Lots of Firsts

My tiny men are off to start another year of school. It's is very bittersweet for me. Noah will be starting his FIRST day of FIRST grade and his FIRST day of all day school. Kyle will will be starting his FIRST day of third grade and both both boys start their FIRST day at their new school. 

Both of them were pretty nervous and Kyle said his stomach felt funny (Mine too, Son. Mine too.).

I pray everyday that they make friends and are happy at school. I love these two angel boys so much and nothing makes me happier than to see them enjoying themselves and feeling confident. 

Good luck, boys!

Last day of School (and Orchard Elementary)

First Day of 2nd Grade

   

Last Day of 2nd grade

Look at how much my big guy grew.
Kyle did very well in school this year.  Ms. Barber could not say enough good about him.  HE had a bit of a rough time enjoying school though.  I felt he wasn't challenged enough. I'm praying next year he will get a teacher that can engage his smart little mind.





When the bell rang at the end of school many of the kids were cheering and clapping. Not my Kyky. He was long faced and melancholy about leaving his school of three years.

 First day of Kindergarten

Last day of Kindergarten

Noah not only grew physically this year but he grew a lot academically.  His ABC's are stronger and he is reading some.  His teacher always said Noah is a sweet boy that likes to daydream.  Adam says that Noah reminds him of himself.

Noah too was sad to leave Orchard Elementary. He just kept saying how much he was going to miss his friends.

The kiddergarten did an end of year program which I always enjoy.  They did a slide show asking the kids what they wanted to be when they grew up. Noah's answer? A Lego designer. Pretty good considering some of friends wanted to be dog walkers and waiters. :)

Noah's First Day of Kindergarten

Oh my. I have had so much anxiety about my littlest man starting school.  I took him out of pre-school in Feb. because I didn't think it was doing him much good AND I didn't want to fork over $65/month for something I wasn't happy with. He just wasn't that into it socially or academically and I felt like his teacher wasn't into it. So leading up to Kindergarten I was a bit of nervous that he still wouldn't like it.  Noah could barely write his name and was still working on learning to identify letters. On top of this, he didn't really seem very keen to go to school.  It didn't help my anxiety being so pregnant during the start of it all.  

Well, I'm happy to report that as school approached, I actually started looking forward to his starting school and all the great opportunities it would afford him. It helped that Noah was starting to look forward to it as well.  

Since he began there have been no complaints from him at all and he really seems to be enjoying it.  He is in morning Kindergarten and has Mrs. Hedin.  I worried about putting him in A.M. because the kid is a sleeper but again he does done really well. (I know. I'm a worry wart...)

Noah is doing well in school and seems to have stepped up to the challenge.  In the two weeks since he started I've already seen improvements in his handwriting and other abilities.  His teacher says he is a very good boy. No surprise here.  I love my Noah and hate that he is growing up but I love watching him grow...I know. It makes no sense. Anyone that has ever sent a Kindergartner to school knows exactly what I'm saying.

Kyle's First Day of School

My big little 2nd grader.

He wan't super excited to start school until the night before.  After getting a father's blessing and talking about it he got SUPER excited and then couldn't sleep that night.  He jumped out of bed the next morning, put on his new clothes and told me we can't be late!

We got to go in and meet his new teacher Mrs. Barber.  She seems nice but I already miss Miss Farley. I'm not good with change so I'm glad Kyle is. :)

I had to include this picture because he was obsessed with getting his top center tooth out. By the time he got home it was dangling by a thread. After some work we got it out.  He is now missing both top teeth and bottom side teeth. 

Kyle is in an advanced reading class this year and we are looking forward to him being challenged a little more. And by "we" I include Kyle as well.  He always tells me he likes to be challenged at school.

At the beginning of this school year Kyle was ....

The kid is growing so fast we wanted to see how much he grew in a year. From April to August of this year he grew almost an inch!

Preschooler

Noah's first day of preschool.

He was pretty excited. Since we got there a little early I had him wait a little bit before ringing the door bell. I think I dragged him away from the door about three times. 

"Is it time yet??"

Since Kyle was off track he got to see Noah off.  He was pretty sentimental about his old Alma mater. He even asked if we could invite his old teacher over.

All my babies in front of Noah's preschool.

Noah has been in preschool for a little over a month now and seems to be enjoying it. He has learned  

A LOT  (particularly ABC's and even putting his shoes on by himself) and always tells me that he is a good boy in school. I don't doubt it. He even goes so far to tell me that some of the other kids are "mean" (naughty) but that he is not. :)

Letting go.

*This is what we get for telling Kyle to show his teeth when he smiles for pictures.*

My biggest baby started 1st grade this year and I have lived to tell about it.  I thought Kindergarten was hard but 1st is much harder. I mean, I let 6 year old leave me ALL day, 5 days a week! Who does that? Oh yeah, me and about 6 billion other people...or something like that.
I did totally fine the first day but then a random 3 days later I was blubbering like a fool. I thought all those cliche' thoughts, "Where has the time gone?", "I wish he'd stop growing up so fast." Yada, yada. I have since come to peace with it all and am enjoying watching him excel in school and make new friends.

Kyle missed the first 4 days of school due to our Northern California trip but I knew he would handle it fine (and he did).

We have had our Parent/teacher conference 

where we have been told that Kyle is doing really well

 in school both academically and socially. 

We are very proud of him.

Uppidy date

We have had quite an eventful past couple of weeks so I thought I'd share.

...Noah, in Kyle's words, is now a certified member of the "Big Boy Club".

We really worried he would be a hard one to potty train since he has a bladder of steal and would hold pee all night and most of the day. I always said we just needed to get him to go pee pee once in the toilet. I was right. One day I put him on the toilet and just sat with him for about 45 minutes and until he couldn't hold it for another second. When he went he was SO proud of himself. His prize was popcorn, chocolate milk and watch Toy Story (His idea) and we also bought Zurg from Toy Story. This started about 3 weeks ago and he is going by himself and getting better everyday! Hallelujah!

...My sweet little, big man started Kindergarten last week. Adam and I both took him on the first day. I was thinking I was doing really well until the bell rang. Then true Pavlovic form, the tears burst out. And because Kyle was all gungho, when I looked up from my little pity party, he was already half way through the door and on to his new little life sans Mommy. I always dreaded this as to me it meant the beginning of letting go- cutting the apron strings. Next year he will be in school all day and spend it most of it WITHOUT me.

I am happy though because he was and is excited to go every day and is already doing us proud by earning an award for being {basically} nice boy of the month. Kyle is such a smart kid. Despite my anxieties I am so looking forward to watching him on this journey.

...Megan is enjoying a life of "solids". We started her on baby food this month and although she enjoys her outmeal and squash she would much rather have pizza, cake or anything Mommy and Daddy are eating. She is also beginning to sit up a little on her own.

We took her in for her 6 month check up only to find out that she had her first ear infection. Oh joy.