Preschool Pro

It's officially the school year now, as both kids are back to school!  L started her second year of preschool yesterday and she was a total pro at it.  Not that she was utterly ecstatic to be there, mind you.  When it was her turn to go in, she locked her knees and put on her brakes, which ultimately resulted in Ms. Angela (the bouncer at the door) having to pick L up and carry her to her spot.  I'm pretty sure L wasn't nervous or anxious as much as she was looking for a free ride.

It's hard to believe that L is the same age as M was when he first started preschool.   For some reason I'm remembering M, at three, being older and more mature than L is now.  Maybe it's because M has more of an intense, broody side and L is a little cheeseball.  It's hard to say, but if ten years from now they're half-way like anything they are now, then we're in big trouble.

Three-year-old M on his very first day of preschool.  (2008)

Three-year-old L getting ready to go back to preschool.  Best of luck to the Little Lambs staff.  (2010)

Two-year-old L on her very first day of preschool.  Well, at least we have photographic evidence that she's always had a flair for the dramatic.  (2009)

Speaking of cheeseball dramatics, here are a few more pictures from this year.

She's really not as innocent as she looks.

The First Week of Kindergarten!

Well, we survived the first week of kindergarten.  Actually, we more than survived the first week, we rocked it!  M absolutely LOVES kindergarten.  He was a little nervous the night before, but once he woke up on Monday morning, he was totally ready.  He was vastly more efficient than I had expected him to be at such an early hour.  All in all, I believe he was moving faster than I was - I don't know where he gets his energy.

Taken just seconds before I uttered my first, "M, it's time to get ready for kindergarten."

A breakfast for champions - complete with stuffed armadillo onlooker.

I'm pretty certain I stood out as a rookie parent of an elementary school student.  For starters, we got to school at 7:10...school doesn't start until 7:45.  Also, I was the parent who was a complete stalkerazzi.  I'm not just referring to the posed pictures in our front yard.  There's also the pictures of M in the car, the pictures of M walking up to the school, the pictures of M opening the door, the pictures of M milling about the hallway because we got there so early, the pictures of M walking down the hallway to the classroom, the pictures of M putting his supplies away, and so on and so forth.  For his sake, and mine, I really hope I'm not such a prolific photographer when he's in junior high, let alone high school.  Well, I doubt that will happen, hopefully, at least, I'll be a bit more discreet.

I think by now he was trying to ditch me.

See, he's not even looking at the camera anymore.

I'm pretty sure he's pretending not to know me.

When I picked him up the first day, and every day thereafter, he had a smile on his face and reported to me that he had had a fun time at school.  Though he hasn't learned everyone's names yet, I get the sense that he's fitting in and playing with the other kids.  He really enjoys his teacher and he's done a pretty decent job of filling us in on what he did during the course of the day.

The biggest difference, though, is that he is T-I-R-E-D at the end of the day.  Next week should be very interesting.  This week the kindergarteners only went to school for half the day (7:45-11:45), whereas next week the kids will be there for the full seven hours.  I hope M can hold up.  It goes without saying that I was completely and utterly relieved when I found out that the kindergarteners would be able to have an afternoon snack - especially since they eat "lunch" at 10:50.  Up until last week, all the information I had received indicated that the kindergarteners would NOT be allowed a snack.  I had visions of M leading a rogue group of kindergarten rebels who, after ousting the teachers (I'm sure a defenestration would be involved), go rampaging through the school in search of goldfish or Teddy Grahams.  Hopefully the snack will give him the energy to last the full day and will curb his desire to lead an uprising.

On that note, I will leave you with some more pictures from the first day.  We woke the kids up extra, extra early in order to take some pictures in the front yard.  L wasn't terribly pleased about having to get up before the sun, but she did a pretty good job of hamming it up during the pictures.

This is one of my favorites.  I was explaining to M that his school mascot is the Gator.  Then, after having to explain what a mascot is (it's not that easy), I encouraged him to make a Gator Face for the camera.  Apparently this Gator growls.