First Day of School!

The weather in New York City could not have been lovelier for little mister's special day.  It felt like fall today and one might even call it perfect "first day of school" weather. 

The school asked that only one parent accompany each child at school so not to crowd the teeny tiny classroom, but Josh did walk us there so that he was able to see our little guy off (and make sure that we got a few hundred pictures of him). 

Once we arrived, Olin did wonderful... he was polite, engaged, funny, and he seemed to love every minute of it.  The school phases the children into the classroom gradually over the week so today he was in the classroom for just one hour with me sitting in the corner as a quiet observer, tomorrow he stays a little longer with me only there part of the time (but close by the rest of the time clutching my cell phone in case he needs me) and then hopefully, by Wednesday, all of the little ones are up for the challenge of a full day in school without mom and dad.  It seems so quick to me, but I know he will do great!

I know it's a lot of pictures below (and there is more to come), but I am so proud of our little boy I couldn't resist.  Today is definitely a day that we will remember forever.

Preparation for the Big Day

School starts on Monday and we could not be more excited around here for little mister.  His three sweet teachers, Cornelia, Joanna, and Gail, came over to our house yesterday to meet their newest pupil.  And then last night was Parent's Night and finally today was Olin's first visit to the classroom with one of the other little boys in his class.

His teachers have a lot of fun things planned for the class - music lessons (including a Raffi module!), cooking, field trips to the Post Office, a fire station, and a pizza parlor (where they get to learn how to make authentic NY pizza!), lady bug and tadpole raising and so much more!  I loved school so much when I was little and I know Josh did too so we are looking forward to all of the experiences our little guy is going to have.

Josh and I have celebrated various accomplishments over the years, but today, watching our little boy explore his classroom and play with his teachers with not even the slightest hint of trepidation was perhaps one of my proudest moments.  I am not embarrassed to say that I even started to tear up a little as I sat there with him.

P.S.  I tried to get a little video of him in his classroom today, but the other little boy with us (who attended the school last year by the way) screamed at the top of his lungs for much of the time.  Which, to me, makes little mister's adjustment to the classroom even that much more impressive.

A High Fashion Play Date

Not really, but these were the babies of the Saks Fifth Avenue accounting department so I like to think of them all "baking" in a very fashionable environment (or at least as fashionable as an accounting department can get).  Baby Andrew, who we played with earlier this summer, is the son of my friend Lisa and baby Izabella is the daughter of my friend Luney.  The little ones are all within seven months of each other in age so it's so great to be able to get them all together. 

I didn't get great pictures of them this time because they were all over the place so you will have to take my word for just how cute they were.  They played with all of Andrew's great toys, they drank from each other's water bottles, some ate and some didn't (ahem, Olin) and only one melted down (again, Olin).  Aside from the meltdown, we had a great time and it's always so wonderful to be able to catch up with other mommies!  Thanks again Lisa for having us!

Nee Nee

Perhaps only my mom and dad will appreciate this, but I thought I would post it anyway because I love it so much.  (Please don't be alarmed by the doll in the video, she looks the way she does because she has been well loved for nearly 35 years)

Over The (Holiday) Weekend

Well, there's a mouse in the house.  I hope the singular "mouse" is factual because the thought of more than one gives me total anxiety and Josh (bravely) caught one this morning (after setting six traps of three different types in our tiny kitchen) so hopefully it's just the 3 of us in here again. 

There are many reasons why I believe that Josh and I were meant for each other - one of which is our shared irrational fear of rodents.  On Saturday night, after we first spotted it, we tried to solve the mystery of how this thing got into our place and we actually believed that there was a possibility that it scaled the exterior wall three stories and climbed into our unscreened window.  So in the heat of the summer, we slept with our windows and bedroom doors tightly closed without a fan (us, not Olin - he was well cooled by our one operating fan).  Anyway, between our fear of the mouse and the excruciating heat of our bedroom, Josh and I slept less than four hours on Saturday night.  I am embarrassed to say that although we hold three master's degrees between us, a little mouse can yield us so completely idiotic.

Seriously, I can't remember much from the weekend because of our complete preoccupation with our unwanted visitor, but I do remember that on Saturday we went to the outlet mall in Monroe, NY to find Olin school clothes (I can't believe he starts school next Monday!) and as soon as we got there we immediately regretted the decision.  I swear that people lose their minds when they shop at outlet malls and I never seem to find any great deals.  We did manage to find little mister three adorable outfits and two pairs of shoes though so it wasn't a total loss.

Monroe is also near Middletown, NY where one of my primary PwC audit clients was located and thus where I spent the better part of two years so I was able to show Josh around town and take my guys out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants there, Cosimo's.

On Sunday we unpacked most of the rest of our things and then on Monday, we had lunch at our favorite Le Pain Quotidien, went shoe shopping for me, and went to Bed, Bath & Beyond to buy a fan for our room and more mouse traps (of course).

Hope everyone had a great (and mouse free) weekend!

Thank You Uncle Matt and Aunt Julie!

Boiler Up!  We love it...

Happy Labor Day!