First Day of Kindergarten

It was a success!

He was happy. He was brave. He was normal.
I was glad. I was floored. I was relieved.

The real story begins on the morning of day two. He woke up mad and I could tell it was not going to be good. He refused to get dressed. He refused to eat breakfast. He came up with several excuses to NOT go to school. But somehow I got both boys out the door (dragging and pleading). We arrived at school just in time, but Owen wouldn't go in the classroom. We had a student teacher helping...but not really helping...convince Owen to go in.

Finally we managed to get him to go in the door. And she promptly closed it so he couldn't run back out. I stood on the outside with Gavin, holding back my own tears, listening to him yell on the other side of the door, "I NEED TO SAY GOODBYE TO MY MOM!" There was some kicking or knocking things down. And then silence.

I think Owen decided to wait until Mark left town to pull out the performance. Needless to say, it was still better than last year's first day of preschool. Speaking of which, here's a side-by-side photo of the milestones.

Day three was better than two, but not as good as one. What will day four bring? We'll see.

Here's one last pic of Owen getting a haircut last weekend. He looks so grown-up to me! He wouldn't let me spike his hair for school this week, but it's cute don't you think?

Owen is 5!

So what does that mean?

He is 44 inches tall and weighs 44 lbs...a perfect square!

He is the leader, manager, and safety patrol of Gavin.

He is showing signs of entrepreneurship with inventions such as "Speed Fork".

He continues to entertain us with his gimmicks. The kid has layers.

He has his own personal style.

He is intense and playful, sourpuss and sillypants.

He is more than he was last year.
More intelligent, more attitude, more comfortable, more kid.

Swim Lessons - Take Two

Last year we enrolled Owen in swim lessons. And he refused to get in the pool about five out of the nine lesson days. Sound familiar? Not what I'd call a success. But a year passed, and he had become much more confident in our pool. So we decided to sign him up for swim lessons again this summer. He was so excited to get in the pool and show off his new skills. He talked about it and looked forward to it for weeks.

When the first day of class arrived, all that excitement and confidence went out the door. And the lesson went a bit like this.

By day three we had graduated to this:

And day four found us talking with the instructor and swim manager about how to get him in the pool. Should I get in with him? Should we re-enroll for a different session? Did I want a refund? I didn't know what to say. And when I told them that we actually had a pool at our house; that he is completely comfortable in the water. Well, they had nothing else to say.

Then...amazingly...with five minutes of class left...Owen decided he was ready to get in the pool. And days five through eight he swam like a champ. Wouldn't stay on the wall. Swam and swam. Didn't want to get out.

On the last day of class his swim instructor couldn't be there, so there was a substitute. And wouldn't you know. Owen refused to get in the pool.

In the end, with a 44 percent participation rate, he completed all the requirements to move up to the next level. A success? I say yes.
In true Owen style.

I Do Love Flowers

Fresh flowers in my house just make me happy. I couldn't help but share these two because they are so amazing. First the peonies. I picked them up at Trader Joes awhile back and could not believe how they blossomed. When I got them they were the size of a small fist. And within a week they had opened to the size of my hand. Unbelievable. And just beautiful!

And this orchid has a great story. Two Julys ago it was given to me by my dear friend Kim. She gave it to me after I had Gavin and it blossomed beautifully throughout the month of July. Eventually the fun fuschia petals fell off. But sure enough, each July they come back and remind me of the time I had my second baby.

Yep, I do love flowers.