Fun in the Backyard

We're having some beautiful weather. Now that it's September, summer is here. Here is a little video of the boys enjoying the warm weather. Before I went in and got the video camera, CSR was dancing around in the water and RTR was doing his own version. Of course, once I got the video going, they wouldn't really do it again.

It's Getting Better

Day 4 of kindergarten went better. Not nearly as many tears or carrying on this morning. Our co-op preschool teacher (former kindergarten teacher and dear friend!) gave me great words of encouragement and advice. She said this week would still be hard for CSR, pointing out he only went to school two days last week. Among her gems, reminding me to encourage CSR during the difficult times that "tommorrow will be better"...something we can all use and learn from. She also advised ice cream for lunch. So yesterday, as we walked home from school, when I suggested that, his face lit up--like he couldn't believe that his vegetable-pushing mom was going to let him have ice cream FOR LUNCH. It was totally worth it. It also helped that as I got the ice cream ready, he asked for a turkey and cheese sandwich.

We also discovered that the girl CSR sits next to in class lives around the corner from us, so that should be fun to have a friend in the neighborhood.

Kindergarten. It's getting better.

The First Day of School

Today was CSR's first day of kindergarten. Does he look like he's excited?


Tyler took the day off from work-- partly for this big day and also because he worked on the weekend. It was a beautiful day so we walked to school. CSR rode his tricycle. We took a couple of pictures outside the door and then went in the classroom.


The teacher had name tags on the tables so we helped CSR find his. Things seemed to be going pretty well. Then it came time to say goodbye. Oh boy, big emotions set in. He grabbed me and did that silent teary sob thing he does. Brought tears to my eyes too. What to do? My friend Suzanne (who's a teacher) had advised me a few days ago to make the goodbye quick and not linger. Okay, I could do that I thought. Easier said than done. I drew a heart on his hand and one on mine and said he should look at that during the day and think of me and I would do the same. That seemed to cheer him. So Tyler and I started to leave. He jumped up and grabbed me, in tears. Tyler got him back to his seat and talked to him for a few more minutes. I waited outside where we'd left RTR parked in his stroller. Watched other parents too and was glad to see we weren't the only ones with tears.

We Like to Camp, Camp, Camp

We survived our first camping trip with RTR. The four of us spent two days at Lake Wenatchee State Park. It was a lot of fun, once we got past making do because of the things we forgot (pump for air mattress, coffee cups, dish cloths, garbage bags). And we are feeling pretty smug about camping in the rain. The water resistant canopy we bought at GI Joe's was one of the best camping investments we've made. I highly recommend getting one-- not only good for shade, but keeping the rain off your picnic table too. While the first night was pretty rainy, RTR fared really well, going to bed pretty easily and sleeping through the night. It probably helped that he didn't get a good nap on Sunday. Monday night was a different story. He woke up around 1AM crying. He didn't appreciate our efforts to warm him up, our thinking that he was cold. So we then tried some milk. A couple of sips, but then, no dice, more crying. One of us jumped up and grabbed a banana out of the cooler. Ahhh. Much better. RTR snuggled in to the nook of Tyler's arm and chowed down. He reminded me of a baby gorilla at the zoo, all content just eating a delicious banana. But an entire banana was not enough. So Tyler grabbed a granola bar (!) for RTR to gnaw on. We lived dangerously, with RTR using his nine or so teeth to power through a small chunk of granola bar. Yikes. So it goes with those second borns, doing things you'd have never done with the first baby. Sorry for the long line of pictures, I don't know how to group them together through the blogger software.

It Just Goes to Show You...

When it comes to kindergarten, it's no cake walk. It turns out that thought I had about the kindergarten teacher (see previous post), was right. It's the same teacher, she just changed her name. And not just her last name, her first name as well. Strikes me as strange. According to the school office, the teacher got married a few years back and decided to now change her name. I understand changing the last name, but the first name too? Makes me think something else is up. I think Tonya Harding's ex-husband petitioned to change his name from Jeff Gilooly to Jeff Smith, to escape his criminal notariety. Of course, if memory serves, many of the Jeff Smiths of the world protested his name change. Ahhhh, what's a mother to do?

It All Started in Kindergarten

Kindergarten has turned out to be stressful-- for me. We've spent months trying to figure out which school would be the best for CSR. Darn the school district for giving us choices! It all started when a parent (and former teacher) told me about her experiences with the kindergarten teacher at our neighborhood school. It was not positive. Next came two more parents (and teachers) who also added their knowledge of this person. Again, not positive-- one going to far as to say "that as a parent in good conscience, she could never put her child in that teacher's class."

I had already been looking at the school district's alternative school as another choice. But by the time I made up my mind, there was a waiting list. Applied anyway. In the end, maybe all this work and stress and talk didn't matter. Today a letter arrived from our neighborhood school for kindergartners... and it's signed by a completely different teacher than the one I had been worried about. Of course, in the back of my mind, I'm wondering, did that teacher get married or something and change her name? Here's to the first day of school...where ever we end up.

Photographer In Training?

Another sign that we're raising an electronic generation-- CSR's obsession with the camera. He will take it, go off and in just a few minutes will have taken dozens of pictures. He's also somehow changed a setting on the camera that has reduced the number of pictures you can have on the memory stick. So usually before I can take any pictures, I have to go through and delete CSR's work. Thank goodness it is digital and not film. Some of the pictures are quite interesting, so I don't have the heart to delete all of them. Mostly the unflattering ones of myself or the blurriest ones. Here are some that he's taken.