First Day of School

~Nora~

Last week, we sent Gavin off to first grade. Today is Nora's first day of kindergarten - sort of. Nora completed preschool last year although her 5th birthday is not until October 10. She is not old enough for public school and I am not inclined to accelerate our journey. So, what then? Our daycare has an excellent kindergarten class that she will participate in every afternoon. She will still attend the preschool class M, W and F mornings. This is a great option for her. We look forward to this opportunity for her. She is very ready to go to the next level for academics.

Check out all the new digs. Spiderman for Gavin, Olivia for Nora and Toy Story 3 ("free") for Dylan. It is a rare occasion that they are not aware of each other's journey. I am so grateful for that.

Beautiful girl!

I had to pick out something "fancy and elegant", as Fancy Nancy would say. I'm sure Olivia would be disappointed that the dress is not red. Either way, Nora was very excited about her first day, her promotion in the ranks of daycare and the opportunity for a few new faces in class. There are a few new children (non-daycare) that are attending her class. If Nora was remotely nervous, it was well hidden.

Bikes: The Beginning

Dylan learned to peddle!

He has desperately been trying to figure it out and foot peddling the big wheel bike had become over rated. After vacation, he jumped on his tricycle and despite barely being able to reach the peddles. he took off. He is, of course trying to catch up to Gavin and Nora.

In addition to Dylan's milestone, Gavin has shed his training wheels. Nora has been riding without training wheels since late June. Gavin has been frustrated by this, especially on his scooter. She is faster. He got over the hump with Daddy's help. Circus bears have evolved...

Gavin: Fall Ball

Gavin has been playing fall baseball. It has been an interesting adventure moving up to Bantum league. We are now playing with outs, strikes and the boys are positioned at pitcher and catcher. Coach pitch continues.

Gavin team is young. They all played instructional/t-ball in the spring. Winning has not been within reach but good experiences have been. We have mixed practice with games and they have learned a lot. Interesting to see them learn plays and the rules of the game. We will continue to work on implementation!

Too many kids, too much time...

First Day of School

~Gavin~

Gavin is officially a first grader. While many folks are crossing this bridge this fall with their children, our own journey is is sharply real and monumental. We have not traveled down this road before. This is nearly always true when I discuss Gavin, as he is the oldest, but it never seems unimportant. So true of the above picture, that Nora and Dylan are part of his journey. They insisted on being there to see him on to the bus.

"Check-out my backpack!", he says to Daddy. Dylan was very interested in this process. He normally is when it comes to his brother ("brofer"). I love that Dylan looks like I feel here. Very proud. Very happy. Very curious.

Ok, ok...posed, required photos with parents...

Gavin was a mix of excitement and apprehension for his first day. It depended on the moment. He did not recognize his teacher (negative - mental note & lesson learned: at end of school year, suggest meeting next grade level of teachers ahead of time). He did, however, know some students from previous class, baseball or playground (positive). He was riding the same bus with kids he knows well (positive). We had the same bus numbers (positive and bonus*). He was unsure of classroom location prior to bus stop (negative) but during long wait for bus*, discovered through kid-conversation with a now second grader, where class was located (positive). Go Gavin - network to your advantage!

* Bus: (1) The morning bus time moved up from 8:40 to 8:20 which for our family schedule is nearly invisible. However - bus was late on first day so that is not a positive influence on nerves (next picture). (2) Afternoon bus was SUPPOSED to be the same number, time, etc. In the middle of the day - changes were made - chaos was created. Gavin luckily, the social networking butterfly that he is, made it on to the correct bus. Three others on his bus were not so lucky. Two stayed at the school with the dozens of other kids too confused to know what to do and one child boarded the wrong bus. Lovely...in the end all was well. Second day was smoother and on time.

Let's get this over with!

BYE!!!

Note: Dylan and Nora both cried when Gavin got on the bus. They cried hard. Although this was terribly sad, it was easier to comfort them then to shed my own tears of detachment. I cry for fleeting moments that I just can't seem to capture let alone touch as they fly by on this journey.