Prepared

Today was the day we've been anxiously awaiting - Aurora's first day of Kindergarten! Everything went exactly as planned. Aurora already loves school, she'd taken a practice ride on the bus, met her new teacher, and we've already spent plenty of time at the bus stop as it's right on our regular neighborhood walk. This summer the street pavers broke the bench at the bus stop, so last week we brought our own bench over as a replacement.

Our neighbors across the street bought Aurora a book called "The Night Before Kindergarten," which was perfect reading last night before bed.

Aurora work up early this morning, but eating breakfast and getting out the door still felt a bit rushed. Gone are our leisurely mornings! Instead, we got to meet tons of friends from the 'hood.

As exciting as it was, it all happened too fast. One minute we were chatting with neighbors and the next minute she was gone! Aurora was so happy and brave, and by all reports everything went great. The principal sent us email updates throughout the day, her teacher promised to post pictures on their classroom blog (coming soon), and at the end of the day she made it onto the CCOA bus just fine and spent the last part of her afternoon in their after school program. Our morning routine may have changed, but my evening pick-up stays just the same. The only way we could've been more prepared is if I'd packed her a lunch, but alas - I had school lunches everyday and Aurora just may have to suffer the same fate! Or, maybe next week I'll prepare some lunches ahead of time...

Toddler

Aurora's not the only one moving up in the world. Starting Monday, Clark is moving up into the Owls class at school. He's officially a toddler! Yesterday we took him in (a few weeks late) for his 1-year well baby visit, which went as well as it could, considering...

Well, considering that paper he's holding was one of 3 explanations of shots he was about to get, immediately followed by a blood draw. Sigh. Well, our little guy is getting taller and thinner, weighing in at just about 20 pounds and 28 inches long, which puts him pretty squarely in the 25th percentile for height and weight. He's a good napper, a good sleeper, a pretty good eater, not a very good milk drinker, and he's definitely teething. All in all, the sweetest little toddler we could ask for.

Meet the Teacher

Yesterday Aurora's Pre-K class had a final summer-end party and she said goodbye to Miss Mary...

Before saying HELLO to Mrs. Parolini! Daycare was closed today and it was Meet the Teacher day at Valley View Elementary. Mrs. Parolini seems great and we saw many of Aurora's friends, too.

You can't tell from my pictures, but the place was packed. Her school is so nice - each child has a cubby, locker, bins to keep their writing books, and an iPad for use in class. Starting Monday, our schedules and lives will change as our baby girl goes off to Kindergarten!

Weekend Outings

It was another fun weekend full of fun outings. We took Clark to the fountain at the Hill Country Galleria for the first time, which he wasn't so sure about. He sat on the sidelines and stayed with his mama while Aurora & Will ran around and had a great time getting soaked. 

I coaxed him out a few times, but he wasn't all that into it. Notice the sippy cup he was holding as he watched the other kids play? Well, he's not really into that either. Clark is very attached to me and as you probably remember, he's never been a fan of bottles. Turns out he doesn't like sippy cups either, which is especially hard considering I'm weaning the sweet boy and he's going to need to learn to drink from some sort of cup! Next week as Aurora moves up to kindergarten, Clark will be moving up into the young toddler room and he's not supposed to be taking bottles anymore by then, so we're trying all sorts of different cuppies, one at a time. Not a ton of success so far. Next I think I'll try one with a straw. I mean, clearly all the cool kids are drinking from juice bags with straws!

We had a nice time hanging out at my friend Amelia's new house, and her dog Brazos was so good with the littles. I also took Aurora to a fairy-themed baby shower, and last weekend I went to a baby shower by myself. Now that I'm not breast feeding during the day (only before bed and in the morning), I have the option to go places without the baby - but I already leave him so much during the week that I'd honestly rather keep him with me (and I have a feeling he feels the same way).

Music Man

One of the most awesome things about being a parent is watching your kids grow, learn, and take an interest in new things. I often wonder which interests are inherent and which are a product of our lives, where we are and what we do as a family. I remember when I was pregnant and Chuck worried that our kid might be interested in sports. I told him that most likely they'd like art and video games but if they like sports they can play sports - we don't have to coach the team, we just have to sign them up! Turns out, Aurora loves art. She loves to draw, read, write, and do all kinds of arts & crafts.

Clark loves music. He loves playing Chuck's guitar, and any toy that has music built in is the one he wants to play with. His favorite toys in our house are Aurora's music box, his microphone, a stuffed animal that plays music when you push its tummy, and the magnetic word builder on the fridge.

He can be fussy, teething and tired, but taking him to Tunes Day at the library is ALWAYS a good time. This summer he's experienced rock, country, polka, bag pipes, kids tunes, even a barbershop quartet, and he's been fascinated by all of them. He'll sit perfectly still in our laps watching intently, and before long he'll start walking around, dancing, squealing and clapping. Last night Aurora sang him a lullaby and it was so cute - he was completely into it. I don't know if he'll continue to be our little music man or if he'll move over to art, sports, video games, all of those or something else entirely. I guess my job is to continue to expose him to new things and see what he takes an interest in. Chuck's job is to find a place to put the guitar so he won't knock it over and break it or hurt himself. Pretty soon he'll be teaching him how to play!

Joey

This was a hard weekend. After being treated for allergies and recovering from surgery to remove an abscessed tooth, Joey's symptoms were not improving. Not only did they persist, they got worse to the point that my parents had to say goodbye to their sweet dog on Friday.

It turns out Joey had a tumor in his snout. The amazing thing is that he didn't seem to be in much pain - in fact, every time we visited he was incredibly happy and loved playing with the kids, taking walks, and rolling in the grass. He was a good boy and at only 5 years old we definitely lost him too soon.

Birthday Boy

Clark's first year has indeed been a blast, and so was his party! This weekend we invited a bunch of little neighborhood friends (and grandparents) over for a birthday party play date. Aurora was the party planner and she had a great time. She picked the colors, the goodie bags, helped bake the cupcakes,  organized a sticker activity and opened all the presents. 

It was so nice to celebrate with friends and family, though I'm not sure the birthday boy really understood what the fuss was all about. Clark definitely loves cake, he got some great new books, toys and outfits, and I think everybody enjoyed themselves. Thanks to all who came out!!!

One!

It's official... our baby's a TODDLER! Today we honored tradition by taking Clark to JCPenney for his first birthday photo shoot. Believe it or not, our happy-go-lucky guy refused to smile unless he was in my arms! We managed to coax some cute individual pics, along with some nice photos with the fam.

These are the highlights, though the adorable photo at the end was actually a melt down. Happy Birthday to my sweet, precious baby boy (and his daddy, too).