The next chapter of his life...

This past week, we've been getting ready for Gabriel to move into the next chapter of life.  Although he graduated from pre-school back in May, this last week he attended he final day at pre-school and was thrilled with the idea that he'd soon be starting kindergarden. 

He's been counting down the days for over a week (well actually more than a few months) but now that we were down under the 10 day mark, each morning he'd wake up and say, "Mom, in 5 days I'll be going to Kindergarten", and so on.

Early last week, I make a special effort to take Gabriel school supply shopping all on his own and he was so proud to come home and show Daddy, Michael and even Jack all his necessary supplies.  It was wonderful to watch him celebrate each school supply as he took it from the plastic store sack and shoved them into his over sized, bigger-than-him, backpack (the one he insists on using even though it would better fit a 5th grader). 

Also last week, Gabriel came into my room one morning and said, "look mom!" as he proceeded to open up his mouth, point to one of his molars and wiggle it with his finger.  "Its loose!"  Immediately I decided, we'd better visit the dentist to check into it.  As we arrived to his appointment, I had prepared Gabriel by telling him there was a chance that they might pull it.  Being that this wasn't the first tooth he would have lost, he seemed thrilled with the idea.   In fact, on the way to the dentist office, he and Michael had a conference and decided it would be best to have the dentist pull all of Gabriel's teeth, then they'd get a lot of money from the tooth fairy and then they could buy a "whole bunch of new toys!"  I guess they don't realize how much new toys cost, because their tooth fairy doesn't pay all that well.

Sitting in the dentist chair, the dentist decided the tooth would indeed have to come out and at that point Gabriel decided he didn't want to give up all his teeth.  Pulling one would be okay but not the rest.   (On a side note, Mom decided that after getting the bill of how much it costs just to pull an already loose tooth, that we'll be pulling the rest of the teeth from home.)  Meanwhile Michael sat on my lap and insisted the dentist pull all of Gabriel's teeth.  When I asked if he wanted to have his tooth pulled, he said, "No, Mom, Gabriel's teeth are better, I need mine to eat."  So much for brotherly love huh?

Gabriel putting his daily snack into his backpack and his outfit for the first day sitting on the bed.  But he's not excited or anything!

Practicing for the first day...

See what I mean about the bag being big enough for a 5th grader.

Also last week, Gabriel came into my room one morning and said, "look mom!" as he proceeded to open up his mouth, point to one of his molars and wiggle it with his finger. "Its loose!" Immediately I decided, we'd better visit the dentist to check into it. As we arrived to his appointment, I had prepared Gabriel by telling him there was a chance that they might pull it. Being that this wasn't the first tooth he would have lost, he seemed thrilled with the idea. In fact, on the way to the dentist office, he and Michael had a conference and decided it would be best to have the dentist pull all of Gabriel's teeth, then they'd get a lot of money from the tooth fairy and then they could buy a "whole bunch of new toys!" I guess they don't realize how much new toys cost, because their tooth fairy doesn't pay all that well.
Sitting in the dentist chair, the dentist decided the tooth would indeed have to come out and at that point Gabriel decided he didn't want to give up all his teeth. Pulling one would be okay but not the rest. (On a side note, Mom decided that after getting the bill of how much it costs just to pull an already loose tooth, that we'll be pulling the rest of the teeth from home.) Meanwhile Michael sat on my lap and insisted the dentist pull all of Gabriel's teeth. When I asked if he wanted to have his tooth pulled, he said, "No, Mom, Gabriel's teeth are better, I need mine to eat." So much for brotherly love huh?
Less than 20 minutes later, Gabriel sat with his prized possession, a plastic treasure chest with a tooth inside.  We also learned that his 6 yr molars are starting to come in and the dentist informed me that those teeth are the first of his adult teeth.  Beaming from ear to ear with a bloody gauze in his mouth, he puffed up his chest and walked a little taller as we left the office.  Yet another milestone Gabriel was excited about in his quest to become an "adult" overnight. 

Showing us where the tooth was pulled.

As so tonight, we are preparing for the big day tomorrow.  I'm convinced I'm more filled with nerves and anxiety of what his first day will be like,  I have a feeling I'll be the emotional one tomorrow too.  He's so excited and thrilled to begin his first day at school, I'm excited for all of the fun and learning he'll experience this next year. 

One of my colleagues at work whose daughter graduated from college just last year, warned me and said, "Angie if you can get through the first drop off at kindergarten, you'll be able to handle every other drop off, including the one when they go to college."  So we'll see how tomorrow goes.  I'm so excited and happy for him to be growing into the wonderful student and child he strives to be.

Until next time,
angie