Saturday: relaxing day

The boys were gone most of the day, so Ben and I spent most of the day relaxing.  (Not all of it though.  Some work got done.)  We slept in, played computer games, and I quilted and napped.

When the boys got home Joshua was inconsolable for about five minutes because he wanted to stay at Grandma's house.  So apparently they had a good time. :)  We got a bunch of cute pictures throughout the day.  (And Joshua is smiling in all of them...I can never get him to smile that much for pictures.)

Friday: up late

Dad and Pat took the boys to the cottage with them for the night.  So I'm staying up as late as I want to, because I can sleep in tomorrow.

Thursday: twins!

Joshua didn't want his picture taken.

Notice Joshua's tongue; it's sticking out like a puppy's.

Wednsday: day 2

I dropped Isaac off at school again today.  This time I made him lead the way...he has to walk "the long way" so that I have an easier time getting home.  I even made him ask the adult when he couldn't remember where to stand.  He got in place and then said, with a great big smile, "Bye-bye!"

"Bye-bye" I replied.  "I love you!"
"I love you so much!  Bye-bye!"

It was a much better start than yesterday, although yesterday wasn't bad by any means.

Joshua and I went home and made date balls.  He figured out how to work the food processor.  I looked at the clock...8:30.  I've been a bit nervous about this first day with just Joshua and me as I am the only person to play with.  It turned out fine.  He played Legos and made me a surprise (a bridge).  I was able to get some school work done during that time, so by the time rest time was done I was finally feeling on top of everything.  There have been several extra meetings this week and it cut into my grading time.

Anyway, back to the day.  We biked to the library.  Isaac probably could have done this ride, but there is one busy street that doesn't have a great crossing on it.  Since I have to carefully hold my bike, I can't help Isaac if he needs it.  Joshua loves biking.  We read several books at the library and I realized that he really only recognizes a few letters.  I don't know if this is normal.  I looked back at Isaac's monthly milestones and the best I could get is that when Isaac was six months older than Joshua he had been able to recognize all the letters for a while.  That seems like a reasonable goal though.

Pick-up was still annoying.  I was sitting in a line for quite a while and then gave up.  Apparently the line was for the older kids and the parents of the younger kids just park, get out, and walk up.  This is completely ridiculous in my mind, but since I now know the actual expectations I can do it and get out in a reasonable amount of time.

Isaac's day went well.  I got some fun details out of him, but there still seem to be some large gaps.  He ate most of his lunch at least this time.  I also realized that I need to carefully ask my questions.  Whereas with an adult you would say, "Did you talk to anyone today?" if they were in a room full of strangers, with a kid I should say, "Did you play with anyone today?".  The latter gave me a better response.  It doesn't seem like he'll be a social butterfly, but at the same time it's only the second day.

Tuesday: first day of kindergarten

Today was Isaac's first day of kindergarten!

Joshua really wanted to be in the pictures too.  Even though it doesn't look that way.

We got there on time, but with no extra time.  I'm going to try and get us out the door five minutes earlier so that I don't have to keep saying hurry up.  We waited for about a minute before the doors opened.

I went inside after the class and Isaac looked overwhelmed.  He found his hook and hung his stuff up, but there were a lot of kids in a small space.  However, I think I would have felt that way too...but it still wasn't the best way to leave.  The first item of the day was a coloring page and I thought 'oh great.  A bit overwhelmed and then he has to do a coloring page.  He doesn't like to color.  This is a great start.'

Here's what we got out of him.  There were three recesses...medium, long, and medium/short.  He only remembered his sunglasses for the first one.  One of them had a game and he got out right away and it made him sad, but now he knows the rules.  They did two coloring pages.  He only ate about three grapes and one crunchy bean for lunch because he got distracted listening to someone talk. He talked to his teacher.  He did talk with one other person.  They read two books and a small book.  One rule was if the teacher goes clap, clap, clapclapclap the students repeat it.  Or if the adult says "one, two" the students say, "eyes on you!"  He was not sent to the principals office.  He did not get his name on the warning list.  He had chocolate milk for lunch.  He felt like it was a long day.  He seemed to like it though.

Car line pick up was a bit weird.  I had plenty of time to get there, which I was a bit worried about.  All the parents got out of their cars though.  I thought it was supposed to be a "stay in the car" thing.  It didn't help that there wasn't anyone directing traffic...for the first day it would have been nice.  I waited in a line for a little bit and then just decided to get out and go get Isaac.

Monday: truck parade and labor day

We went to see the truck parade again today.  We didn't plan to meet up with Betsy and her family, but they showed up at the normal place too!

It was great fun, as always.

The boys played Legos (alone) in the basement very well for about an hour this afternoon.  I thought I might have to intervine when Joshua started complaining that Isaac took all the chairs, but it resolved itself.  There were also a few times that I looked over at Ben and said, "what in the world are they talking about??"  But they were happy and content, so that's all that matters.

We went to Larry and Cheryl's for dinner.  They both ate well and then played in the basement for a while.  They haven't gotten to play down there for a while and it was the highlight of Isaac's day.

And now lunches are packed, last minute instructions have been given, and the kindergartner is asleep.  I'm nervous for tomorrow, but I can't tell if I'm nervous for Isaac or because I have a full day and will need to keep moving to get to my first meeting on time. :D  I'm also very excited for him - I think he'll do well.  And in a week or two it'll feel normal.

Sunday: Legos

Joshua got some small Lego sets for his birthday.  During rest time, he used the instructions and made the windmill.  All on his own!  I was so proud of him.

He then worked on the castle.  He got a little bit of help with that, but I think it is because people were around to ask.  He still did most of it on his own.