Baxter told me today that they can purchase milk at lunch now, something he knows we've been wondering about. "But, Mommy," he said, "Some of the kids get chocolate milk at school!" So, in a generous mood, I said, "Well, how about if you buy chocolate milk on Fridays?" His face lit up and then lit up some more: "Or, Mommy, even better!!! How about if I can have chocolate soy milk on Fridays???" Ah, the things he thinks are the world's biggest treats...

Every night when I come home, I try to ask Baxter to tell me one thing he learned at school that day.

Today's answer?

"I learned that you can't talk at rest time."

You just can't make this stuff up.

Today's drop-off went well, once we hustled Baxter through breakfast and out of the house. He was still pretty tired when we woke him up, which led him to say something I never thought I'd hear him say: "I think I woke up too soon today." Maybe he'll actually sleep in on the weekends...

On the ride to school, I thought I heard Baxter say in his ridiculously enthusiastic voice, "I can't wait to learn something new today!" I wasn't 100% sure that I heard him right, since traffic can be pretty loud (Sorry, Mom, there is traffic, but don't worry — we always ride safely), so I asked him what he said. "Oh, nothing…" came his reply, "I was just talking to myself."

When we got to school, one of his classmates pulled up in one of these. Baxter thought that was pretty cool.

In a fit of enthusiasm, I volunteered yesterday to edit the PTA newsletter. I got an email back today from the PTA president saying that no one else had stepped up, so it looks like it'll be me.

Just for the record, Baxter reported that his day was "Great!" When I arrived to pick him up he said, "Was that a WHOLE day of kindergarten? I can't wait for tomorrow!" He told me that his favorite activity was playing basketball at recess (they have three recess breaks) and that a boy at the lunch table had a ham and cheese sandwich and said, "I love the ham but I hate the cheese" to which Baxter apparently responded with his enthusiastic self, "I love ham AND I love cheese!" (In case you were wondering what children this age talk about at the lunch table.) I couldn't think of much else to say about that fascinating conversation, other than, "Well, then, how about if I make you a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch tomorrow?" He was overzealously thrilled.

There were minor mishaps, such as the teacher not hearing him at lunch when he asked her to help him open his juice box. He seemed quite wounded by this (and more than a little thirsty). We all need to get used to the fact that there just isn't going to be an adult sitting with him at the table to notice that he's not drinking anything. I guess learning to speak up for yourself when you're thirsty is one of life's little lessons, really.

So, um, that's it?

Like Jordan said, I don't think today could have gone much easier. Baxter (and we) were by turns nervous and excited, but there were no emotional overflows or tearful farewells.

Baxter was sad to see me go, but turned right back to his puzzle as soon as he was sure that I was leaving. He's probably getting home right about now; hopefully he or Jordan will call me soon to let me know how it went.

Since I won't have too much to report until then, here's a link to the spiffy bike trailer that I'll be using to get Baxter to school.

August 29, 2005 - Baxter's First Day of Kindergarten

It's a beautiful, sunny morning in San Francisco, and Baxter's off at school. As predicted, everything went smoothly this morning. Baxter actually slept until 6:30 (a rarity!) and was excited about school. We were ready early, thanks to last night's preparations and a check-list we made for him to keep track of his new morning routine, so Baxter had some time to play before he left.

He enjoyed his bike ride over to school with Matt, and I walked Lyle in the stroller (25 mins.) since it was his nap time. We met on the school yard, where we found Baxter's teacher holding her "Room 106" sign. The principal gave a brief, spirited greeting, and lead the kids in a Grattan School cheer. The kindergarten kids were adorable, standing out there wearing their backpacks, surrounded by new friends. My cousin Sarahjane joined us to see him off, which was very sweet and much appreciated by us all.

We went into the classroom, which is surprisingly big and bright and has bathrooms adjacent to the room. (Handy for the little guys!) The kids got nametags and found places at tables that were set up with playdoh, stamps and ink, and lacing boards. They sat down and played, talking a bit to each other and looking around furtively. A few kids were teary when they said good-bye to their parents. The teacher welcomed parents to stay all day if we wished, but when I left after about 15 minutes only Matt and one other parent were left. I think we all figured we should high-tail it before anymore tears started. I needed to get Lyle home to sleep, but Matt was going to stay a bit longer. Baxter said good-bye easily - he had a little bit of a nervous look on his face but there were no tears or pleas for me to stay, so off I went.

