First Day of School - 2nd Grade

Today was Priya's first day of school. With the new puppy at home and her usual case of the this-is-something-new-jitters, when I was tucking her in last night she admitted that she didn't want to go to school. However, this morning she awoke on her own and got ready quickly and with a great attitude. She was happy about it after all. While driving to school, she started to get nervous about not remembering all the rules from last year. She said there were too many and she was afraid she would mess up and disobey a rule without knowing it, landing her in trouble. Caboose went with us to school and I think that helped ease the transition this morning as her mind was focused elsewhere.

When I picked her up from school she told me that she missed me a lot today and wanted to come home during lunch. Tonight when I tucked her in she told me she was worried about tomorrow and if the same thing would happen to her. She asked me what she should do. These are the tough times as a Mom, because what I wanted to say was... "Well, honey, how about tomorrow you just stay home with us?", but that's not possible. So I encouraged her to be strong and promised that I wouldn't pack her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The rules don't seem clear on the peanuts in school. It seems as though some teachers allow it and others don't... I need to do some research. Anyway, she wasn't permitted to eat her peanut butter sandwich today so she was hungry which contributed to her stomach ache; the one that started because she missed me. So, those things, plus the reminder that this was only a 3 day week of school alleviated her concerns, at least for tonight. I suspect that within days, she'll be excited about waking up and going to spend more time with her new friends.

As usual, I snapped lots of photos this morning however in many of the pictures Priya's smile was forced and uneasy. This one was by far the best and from what she's holding in her arms, you can probably see why her smile is so natural.

Our New Baby

We went yesterday morning to pick out Caboose, a fitting name for his position in the family as the "last one". I think we probably over-analyzed this picking-a-puppy thing and we were possibly too prepared for the decision we were about to make. We had a list of tests to perform, characteristics to look for, things to avoid and yet it still took us more than an hour to decide which puppy to make part of our family. By the end, we had narrowed it down to 2 and from there it was really like flipping a coin. We ended up leaving this guy behind which oddly enough is making me more sad now that I've downloaded the pictures from my camera than it did that morning. If only we had the room and the patience for two puppies... we would have surely ended up with him as well.



But, alas, our Caboose is the one with the not-so-perfect markings, the curly hair, and the "gay" tail. All of which make this little puppy less of a Berner according to the breed standards. But, for us, he was a perfect match for a family pet. Here he is on the car ride home, taking very well all the oohing and aahing from the kids in the back seat. They can't get enough of him.



This is one of the first pictures of him at home. He got a little homesick by the time the sun went down last night. We could tell by his occasional whining and his inability to get relaxed. It was as if he was conveying these thoughts: "Ok, this has been fun but can you take me home now?".



However, today... relaxation was not a problem at all. Here he is enjoying the cool tile on the kitchen floor; his favorite spot for an afternoon nap.