School

A quick note... we just missed a call from Raf's new teacher, but she left us a little message telling us that Raf is very tired by the end of the day but that he's getting better at staying awake day by day! She also said, 'he's a joy to have in class, is very sweet, and loves to learn'.

He's making so many friends, and whilst it's difficult to get much out of him, we had a fun game of 'teacher' last night, where I played Raf and he played his teacher! Playing this game might be the only way we get to learn about his day.

23 months old!

Charlie turned 23 months old today! He's a little daredevil, so funny and feisty, and Rich claims that he is very much like me (messy eater, a bit stubborn...!). His vocabulary has just exploded and he's speaking words so clearly, which is a bit disconcerting as he's showing himself to be such a big boy these days. He misses his brother terribly, and when he came to see me at work yesterday for a quick visit the first thing he said was, 'where's Rafi'?!

Charlie's favourite things:

Colour: Red (he thinks every colour is red, though)
Words: "No", "More", "Milkie"
Book: Zog
Food: Tomato pasta
Treat: Soy ice cream
Toys: Trains, trucks, cars, and my keys
Place: Outside/walking or cycling around the block
TV: Curious George/Cailou
Friend: Benjamin

Difficult to believe that in a month he will be TWO!!!!!!

Kindergartener

Raf had his first day of kindergarten this past Monday. The time has been moving so fast these past couple of years, so suddenly having a school aged child caught us a little off guard. But Raf has been ready, and hasn't shown too many nerves as the big day approached. In fact, as we ate breakfast before leaving for school on Monday, I read Raf 'The Kissing Hand', about Chester the Raccoon who's sad about leaving his mummy to head to school. In the midst of the book Raf declared, 'but mummy, I like school'!

We all headed to school to drop Raf off. I was frankly not expecting to feel quite so emotional. When we got there, it was soon apparent that we were going to have to just basically leave him at the door!  He was so eager to go in that we had to remind him to give us a kiss before he wandered off, his little backpack on, disappearing around the corner as we all desperately looked on. I did almost begin to weep.

Monday was chilly so the boys wore their dressing-gowns for the first time. Charlie's didn't survive breakfast...

A HUGE big boy pancake. He managed to eat it all!

Morning stories...

We asked him what he wanted to be when he's a grown-up, and out of nowhere he said 'pilot'! I think they're better paid than train drivers.

We made him endure a trillion photographs. Here is his 'grand opening day' shirt!

And here we go... no time for more photos, mum. I have to GO!

Charlie missed Raf so much. He ran up to his big brother and gave him an enormous hug.

And then another one.

Raf wasn't overly forthcoming about the day but over the course of the afternoon and evening (I had to drag both boys to an evening Dr. appointment, which was rather hellacious) I did gleam something about his day. He learned something about snails having bunny ears(!), he visited the music room, played with Cole and Nessa (his old friends from preschool) at recess as well as a new friend Gideon. He drew a lovely picture for Rich (in preparation for Rich's birthday), and, unfortunately had an accident with a chair leading to a bit of a bang behind the ear.

I confess that we stopped en route home from the doctor and I bought the boys a little pressie each.

Tuesday was another good day, though he was a bit lonely at recess until his friend Nessa came to play with him, and he also did gym class which involved a game called cat and mouse, and something else. Today he brought home a 'message' from school, which was a large piece of paper which read, 'Dear Kindergarteners, the STAR of the day is Rafael'... So sweet.

Tonight we celebrated the midweek point of kindergarten with a star cake! And here he is wearing his 'midweek spectacular shirt' (we had to think of another name as Raf first wondered if THIS was his grand opening day shirt...

Kindergarten-Eve

Raf begins kindergarten tomorrow. I asked him what shirt he wanted to wear and he said, "my grand opening day shirt". Funny boy. Last week Raf had a screening with his new teacher, Mrs. Marshall (who seems great). On Friday he had a step-up day, spending a couple of hours with his new class and riding the bus. He's been very adamant about not riding the bus but he really enjoyed his little trip with his new friends and has asked if we can sign him up for it! We''ll see.

Afterwards I tried not to pepper him with questions and later at the beach he did divulge a few things. He has a little cubby inside of the classroom where he put his water bottles, leaving his rucksack on his hook outside of the classroom. He also told me that he put his hand up when Mrs. Marshall was talking about busses and shared that there are also double-decker buses AND trains (we see one regularly at the trolley museum!)

Sadly I couldn't be there on Friday to drop him off, but Rich snapped a few pics a little video as he strolls off to his classroom.

'

I was there to pick him up, though! This is also the 'grand opening shirt', so we shall see it again tomorrow.

When we got home he said he wanted some time away from Charlie! Poor kid was so tired after 2 hours..

This was all he was ready for. The next month should be interesting... Raf's behaviour was a little unsettling this weekend....!!!

Final days of summer....

We've been making the most of these final summer days. Classes for me returned a couple of weeks ago, but tomorrow is Raf's FIRST proper day of kindergarten. It really feels as though these are the final days of summer... 

So a quick recap of these final glorious summer days/weeks in photo form.

Here the boys watch on as we (finally) got out driveway paved.

More fun with Benjamin. 3 lovely blondies.

Fun cycling time with the entire crew.

Evening beach walks.

Morning runs.

Beach afternoons.

Making friends.

Old Orchard Beach fun.

With Charlie looking on.

Chips on the beach.

Waterpark fun.

Unveiling the driveway!

Brilliant sunrises.

Biking for ice-cream.

Scooting.

Birthday party with his old friend Denny.

Many trips to the Trolley Museum.

Yet more beach time.

New more friends.

Park fun.

A visit from Raf at work. We headed out for lunch and he snapped 10 exact pictures.

Did I mention we headed to the beach a lot? Rich has been working a few late afternoons/evenings so often the boys and I head to the beach for a picnic tea.

But we also go together... more chips on the beach!

A brilliant summer with the boys.