Connor Goes To School

Big day for Connor. Today he had his first day of school, a drop off play group. I think he was pretty excited because he so desperately wants to join Christian everyday when we drop him off. I kept telling him that we were going to his school. He also loved getting to wear his Thomas Backpack.

He did better than I expected when I got ready to leave his class. He did notice other parents leaving and he came over to me for reassurance, then he'd go play again. He was fine when I left, but his teacher told me that he did cry shortly after I left. Luckily he had Puppy to snuggle. When I came back to his room for pickup, his teacher informed me that I had to sign an accident report. Of course, that would be about my luck! Anyhow, Connor has quite a bump under his right eye and a big red mark to boot. I am pretty sure it's going to turn into a black eye. What a way for him to start preschool! He took a tumble while trying to enter a Little Tots Playhouse. He was happy to see me and told me about his boo boo (just in case I couldn't see it!!!) I don't think it dampened his ideas of school too much though. He smiled the rest of the day when we asked him about it and said it was fun. Hopefully next week will go better.

Connor and I spent some time in the back yard after getting home. My big project is to take down the pool. It is almost done. The water is emptied and I pretty much scrubbed it down. I did get a big fright while doing it - and then I just decided that I was done. Guy can take over from here. A frog, about the size of a half dollar came hopping out from under one side of the pool. It scared the daylights out of me at first, mainly because I wasn't expecting it, esp. so close to me. I also am not too fond of many outdoor bugs and creatures I guess. Connor got a crack out of it and was trying to get it.
On a similar note, about 2 weeks ago Christian, Connor, James, Cooper and I were in the back yard and we saw a few very tiny frogs hopping thru the wood chips and the grass. It was amazing how they blended in with the landscape. I ran to get a small bucket to put one in as 'our pet.' I told the 4, 3, 2.5 and almost 2 year olds to watch one frog in particular. I was gone about 1 minute and when I returned, they were all doing something else. So much for the attention span. Anyhow, when I asked them where the frog went, James had a great answer. He told me that "maybe Keegan ate it." FYI, Keegan is 10 months old. Good try :-) At least he had an answer.
We did eventually find the same frog that day, I think, and we captured it for a few hours and watched it. James had a great name for him, Franz, just like his frog. So while I don't mind the smaller species, I am not really a fan of slightly larger frogs.
Here are pics from both boys first days of school and one of the lovely new friend I encountered today.

Treasures:

*Having almost 2 hours to myself today while both boys were at school. It was delightful.

*Shopping at the mall, early morning, no stroller and no one to tend to except for myself. (Though I admit, none of the boys, including Guy are ever far from my mind.)

*Watching Connor play in less than one inch of water in the pool, and hearing him say "slippery" and laugh as he tried to keep upright.

*Hearing Christian recap events of his day. I am getting more so far this year than any to date.

When we were leaving Connor was in a mood and not really cooperating.

He didn't want his picture taken, but I got a few anyways.

Interesting marks, huh?

My 4 year old is becoming VERY independent these days. He only wants to take showers now, washes his own hair, cleans his own body (all with adult products!!) He has also taken to making his own sandwiches for both when he is hungry and for packing in his lunch box! He also likes to dress like a chef. He calls himself a "Grampy Cook Conductor." I think that stems from wanting to be like his Grampy someday, liking to pretend cooking in his room at his store, and the last part of the name of course is from his love of trains. He refers to himself as this title almost daily.

Back to school

It's been a few weeks since I posted last. The rest of summer vacation went by quickly. We spent Labor Day weekend on the Cape and thoroughly enjoyed the 'end of summer.' Christian had a few more swimming lessons with Dana in Hyannis, played with Brian, walked on the jetty's of both Cold Storage and Harborside beaches, mini golfed, went to Sundae School, ate at our favorite restaurant, Sesuit Harbor Cafe (overlooking the harbor)......he's a lucky kid. Connor enjoyed some of those excursions, and stayed back with Grammie and Grampy at other times.

Christian started his final year of pre-school on Tuesday. Last week I took him to his orientation and he was very happy to see the familiar faces of his teachers and friends. He got right back into the groove of school the first day, but was quite exhausted when he got home.

Today, day two......quite a lot of events took place. He went to school in the morning, but I received a reverse 911 call from our town alerting us to a drunk, suicidal man carrying a knife (also noted to have said to his wife that he intended to commit suicide by cop) in the vicinity very close to his school. The town message said to stay indoors, lock your doors and stop all outdoor activity. That was a little frightening! His school, and others in the area, went into lock down. I was able to pick him up soon after, I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to. There was a police officer stationed at the door where our drive up, drop off / pick up takes place. That made me, and I'm sure other parents and teachers, feel safer. The whole scene was pretty surreal. There were cops and state troopers all over the main roads (near school), helicopters above and news stations just down the road at a church parking lot that turned into a command center. Finally around 6 pm they did find the man, very close to his house, alive and with 2 knives and handcuffs on his person. I'd say that our police did the right thing locking down the schools as a safety precaution.

So, after this long day, I'm feeling pretty drained. I haven't been getting enough rest lately and I am definitely feeling it. It's off to bed now. Tomorrow I'll post Christian's back to school photos.

Treasures:

*Enjoying Connor time. The days are filled with just him and I now that Christian is back in school. He's a different kid without his big brother around - for better or worse. He definitely misses Christian and wants to be at school too.

*I'm thankful that everyone is O.K after today's events and that no one was harmed.

*Loving the wonderful end of summer, September days. The weather has been absolutely perfect over the past week or so. No humidity and perfect, sun shining days.