Evan Starts Kindergarten!

I can't believe my baby has started Kindergarten! It was a wonderful but stressful and emotional day.. and when I say stressful and emotional, I mean for me!! Evan was just fine. He was so excited about everything which I think is a good sign that he really is ready for Kindergarten.

We all had to get up really early that morning. Evan is riding the bus (so excited about that... I tried to talk him out of it for just the first day and he wouldn't budge!). It was still dark outside which kind of ruined my plans for some pictures before school...

We made a little sign for him - he wrote his name.

Finally, just as we were getting ready to walk to the bus, it started to get a little lighter...

Since we were dropping him off at the bus and then driving up to school, that meant ALL of us needed to be up and ready. Caitlin didn't want to be left out of the pictures.

We made it to the bus stop in plenty of time. We met Madison who lives down the street and is in Evan's class. Don't they look like they coordinated outfits? Her mom told me that she said she was going to marry Evan... too cute.

Waiting patiently for the bus with his new backpack.

Quick family picture (minus Ryan who was in his car seat)...

Yeah for the bus! Look at Caitlin - she so wanted to go with him!

Getting on the bus without even a glance back. The rest of us jumped in the car and drove up to school so we could meet the bus.  

Evan with his best buddy Alex who also rode the bus. They were so excited.

Evan in his class

Daddy and Evan pic

Mommy and Evan pic

Family pic - Caitlin looks a little sleepy still...

And yes, Ryan was actually there.

We walked back to the car with our friends the Isaacsons who had also all come up to the school.

I worked from home that afternoon so I could be there when Evan got off the bus. 

Here he comes!

A big smile! Must have been a great day!  

Evan and the ladies... Some mothers brought a bunch of Popsicles for all the kids getting off the buses as a first day treat which was nice.  

We asked him lots of questions about his day but didn't get too much information out of him. We know they read a No David! book and cut out a picture of him. They learned a lot of rules and how things kind of work (like how to walk through the halls and be quiet at lunch). They had lunch and recess. They don't do a nap but they did have a little rest period where they could lay their heads on their desk for 20 minutes. That's about all we got out of him.

Since my pictures were not great in the morning, I made him do a few more after school so here are those.

Overall, it was a success! He seemed to really enjoy it. I only shed a few tears as we were leaving school that morning so I think that's pretty good.  I of course wondered how he was doing all day and wished I could just be there to watch him.  But I guess at some point, we have to just let them be and trust that they will make good choices and be okay without us.  I'm looking forward to volunteering in the class in a few weeks to see how it all works.  I think it's going to be a great year!

Oh, and for fun, Bryce's dad sent me these pictures of Bryce on his first day of Kindergarten... see how you think it compares to Evan!

Evan's about to go to Kinder!

Although he's actually had his first day, I wanted to post a little bit about all that happened leading up to the first day of Kindergarten.

The Thursday before school starts, our elementary does something called Welcome Walk where the teachers actually come to your house to meet you.  We waited anxiously for probably about an hour before someone pulled into our driveway. It was Ms. Vaclavik (Ms. V) who was his new teacher! She was very sweet. We had made her a card and some cookies.

Evan's teacher Ms. V.

On Friday, we went up to the school for supply drop-off. We got to see his classroom and meet the kids who would be in his class.  We also got to tour the school and write a lot of checks!

Here is Evan's table for Kinder. He knows 3 girls who are in his class.

We had a little presentation about the first day and some general Kindergarten things and that was it! Monday would be the first day. It was so hard to believe it was almost his first day of Kindergarten.

Evan and his friend Madison wearing their Old Town Spirit shirts (one of the checks we wrote).

Looks like it's going to be a great year! I can't wait to hear about school each day and hopefully visit his classroom a lot to help and observe. It's so hard to let them grow up!

Evan's Birthday Party

This year for Evan's birthday party, we held it at an indoor soccer place called Soccer Zone. This was the first time we did his party somewhere other than the house and while I love going all out for birthdays, this was a whole lot easier. We just had to show up with some food, enjoy ourselves for 2 hours, and then go home!

Evan and his cake - what else but a soccer ball

Close-up of the cake (I did NOT bake it).

Oma and Uncle Will came to town for the party. Ryan enjoyed some Oma time during the party so I can help make sure things ran smoothly and enjoy watching Evan.

