And the School Year Begins

I really can't believe my baby has started kindergarten.  Ethan has been so ready for this after having such a great preschool teacher last year.  You can tell by his stance on the first day that he was cool and ready to take on kindergarten.  He has been such a trooper as Abe and I try to figure out the public school system.  We found out the week before school started that the school has a dress code and Ethan must wear polo shirts and only solid color pants.  That was a surprise to me and we had a nice little scramble to figure out if Ethan actually owned 5 polos that still fit him.  And thankfully he did!  Of course come winter we will be struggling to find long sleeves in his closet but we will save that issue for if it ever actually gets cool.  During the first week of school I sent him to school in a pair of dark army green shorts only to find out that I didn't read the dress code close enough and Ethan was told that green was not an approved color for pants.  So I got the poor guy in trouble (and we are now down one pair of acceptable shorts).  It got even worse as Abe got him ready for school the other morning and sent him AGAIN in the forbidden green shorts only to get him in trouble again.  It appears that our communication problems are worse than I first thought and the teacher must think we are idiots.  I also didn't realize how serious the schools are about all adults getting a name badge at the front office when they get to school.  On the first day of school the doors were all open and we could just walk the kids to their class.  We were a little bit in a hurry because of all the reluctant picture taking so I didn't do a good job of showing Ethan how to get to his class and I didn't even take him through the main doors.  Well day 2 came and the school was all locked up so when we get to the front of the building there is a crazy line of parents all waiting to give their IDs to the secretary and get their name tag.  Since we waited for 5 minutes and the line never moved I told Ethan that if we waited for me to walk him we would be late or he could try to find the class on his own.  He, being the confident kindergartener that he is, said he could "totally find it" and off he went.  I felt horrible for not doing a better job of preparing him for this big adventure so I just watched and hoped he turned the right way.  I worried about it all day and was so glad when he got home and there was no traumatic event.

 Taylor had to make sure she got in some first day of school pictures even though her first day of school wasn't until the next week when preschool started.  Since Ethan has to be at school at 7:20 everyone should be impressed that Taylor is even dressed in this picture.  Most mornings these days she just rides to school in her pajamas eating her breakfast while we go.

Ethan continues to amuse us with his dry humor. On the first day of school when I picked him up he said "Do you want to hear what I learned today?" Of course I said yes and waited for a response. When he didn't say anything I turned around to see what had distracted him. But he was just looking at me and said "Yep that was it. I learned NOTHING." The first week was full of complaints about doing nothing and just sitting around and listening to the teacher talk and he was not very impressed. But thankfully things have picked up and he comes back with stories about what they are doing and what he has learned. I love to hear about the kids in his class and I can't wait to volunteer in his class some days to put some more names with faces. We went to the Open House at the school last week and Ethan pointed out one of the girls in his class and said that "when the teachers needs a break she gets me to teach her the letters. So I'm kind of like another teacher." It was so cute to see how excited he was about helping out someone else. He can be such a sweet kid when he wants to be.

 Taylor and I had more time for pictures on her first day of school (and it helps that Taylor is starting to enjoy having her picture taken) so she has a few more pictures of her.  She was so excited for preschool to start after seeing her classroom and meeting her teacher the week before.  I was a little nervous about how she would do with such a long class since last year she only went from 8:30 to 12 and this preschool goes to 3.  On the first day when I picked her up she said "Mom, why did you have to come back so early?" Needless to say I was not missed.  It seems like she has a nice class and I love hearing her stories about what the other kids are doing.  We brought snack for the class one day and she really wanted crackers with a red box because Keaton's favorite color is red.  The only part of class Taylor doesn't like is nap time.  The teacher told her that they need to rest their brains so that is why they have to lay down.  But Taylor is sure her brain doesn't need resting.  Taylor is always sure she knows what is best.

Taylor also started doing a Joy School (preschool co-op where the parents take turns teaching) once a week with some of the girls at church.  I was a bad mom and missed that photo opportunity but she is enjoying hanging out with those sweet girls.  She can't wait for our turn to have Joy School at our house.  Taylor is the youngest in the group so she has a little catching up to do with the older girls.  She told one of the mothers that she didn't know her letters like the other girls.  I think it is funny that she sticks with that even though if I ask her to write something and I tell her what sound or letter to write she can usually do it.  But she still claims not to know her letters.  I hope she isn't going for this "I'm cute and dumb" routine cause that doesn't work at our house.  But she is super cute!