No More Snaggle Tooth!

Sienna's front tooth has been really wiggly for a few weeks now, but she hasn't let us try to pull it out.  Where is Aunt Tracy when we need her?!?   Her permanent tooth was starting to come in behind it, too. It looks like her mouth is growing which is creating spaces to get ready for her adult teeth to grow in (unlike Isabella's which are so crowded!).  She could make herself look like a beaver by putting her two middle teeth over her bottom lip.



Before...

  With a bribe of a bowl of ice cream and a lot of negotiation, Sienna finally let Mike pull her tooth out last night.  She can be just a tiny bit dramatic sometimes! 

Good-bye, snaggle tooth!



So proud!!

Sienna's little baby teeth are so funny because she used to grind her top teeth on her bottom front teeth when she was little. Thankfully, she has outgrown that habit, so her permanent teeth should be fine. She wrote the Tooth Fairy a cute letter. We've learned in the past that the Tooth Fairy who visits our house is named Petunia and her favorite color is periwinkle. There are many Tooth Fairies because there are so many kids who lose teeth that it's too big of a job for one fairy. Petunina is friends with Santa and E.A. Sterbunny (the Easter Bunny). Sienna wondered where the Tooth Fairy lived and she left Sienna a note saying that she lives near some of the other Tooth Fairies: Lily, Rose, Dahlia, Chrysanthemum and Zinnia! Sienna has happy to find her note and $1 next to her bed this morning! (Actually, she told me that she woke up at 4:00 and read the note then because she was so excited.) Silly girl!

Elijah's First Day of Preschool

Our little guy headed off to preschool today! Last night he picked out a "handsome outfit", so he was ready to go today!It's hard to believe that all three of our kiddos are in school now!We caught Elijah's big friend, Thomas, before he headed off to seventh grade this morning.
Our handsome big boy!!!
The start of a new tradition... Adam and Elijah's official first day of school photoElijah, Adam and Anna are ready for action!Sienna and Isabella were able to send Elijah off on his first day!Elijah led the way down the hall and didn't even look back!He found his cubby and knew just what to do!Four alumni look on as the little guys head in to class.Elijah found a seat and got right down to business.Time to be dismissed!Elijah and Sammy made it through their first day!

Elijah's Preschool Open House

Elijah had his preschool open house this morning. He and his friend, Adam, were ready and raring to go!!Elijah caught up with his playgroup friends, Sammy, Anna and Adam once we got to school.He has the same cubby that both of the girls had!Elijah wasted no time getting busy at school. He started out at the sand table for a while before he tried this puzzle. He thought it was silly to mix up the colors.Of course, Elijah had to use his favorite color, orange, to color this entire picture.And more orange... Elijah sticks out his tongue when he's concentrating just like Mike and Isabella do!The girls taught Elijah how to sit "criss cross applesauce" which he demonstrated for his teachers, Miss Monica and Miss Diann. He's ready for school!!I just looked back at my post from Sienna's preschool open house three years ago and it looked pretty similar to Elijah's! You can check it out here.

Six Years and Counting...

Every year I love to look back at all of the first day of school photos over the past six (!!!) years. We have been photographing Isabella and her friend, John, on the first day of school since they started preschool. It's amazing to see how much they have changed!

First year of preschool-2006Second year of preschool-2007Kindergarten-2008First grade-2009Second grade-2010Third grade-2011Next year Isabella and John will move on to the intermediate elementary school in our town. Whether they like it or not, they will pose for this picture for the next 9 years!

First Day of School!

Today the girls headed back to school after a fun-filled summer that went by way too quickly. For some reason, I'm having a hard time sending them off to school this year. Maybe it's because our baby, Elijah, is heading to preschool for the first time. I love my time with them and it's going by so quickly. How is it possible that Isabella is starting third grade and Sienna is starting first? An article titled Bittersweet Song of September by Beverly Beckham on Boston.com sums up my feelings exactly. Click here to read it.
Isabella is ready to have her hair and nails done before school.Now it's Sienna's turn!The three amigos.School girlsReady with their over-loaded backpacks!Isabella, the third grader!Sienna, the first grader!Unfortunately, it was a little rainy this morning.Hope and Isabella wait for the bus.Sienna, Luke, John & IsabellaAlmost the whole gang. We manage to fill up the bus with the kids from our neighborhood.John, Sarah, Hope & IsabellaThird graders (9 out of 11 in our neighborhood)
First graders (6 out of 9 from our neighborhood)And they're off!A happy first grader coming off the bus. When I asked Sienna how she liked first grade, she said, "I love it!!" She has a sweet first grade teacher who is so warm and soft spoken but has been at the school for a long time and has a lot of tricks up her sleeve. I know that Sienna will have a great year!Isabella has had a great start to the year, too! After open house last night, she said, "I think Miss A---- is going to be my favorite teacher!" I'm so happy that she loves her teacher and seems to have a nice class. She's looking forward to doing projects throughout the year and participating in the Science Fair in March. Their desks are separated into four clusters and each one represents a "house" from Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books. Isabella is starting out as a Slytherin!

Sienna's Second Lost Tooth!

Sienna lost her second tooth today just in time for the start of first grade tomorrow! After the tooth was hanging on by a string for a few days, Sienna finally let me pull it out this afternoon (after Isabella offered her a dollar if she let me pull it out).Sienna let me pull out her first tooth back on June 22nd, just days before she finished Kindergarten.We did the whole dental floss trick, and it worked like a charm! So Sienna started and ended the summer with a lost tooth!