Caitlin had a great time at the party too

The kids getting some instructions on the game

They played a lot of kids vs parents for the first part of the party which Evan loved!

After a quick break, it was back on the field to try a new game

And then it was time to sing happy birthday and eat cake!

Can't believe my Evan is 5!

Happy Birthday Evan!

Ryan got in some nap time during the party... couldn't resist putting in this picture of him!

And finally a quick group shot outside. It was such a fun party! Evan had a great time celebrating with his friends. Thanks everyone for making it such a special day!

Evan Turns 5!

A lot has changed in 5 years since you were born. You were our first baby and since then we've grown our family by 2 more. We've moved houses.  You've learned to swim, to ride a bike. You lost your first tooth. You are learning to read. You can count to 100 and so much more.

When you were born, it was hard to imagine being where we are now. Where has the time gone? When did you become this incredible person whom we love so much? 

Stats:
Weight = 36.2 lbs
Height = 43.5 inches
BMI= 4% (I'm jealous!)

At five, you are a very social person. You love to talk to whomever and tell them whatever you are thinking.  If you see kids playing, you want to join them. You do play well by yourself, but if anyone is outside playing, you want to go too. You are very active... you love to ride your bike, to run around, to jump, to play soccer, play baseball, play football. That's probably why you are so skinny that you still wear 2T shorts!  Last year on your birthday, we got you your first 2 wheel bike and you rode it that very day (no training wheels). Since then, you've graduated to an even bigger bike. I love to jog and have you ride beside me. 

You are very sweet natured and are a big helper without me asking more than once most of the time. I love that I can depend on you for the most part to do what I ask. It helps keep your sister in line too since she wants to do everything her big brother does! 

Lately, you are obsessed with Lego things (like Lego Ninjago and Lego Chima) and Star Wars. Your favorite shows are Word Girl and Wild Kratts. You like to watch Daddy's games and music videos (especially Walk Off the Earth!).  You like to sing and dance and just be silly.  You don't take a nap anymore but still have some quiet time and what we call "kindergarten time" where we work on things like reading, numbers, etc. 

You love your sister and brother - even though sometimes you seem to smother Ryan with your love. You and Caitlin play so well together. You are the best of friends (besides your best buddy Alex). I know she will miss you when you are in school every day next year. Your favorite food is probably pizza but you also love yogurt (peach is your favorite) and fruit - you could eat fruit all the time and often choose that over other snacks. 

I don't know what else to say! I just wanted to capture some thoughts on you turning five. Just one week and school will start. I can't believe we will have a kindergartener! We are so blessed to have you as our son. We love you so so much. Okay, starting to cry so that's enough! Can't wait for another great year.

Love, Mom

Ryan 5 months!

Ryan turned 5 months just before Evan's birthday. It's been a big month for him!

Weight: 15lbs 10 ounces

Height: 26.5 inches (guess)

Mommy had to go back to work :( I hated to leave him and the other two... we were having so much fun! But, it's only 28 hours a week so I still have M/W/F mornings with them. And it's easy to leave them with our incredible nanny so I know they are in excellent hands and I don't have to worry!

This month, Ryan finally rolled over from back to tummy (officially on  July 25th). As soon as he did it just a handful of times. it became almost automatic when you'd put him down. Now, he sleeps every night on his tummy and rolls over almost instantly when I put him down at night.  

Unfortunately, this was also the month that Ryan got RSV (a respiratory illness). So, we had our first bout of worry, stress, fussiness, and not sleeping well.  However, he weathered the disease pretty well and after about a week had turned the corner and never got more than a small wheeze. 

Minus the time he was sick, he has started to go to bed earlier (usually start bath around 7:30pm). He likes to nurse a long time before going to bed but then will usually sleep until 7am. He is very happy in the morning when he wakes up. He will take usually a short nap in the morning (because we are almost always busy with activities for the older 2 kids).  But then in the afternoon, he will take about a 3 hour nap! I'm so happy to have another good napper (fingers crossed it continues). He usually eats just 4 times a day but he has started to take a bigger bottle, usually 7 ounces. Next month we will start the cereals!

We introduced him to the exersaucer as you can see... he loves it! We have gotten out a lot of the baby/toddler toys since Chelsea is at our house every day as well (our nanny watches her too). It's baby central at our house!

Ryan loves to grab his feet and toys.  He especially loves to play with his pull toys on the car seat. He is such a smiley, laughing, happy baby.