There was an article on the front page of the SF Chronicle this morning about the difficult process of choosing schools in this city, and our elementary school was the featured public school. (Kind of a fun way to start Baxter's years there...) The situation described by the parents of a child named Julian was exactly our situation (didn't get any of our top 7 choices, were assigned to D'Avila, and we chose Grattan) - luckily, his parents sound happy with this decision. Here is a link to the article:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/08/29/MNGVJEERGP1.DTL

All in all, a good start. We'll see what he has to say this afternoon!

Tomorrow? Wow, tomorrow. Tomorrow morning, at 7:50 AM, Baxter will start his first day of kindergarten in San Francisco.

I've never done a blog before - haven't even read more than a handful of them - but many of our friends (whose kids will go to kindergarten next year) have mentioned that they'll be "living vicariously" through our experience this year and seem interested in the details. So, Matt and I thought that perhaps we'd write about it here from time to time for you all to see.

Baxter is "four-and-three-quarters", as he'd be sure to tell you. Thankfully, he's a very tall and social child so perhaps he won't seem like the youngest in his class. He told me today that he's "just excited", but noted that he will probably be scared tomorrow when it's time to actually go into school.

We've been walking that fine line between preparing him and provoking anxiety in him for the past two weeks...you know, gently helping him to get ready with some carefully selected books about what to expect in kindergarten while trying not to make TOO big a deal about it so as not to be the cause of nail-biting and crankiness. He's been a little testier than usual, but he's also over-tired from the fun vacation to Libertyville that we just returned from three days ago. (Here's something for the "note to self and future parents of kindergartners" category: be sure to allow a week at home between any summer vacation and the start of school! It's not easy getting a jet-lagged child ready to start school.)

We visited Grattan on Friday afternoon for their Milk & Cookies party, which was lovely and did indeed soothe any fears he had. He loved meeting his teacher, Ms. Cathy, who was incredibly friendly and kind, and getting a glimpse of his classmates. Baxter was happy to see a friend from his preschool there, and that friend happens to be in his class (phew!). A familiar face makes all the difference. He explored the school, walking ahead of us with confidence, and had such a great time out on the yard that he cried when it was time to leave: "I want this to be a full day of school! School is open! I don't want to wait for Monday!" What more could we ask for, really?

So now it's 9:45 PM , the night before. Baxter's been asleep for hours and we are preparing to turn in ourselves. After all, now we have to get up at 5:30 AM to shower and start getting ourselves ready before getting the kids up. Leaving the house with Baxter by 7:30 may be tough for a while. Thankfully, Matt has set up the coffeemaker so that it's ready to start brewing at dark o'clock in the morning when we will surely need it.

The new blue backpack is on the counter, with BAXTER GORDON printed carefully inside with a Sharpie. There's a piece of construction paper inside with little love notes glued on (again, thanks to Matt) from Daddy, Mommy and Lyle (okay, that last one was faked by Matt but Baxter will be amused). His lunchbox is in the fridge, packed by Daddy. We laminated two family photos back-to-back and stuck it in his lunchbox so that he'll know we're thinking of him while he munches on his super-organic almond-butter-and-jelly-on-live-grain-wheat-bread at lunch. (He's bound to come home asking, "Mommy, when can I have lunchables?") We picked out his outfit tonight - your basic khakis and orange t-shirt (his favorite color). He couldn't have cared less what he was going to wear, but the camera battery is charged and ready for a first day of school photo. Matt's gone to the garage and attached the brand new bike trailer to his bike so that he can bike with Baxter to school (this will be his mode of transport just about every day). In short, we're so ready that we'll be heading out the door 20 minutes ahead of schedule, I'm sure.

Everyone asks if we're nervous or sad about this big change. I can't speak for Matt, but I'm mostly just excited. I don't feel nervous at all, and sad? - no. It's more like nostalgia for me. Amazing how quickly we've gotten to this night, and how much Baxter has changed in these four-and-three-quarter years. But he couldn't be more ready for this new adventure, and I feel confident that he's completely up for it. That much was clear when we watched him bolt up the unfamiliar school stairs in search of the play yard on Friday. So I feel ready, as ready as that backpack and lunchbox and fresh outfit all laid out in his room. Then again, maybe that's just tonight.