Kindergarten!

Thatcher headed off to Kindergarten on 29 August.  As usual, we had a flurry of activity surrounding this monumental event, so I was able to successfully make it through this transition without having a nervous breakdown.  Years (okay, let's be honest...weeks) from now, I know I will not remember the anxiety I had about letting him ride the bus with older children.  Would a fourth grade tartlet school him on sex  the first day?  Would some hardened fifth grader offer him a joint to celebrate finishing the first week of school?  Would the bus driver inadvertently teach him the "F word?"  In the end, transportation logistics--and his earnest desire to hang out with Lauren and Avery at the bus stop--won out, and I sent him off.  Even the ever nonplussed Chad couldn't believe it. 

Thankfully, kindergarten here is only a half-day program.  By half day, I mean it is only THREE HOURS long.  Thankfully, that bus ride--which tacks an extra 30 minutes onto each end of the school day--buys me a little extra time to take a shower or check my email; but it isn't much.  He's off at 7:15 and back home at 11:25.  He is really looking forward to having a full 90 minutes of Hadley-free time on the days she is at school.  If I plan my day just right (which rarely happens), I have Harrison napping when Thatcher gets home, so he can get some undivided attention.

Some Kindergarten stats for Thatcher include:

• School starts at 7:50 and ends at 10:50.  I need a work day like that.
• His backpack features Perry the Platypus from his favorite show,  "Phineas and Ferb."
• On his way to the bus on the first day, he told Hadley, "Hadley, I sure will miss you while I'm at school today." 
• The kindergartners do not eat lunch at school.  They do, however, have a "milk break."  For reasons unbeknownst to me, Thatcher usually chooses white milk, rather than chocolate or strawberry.  The first day, he told me he did it because I told him to drink the milk (and he didn't realize that meant he could have CHOCOLATE milk).  Now that he knows he can have whatever he wants, he still chooses the white.  What is wrong with him? 
•  Milk for the ENTIRE school year is $50.  That doesn't cover my monthly Starbucks habit. 

 Mom, I'm going to miss the bus!

 Walking to the bus with Lauren

 The Mill Run Court Kids

Lauren, Thatcher, Austin, and Avery

 The New Kindergartners...Ready to Conquer!

 Gran came up to see her special guy off on his big adventure.

 Thatcher and his teacher, Mrs. Thornhill

Colors

On Sunday, Hadley informed me that her hair is yellow and white, just like Teddy, Charlie, and Mom from "Good Luck Charlie."  She then told me that my hair has "just a little bit yellow to go with the brown and grey." 

I hope she enjoyed the three and a half years she was in my will.

Star Wars Continued

Granddaddy (aka "Star Commander") came to visit this past weekend.  Best of all (according to Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia), he brought "light savers" for the kids.  The entire weekend was spent playing Star Wars in the back yard, in the house, in the car, in the galaxy, you name it.  With the arrival of Star Commander, Harrison was invited to participate in the epic saga.  Leia issued a royal decree that, henceforth, he shall be known as "R-D-Do-Two." 

May the Force Be With You...

Hadley: "Thatcher, we are going to play Stah-Wahs.  I'm going to be Princess Leia.  You're going to be Luke.  Daddy is going to be Dark Bader."

Thatcher: "Hadley, we can't play Star Wars.  Darth Vader is at golf."

Harrison Update

Hadley’s “Sweet Luh-in Baby” is a child who will not be contained. If the doors aren’t locked, you can guarantee that he has escaped and is either playing in the back yard, riding a trike in the garage, or once again draining my car battery. He makes a beeline for our neighbor’s playset and fearlessly climbs to the top of the six-foot structure so he can either slide or just climb back down again. He loves to hop on Hadley’s Tinkerbell big wheel and go flying down the driveway and into the cul-de-sac. The child is fearless.

Harrison is measuring almost three feet tall and tips the scales at 29 pounds. He outweighs Hadley at least by a bag of sugar…if not more. Clearly, he still has a love affair with food and often goes into the pantry to find a snack for himself. It doesn’t count unless he has something for each hand. He has recently developed a nasty Starbucks addiction. It gets really ugly really fast f I even think about going through the drive through without ordering him a vanilla milk. The child also has a mild obsession with beer bottles – something which won’t be nearly as cute in 15 years.

When his mouth isn’t full, you’ll find Harrison calling for “That-sur,” “Ad-Eee,” “Daddy,” or “Mom-Me.” He is also quick to say “(ch)eese” for the camera. Ham.

At least the kid sleeps. So what if he only will take naps in the car? A nap is a nap. We might have to put a window A/C unit in the garage this summer, but it’s a small sacrifice for this face.

Hadley at Three

How do I begin to describe Hadley at age three? If you ask her, she will tell you she is "Hadley Cakes Davis." She will tell you that she is three years old...and that when she turns four, she will be a boy and will be able to ride "Thunder Mountain Railroad" at Disney. Ever since she watched the Royal Wedding a few weeks ago, she will tell you that the former Kate Middleton should really be called "Princess Hadley Kate." If the newly minted royal won't go for that, Hadley will tell you that you can go ahead and call HER "Princess Hadley Kate." She will also tell you that her granddaddy calls her a Jack Wagon. She insists, however, that he is, in fact, the jack wagon and that he lives in "Pamby Mamby Land." She has graduated from wanting to watch "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" and now wakes up every day asking to watch "Good Luck Charlie" while she sucks down her morning "smoovie." Despite her nudist tendencies (see below), she remains incredibly shy and self conscious. She loves to sing but will immediately stop if she thinks anyone is listening. It is not uncommon for her to verbally regurgitate the four hours worth of words she held in during school.

Hadley continues to hone her already highly developed fashion sense. By choice, her shoes are on the wrong feet at least 90% of the time. She still loves her hats but lately has taken to wanting multiple bows, headbands, etc. in her hair at the same time. It makes for some interesting hair days. If you look closely, you'll note that she has one bow, two headbands, two hair clips, and NINE ponytail holders. They ALL need to be part of the look. That's just the hair. There's a Hello Kitty necklace and bracelet in that lineup, too

Hadley also has some tendencies I can describe only as OCD. She sorted her pull-ups according to which princess adorned each one and lined them up in appropriate rows across her bathroom floor. She lines up her coloring books in a neat row on the train table in the playroom so she can examine her artwork. In the photo, you will see how she put her babies to bed the other night. She didn't like how disorderly they were just tossed in the baby bed, so she created rows of book "beds" and placed a doll on each one. Even the Disney babies are grouped together.

 

Last but not least, this is my sweet girl's sleeping MO. She is tucked into her bed, where she has her story and prayers, then says, "Can I go get in your bed now?" She has night terrors, and after three years of fighting it, she finally just wore us down. At least this way, we can all sleep at night. She sleeps on "mommy's side" of the king size bed, leaving me approximately 18 inches of sleeping space. That's when she is not sleeping horizontally across the bed. Yes, the princess boot slippers are a sleeping staple. The two headbands and necklace don't always make the bedtime wardrobe cut, but clearly they did for this photo.

( . )( . )

Friday night as I was tucking Thatcher in, he lifted his shirt and said, "Mom, what are these little bumpy things right here?" I told him they were his nipples. He seemed satisfied and then said, "Well, mom, what are those really big bumpy things you have?" As I stammered and struggled to stifle my laughter, he quickly answered his own question: "I call them boobies." Great.