Because I Said So (and Other Mommyisms): So Many Firsts...

I thought last Tuesday was tough. I called it my "Day of Denial" because Logan turned 3 and Mia had her kindergarten open house, neither of which really seems possible. I have to admit that the open house wasn't at all what I expected. I actually had to sit in a seat meant for a 5 year old and fill out paperwork. Or, I should say more paperwork, because I certainly completed plenty of it back in March when we did the kindergarten round-up. I guess this was just the warm-up period, though.

We started in on the big, BIG stuff this week. Mia was so, so, so excited that she actually took two baths on Monday because she wanted to look nice for school. Truth be told, I was excited for her, too, and maybe just a bit anxious. Neither of us were able to get to sleep the night of Labor Day, knowing that she was off to kindergarten the following morning.

Yesterday, Mia had her first day of kindergarten, which was really a one hour "orientation" period during which I was bombarded with all sorts of parent information. She was happy to wear her new clothes (I didn't buy very much, but I felt like she should have a couple of new things), and had a blast. She came home with her traced hand with a heart drawn in the center and told me it was her "kissing hand."

Today was her first FULL day of school. Of course, that means she got to take her lunch box that we had gotten at a garage sale over the summer, and she was really excited about using it. I was worried about dropping her off in the morning, but then I just followed other parents and grandparents into the building (pretty sure this only goes over well the first couple of days, but decided to go with it). I am happy to report that there were no tears. I told her to have an awesome day and that I would see her later. Logan had a brief meltdown because he wanted to play with the toys (another good reason not to take her into the building on a regular basis), but Mrs. Myers quickly diverted it by saying we could go out the door to the playground (turned out that the equipment was wet, so it was easy to convince him to leave, thankfully).

Logan and I had a super busy day of our own including his 3 year well check, which he handled amazingly well (I am sure it helped that he wasn't due for any vaccinations). For anyone who is interested in his stats, he was 28 pounds (10th percentile, which Dr. McEwen was happy about since he jumped up from 3rd percentile at age 2) and 36 3/4 inches tall (25th percentile). He was a great listener and took off his shoes and got on the scale when the nurse asked him to. It was cute to watch him "play a game," which was her way of getting him to do the vision test. It's amazing what kids know, and surprised me when he identified circle, heart, hand, and cup shapes since he is always hit or miss with things like that at home. Must be that he performs well under pressure. Then he giggled his way through the hearing test, and lifted up his shirt and pointed to his chest when she asked where his heart was. The whole time, I was amazed by his patience and ability to follow directions. And here we thought he wasn't ready for preschool. Really, if he were just more consistent with using the potty, he would be there, it seems. How do my kids keep growing so fast? I can't believe he is no longer a baby.

After a trip to Kroger, we ran the groceries home, and then it was nearly time to pick Mia up from school. (I have decided that the term "Stay at Home Mom" is a misnomer because all I did was run from place to place today.) Waiting for Mia was difficult. I was starting to fret a bit because even though I knew that all of the kids had to go as a group to get the bus riders sent off and then come back by the classroom, I was anxious because her class wasn't back yet and other kids were sitting on the floor waiting when the parents were let in the door. Thankfully, another mom I recognized from dance class let me know that the other classes had just gone earlier, and they would be along soon. Mia was tired for obvious reasons, but she went along with Logan's idea of playing on the "purple playground" for a few minutes before going home.

We had a small amount of down time before we had to run again. I turned on an episode of Backyardigans while trying to get dinner pulled together. We had just enough time to shovel in some sloppy joes and green beans before I had to get Logan into his new shin guards (which are surprisingly difficult to find in little people sizes) and head off to his first soccer practice. He amazed me once again with his ability to follow directions and also with his patience for waiting in line. (Yes, he started to lag and lose focus, but they practiced for a full hour, which is really a lot considering it was for 3-4 years olds, and keeping in mind he is just 3, not to mention the fact that the coach's son is also named Logan and she kept putting them right next to each other so he would get confused about which Logan she was talking to.)

The uniform is beyond HUGE on him. We ordered the smallest size: Small. He would really wear something like extra, extra, extra small but I assume that size does not exist. The jersey is like a full-length dress on him and the shorts just fell off of him (This doesn't surprise me at all considering he can still fit into 12 month shorts). Oh, but he is so, so adorable. He really is the cutest soccer player ever, and I am thrilled to call myself a soccer mom.