First day of school and scissors gone bad

Blake started school on the 8th of September. (Yeah, I'm late) He's a big 1st grader now. This is the first time he's gone to school all day. I was worried it might be a bit much for him but he's really loving it.

We were hoping to get his kindergarden teacher Mrs. Bayley because she moved up to 1st grade but he got Mrs. Ahlberg instead. At first I was a little disappointed but after talking to her a few times, I think we are really going to like her. Blake seems to like her a lot. He wasn't disappointed at all.

Sadly, he decided to try out his new scissor skills on his hair. Yep, he took a chunck of his hair out right in the front. I thought we had passed the age where this could happen and that we had dodged this particular typical childhood episode. Apparently he is just a late bloomer.

Oh yeah, did I mention that school pictures will be taken on the 20th? Maybe I should just buzz it.

My dad would be proud

I had no idea until last week that Blake knew how to say The Pledge of Allegiance. This is one of those things he could tell me when I ask him what he learned in school today instead of the standard " I don't know" response. Maybe my questions need to get more specific. Next week I'll ask him if he learned how to sing the star spangled banner.

My dad was a military man and he would have loved this. This one is for you dad.

21 more days

That's all that is left of my son's first year of school. I can't believe the time has gone so fast. I'm amazed at how much he has learned. This is a picture from his first day. The little boy in the picture didn't know how to read.

One short school year later and now, check him out. He's a reader. It's been so cool to watch as his mind soaks it all in.

Wednesday night they had a kindergarten conference at the school where all the kinders and their family came. The kids sang a couple of really cute songs and then took us around to 9 stations that were set up to demonstrate all they have learned this year.

Here they are singing a super cute song called "Tootie Toot"

They were cracking me and themselves up.

Showing us his skills with colors and paints.

He's reading his "popcorn" words.
We've been blessed to have a great teacher this year and we're looking forward to his first year of full day school. Watch our first grade. Blake is on his way.

First parent/teacher conference

Last Thursday was our very first parent/teacher conference. Blake has been in school now for about 6 weeks and we were anxious to hear how it was going. We heard exactly what we expected. This has been the description of Blake since he was a baby. "Blake is very bright and very active" In other words if and when he sits still for five seconds he knows what he's doing.

This child came into our lives as if on a mission. He rolled over both ways at 3 months, crawled at 6 months and hasn't looked back since. Some say "Oh, he's just a boy and it's normal" While I would like to believe that his activity level is normal, I know that it is not. I have been around enough children his age now to see the difference.

I truly wouldn't change him for the world. He is sweet, smart, funny, inquisitive and has a zest for life that knocks my socks off. However we do think we will need to intervene soon so he can be successful. We need to find ways to direct this endless energy for good. We talked to the teacher and she is going to ask around and see what kind of help is out there. I just want him to be able to be successful. If we can get him and us the tools to get him there then I am all for it. The teacher was saying they will probably send someone in to observe him without him knowing that he's been observed. They'll find out how often, in a certain time frame, that he gets distracted and looses his focus among other things. What will happen remains to be seen and a lot can change in a short time at this age. This story is definitely to be continued.