Noah and B. have started Junior Kindergarten last month. The first day, Noah cried for 40 minutes, or so his teacher reported. B. cried a little on the 2nd day. (They are in different classrooms.) It only took a few days for these two to realize how fun Kindergarten is. Every day when I pick them up, they run into the yard, a fierce look on their faces, saying, "We're Spidermans!" And they've already made a ton of friends.
I don't have to worry about drop-off, since Dan brings Noah to school before he heads to work. But after their morning, I head down to the school with Leila, Thomas and Oscar to pick Noah and B. up. "Whoa whoa whoa. Back up", you say. "Who's Thomas?" Thomas is THIS cutie-pie.
He's just over a year old and started at the daycare this September. He has won my heart already! He was a little bit nervous his first week, but is settling in and becoming very comfortable with the place now. He's a little chatter-box, and though his conversation mostly consists of baby babble, he also has some words already, like "Daddy", "Doggy", and "Hello". Sometimes I could swear I hear him say a more complex sentence, like "Daddy go work", but I must be imagining things, since he won't repeat it. Either that or he's trying to keep his superior intelligence a secret.
Thomas and Leila are developing quite the friendship. They immediately smile and clearly recognize one another when they see each other now. Oscar is also very good to Leila, and brings her toys. That's right...Oscar's back, full-time!
When Thomas and Leila go for their morning naps, Oscar and I spend some quality time together. (Much of it involves me trying to keep him relatively quiet, so the babes can sleep.) I love Oscar's spirit. He is such a "hit the ground running" kind of kid.
Here's the little rascal goofing around at snack time.
And here he is using a carrot stick as a spoon for his yogurt. Not very efficient, but creative, nonetheless! So darn cute!
So, the morning is relatively quiet, with 2 out of the 3 babes taking a little nap. This all ends when we pick the boys up from school. The kindergarten schoolyard is a busy, bustling place, once the kiddies are released. After the first couple of weeks it became clear to me that handling Leila, Oscar and Thomas around the playground equipment, amidst the pandemonium of the schoolyard, and retrieving Noah and B. from their classrooms was....too much for me. I hired an assistant to help with this lunch hour commotion (two hours actually, from 11 - 1). Her name is Daniella. She is a teacher, an ECE, and a godsend.
She is so great with the kids and we are so lucky to have her with us!
We often eat most of our lunch outside, but we finish off when we get home, and then the younger kids go for their afternoon naps. At that time Noah and B. do quiet activities such as work books, Lego, puzzles, painting, gluing and board games. We usually only have about an hour until at least one of the 3 wakes up and decides he or she would like to join the party.
The pictures above are just so sweet. I am only just realizing now that Noah is actually under the easel. It's funny the things you pick up on in pictures when you take a closer look, huh?
I also love these photos of Oscar painting. He insisted on bringing a chair over to the easel. Painting is, after all, hard work, and one may as well take a load off!
I believe this is all I have for now. I'm just going to go ahead and post it whether or not it really is 'finished', since it has taken me almost a month and a half to write this blog post. I don't think it has ever taken me that long! But, until last month, there would have been time to write a little while the kids were sleeping. Now, there's always at least one kid awake! Something's gotta give, and it looks like it's going to have to be this blog. Maybe I can make it a quarterly newsletter?
