Firsts

Today was Harriet's first day at kindergarten. Oh man oh man was she excited! Uhmmm...not that you'd know from these photos. She started howling at the mere mention of photos and it was only with the discussion that Nana and Grandpa wanted to see a photo of her in her new uniform that elicited the brief pause for this lovely gem. Seriously, this was as good as it got.

It's a shame too, because she had been excitedly jabbering to the workers that arrived at our place at 7.30am ("I'm starting my first day at kindergarten today!"). Telling Teddy over and over again that she was going to school today (to which Teddy adamantly replied "NO!" each time she said it). Packing her bag, and even actually wearing her bag the whole way down to the school without complaint - that lasted until after school when it was promptly placed on Jimbo's back.

We packed her new lunchbox (thank you Sarah!), which we finally were able to pack with eggs for some long lasting protein (last two years there has been a child with a severe egg allergy in her class). She requested Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to be in her bag "in case she had some time to read". Bear went along for the ride, of course, sitting with his head poking out of the top zipper.

In her classroom she was seated next to her preschool NEMESIS! Dum dum dum (said in scary music tone)! Jack's name was on the table but we were all hoping it was some other Jack. Unfortunately it wasn't. And across from her was Matilda who Harriet has taken a distinct dislike to as a result of a hapless comment from her about how Harriet isn't able to marry Ted when they're older. Of course such an attack on her very organised future was not handled well, and so Matilda was struck off the register of friends without further to-do.

Feeling a little trepidatious about her seating arrangement we went to the primary assembly in the hall which was worth it only to see a whole pile of five year olds rolling around out of boredom on the hall floor in brand new uniforms.

Ted - well he hung out at his favourite place in the schoolyard - the bubblers. Nothing this boy loves more than a squirt of water flying up high in the air and when there were a couple of older boys around to really get the water spray up high he was LOVING it! Giggling and running around under the water (and hell we all wanted to get under there with him, it was hot as anything today).

When we went to pick her up...oh. my. GOD! The very first words out of her mouth upon seeing us were "I want to go back to school right NOW!". She then skipped and laughed up the road back to the shopping centre telling us all about how great her day was and how much she loved school. When we came home she proceeded to play 'kindy green' for *hours*, with a whole range of toys in on the act. Each one had to sing a song, draw a picture, and they had to cross their arm over their lap if they were nervous about coming to kindy again tomorrow, to which Harriet (as teacher of course) then went up to each student and quietly had an encouraging and supportive word with them about coming to school. If her teacher acted even half as caring and gently as she seemed to from Harriet's play then I'm one happy parent.

Harry has also informed us that she wants the school to be like Hogwarts, so she can stay there all the time (ie: a boarding school). She's still up now, at 9.15pm because getting to sleep when you've had such an exciting day is (apparently) quite difficult.

The Sunday before school started Harriet also lost her lower front tooth! She was most excited about finally finding out whether fairies were real or not. And although she has been told that parents put the money under the pillow, etc. she is absolutely determined to believe in the tooth fairy. So we obliged by writing a note to the tooth fairy (because the actual tooth got lost), and in the morning James said to Harry "I woke up last night to the sound of fluttering, I wonder what that was?". Excitedly she dashed to the little tooth box and was beyond thrilled to find two coins in there (because apparently the tooth fairy has a baby fairy that is learning the spells come around to children's homes with her - luckily this gem of information came out during the previous night's discussion).

And just so as not to leave out the Tedmeister - he is being beyond cute lately. His favourite sayings are "Go dehr - now" and "No, fine" (if you ask him if he wants something and he doesn't want it). He loves to paint, he loves to play on the bouncy with Harriet in the backyard but mostly...mostly he LOVES to play with his train tracks. He has worked out that to stick the magnets together you sometimes have to turn them around, and he uses train tracks in any book or photo with a real toy train over the top whilst making the train sound. He also is probably right up for puzzles and things now because he has worked out how to manipulate the train pieces into position by turning them over and placing the right ends together. Too cute.

There has been heaps going on recently - our shed has been painstakingly demolished piece by piece in blazing hot sun, the landscapers have arrived and our backyard currently looks like a dust bowl, and we're in the process of booking a holiday. But really, is there anything bigger than losing your first tooth and starting your first day at school within the same 48hr period?