Now that Alex has turned three we registered him for his choice for a weekly activity. He has been asking to go to gymnastics for about a year. He had a great first day with Miss Nina (the same teacher he had for a few months when he was 18mo old) and did a good job listening, following instructions, completing the exercises, and most importantly having fun. He said his favorite part was hanging like a monkey!
Brooke is so very excited to be finally going to Kindergarten! She is most excited to ride the big yellow school bus like all the other kids in the neighborhood. On her first day we got ready and took a lot of pictures waiting for the bus. We got to the bus stop (the corner in front of our house) 10 minutes early and when it was 25 minutes late we were finally able to get a hold of the bus driver to find out that she came by 15 minutes early and didn’t even stop or honk at our stop. Brooke has late start Kindergarten so we were all up, dressed, and hanging out for 2 hours before she gets on the bus. We scrambled to get her into the car and drop her off at school before the start of her first day. AJ and I were flustered about the situation and our wonderful positive girl says ‘at least I get to ride the bus home!” Alex and I waited 30 minutes early on the porch for the afternoon bus ‘just in case’. He got a little pouty when it took so long for her to get home. The afternoon bus came right on time. Then she came in for a first day treat of cookies and juice. She had a great day and told me that they went on a tour of the school, sang songs, sat on the alphabet rug to listen to her teacher, and she talked to some new friends.
Today we were waiting outside for her bus 25 minutes early ‘just in case’ and she was able to get on the bus when it came 8 minutes early and I got to get the iconic first day bus picture!!
Tonight, the night before my sweet baby girl goes to Kindergarten, we had a great evening and I put them to bed while AJ was at work and continued my nightly routine of cleaning up, checking email, relaxing a little before attempting to go to bed myself. Finally the tears that have been welling up since she graduated pre-K started to fall. The ones that threatened at Kindergarten orientation. All summer I have been mentally preparing myself for tomorrow the day my baby takes her first step away from me and into the world. It is like your heart is outside your body and walking around and you have absolutely no control over it. So yes I did quietly walk into her room and silently cried looking at her beautiful sleeping face for fifteen minutes until she made the smallest sound and moved her arm. Which flooded me with a memory of her as an infant when she would take a distinct two quick inhales followed by a long exhale. It was AJ’s favorite when she did that. So far I have been all smiles for the whole thing, being careful never to mention my feelings unless Brooke was asleep or absent because for her it is so exciting. And part of parenthood is this, masking your true emotions for the betterment of your child, and this I know. So we have been so excited getting everything ready for her and she is really happy to finally be riding the bus and going to Kindergarten ‘real school’, and I am TRULY happy for her. Tomorrow I will be all smiles, and pictures, and completely support her in her big day, and she will never know that tonight I get to cry, be overwhelmed by my love for her, and feel what I am sure every good mother feels as their child takes a big step.
Today we had Kindergarten Orientation at Brooke’s School. We got to see her classroom and she had a practice ride on the school bus. Afterward, I went to work and AJ made Key Lime Pie with the kiddos!
One of the things I love about our Y is that while I get to take an hour workout class, Alex gets to play in a huge two story slide play area, and Brooke can either play with him or climb the rock wall. Today she opted to not play with Alex and spent her time climbing. She was climbing when I picked her up so I was able to get some pictures.
