A boy and his toys

 John and I are just hanging out, enjoying the gorgeous day before we have to go pick up James from school. 

John insisted we go out to "play!"

He gathered these three items from the garage before heading out: a bouncy ball, and empty giant bubble wand, and a play pitcher (from my childhood).  

He has run around the yard/driveway/street, gone up and down the slide, and chilled at the firepit (no midday fire, in case you're wondering).  All with his items. 

Kinderkicker!

Today was James's first day of recreational sports! He's playing Kinderkicker soccer which is for kindergarteners (duh) and is clinic/fun based. Every kid has a ball, and there aren't teams. There are hundreds of kids and an army of volunteer parent coaches. James had a great time, and John had a ball as well. Truly, he chased down other younger siblings who had their own soccer balls. He'd take the ball and dribble it down the field. Dan asked, "How does he just know what to do?" It was impressive.

We were so impressed with James too. He listened well and really worked up a sweat! He also had a super fun time with his pal Sophie (whom he'd met during swim lessons at the pool in July; she goes to his school).

Renaissance Faire

Yesterday we closed out summer by venturing to the New York Renaissance Faire. James, as we'd predicted, was enchanted. As we walked from the parking lot, through the woods and over the hill to the fair, James said, "I think we're traveling back in time."

There were many people in costume, and it seems some people have a loose interpretation of the Renaissance. There were many elf ears, horns sprouting from head(band)s, tails, belly dancing skirts, dragons, kilts, suits of armor, wench-dresses, combinations of the above,...

Fascinating!

We had lots of fun though- caught an amazing magic show, a live-action Robin Hood-themed chess match, a jousting competition, a trapeze routine, the dungeon museum, a ride on a flying dragon, a turkey leg, some dragon chips, mead,...

This evening James created some armor for himself. I think yesterday made an impression!

First Day of Kindergarten (pt. 2)

James came out of school with a big smile! He told me a bit about his day as we walked home-- he got to see his teacher feed the class fish, they got to sit wherever they wanted to on the rug, they were assigned seats at the "working tables" (his table has all boys; there are ten boys and five girls in the class), there are three children who didn't listen (a girl got out of her seat when a different table was called, and two boys didn't put their pencils down when the teacher said to do so-- James is quite the policeman, eh?), they saw Mr. Parcells as they were leaving. That's about it. Throughout the day I got more snippets-- they played on the new caterpillar playground, they drew self portraits, there were fish decorations everywhere and a big whale on the door that says "Make a Splash in Kindergarten!" 

Once home, we had a quick lunch then stopped by Grandma & Grandpa's house to take a First Day of Kindergarten photo in the same tree where Daddy had taken a photo on his first day of kindergarten. Then it was off to swim class!

Today was James's first lesson at the Ray level, and he did great! They worked on side breathing. His instructor is fantastic. 

Next it was off to Planet Swirl for celebratory fro-yo, then we hit the playground for an hour or so (to burn off the sugar). Both boys had a ball. 

Tomorrow will be his first lunch in the cafeteria as he'll stay the full day for his first day of Wrap-Around Kindergarten. So exciting!

First Day of Kindergarten (pt 1)

James is off to kindergarten this morn. He practically skipped, hopped and jogged all the way there! (It's so nice to live within walking distance, especially on the first day when the parental paparazzi make for quite the traffic situation!)

We found his teacher's line, and he excitedly greeted his friends. (So glad he went to preschool there last year-- our goal of lessening the number of transitions while also giving him an opportunity to meet kids in town and get to know his school certainly was a success.)

Soon enough the teachers came out, and the lines of kindergarteners filed into the building. I'm not going to lie-- I got a bit teary-eyed. Sure, partly because my cutie is growing up, but also because I'm so grateful to have been there to see him off this morning. Next year, I'll be back to "working (outside the home) mom" status, and may very well be welcoming my own students to school as James heads in the door to first grade... Cherishing every moment this year!

James's (current) Favorite Book

About a month ago, James asked me about Charlotte's Web after having read about it in a Horrible Harry book. We were headed to the library the next morning (for a music class for John), so I assured him we'd look for it. 

We got to the library in time to find and check out Charlotte's Web before John's class began. James curled up with his book while Mommy and John joined the other toddlers for singing and dancing. 

He basically didn't put the book down until he'd finished it a few hours later. Then he started reading it again. 

Since then, we've watched two DVDs (the Hanna Barbara animated version and the Dakota Fanning as Fern live-action movie), re-read the book a few more times, done Charlotte's Web-inspired sidewalk chalk, visited a farm, and generally fallen in love with pigs and spiders. 

Oddly, this almost-vegetarian boy still professes his love of pork. He happily gobbled up some bacon yesterday remarking, "I hope this isn't Wilbur." 

here James admires the spiders' webs on the barn

19 months!!

 

John celebrated his half birthday surrounded by family at Edisto last month. So fun. I need to post about all that...

In the meantime, he's already 19 months old! 

Last Wed (8/21), he officially changed tocalling  me Mommy instead of Mama. Dan is now Daddy. Very cute. 

He has four grinders, and eight front teeth (four top, four bottom), and his hair is getting slightly thicker. Slightly. 

He's mastered traveling up and down stairs unassisted (though we don't trust him enough not to employ the gates, etc.) One habit I find endearing (though sometimes annoying) is that when traveling downstairs, he'll usually stop a few stairs from the bottom, sit down, say "Bottom" (ba-ba), and wait for me to sit  with him. If I don't, he pats the stair next to him and says "ba-ba" again. Just taking a little break to enjoy the view. Haha. 

He likes to snuggle with "Night-night" when he's getting ready for bed, and loves books before and after sleeping. (As well as other times!)

He likes to do whatever his big brother is doing (oh, he says "brother"-- so sweet!) which includes scaling playground equipment and coming down big slides. 

He jumps. 

He still eats like a champ.

He's very interested in the potty. (I'm considering potty training, but think he may be too young?) My favorite is when he stands at the potty like he sees James do, pulls up his shirt and aims his belly for the potty. So adorable. 

He has tons of words and signs. I love it when he's wearing his tiger outfit (like today), points at his chest and says, "Rar!!"