We got home from vacation with one week of school left. I was excited for the boys to finish out the year with their friends and teachers. Then Sunday morning Theo woke up with a fever and laid around all day. Monday he laid around even more and ate and drank almost nothing. He felt a little better but still stayed home Tuesday because he had no energy. By Wednesday he was ready to go back to school. Thursday morning Dexter begged to stay home but didn’t have a fever and I really couldn’t afford to miss work since I was planning to leave work early Friday due to their half day. I felt terrible dropping him off but hoped he could make it through the day. He made it – they both did – until 415pm when I got a call that they were both falling asleep on the playground and had fevers over 101. Well crap.

Ryan was already on his way to get them so I decided to work until 8 or 9 or until I ran out of work to do since it was clear I wouldn’t make it to work at all on Friday. At 10pm I hit 40 hours for the week so I packed it up and went home, exhausted.

I said all that to say that I was beyond sad for them because they wouldn’t get to participate in the last day of school festivities and especially for Theo because he wouldn’t get to tell his friends or teachers goodbye. Theo woke up in the middle of the night Thursday crying in pain. This was odd – my boy has never had an ear infection in his life. I gave him some pain reducer and put him back to bed. By morning he said his ear felt a little better but I made an afternoon appointment for the pediatrician (who confirmed he has not 1 but 2 ears infected). Dexter’s fever never came back and Theo seemed to feel pretty well too so we decided to swing by school to check the lost & found and say goodbye – for mommy, this meant getting those much anticipated last day of school photos.

Taking last day of school pics makes me reminisce back to their first day(s) so I put together some collages (because how else would I cope with the fact that my firstborn is 10 weeks from KINDERGARTEN, y’all?). Bittersweet. Theo is so ready and excited and confident about going into Kindergarten. On vacation he mumbled to Dexter under his breath “I have soooo much homework to do when we get home,” like a teenager in reference to the Kindergarten readiness packet we received at registration (he’s right though, it is a lot). He loves it. I will have him do 2 pages and he’ll ask to do 4. Or 6. Hopefully his enthusiasm doesn’t fizzle out too soon.

Shut up, Candice. Just get to the pictures. Yep, I talk to myself. On my blog.

Can you even believe how much he’s grown? He’s learned even more than that. Kids, man.We will all miss his wonderful teachers, Miss Holly and Miss Darci. 

Brothers. They make my heart all poofy.

I am proud of Dexter – the transition to pre-school hasn’t been so easy on him. He doesn’t have as much confidence as Theo does. But with his teachers’ guidance, he came a long way. The first part of the school year, he spent a lot of time watching other students, hesitant to pull jobs from the shelf. By the spring, he was doing multi-step jobs with little help. He went from being completely potty-trained the summer before pre-school to a major regression both day and night. It’s taken the whole school year, but he’s back to having no daytime accidents, hurrah! He loves his teachers, writes his name, talks about his friends nonstop, and doesn’t need 500 “one more hug and kiss”es when we leave. I can’t believe how much he’s changed. 

He is looking forward to spending another year in the Maple Room with Miss Pavitra and Miss Jama.I know one day too soon I will be looking at their High School graduation photos and wonder where time has gone. For now, I am trying to enjoy the moment and revel in awe at how much they are learning.

xo,

~C~