What a day

Today was a bit stressful but in the midst of it Jaden did some really amazing things.
We left the house at 7:30, for her first day of summer school. We arrived and found out that school doesn't actually start until Wednesday. I was totally surprised and wondered how Jaden would do when we picked up all of her things and left. She was only mildly annoyed (much less than her mother ;o) ) and we went on our way. I tried to keep her out of the house most of the morning since Reg started midnight shift several weeks ago and needed to sleep in peace. We stopped at McDonald's on our travels and got Jaden french fries and iced water. She wanted to go out to play at the playplace but I told her she needed to eat first. In the past she would have thrown a fit or at the very least, I would have had to explain this to her several times before she understood. But this day she went to our table, sat like a big girl and ate all her fries. Then we went to go outside but the door was locked. One of the workers told us that it was closed for repairs. On the way to the car Jaden said over and over and over, "Slide! Slide! Slide! Slide" all the while I was trying to reassure her that I would take her to the park up the road instead, and she would slide there. She didn't throw a fit. Wow.
On the way to the park a huge rain cloud threatened us. I determined that we were going to the park and if getting wet was a part of our day, so be it! After we got there, the rain cloud moved along and the sun came out and it was hot. But we had fun. For quite awhile we were the only people there and I spent a lot of time just watching my girl. I am usually so busy tending to her needs or trying to engage her or keep her out of danger that I fail to watch her much. I noticed her seeming like a typical little girl. She could run fast, isn't afraid of any of the slides anymore, and tries to hang from the jungle gym. She likes the big tire swing now instead of the baby swings. At one point she got done with her drink, through it on the ground and came over to me to ask for more. I told her, "Jaden, go get your cup. You can't throw your cup on the ground when you are done. Go get it and bring it to Mama" She went straight to her cup, picked it up and brought it to me. Wow.
At home she pinched my leg accidently when she was climbing out of my lap. I said, "OW" and she looked at me with concern and said, "Ok? Ya ok? OK? Ya ok?"
\o/