Joshua's first day of preschool!

(This is coming three months after the fact, so I'm backdating like crazy, but I'm determined to get some posts and photos up to cover what we've been up to this fall!  So here we go...)

Joshua had his very first day of school on September 9!  Giving him a new routine mantra definitely helped, though in retrospect, I should have added "...and then just Joshua will be at Joshua's school..." in the middle of the schedule rundown.  He was very happy to go in the blue car with me, talking about how *we* were going to his school, and then he got a bit upset when I started to say goodbye to him in the classroom.  So I stayed a few minutes longer, and one of the other little boys in the classroom offered him a firetruck, and that kind gesture (plus the panoply of new and different trucks!) helped Joshua decide that this school thing might not be so bad after all.  :)



He didn't have much to say when I picked him up that first morning.  But on Wednesday, on our ride back home, he started telling me all kinds of stories about what he did, what he saw, how many trucks he played with, and how his teacher told him it was "time for the trucks to take a rest" and then they sang songs and ate a SNACK!!  This is huge for him -- up until that point, he had never really been one for relaying what he's done after the fact.  So this was the first time I got to hear directly from him what he did and what he liked -- and I confess, I teared up a bit hearing how excited he was.



We're so thankful for what he's already learned from this wonderful little school environment!  We have friends who have sent their kids to this nursery school, so we knew that the teachers were fantastic and that the program was excellent, but we're doubly thankful that the other boys and girls in Joshua's class are such a great little bunch.  The teachers have commented on how everyone plays together so well, and it's exciting to hear Joshua name specific kids in his daily narratives.  He does tend to need a little space, and a little time to get used to new environments, so it's encouraging to watch him embrace this new normal.



And of course, I took some "formal" first day of school photos of our big boy.  :)  I had all these visions of getting him to pose cooperatively while holding a special "first day of preschool" sign, but, well, he was a little too excited by all the events of the day, and very curious about what was on the frame I wanted him to hold...



This one was the very best of the lot:


Look at how grown up our little guy has gotten!  So thankful that this transition has been going so well, and can't wait to see how much more he learns and grows this year!

On the eve of preschool...

Tomorrow is Joshua's first day of preschool.

We've ironed name labels on all his clothes, given him a fun new firetruck backpack to carry to school, met his teachers, taken him to visit his classroom, and given him a rundown of the schedule for tomorrow, which he's been repeating to himself occasionally over the last few days: "On Monday, just Mama and Joshua will go in the blue car, and go to Joshua's school, and Mama will stay for a little bit, and then we'll say bye-bye to Mama, and then play with the trucks and toys and new friends, and then go to the playground, and then Mama will pick me up!"

I have no idea where he gets his need for controlled expectations.  ;)

I've been making lists and detailed plans for myself as well.  Though the kids typically wake up before 7, they sometimes sleep in as late as 8, so I'm setting an alarm for myself for the morning, just in case.  I've got breakfast planned out.  David has no scheduled activities for the morning, so he's on Sophia duty.  I've printed out a super cute "first day of preschool" sign and I'm hoping Joshua will be cool with me taking some photos of him holding it tomorrow morning.  Then I'll put him in the car, drive over while continuing to talk up how exciting and fun preschool will be, park in the designated section as close to the school as possible, walk in with Joshua (probably holding his backpack for him, since he's still got an irrational aversion to actually wearing the thing, much though he loves it), sign in on the attendance form, stay in the room for a few minutes to try to get him acclimated, and then walk out.

Leaving my big boy in his first classroom.

Thankfully, I have more tasks that will immediately need to get done -- I have to get a prox card for the building, turn in this month's tuition check, and then come home and make some work phone calls.

But ack, I'm feeling all nervous and weepy and nostalgic.

Funnily enough, David doesn't feel that way at all.  We talked about that some this morning -- David is really excited about Joshua's school, and his bent is more towards anticipation for the next stages of Joshua's life.  Which of course I share, but right now, any thoughts of the future beyond tomorrow morning make me even weepier -- before we know it, we'll be moving Joshua into his college dorm room and he'll be leaving home and, and, and...

We laugh about how I'm being the stereotypical clingy mother here, but yeah, it's really true.

I'm really hoping that Joshua will love his new school.  And I'm also hoping that I'll be able to make this transition gracefully and well!

But in the spirit of nostalgia and clinginess -- the kids and I enjoyed one final summer hurrah the other day, by playing outside in swimsuits.  :)  It's September, and the pools are closed, and it's already too chilly for playing with water toys, but I hadn't had a chance to get pictures of them in their cute swimsuits all summer, so I dressed them up anyways!




Looking for Joshua, who's off in the distance picking his beloved "teeny tiny pinecones":



How big is Sophia?  SO BIG!!


I wanted to get a shot of the two of them together, but Joshua was too busy running back and forth.  So this is the only one I got:





And Sophia thought her hooded coverup was hilarious:



(Or maybe she just thought I was hilarious -- check out the reflection of me all sprawled out in her eyes!)


I'm going to miss having both kids home with me all the time.  But it's obviously a good thing that they're growing and thriving, and we really are looking forward to this new stage of our lives.  (Three mornings a week, it'll be just me and Fifi!  And with her weaned and Joshua going to school, I'll actually have time for myself, for work and rest and non-kid-related endeavors...)

Just, please pray for us as we make this transition.  Hopefully I'll have a chipper update up here on the blog sometime soon!

Video update: Party tricks with the Keddie kiddies!

Just a few snippets of the fun and funny things Joshua and Sophia are doing these days!

Some video footage of the hide and seek game they were playing during Sophia's 12-month photos:


Sophia demonstrating her ability to say "yes" in response to her very favorite question:


Sophia just chilling, standing like a boss:


Cascading giggles in the car.  I just wish I could have reached around to get a glimpse of Sophia's face!


A longer video, of Joshua "reading" one of his favorite books, "Flap Your Wings":


Reading together.  Or at least, next to each other.


Joshua, my assistant videographer, narrating a video of his baby sister:


And a short one, showing off Sophia's latest trick -- "how big is Sophia?"