Photo Flashback

Floor time is happy time. Sawyer left, Xander right. (September 9, 2006)

Two Days, Two Friends

Fate is conspiring against me.

Connor has been a little sad to find out that he's not going back to the same classroom, you know, with the same teachers and same friends this year. He keeps talking about how much he likes the yellow classroom and his old friends, not his new friends. Pretty typical stuff for an almost five-year old, I'm sure.

So yesterday we happened on one of his classmates at the grocery store. He, being in the silent and bashful mode, wouldn't say a word. Today we ran into another former classmate, this time at the library for story time. Still didn't say a word. Not until we started home.

"I want to go back to the yellow room," he told me. "I want to see my friends again!"

You know, the ones he won't even talk to when we happen to see them. Those friends. It's hard to be four, I suppose.

The Silent Treatment

At home, he simply talks and talks and talks. You know, like talking is required for breathing. That's the side of him that we see. But take him somewhere new, somewhere remotely unfamiliar, and you get bashful and silent.

And that was what he was today at his school open house. Mr. Chatty didn't say a single word, or so I'm told. We even ran into one of his old classmates at the grocery store this afternoon (we were running errands while brothers were in school). Not a single word to her or her mother. Only after they were out of hearing did he say something about one of "my friends from school."

Let's hope it doesn't take half the year for him to become himself in his new classroom. I remember almost falling out of my seat last school year when his teachers told me how quiet he was in school. My son? Quiet? Surely you have the wrong child. But no, apparently not.

Time will tell . . .

Going, Going, Gone

It took less than twenty-four hours. Connor is gone again.

Pappy was in town and decided it would be a nice surprise for Grammy if he brought Connor over for a few hours this afternoon. They've been missing their oldest grandson.

He'll come home later tonight because he has his school open house tomorrow, and he wouldn't miss that for the world.

Ten days. That's how many days Connor spent at home in the month of August. If school wasn't starting soon, I'd say September might be looking the same.

A Beautiful Day

Okay, so I'm probably setting a bad precedent by taking him to the park on his first day home while his brothers are in school. I understand. But have you looked outside? It's beautiful! Cloudless bright blue skies, cool breeze and highs in the low 70s! This is Mommy's kind of weather and her favorite time of the year. And we decided today was a good day for the park. We'll deal with the fallout later.

And, just to make myself feel better, we came home for lunch. He wanted Chick-fil-a, of course, but I knew that really would be setting us up for disappointment later on. So we enjoyed the weather outside at the park (in our new shirt, even, thanks to Grandma & Grandpa) and then came back home to take the puppy for a much-needed walk around the block (Connor on his Big Wheel, of course) and to have lunch.

Not a bad first day home, right? And even better, he gets to visit his school tomorrow for open house with his new teachers and classmates. He's so excited about school he's counting down the days!