a lost tooth for Ellis

On Friday, he told me his tooth was loose. On Tuesday morning, he bit into a piece of toast and said, "Oh no! Not again!" ...& that tooth was gone. He was immediately excited to write a letter to the tooth fairy.

You'll be happy to know that the tooth fairy did remember to come here before she was done for the night. He said he felt her under his pillow...but I'm not so sure.

First Day.

Oh my goodness...it happened. Both the boys are in school all day AND at the same place. They woke up excited about what the day would bring. I, however, was in tears from the moment I woke up. I was so worried about their days...read...emotional wreck. Nonetheless, the morning went smoothly and we proceeded to mark the day with the usual photo shoot.

...which one of these brothers is a little worried about the day ahead of him??

this pretty much sums up their relationship...ellis hanging all over morgan, and morgan pushing him away.

Morgan walked confidently to his meeting spot in the cafeteria with a request that I do not go with him. I worried for him to be in a new class with a teacher I think we're going to love...just not 100% sure yet...hence, the worry. I want so badly for him to have a great dynamic in this class so he has a really fun year. He deserves it.

Ellis physically recoiled upon seeing ALL the people in his hallway. Obviously, there were a lot of parents today. He was apprehensive and I was already on the edge. We got to class, put his lunch in the cart, and he jumped in quickly to coloring at his seat. The longer we sat there, the more hugs he wanted and the more he kept getting out the puff ball he put in his pocket to remind him of home. When he looked me in the eye and said, "I'm really going to miss you, mommy.", I almost lost it. He had two worries for the day, 1) that he would lose his puff ball and 2) that he would forget to tell me everything about his day. I left shortly after and I can safely say that there were no tears...at least not until I got to the car.

When I picked him up, he was barely out of the building before he was opening his backpack to show me what he had made that day. I wanted nothing more than to squeeze him tight. He told me, "Kindergarten is a blast!" He was particularly surprised that they had art on the first day where he "made his name out of art materials", and colored a raccoon from "crazy town". The entirety of his lunch AND snack were gone. "I devoured it!", he said. He definitely remembered to tell me about his day. Also, I am happy to report that he did lose that puff ball. To me, that means he was confident enough to not really need it.

Morgan came out equally excited about the day he had. He told me his teacher doesn't assign seats, gives them "guidelines" instead of "rules", and they already started a cool science experiment. So far so good.

They did see each other in passing at recess and quick hellos were exchanged, but there was no time for anything else. That's all Ellis really needed anyway. I'm so glad he's got Morgan there to make a big school feel smaller. My sweet guys.

So, all is well. On to day two!

wait...kindergarten?

Today was Ellis' last day of preschool! On the way there, he was telling me how excited he is for kindergarten...on the way home, it was a different story. He now had some fears focused on the toy situation and how he wouldn't know anyone. To help, we took a little tour of the kindergarten hall today at Morgan's pickup and met the teaching team...he was pleased to see Legos and a space for some dramatic play. That seemed to help, but luckily, we have some time to work through anything else that might pop up before August. ...always my sensitive little thinker...

looking a bit more confident.

reach for the stars!

Today, Ellis graduated from preschool! Our time at the YMCA has been nothing short of spectacular. His teacher as a Firefly, Ms. Sarah, is one for the record books...loving, attentive, creative, patient, and most importantly, FUN! We met new and lasting friends, learned lots of new things, and started a good relationship with school that will benefit him in years to come. This year, all during the course of play, Ellis became completely kindergarten ready...even reading beginner books to us by the end of the school year. He made real strides socially as well. He is quick to be the peace keeper of a group, wanting everyone to be happy. He is still a very sensitive soul, only wanting to please others, but he is now able to recognize and have the confidence to defend things he feels might not be quite right. As if that wasn't enough, his motor skills took off too. He learned to swim without a flotation belt, and became much more confident in his active play. We celebrated this milestone today with lunch of his choice, Chipotle, a couple of gifts, and a cupcake the size of his head...with sprinkles! Best.Day.EVER!

...with his bestest buddy, Dash.

Off to kindergarten!!

first day as a firefly

that's a wrap

the last day of first grade.

random in March

first day as a ladybug

Today is E's first first day of school! He's a Ladybug at the YMCA preschool (same class M was in). He is apprehensive to be away from "someone who is mine", and he thinks 3 hours is way.too.long. He's going a long with it though and ended up having a pretty darn good day.

Raf is in his class with him, and I think this picture sums up their personalities perfectly.

The most surprising thing to me was all he had to tell me after class! I learned more about E's day 15 minutes after I had picked him up than I learned in the entire 2 years M attended preschool there...the titles of the books they read, what they ate for snack, his art project, songs sang, activities played...all of it!

1st grader

Ok! It's the first day of school! M has Ms. Young this year at King Arts and he.is.excited for all the independence that comes with being in first grade. At least right now he is...

E, on the other hand, is not as excited for M to be away at school all day. "I will miss him, mommy."

To soften the blow, we stopped for a sprinkle donut after dropping off M. I think it helped.