled with the childrens' art and small photos representative of what goes on in every corner. It's very dear.

Lola's Second Grade "Buddy"

Earlier this week, every kindergartener was linked with a second grader to help show them the ropes and general befriend them. Lola, it should be noted, was "requested" by three separate second graders who had gotten to know her on the playground in the past two weeks. (She's a charmer). Here she is with her first choice, Zuzu, a little girl who went to Lola's nursery school.

Every student created a pretty impressive self-portrait, with only minimal guidance from the teacher. Miss Jo, Lola's lead teacher, commented that this year's class was especially gifted. Ahem.

Open House at Kindergarten

It has been three and a half weeks since Lola started kindergarten at Kirk of the Valley and already, it feels like she has always been there! This week, her (four) teachers opened the wondrous kindergarten room to the parents so we could see what everyone has been working on. On one end was a life-sized baby whale that they'd recently painted and hung. And everywhere you looked there was art. Here's Lola's interpretation of our little family, including our two cats. "I gave you bangs," she told her Mom with a big smile. Mom took it as the highest compliment.

Graduation Day

So the day finally came. After nearly three years at Childrens Circle Nursery School, Lola became one of 30 graduates in the Class of 2011 - the largest-ever graduating class the school has seen in its 35 years.

The Dress

Lola picked out this red pageant dress weeks before the big day. (Those pony-tail holders had little gold bells on them.) Coincidentally, her good friend Emma wore the same color. Though there were no hard feelings. Both girls will be in the same kindergarten class this month, so it seemed appropos.

Of course, eventually, everyone ended up barefoot in the sandbox. The pageant dress proved more versatile than it looked.

A Packed House

The import of the evening was such that 60 grown-ups, some of whom wore high heels, sat without complaint, Indian-style on the floor for nearly three hours. (Yes. Three. Hours.)

The Group Shot

Before the ceremony, all the squirmy graduates lined up for the requisite group shot. The parents swarmed opposite them like a bunch of rabid paparazzi. Lola still managed a gracious smile.

The Tiles

One of the graduation rituals of Lola's school is the creation of the tiles. Each child paints a tile and it is affixed to the building to herald the vibrancy of his or her presence there for all eternity. (Or something close.) Here's Lola's little bit of colorful art.

The Big Moment

Lola was one of the first dozen children to receive her diploma which declared

that she had "learned to play with other children." Tim, the school's founder, said of Lola (and, ahem, no other child) "I will remember you forever." Her other teacher Rachelle noted her "big feelings," which she described as a puzzle to the staff, considering the mild nature of both her parents. "Where did this child come from?" they wondered. Lola's teachers mused about her far longer than most of the other kids that night. But is that any surprise?

America's Birthday

Lola and her friends the Triplets spent the Fourth of July together this year and enjoyed all the traditional Independence Day sports. We kicked it off with a wagon ride around the neighborhood.

There was competitive sprinkler running...

...water balloon tossing. Or in this case, hoarding.

The day wouldn't have been complete without a parade and watermelon....

and more sprinklers..

The Littlest Daisy Scout Blooms

Earlier this month, Lola's Daisy troop had its "bridging" ceremony, a beautiful ritual where the girls are honored for finishing their first year of Girl Scouts.. Every girl got a certificate and a little pot of - yes, you guessed it.

Beach Party Bonanza

Last weekend, we ventured up to Point Dume in Malibu for a double birthday party on the sand. Lola's good buddy Samantha turned 5 and lots of wiggly pre-schoolers swarmed the shore for hours - at least until the rip tide drove everyone back to the tent for cake and sandwiches.

The Summer Ritual: Swim lessons

It's been three years since Lola's first swim lesson (a two-week stint at the Rose Bowl that didn't really work out, but anyway...) And now, she's on the cusp of being "pool safe," as they say out here in the Land of Swimming Pools. Today, Lola jumped in the water, pulled herself up to the surface and kept on swimming - a real milestone that prompted a lengthy victory song afterward..

Her teacher Monica was an Olympic contender back in the 1960s. Over the years, she's taught generations of kids to swim. Naturally, she has the patience of a saint.

Lola's Girl Posse

It has been an especially busy month for Lola. As kindergarten nears, her nursery school friendships are suddenly richer and more complex than ever. Or maybe that's just a girl thing. Life just wouldn't be complete without her regular cosmetics pow-wows with eyeshadow expert Emma, above, (one third of the triplets) at Beeman Park. Below, she is pictured with her morning posse, Samantha (in the cowboy hat), Maya in the purple and Colette in the pigtails. She snuggled up in bed for a photo with Neorah. And hugged it out with her new friend from church Dot as they lived it up at KidSpace. Some days it's really awesome to be 5.