Joining the Masses

What a difference a year makes. On his first day of Kindergarten, J let me take all kinds of pictures. I have snaps outside our house, as he's getting on and off the bus, and in front of the school.

In one of my favorite pictures, he's sitting on the porch steps waiting with anticipation for the almost-empty bus that would pick him up right outside our door; this year if I want a picture of him waiting for the bus I'll have to do it at the bus stop.

On the last day of school in June, I took another picture of him sitting in the same spot on the porch. I think I just started a tradition. This is the 1st grade version:



It's also the only picture where he actually posed for me. When I asked him if I could take some in front of the school like we did last year, he said, "maybe after school." I respected his wishes. I mean, do I really need a picture of him standing in front of the school every year?

Last year I picked out his outfit. This year, he wore what he wanted to wear: "My new Toy Story shirt and shorts," he told me weeks ago. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate. The shorts were replaced by long pants and the shirt covered up by a jacket.

Because I'm not quite prepared to give up being part of his entourage on days like this, I drove him again, but unlike last year, once there he didn't pay us much attention. M and I hung out in the back with ~ also unlike last year ~ the few other nosy parents and heard a little bit of Mrs. Skinner's morning pep talk. The first thing out of her mouth was that she expected good work because they were first graders now.

And just like that he joined the masses. He's no longer a cute Kindergartner with all the concessions at his fingertips. Today, the real work begins: Daily walks to the bus stop to and fro, overcrowded public transportation, long days, high expectations.

Turns out the first day of first grade was also the first day of the rest of his life.

Short-Timer's Syndrome

You know that feeling when you've put in your two weeks' notice at a job? It's only two more weeks but they're the longest two weeks of your life and instead of doing the best job you can so as to leave a good and lasting impression you just do crappy work? And at the end of a long unproductive day you brush it off by telling yourself, "Hey, I'm leaving anyway." Well, maybe you don't. Maybe I'm just a slacker in that sense. But if you do know what I'm talking about, then you will know exactly how I've been feeling the last couple of weeks.

School starts tomorrow and I think I'm pretty safe when I say that J is ready. I know I am. While he's been telling anyone that will listen how many "sleeps" until he goes back to school; I've secretly been counting as well.

I know that I should be making these last few days of summer as memorable as can be for him, but after almost three months of summer vacation, this last stretch has been rough and as a result we haven't been playing nice lately. I'm not real sure if it's him acting up more or me just losing my patience. I don't know what it is but I do know that it's time.

At 8:29 tomorrow morning we begin a new phase in our lives and we're both excited to see what lies ahead.

By 3:17 tomorrow afternoon, I'll be ready to give him a hug and tell him how much M and I missed him throughout the day.

Good Luck in 1st grade, Buddy!

Tee-Tee for the Memories

Yesterday when I handed M her breakfast she displayed her manners as usual. She expressed gratitude for the blessing of food on the table. And it was a stab to my heart.

Her usual Tee-Tee was replaced with something that sounded much more like Thank You. I let it go hoping it was just a fluke. It's not. The rest of the day whenever she was handed something she would respond with the same two despicable-sounding words.

Like a persistent pain that refuses to go away, the words continued flowing. "Teek-Yu." "Teek-Yu." All day long. Both J and I have tried to say, Tee-Tee to her; me in hopes that it will remind her that when you're not even two it's okay to use sounds and grunts to get your point across. Instead she mimics what we say using her new found words as if to correct US.

She's mastered the K sound and I can't even begin to tell you how sad this makes me. She called her beloved Jay-Jee, Jakey yesterday. Loud, clear, and perfect. She doesn't seem quite as comfortable with this substitution, but it's coming. I just know it.

She'll be two next month and adult-speak is slowly but surely invading her world while the baby vocabulary becomes a thing of the past.

TEE-TEE for the memories, my sweet Girl ♥

Backwards?

Yeah, the shoes are on backwards. That's normal for her. More times than not when she slips them on they're on the wrong foot. And usually when you try to put them on the right foot ~ right as in correct ~ she gets mad.But my question is, was it backwards of me to buy her Crocs? Backwards as in going "back" in time. Aren't Crocs so three, four years ago?

I had no intentions of buying them. At the beginning of summer I bought her an adorable pair of Nike sandals. She loved them. She didn't notice that they made her feet stink really bad. She wore them everyday with everything. But they were pink; bright pink. And because I'm an old mom, I wasn't comfortable when she wore them with something, say, blue. I really felt that she needed something more neutral for that one day of the week that she didn't' have something on that was pink, accented with pink, or pinkish-hued.

Then one day I was walking through Big Lots and I saw a bunch of Crocs sitting there. Most of them were in adult sizes, but hidden in the back I saw a small pair. A little too big for M, but they were only 10 bucks. She kind of needed something that was easy on/easy off for when she went outside. They were the perfect, leg-lengthening neutral I had been wishing for, which could mean only one thing: They weren't pink! A few minutes later they were hers.

The second I slipped them on her feet I realized they were like a match made in non-stinky rubber Heaven. Like I suspected they were a little too big, but to her they fit like Cinderella's glass slipper.

It brings the whole family great joy that she can slip them on and off all by herself; albeit backwards. And I love that they go with everything she owns.

It's almost time to tuck them safely away in the back of the shoe closet. I've already bought her sandals for next year from the Keen sale at AKs work. Those were 10 bucks too. They're pretty cute. But they're pink. And unless I go backwards in age, say 20 years, I'll be looking for a neutral pair once again. I sure hope I'll be able to go back to the back of the shoe closet and dust these off for another go round.

Backwards idea? Heck no...the best purchase I've made all year.

The Invasion Continues

This is one of those entries that was supposed to happen back at the start of summer; back when I thought Toy Story 3 Mania was at its peak around our house. The paraphernalia had been out for months in anticipation of the June 18 opening.

June 18 was also J's last day of Kindergarten. I decided to go with an all TS3 theme for his celebration. I bought him a shirt; got up early to get the tickets for his and Daddy's movie date that evening; and because I couldn't find the perfect TS card, made him one.

My mom sent him TS2 a week or so earlier, and after watching it to his heart's content, he was ready to tackle the 3-D experience.

Summer got off to a good start and quickly other things to blog about upstaged the Toy Story story. The kids were still interested, but I figured I'd throw it into the "To Scrap" file and get to it in about 10 years.

But those toys -- oh, those toys. They're nonstop, those toys.

They're gigantic with expanding wings and a voice...

They're medium-sized and they're tiny.

And they're everywhere! On any given day at any given time, no matter how many times I pick them up, one will always show up again.

I told this to D the other day and he said the folks over at Pixar must be onto something. He's making a believer out of me. Now, if only the same folks over at Pixar would make a toy that cleaned house or did laundry while I'm not looking.....

M's caught the bug too. She calls anything Toy Story Bize (Buzz), except for Jesse, who is Sesy. She has a soft Buzz; a Buzz cup, which is the only cup worthy of her milk; the Alien (A-Yen) pictured above is hers; and although she has her own t-shirt, an adorable pink one with Jesse on it, she prefers to wear her brother's.

School starts next week. We've checked off all the items on the supply list. And it looks like we'll be joined by the same friends we started summer with.

In addition to all that he's also coerced me to buy him a new t-shirt as part of his back-to-school gear. M did too ~ and she ain't going nowhere!

Those toys -- oh, those toys.

I'll be picking them up To Infinity and Beyond.