I miss my blog.  I’m struggling to find time for it at the moment 😦 Work has been crazy over the past few weeks, and with school starting, busy weekends and a certain young man’s birthday, my spare time is vanishing fast (ha, as if I have spare time!).  So I will endeavour to catch up as I have lots of photos to share, from our summer adventures in London to a wonderful pirate party back in Berkshire.

But for now, back to that birthday!  A couple of weeks ago, Alex finally turned five.  With a much stronger awareness of time and dates, Alex has been anticipating the big day for some time!  And when it came to it he got confused and nearly forgot, as we were celebrating with a party the day after his actual birthday!

But not long after coming into our room on the morning of his big day, he spotted a big pile of presents and balloons and got stuck in!  It was a real pleasure watching him open presents this year.  There was no frantic unwrapping this year – instead, a much slower, careful approach with time to inspect each gift as he opened it!  He was so lucky, receiving some amazing lego sets, a football goal for the garden, plenty of brilliant books and some beloved Thunderbirds toys!

After a lengthy game of balloon football, we headed downstairs for birthday croissants and pain au chocolat!

With a picnic packed, Alex was in charge of selecting his birthday day trip – so we headed back to Legoland, grateful for our annual passes!  The weather was lovely and we splashed out on the queue jumping cards, so we could have a relaxed day with minimal queueing.  We hardly took any photographs – we were too busy on the rides!  But we all had a wonderful day.

Alex’s favourite ride was the log flume where he got drenched with his daddy!  And Sophie and I got soaked watching them as we didn’t spot the sprays pointing out into the observation point!

The next day, after a lovely swim and a relaxed lunch with my parents and some old NCT friends who were passing through London, we faced the chaos of a 5th birthday party in the local sports club with 25 small children!  Yikes!

Its the perfect venue, as there’s loads of space and plenty for the children to play on, including a bouncy castle.  They were all excited and bright red within seconds and clearly had a brilliant time!

The children didn’t stop moving to allow us to take any decent photographs – but here are a few snapshots of Alex’s friends! Here’s Poppy, Jake, Sophie and Sam:

And Una, Rosita, Arnold, Ralph and Ellis:

Despite the hyper running around, all our guests were so well behaved and everyone sat nicely for tea!  Here’s the birthday boy with his Spiderman birthday cake (and his best friend Finlay!)

He had such a special birthday weekend with some wonderful friends.  Everyone was incredibly generous and he got some amazing gifts.  Best of all, he sat down and wrote little thank you cards to lots of his family and friends.

Here’s my boy celebrating all his birthdays so far – he’s growing up so quickly. There’s no sign of baby in him anymore.  I’m so proud of the young man he’s becoming.

I’m sitting as the night draws in on Alex’s 5th birthday reflecting on what a milestone week this has been for him (more about his birthday tomorrow).  He’s started his school journey and taken a big step in his development.  And he’s taken to it like a duck to water.

As I said last time, he was so ready to start school and was super excited at the prospect.  So when the big day finally arrived, he couldn’t wait to get into his new school uniform, put on his new shoes and carry his own bag.  Sophie was thrilled at the prospect of a uniform too as she prepared to start the little school nursery on the same day.

Look at my pair – how grown up do they suddenly look?  I know it’s cliche, but sometimes it feels like minutes since they were babies in my arms – and now they’re dressing themselves, preparing their own breakfast and confidently heading into classrooms on their own!

We all walked together on their first day, taking our time to enjoy the journey and talk about the day ahead.

When we arrived, there was a real buzz of anticipation in the Early Years playground, with Alex excited to see his old nursery friends after the Summer break and Sophie relieved to see some of her chums from her childminder.

When doors opened, Alex confidently strode into his classroom, enthusiastically greeted his teacher and immediately settled down on the carpet to play – not even looking back as Matt and I left the room!  Sophie was a little more shy and timid, but as soon as she found her friend Jake, she relaxed and started playing too!

And that was that.  It happened very quickly, and then suddenly, Matt and I were walking home in silence – both reflecting on the massive milestone we’d just witnessed.

So how’s it been going?  Well, Sophie has definitely valued having her childminder friends there with her – here’s the gang at the end of their first morning in nursery.  She seems to be settling in nicely – she’s certainly quiet and a bit timid, certainly at the start of each session (and amusingly, her teacher – who knows Alex well – has commented that she can’t believe they are siblings, they are so different!), but I think she’ll be fine.

Alex is loving being a school boy!  He’s certainly finding school exhausting, but it sounds like he’s settled in brilliantly.  He’s made himself at home in the classroom – and getting up to mischief on a regular basis.  I must admit, I’ve felt a bit worried about him as one of the only thing Alex’s tells us about school is what trouble he’s been into – when he’s had a time-out and whether he’s been naughty.

But it seems he’s also being a good student, so hopefully he’s not totally annoying his teachers!  He had a lovely note in his school reading record about how fluently he read his first book to the teacher, and at the end of this first week, he was awarded Reception’s “Writer of the Week” for always practicing his handwriting!  He was presented with a certificate from the Head Teacher at lunch on Friday and was so proud to show us!  He also had a Literacy Prize sticker at the end of the week.

Here are his certificates – he got a cute one for his first day which he thoughtfully adorned with some handwritten notes saying “I love you mum” and “I love you dad” (or something close to that!).

Apart from that, Alex is sharing very little of what he gets up to at school.  Every so often, a little anecdote slips out – but generally all we learn about is what he eats during the day!  He’s still very excited about eating meals at school – although it seems that he’s almost exclusively eating Jacket Potatoes with a range of fillings!!

I hope his enthusiasm continues (and his menu choice gets braver), and that Sophie comes out of her shell a bit more so her teachers see her crazy personality too.

I’m sitting here surrounded by piles of school uniform and getting ready for a major milestone tomorrow.  Alex is starting school! It’s been such a busy few weeks, and I’ve been so focused on the practical things I have to do before the big day, that I haven’t really stopped to consider how I feel about it all!

He is so excited about going – and is totally ready for it. As an early September baby, I was frustrated last year that had I given birth 13 days earlier, he’d have started his reception year in 2014 – but seeing the boy he is now, I am so glad he’s waited the year. He’s benefited so much from his year in the school nursery and is now so much better able to thrive in a classroom.

I have a half written post about his brilliant nursery year which I’ll share at the weekend when I get a chance to finish it – but suffice to say he’s learned so much – both from an academic perspective as he’s reading fluently now and begin to write properly – but also on an emotional level.  He’s matured so much, and although still pretty feisty and impulsive, is so much calmer and thoughtful than he was 12 months ago.

So, we’ve spent the last couple of weeks getting his uniform together, buying school shoes, practicing deciding on lunch options ready for the school canteen, remembering his teacher and class name, and talking about what it will be like and how different it’ll be from the nursery room.  He was buzzing with excitement at bedtime tonight.  I wonder how many more year’s he’ll be like that before school starts for the year!

I’m so excited for him and for the journey he is about to begin!

And it’s not just Alex who hits a milestone tomorrow – I have two sets of uniform laid out ready for the morning as Sophie starts the school nursery too!  She’s going earlier than normal because as she’s a sibling and almost 3 years old, the nursery offered to take her now. She’ll be one of the youngest there – but when the early years team met her, they thought she was ready for it! Lots of her friends are going, so I think she’ll be fine.  I’m probably more nervous for her than I am about Alex as she’s a little more timid and shy (when you first meet her) so I think settling in may be a bit harder.  But we’ll see!

My babies are growing up so fast!  Look out for the obligatory school uniform posed photos in tomorrow!