School Time?

Ethan has been DYING to go to school.  He has Nolan's classroom and teacher from last year.  When we dropped Nolan off last year, Ethan ran ahead every day to announce Nolan's presence to the class.  Ethan is thrilled to be going to Ms. Pala's class.  Tonight, I was hurrying him along with his shower, dinner, and bedtime routine to make sure he got enough sleep before morning pre-k.  After getting up for the gazillionth time to go to the bathroom, he was tossing and turning in his bed, so I went to tuck him in one more time.  He couldn't hear me coming and didn't see me coming, so I kind of surprise him and he jumped a little and said, "What!?  Time for school?"  I wonder if he'll sleep at all tonight.  I'm sure he'll pop right out of bed in the morning.  He can't ride the bus for two weeks, which will probably kill both of us.

Nolan had a huge grin plastered on his face when he got on the bus this morning.  He's never ridden the bus TO school, so he was pretty pleased.  I had to pick him up from school yesterday after I told him he was riding the bus home, and I thought he was going to cry.  He is enjoying kindergarten so far.  He recited all the bathroom rules to me last night, one of which is "No touching poop."  They have a kid in kindergarten that is allergic to peanuts, so Nolan can't take pb&j for lunch.  That limits our lunch selection.  I guess Nolan will have to have it on the weekends, because he's a big fan.

Right now Nolan is out fishing with Doug.  Only the second day of school and already we are late for bedtime.  Nolan is a great fisherman and will tell anyone that shows any interest, all about the huge salmon he caught last week (and will include over and over again that grandpa's salmon was tiny).  I love how when he tells the story, he says, "It was big and I'm just little and I caught it.  The string (fishing line) kept coming out and out and out."  Nolan is patient and even enjoys the days that they don't catch anything.

Brenden jumps right into school like it's nothing new.  I had to pick the kids up from school yesterday because we got a call that the optometrist had a cancellation and could see Brenden.  He sees about 20/40 with his eyes individually and 20/30 when he uses them both.  It's not bad enough for glasses yet, but I think we know what's coming.  He was horrified that the doctor might say he needed glasses.  He really doesn't want them.

Brenden asked me at the beginning of the summer if he could have a credit card.  I told him no and that he could get one when he got a job.  So, Brenden started his own business selling sticks.  He whittled them and sold them as weapons - some as much as $23!  He was disappointed I wouldn't spend over $2 in his shop.  One day he asked me again if he could get a credit card.  I told him no.  He responded, "But I got a JOB!" with a whiney inflection in his voice. 

Brenden kind of loves money.  Who doesn't?  Evidently his teacher "pays" them for doing homework and being good class members.  They can buy school supplies, like mechanical pencils (which they're not supposed to have accoring to the school supply list, so it's something special) and erasers.  They can rent a workout ball to replace their chair for the day.  They can also rent the teacher's chair.  He is pretty excited and I'm hoping it will teach him a little bit about finances for the day he gets himself a credit card.

Cameron had an appointment on Saturday with the helmet doctor.  He was impressed with Cameron's progress and says Cameron will probably be done with his helmet on September 16.  That was fast!  I am beyond thrilled, but in my opinion, things probably would have worked themselves out without the helmet.  Once he was sitting up and off of his flat spot, his head started shaping up.

Tomorrow we will likely have super cute pictures of super cute Ethan to post!