1st day of preschool, 2nd grade and the dentist

August 16th was a big day for Allyson. It was her first official day at preschool and her first dentist appt. She was super excited for both. The morning of school she woke up and got ready for school. She was slightly disappointed to find out she didn't need a backpack or lunchbox. The school provides the lunches. But she had a great day and loves going.
Right after school we went home, brushed and headed for the dentist. My kids LOVE the dentist. Go figure. We have a great dentist who usually doesn't take kids but if they're really really good he'll keep them. We're 2/4 so far. Hopefully Ry and Nate will be just as easy. Ally's teeth looked perfect and she walked away the proud owner of a new Sleeping Beauty toothbrush and special toy she got to pick out from their prize basket. She asks all the time when she gets to go again.
Here is Ally playing at the first table she could get to. That was right before she had to go write her name on a piece of paper. She knows how to write her name really well but I made the mistake of teaching her Ally and not Allyson. At school they have her write Allyson. She looked at me like, "What's this?" when she saw the paper. She now proudly writes Allyson!
Emily was so excited to show her the ropes and this was Ally doing her own version of hop scotch which Emily promptly taught her the correct way!

Emily is a big 2nd grader. She is having the best year so far. She is so grown up. She's made several new friends and each day so far has been declared, "the best day so far." I love it. She has such a positive attitude this year about school and soccer. She just loves both. She's always liked school, though, so that doesn't count I guess.
Being goofy. At least I got one cute picture.

Nathan

Nate is 9 months and growing by the day. I have been very bad about blogging pictures. Not nearly as good as I was with the girls. He is a very happy easy going baby. He mostly only cries when he wants to be held or is hungry. He learned how to crawl a month ago and loves to roam around the house while I do stuff. He quickly learned how to climb up the stairs. He loves to do that and has fallen backwards several times onto the hardwood floor. It would hurt any kid but he especially cries because he is the biggest baby, no pun intended. He has zero pain tolerance.

Nate weighs in now at 18.5 lbs. I can definitely feel that weight increase carrying him around. I'll be thankful when he can walk.

He loves to feed himself. He gets this resigned look on his face when I feed him baby food but when I bring out a finger food for him his eyes light up and he has a light-hearted countenance.

His favorite thing to do right now is growl. He loves to growl. It doesn't matter what he's doing, he's usually growling. It's always a happy growl, though. It's really cute. He also loves to blow raspberries. That ones a little more challenging as he soaks his clothes.

Overall, Nate is a happy, easy going baby. I just wished he slept all night!