Gap-toothed boy

Xander lost a tooth last night. He's really starting to look like a first-grader!

Our first week of school has been good. Maia got to go to daycare for the first time ever in her whole life last week on Thursday afternoon. I took her to a big commercial daycare just down the street from us because of where they're located, their reputation, and the fact that they'll take kids as drop-ins for an hourly rate.

When I went to pick her up, they said, "She did.... okay." Not the glowing review you hope for when it comes to your kids! They tried to put her down for a nap, but she didn't have her blanket, and also she doesn't usually take a nap until 3:30 or 4:00 (works good with my after-school lesson schedule), so she was not having anything to do with that.

Oh well, she'll start to enjoy her time eventually, right? Hopefully, it's not a permanent solution for us. I'm thinking we should be able to find a college student to help us out a few days a week. We're going to need someone to put the kids to bed on Wednesday nights since worship team practice won't start until 8:00, and we're going to kind of have a small group (we're not going to be an official one until we find out about whether or not we're switching churches... Read Matt's blog) on Sunday nights, so we're going to need some regular help.

Xander, meanwhile, loves school. All City Elementary is a great school, and even though the drive is a bit of an inconvenience, it's so great to get to be a part of his classroom every week. I go on Thursday afternoons (that's why Maia has to go to daycare), so last Thursday was my first day. It's a great way for parents to get to know every kid in the class, and several of the parents, as we volunteer together. We get to do such things as playground duty, lunch duty, grade papers, help with classroom work, make copies, and basically anything the teacher needs. It's a great concept. The school doesn't have to pay teacher's aides, the classroom size can be a lot bigger, there is hardly ever a discipline problem- because your mom or someone else's is always there!- the kids really are respectful, no student gets "left behind" because there's always someone available to help him or her, and we as parents get a realistic view of our kids' performance in the classroom. It's great. I'm so glad we have been given this opportunity!

This week, Xander brought his "Me Bag" to school. The kids were given a small paper bag to put 5 items in that help explain who they are. Xander put a picture of him and Maia, a Bionicle, a Lego robot that he made himself, a green Hot Wheels car and the number 6.