More birthday

For months, Noel had been telling me that he wanted a red birthday party and a traffic light cake, so that is what we planned. The party was scheduled for Saturday, but he was sick, so we postponed it to Sunday. By then he felt better, the weather was still amazing (short sleeves in November?!?), and my mom was still in town, so it all worked out beautifully.

Here are some pictures from the weekend. The first was taken at Monkey Joe's, the rest at our house.

Somebody had a birthday today

Our little guy turned three this morning, at 8:08 to be precise. It's scary how fast we've gotten to this point. Didn't we just have a baby? Noel is no longer considered a toddler but a preschooler, although his birthday falls too late for him to start preschool this year. He does some big-boy things (talks in long sentences, pretends to read, writes a couple of letters, opens doors) but hasn't figured out how to give up diapers or pedal his tricycle. He's still a sweetie but has gotten very bad about dumping things out and refusing to pick them up. Biting has given way to what he calls "blubbing." Ah, don't you wish you could be blubbed by Noel!*

Here is more about Noel at three:

--chose to eat at Sweet Tomatoes and play at Monkey Joe's for his birthday

--enjoys riding his tricycle and jumping the trampoline (I love the way he says that, by the way)

--started a parents' day out program in September

--wants so badly to go to school with Dominick

--asks for crackers and raisins for morning snack every day

--likes chocolate (I wonder where he gets that?)

--navigates the iPhone amazingly well, just like his brother

--loves lollipops but gets himself way too sticky when eating one

Some recent words and phrases:

--pootie (breast)

--big booty puddle

--cameloupe

--fire eraser (extinguisher)

--two bless yous (after sneezing twice)

--"Hi, stupid butt grabble." (gravel)

--"I going to the pool. My penis going to the pool."

There are many more of these, if I could only find the various scraps of paper I wrote them down on. And now for the best one:

--"I love you, Mom."

*Blubbing is when you put your mouth on somebody's skin and blow to create an interesting noise. Is there a real word for that?

The big day

He did it! Dominick successfully attended his first day of kindergarten. Mike worked from home today so that he could join us on that first walk to school. Our neighbor/goat lady/crossing guard guided us across the street safely. May I say how extremely lovely it is to live half a block from school? I had the same luxury growing up, although not until first grade. I rode a bus to kindergarten. But I digress.

The building and grounds were somewhat chaotic, but Dom picked his way through the crowd and led us to his classroom, showing Mike his star on the door. (We had visited the school yesterday after receiving a call on Friday saying that Dom's immunization records were not up to date. I had the doctor's office fax said records in July and confirmed with the school secretary two weeks ago that they had been received. Oh well. While there, Dom found his name on the classroom door and got further acquainted with his room and teacher, who was there setting up. He even helped by placing colored folders in the appropriate baskets. I loved how chatty he was with Mrs. C. And just like that, I've digressed again!)

So anyway, we got inside, and all was well until Dominick wanted us to stay, so I gave a quick goodbye and left him drawing at the table. Neither of us cried, which is quite a miracle. At pick-up time, the parents waited outside the main entrance, and the principal--great guy--came out to greet us and gave our kids a thumbs up. Shortly thereafter, the doors opened, and the morning kindergarten class emerged. Dominick was first (how nice it must be to be an A in school!) and came running to me. He was in great spirits. Later, he said that he'd had a "really good" time at school. Bring on day 2!

Meet and greet

Dominick attended his final day at preschool today. [sniff sniff] Mike picked him up early to take him to Six Flags for one last bit of fun before school. Only five more days until the first day of kindergarten!

Yesterday morning was our meet-and-greet at the elementary school, so the transition is in full swing. Dominick led the way as we joined the wave of parents and kids heading to the school carrying bags of supplies (crayons, glue, paper towels, hand sanitizer, etc.). I was surprised to learn that Ms. Walker, the teacher we met back on registration day, was no longer there. Word on the street is that she wanted to teach full-day, so she's now in a neighboring district. The new teacher is Mrs. Casey, who seems as sweet, energetic and enthusiastic as Ms. Walker. We also saw Dom's preschool friend Calvin, whose mom told me that he is also in morning kindergarten, so there will be at least one familiar face.

After leaving Dom's new classroom, the boys and I explored rest of the school. The art room is full of wonderful things. It even has a kiln! I didn't have access to one of those until high school. The gym has a climbing wall. The cafeteria seems tiny. Dominick got acquainted with one of the bathrooms. We bumped into some neighbors, and they introduced us to another boy in Dom's class. Dom and Noel didn't notice the tables full of donuts near the office. Everything went really well. Now for the big day...