We have a kindergartner!

Oliver started kindergarten last week! I had a lot of anxiety built up about him going. I worried how he'd do being away from the house all day, I worried how he'd do eating lunch at school and if he'd get hungry, and I worried how he'd do not knowing any of the kids in his class. I didn't know any of the teachers at his school, and hoped he'd get an understanding teacher but one who wouldn't mind telling him exactly what to do and how to behave if he wasn't doing it. Of course, I also worried about the change at home, how Jo and I would do with Oliver out of the house all day.

Here are some photos of his first day:

I'm probably going to jinx everything by saying this, but it's gone really well so far. I'm absolutely thrilled with his teacher and his school, and Oliver has amazed me with how well he's made the transition to going to school all day. I was picturing him coming home in tears from exhaustion and not wanting to go to school in the morning, but he seems to really like it! He's tired when school gets out, but he's able to handle it. He tells me school is fun, and that's really the most important thing to me. I don't worry about his academics, at least not this year. I want him to learn to like school, understand how school works, and learn to listen to his teacher. I feel like, if we can get those things figured out, the academics will come.

Here's my little Star Wars fan on his second day of school:

And day 3, walking in the rain like such a trooper!

At home, the transition has gone OK. It took a few days for me to get over most of the anxiety of him going to school. I cleaned a lot! Jo and I have kept busy with mom meet-ups and story time at the library. On the first day that Oliver was at school, Jo declared she was going downstairs to play with Oliver's LEGOs.

I think we're all going to do just fine. Here's to a good 2015-2016 school year!

Kindergarten Registration

Well, we did it. Oliver is registered for kindergarten!

I have been more emotional about this than I would have expected. It's weird! When the kids were infants, it was hard for me. I wasn't good at the middle-of-the-night wake-ups, I stressed over them not napping and not getting enough sleep, and I yearned for more physical space in between all their nursings. I wanted them to get bigger and run around and play. And they did. The toddler years have been my favorite. I love these times with the kids. Jo has been building things out of LEGOs with Oliver. Here are Jo's LEGO creations (a school and a house). Pretty amazing creations for a 3 year old!

I also love how they play little games and sing songs to their stuffed animals. They help me in the kitchen and with anything else I need. They get so excited over everything. Just going outside is something to get happy about! They constantly make me laugh, and I think I drive them crazy with telling them how adorable they are and all the hugs I give them as they do hilariously cute things.

But they keep getting bigger. I am so sad about the idea of Oliver being in school full time this fall. I mean, I don't want my kids to not grow up and be independent and happy and have their own lives. I absolutely want them to. It just seems like it's happened so fast. That's such a cliche, but it's also true. I've been so lucky to have these years at home with my kids, and it feels like a punch to the gut that it's coming to an end. For a (very) brief moment, I even considered homeschooling, but I realized I'd be doing that for purely selfish reasons. I know Oliver is ready for this next challenge. I just can't believe that time is almost here.

I hope I love this next stage, too. The next decade is going to be so busy with sports and after-school activities and friends and play dates. In the mean time, I just have to say, "Poor Joanna." I have a feeling she's going to be babied a lot over the next couple years.