So Many Milestones In Two Days

Today was Finn's first day of preschool! He's going to the same preschool Maggie went to, which is, in my totally biased opinion, the best preschool in the world. We had no hesitations about Miss Heather or her school, but the day still held some uncertainties for us. Miss Heather, Finn's teacher, requires all children to be potty trained before starting school. I have literally tried every piece of advice that I've been given in order to potty train Finn. He was totally uninterested. Even when Carolina (22 months, compared to Finn at almost 3 1/2) started using the potty, it stirred no competitive spirit in him. Instead, he happily cheered her on saying, "Hooray, Carolina! I'm so proud of you!" So I didn't know what would happen when he was supposed to start school. After talking to Heather last week she said to send him on and we'd work on it together. I should have known that Miss Heather, the Boy Whisperer, would be able to get things going on the potty. She called me at 11am today and when I saw her name on my phone I immediately thought she was calling to tell me it was a huge disaster and I needed to come get Finn. Instead she was calling to say that he had peed on the potty twice already. Hooray, Finn!
Here are Finn and Miss Heather, with Carolina in the background.

 I'll come back to Finn in a minute, and you'll want to watch the 10-second video at the end. Stay with me.

Maggie started First Grade yesterday. She had a great day, her BFF from last year's class was in her class, she got the teacher we were both hoping for, and she is absurdly excited about the prospect of homework.

As a sidenote, this little navy blue shirt dress is my favorite school uniform dress EVER! I got it at TJ Maxx and it is totally adorable. I would wear it, if it fit me and I thought it looked even half as cute as it does on her.

 In her classroom, at her new desk!

Today Maggie went back to Miss Heather's school for Finn's first day, as her school was off for the day. This is pretty common for Miss Heather's graduates. They LOVE her school. Because Maggie went to school with Finn, our family had another little milestone, which was my first day with Carolina at home while the older two were at school. We had a great morning running errands, having a little date with a coffee (me) and a muffin (her) at Whole Foods, and then when we got home there was a little surprise awaiting us.

When we pulled onto our street I saw lots of big trucks close to our house. It's so funny how things change when you have kids. Before, if I had come home to see such a spectacle, I probably would have barely noticed it, but now that I have these three little people in my life, it was 5-star entertainment. Carolina and I immediately walked down to watch Metro Water install a new storm drain under our neighbor's driveway and she charmed the socks off of these big, burly guys. They chatted with her for about five minutes and then got to work. There was a dump truck full of gravel, some kind of backhoe or excavator, a big semi, and a large Metro Water pick up. We probably stood there for ten minutes watching them. I was so bummed that Finn and Maggie were missing this excitement practically in our own front yard. (I realize this sounds crazy but little things are big deals around here, and Finn loves heavy machinery, like most little guys.) Suddenly I had the idea to take some photos and even film some, so I could show the older two after school.

After I filmed a little of their work, they stopped for a few minutes, and inspiration struck me. I am friendly, and I think I have developed pretty good social skills for someone as introverted as I am, but I do not like to talk to strangers, especially not large, manly ones, nor would I normally ask them to do something somewhat embarrassing. But I love my kids and I was so proud of Finn after my phone call from Miss Heather, which happened right before all of this construction commotion. So watch the video and see what I asked four manly men to do for my sweet, sensitive, stubborn Finn.





I wish you could have seen Finn's face when I showed him the video. He was so proud and excited, and we did watch it about 15 times in a row! Yay Finn!!!