School Daze

Here we go again! The school-year has officially begun. This year, I will be double-participating, meaning I will be working in both Ben's class AND Emmie's! Ben will go in the afternoons now, on M/T/TH/FR. Emily will be in the class Ben just graduated from, so she'll be there M/W/F mornings. That's right, people. I will be at that damn school every day of the week. It's SO worth it, though=) It's been AMAZING seeing Ben and his classmates bloom over the past three years. He has just turned into this, this...kid. He owns that school now. Big fish in a small pond;) By this point, we all know the in's and out's and school is just another thing he does. He's been excited for school to start, anxious about the change in his schedule but mainly ready to get back into the swing of things. Here are his pictures from the first day!

He's so big now that he does his own buckles in the car:( Next, he'll be driving it.

When he first started in 2-day, you couldn't get this kid to join group-time for love nor money. He just wasn't havin' it. He even got a special grown-up to take him outside to play so he wouldn't disturb the kids who did want to do it! Now? He sits(most of the time), he listens, he joins in, he takes things from the stories and songs. It's amazing!

I just love how he does everything with glee=) You can see his mirth all over his body.

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I'm so excited for Emily to finally get her turn to blossom. She's loved this school from the very first time she set foot in it and has been anxiously awaiting the day that she was big enough to go too. Today was that day! We woke up early, picked out her outfit, decided which of her MANY backpacks was THE backpack and ate our breakfast. Then, we did something she's waited for for two+ years. We went to the drive-thru coffee shop and got her the ritual hot cocoa Ben always gets before school on my work-day=) This is truly a rite of passage for her and she relished it.

Emily had a smashing first day. She's so familiar with the teacher and the flow of the class that I knew she'd do great. She even made a new friend! A little boy named...wait for it...wait for it...Ben! They really hit it off=) I can't wait for next Monday to watch her in action again!

Requisite 1st Day of School picture with mommy

Super-stylin' with her Dora glasses and hot-cocoa. She was delighted by the smiley face the barista drew on her cup=)

Walking up to school

How can she look so little AND so big at the same time?

Greeting her teacher and meeting a new friend!

Finally! Her own cubby! Never again will she have to use Ben's!

Snack-time! She bee-lined it to the dress-up area first, as you can see!

Her very first group-time as a Sunnymont-er!

We think we'll rename this the Never-Tire Swing. She swung on this baby for at least 30 minutes.

It was so cute seeing her get involved in group-time. She called out suggestions to the teacher and you could tell she was super-pleased when the teacher did it=)

She was not pleased with ME joining in at group-time, though! Every time I tried, she'd tell me to stop because, "Only kids can do this". Um...whateves.