First day of preschool

I wish I had a better picture to document the occasion, but it's not easy to corral Evan and Grant side-by-side for a photo op. Kinda like herding cats, as my Grandpa might say. Anyway, the first day went much better than the photo shoot. Evan and his teachers reported back very positively. While it's not full-swing school mode, preschool is a lot more like real school, complete with individual cubbies, field trips, snack & party volunteering, etc. All except for homework -- and thank goodness! And Grant enjoyed his "morning out" program -- like I expected, he didn't even look back as I dropped him off.





PS - It may look as though Evan pushed Grant down in this sequence of pics, but surprisingly this time, he did not. Grant was being what we call "Grumpy Grant."

Transitions

Last Friday, Evan went for the last time to the daycare provider who has helped him grow and learn since he was 1 1/2 years old. His first day of preschool is tomorrow. We were sad to say goodbye to Ms. Renne, but excited about taking the next step. Tomorrow marks the first day of what will be many, many, many years ahead in school (if only he knew how many!).

Concentration

I've noticed with Grant that the more difficult a task becomes, the wider he opens his mouth. See below.

Edited to add: Grant now completes this task effortlessly. And thank goodness! Do you know how tough it is to watch someone struggle with something and not just reach in and do it for them?!

Back to triathlon

For the first time in a long time, Jason competed in a triathlon this past Saturday in Peachtree City. It was a sprint distance (.3 mi swim, 14 mi bike and 3.1 mi run), so not an Ironman, but difficult in its own respect. Evan, Grant and I were all there at the finish line to cheer him in. Didn't get any action shots, but here's one of Jason with the rest of our friends who competed.

Nature walk

(I just now noticed the spider in this picture; can you spot it?)

If only you could bottle it up

Monkey do

Grant picks up a whole lot of things from Evan, including how best to play with cars.

For my dad, a video of Grant

My dad wanted to see Grant in action with his walking-- he remembers how funny Evan was when he first started walking with what he calls the Frankenstein walk. Anyway, the first clip is walking, the second is just cute.

Conversations with Evan: About brothers

After riding two seconds in the car this morning, Evan starts whining and yelling at Grant (Over what, you ask? Because Grant is pretending that the toy dinosaur he's holding is a car and Evan says he shouldn't do that. Well, you asked!). The conversation ensues:

Me: Evan, Grant can pretend that the dinosaur is a car--stop yelling at him. Remember, Grant is your brother and you like to have fun with him.

Evan: I love him?

Me: Yes.

Evan: Why?

Me: Because you do.

Peachtree City rapids

We've made an effort to get out more and enjoy the local sights and adventures. Now that we have a golf cart, we can trek out to the fun little nooks & crannies much easier. Today, we took a picnic lunch to a spot near a creek that's running high right now due to the recent rain. It's the closest thing we have to whitewater that's safe enough for the little ones.

Turned on the B&W filter to capture Grant stuffing his face.

Love this perspective.

Scaling the cliffs of Peachtree City.