Norah News: First Day of School!

Well, for a change, the house isn't the big news around here - Norah started Kindergarten today! 

The morning started with her bounding into my bed, while Matt was showering, and asking if it was time to go yet... it was 6am.  The questions pretty much didn't stop for another 2,5 hours until we started to meet up with some of the neighbor kids for the trek up the street to school. 

Last night, there was a lot of excitement.  I sat here listening to the two kids debating over who would visit who at school.  Norah offered to give Roddie 100 hugs and kisses, but he said, no only 1.  I was actually a little worried about Roddie, missing his sister.  He talked about it a lot over the past couple of weeks and I feel like he was getting adjusted to the whole idea of not having his sister with him at school.  All was well by today though, he said he missed is sistah but he wasn't sad about it.

 

Posing with her new backpack on the porch of the camper

Pensive, happy girl!  Look like anyone you know Mom?

 Norah was literally bouncing off the walls as we got ready to go.  We were taking some pictures outside when we saw our neighbor and friend Jack doing the same thing, so we wandered over and took a few pics with him.

The kids were quickly comparing new backpacks and talking about what the day had in store

Buddies since birth!

I am ready too!

 A lot can change in a couple of months... when we took a similar to this at preschool graduation, she seemed to be leaning into me and pulling away at the same time.. now it seems like there is not so much leaning in...
Next stop was around the corner to pick up her best buddy Erin.  Erin actually started Kindergarten last year, and so school started for her last week.  Lucky for us, Erin and her mom were excited to share the first day with us and show us the ropes! 

Three Amigos from the Hood

... and we're off!

Crossing the Street, Norah  says "I know how to cross the street, My Dad taught me"

They slow down... a little apprehension maybe?

Made it to the school!  We were pretty much the first ones to arrive...

Big Girl, ready for school!

Norah and some of her class, lined up and ready to learn!

The report on the day was great!  Her favorite part was going to the library in the afterschool program.  Also, she and Erin played some kind of game together and they won, so that was a highlight as well.  She claims she made a lot of new friends - her whole class worth!  And she's going back tomorrow, so I'd call that a success! 

Roddie Report: Birthday Party!

Roddie will be 3 this upcoming week, and with all the birthday parties we've been to recently, he was pretty excited to have his turn!  I wasn't quite sure what to do for him, with the house and yard in their current state (although, I suspect most 3 year old boys would love a visit to a construction site!).  I also didn't want to have something at a party place - Roddie really has not reacted well to the large spaces and throngs of kids, so it doesn't seem like it would be about him.  While we love the neighborhood gang, none of the kids are really his age, and the only kids he really plays with at this point are the proverbial girls next door - Erin and Allie, and Jack. 

So, what we ended up with was a heading to the playground with a small crowd of his closest buddies from school and the few kids from the hood.  It's somewhat 'home turf' for Rod, as we've been there plenty of times, and there really weren't too many people there other than us, despite the perfect day.

It wasn't only the weather that was perfect, I feel like the party was a perfect fit for Rod.  He got to be the center of attention on a scale that worked for him.  We rounded out the day with a swim at the beach adjacent to the playground and a 2 hour nap for Dad and both kids.  After dinner I went for a walk while Matt got started on an outside movie night in our screen house.  All in all, a stellar day!

Dad swinging the kids while we wait for friends to arrive

The boy asked for a ball party, and a ball party he got!

Friends from the hood... Erin, Allie, Norah and Roddie



Rod's school posse, Dominic, Kendall, and Alex

The whole gang - Alex, with his sister Elsa, Allie, Kendall, Roddie, Norah, Erin and Dominic, who was a little reluctant to line up for a photo

Fly, Little Buddy, Fly... 3 is gonna be great!

Norah News: sigh....

While I think a formal graduation complete with professional photographer (thankfully, no prom!) was a a bit over the top for preschool, the photographer captured one of my all time favorite pictures of Norah and I.

Honestly, it almost brings tears to my eyes every time I look at it.  She somehow managed to get Norah both pulling away from me and leaning back into me at the same time.  I think this really captures the essence of where she's at these days, as she (ok, we) get ready to head off to kindergarten.  I want to hold her tight and let her go at the same time also, but that doesn't show up quite as well in the photo :)

I told a few of my neighbor-mom friends about this picture last night and mused that I wondered how this picture would look at her highschool graduation - would there be more or less leaning in and pulling away?  One friend thought, rightfully so, that there will always be some of both... I think she's on to something, just ask my mom.

Roddie Report: The Big-Boy Evolution Continues

As you know, Roddie moved into his Big-Boy bed a week or two ago.  He seems to really enjoy being a big-boy.  I, on the other hand, am still a big resistant.  I know, in my heart that it is all good, but I am still a little sad to admit that I have a big-boy on my hands, a baby no longer.

His transformation continued last week, with his first big-boy haircut.  He's had his hair cut a couple of times before, but it was mainly just a trip of his beautiful blonde locks.  With his blonde hair and long eyelashes this kid will surely be a heartbreaker... in any case, he was in bad need of a haircut, and I knew it was time for a real big boy cut - that doesn't mean I wanted to be the one to make it happen!

We had a lot to do last Saturday, and I took Norah to finish up the Christmas shopping with me, and Matt took Rodde to Soccer.  I asked him to get his hair cut when they were done, purposely not giving him any instructions beyond where the nearest kids-haircut place was located.  I did get a call asking for further instruction, to which I responded with "You are the boy's father, you can now have creative control over his haircuts" *sniff*.  While it took Matt a minuet to get what I meant, I think it turned out well!  I cried, of course, but I msut admit he looks as handsome, if not more handsome, than ever!