Claire's First Day of Preschool

 

Today was Claire's first day of preschool. She's been thinking for days that a big yellow school bus was going to come pick her up, but much to her dismay, we got in Mommy's car and drove there. When we pulled into the parking lot, she threw her arms up and yelled, "We're here!" Her teacher came out to the car to get her (strange, I know, but they do this to avoid creating a scene in the classroom) and Claire said, "I'm going to play with my friends," and off she went. Her teacher stopped and asked her if she wanted to say goodbye to her mommy, and she glanced back and quickly said, "Bye Mommy!" before grabbing her teacher's hand and dragging her towards the school. Hayden was a bit confused by someone coming out to the car and running off with his sister, and he proceeded to cry the rest of the way home. Something tells me that there will definitely be a scene on his first day of preschool.

Learning to Walk

Claire is a great big sister. She gets Hayden his favorite toys when he's unhappy, reads him books (okay "reading" might be a bit of an overstatement, but she does describe what's on each page), gets rather miffed if she doesn't get to kiss him goodnight, and now she's helping him walk. At this rate, I am totally going to let her babysit when she turns 4.

Sweet big sister
 
No tackling, Hayden!
 
The chase is on!
 
This kid is total NFL material.
 

Scottish Festival

We went to Vermont's annual Scottish Festival today. We experienced some Scottish culture, watched traditional Scottish games, and watched other people eat traditional Scottish food (sorry, I'm not eating a lamb hot dog). Much of the crowd was dressed in authentic attire, like this:
 
And this:
 
And some others in not so authentic attire, like this:
 
And Lothar of the Hill People was there, too:
 
Claire apparently ingested rocket fuel before we left and these are the pictures we took of her:
 
 
 
This is one of the "traditional games" I mentioned earlier - the tossing of a freakin' TELEPHONE POLE! Fun!
 
 
And some good ol' Vermont scenery on the way home:
 
 
And of course, the cutest boy in Vermont:
 

Random Bits of Cuteness

Yes, it was chilly enough for jackets today. If you're jealous, remember that we had snow on the ground until the middle of April.

 
 
 
 

To see more pics from today, click here.

Hayden's First Birthday Bash

 

We celebrated Hayden's birthday last Sunday with a fish-themed pool party at Baba and Grump's house. Lots of old friends and their kids joined us in wishing the Little Man a happy first birthday.

Click here for pictures (you'll need to sign up for a snapfish account if you don't already have one).

One year later

Dear Hayden,
I'm not sure if there will ever be a time in my life when I look at you and don't see this baby.

 

Your legs definitely aren't skinny anymore, that head full of dark fuzzy hair is now full of beautiful curls that make women swoon, and those sweet tiny feet are now almost as big as your sister's. There's no denying that you've grown up, but I can't imagine a milestone or an age when I won't look at you and think of you as my little baby.

Happy birthday, Little Man.

 

Love,
Mommy