First Day of Kindergarten

I think Wyatt handled his first day of kindergarten better than I did. When I left him in that chaotic classroom full of 21 other nervous and crying kids and dozens of parents he just forced a smile and said "bye mama." And when I picked him up he proudly announced that he didn't cry, which is more than I can say for myself.

The highlights he reported were getting to see his buddies from preschool who are in other classes but apparently have recess on the playground at the same time, getting to go to the playground three times in one day, and thomas trains in the class room.

I've decided to send him with lunch money, instead of trying to pack a lunch every day. I was a little nervous about how that was going to go but he said he gave his $3 to the person and chose chicken nuggets with yellow sauce. He also exclaimed, "You are not going to believe this...they have chocolate milk!"

The day starts out with a morning assembly of the entire school, which was a little chaotic. But once we got down to his classroom where we said good-bye he was sitting on the rug beside his buddy Ben and seemed much more relaxed.

All in all I think he had a good day. Let's hope tomorrow is as smooth.

Wyatt's Work

Here are a few other of my favorites from Wyatt's "writer's notebook".

Passing the Torch

This little gem appeared on the last page of Wyatt's writer's notebook that he made at school. Its a picture of his preschool, Jubilee, with the caption, "This is Malcolm's nu school"

Last Day of School

I can't believe our little bear is all done with preschool. He attended Jubilee Montessori for two years and has grown tremendously during that time. When he first started school I couldn't imagine that he was actually sitting at a table with other children interacting, eating lunch, working on projects. Now, when I pick him up I can hardly pull him away from his friends and his "lessons". When he first started he refused to hold hands and walk to the playground with the other children. Now, he regularly leads the pack of kids as they go to and from the local playground. He wouldn't eat any of the food they served but now he regularly asks for beans, rice and corn at home (his favorite lunch food at school) and he even occasionally wants to eat salad like Ms. Young's.

He works so hard at school and can now form all the letters and write many words on his own. He is learning to read and sound out words. Throughout his two years he has produced a mountain of artwork including many "writer's notebooks". His notebooks have come from scribbles on a page entitled "explosion" to elaborate drawings including a recent one of the inside of our house complete with kitchen, washer dryer, stairway and front door. Another recent one included Mama, Wyatt, Malcolm and flying bat and a giant T-Rex playing on the playground. We are so proud of our little Mr. Pickle and can't wait to watch him continue to grow.

The photos are of Wyatt's teacher, Ms. Young, and his first day - September 2009 - and his last day - August 2011.

Sad Endings

The time has come for both boys to move on to school - Wyatt starting Kindergarten at Grattan Elementary School and Malcolm starting preschool at Jubilee Montessori School. This means that our wonderful weekdays with Lisa (our sitter) and Max (the little boy we share care with) have come to an end. We will of course get to still see our buddies, it just wont be as often.

Lisa and Max have both been such a big part of our lives it is difficult to imagine not getting to see them every week. Lisa, especially, is a gift to our family and the boys frequently talk about her during the weekends - how we need to bring Lisa back to see the dinosaurs at the museum, or need to tell Lisa about some object found at the playground. No amount of good-byes or thank-yous even seemed appropriate to commemorate the special relationship she has with the boys.

On their last morning together Sandy took Max, Lisa and Malcolm out to lunch at Chuck E Cheese to celebrate. Neither seemed that aware of the big changes that will be taking place in their lives, but both had a blast!

Wyatt was aware, however. And as Lisa was walking out the door for her last Thursday afternoon at our house, he went running up to her and gave her another giant hug.

Come visit us soon Lisa and Max!

Play Ball

We finally got tickets discounted enough to justify being able to take a family of four to a baseball game. (Tickets prices have been way up since the Giants won the World Series.) They have both been very excited about going. Malcolm was extremely disappointed that Buster Posey was still injured and not playing but decided he wanted to go anyway.

The boys loved the whole experience - loud cheering and loud music playing (mostly just Malcolm like this and I'd catch him shaking his head around dancing whenever they played music in between hitters), hot dogs, DIBS, kettle corn, and getting to hit some home runs in the kids batting area! Most of all Wyatt loved Lou Seal, the mascot. The game had a late start time and they made it till the 7th inning before we decided it was getting way too late and we should get them home to bed.

We were joined by Uncle Sean, Aunt Tiff and the Grandmas. We look forward to taking them to many more games in the future.

Big Bend Lodge

We had a fantastic weekend up north at Big Bend Lodge with friends - Brian, Marla and their two boys Oliver and Milo. The location consists of cabins with kitchens and baths, a communal fire pit where you gather with everyone staying there, and loads of toys and space for the kids to roam. They even had chickens! Its a short walk to the river and we swam (sort of, it was very cold but the kids did go under!) and spent lots of time sunning on the beach an throwing rocks in the water. The boys also got to see their first GIANT redwood trees. They didn't seem very impressed at the time but Malcolm has been talking about them ever since.