First Day of School! First Day of School!

Dylie returned to school like three weeks ago. I'm a leetle behind in posting. But that's okay. I don't know why he was pointing his toe so daintily in this picture. It's not like he was in mid-stride when I took it. He totally posed that way. He cracks me up.

Dyls is a big first grader this year! And can I tell you how much I love that he's gone all day? I adore him, but he is a pretty exhausting little guy. So we need to be separated, he and I. It's good for both of us.

I was informed that Dylan's teacher, Mrs. F, is the "very best" first grade teacher. Whatev. Every teacher is the "very best" teacher, in my opinion. I hate when teachers are labeled like that. "Oh, she's the worst." "Oh, she's the best." "Oh, she's an Easy A." Teachers have the toughest job, and they should all be treated with kindness and respect. Those are my feelings, having been a teacher before. :) I'll get off my soapbox now. Mrs. F is nice as pie and very organized, so that's nice.

Dylan rides the bus again this year, and for some reason, he wants me to walk him to and from the bus stop every day. Last year, he didn't want me to do that. He insisted upon walking by himself. Which made me extremely nervous. But this year, he acts like he really needs me to walk with him, so I do it. I was going to try to talk him into walking by himself, but then Ben showed me a website that shows the sex offenders that live in our neighborhood, and that sufficiently scared me into walking Dylan to and from the bus stop for a long, long time. There aren't tons of sex offenders in our vicinity, but there are a few. I would hate for anything to happen to Dylie en route to the stop. So I go with him. I'm the only mom from the neighborhood that does that! But it's okay. I can give the other kids the evil eye if I hear one of them swear. I'm good at the evil eye. I have had lots of practice.

Dyl has to read fifteen minutes every night, plus do a little math worksheet. We do it as soon as he gets home. Because I know it won't get done unless we do it right then. Dylan kills with his math skills. I don't worry about that. I do worry about his reading, though. He seems a little...dyslexic. But I don't know. I know that early readers often exhibit signs that look like dyslexia, because it's just so new. He often starts sounding out the word from the ending letter instead of the beginning letter. I have to remind him to start at the left side of the word. And he mixes up his p's and q's and his b's and d's. It's something I'm going to watch out for. And maybe ask his teacher about.

He is making friends quickly and easily, as usual. I just love that about him. He's so outgoing. I don't think I'll ever have to worry about Dylan being too shy. :) One new friend gave him a Bakugan toy, and that is Dylan's new obsession. Another new friend came over to play the other day. And a third new friend taught him a particularly unsavory playground rhyme:

ABCDEFG,
Barney is my enemy.
Stick a gun into his nose,
Pull the trigger, there he goes...

I told Dylan that's not a very nice song to sing, that it is really violent. I don't even think Dylan realized what he was singing. And so it begins!! Oh well. I knew a few nasty playground rhymes myself in my day... And I turned out okay. Kind of. :)

Dylan refuses to have hot lunch. So I make him his lunch every day, and he loves it. Every day he gives me a review of his lunch that day: "I loved the sandwich, mom. Keep those coming. But I really hated the fruit. And I loved the string cheese." And then he gives me suggestions: "Mom, can you pack a water bottle with kool-aid in it tomorrow? I want to save some for the bus ride home, because I'm so thirsty on the bus. And can I have peanut butter and honey next time?" I'm cool making his lunches, because hot lunch is soooooooo expensive. I mean, I'm sure it's cheap compared to going out to lunch or whatever, but it's like $1.89 per lunch. Yikes. I got sticker shock just thinking about it. I know that we're probably spending the same on lunch stuff, but still. It doesn't feel like I'm spending as much when I'm packing his lunch. So I do it.