Its the first day of school!!

It's back to school today!

Both of the girls were very happy to be starting school this morning, and everyone was up and moving without complaint. Its a warm sunny day, and they both looked so cute going off to school...one in her long braids, and one in hair that took two hours to straighten last night.

Paige is starting 4th grade today - and she was very happy when talk of school started last night. She has missed her friends a lot, and we have actually had to hide the yearbook from last year, as she keeps finding pictures of her friend, Brooke, in it, and then crying because she misses her.

This morning she was very excited, and seemed to have that expression of "FINALLY!! I thought you people forgot to send me to school for all of these days!!"

She has been a bit shy lately in public, so it will take her a while to warm up, but by this afternoon, she will be happily working back into her routine again.

And because I am a really geeky mom, I was so excited last week to buy Paige her first little bras - just the ones that look like half t-shirts, but I was like, "ooooooh, look Dakotah, these are sooooooo cute!!!" I got one that is pink striped, and one that is green striped (like Steve's shirt!).

Dakotah was less than enchanted by them, as she has (literally) grown into grown-up bras quite quickly. Paige is just, just starting tiny little buds of boobies, and I am finding the idea of "growing her big girl boobies" so bittersweet - she is growing up, that girl! She isn't wearing the bras just yet, but they are hanging on her bedroom door - probably until well past the New Year before they are truly needed.

And Dakotah - well, today is her first day of high school. She is taking it all in stride, and is quite excited for it. Luckily, she has finally seemed to shake mono - she was three full months with it, and I don't wish that experience on any teenager.

I was very sentimental yesterday, and said to her, "you are ready to start a new adventure that you cannot even begin to imagine just yet." In four years, she will grow and change so, so much, from a young teen to an almost-adult, ready to go out in the world. It will go by so quickly.

And during that time, she will be faced with so many choices to make - she will be confronted with all kinds of issues, partying, boyfriends, having her heart broken, driving, etc.

I hope we have given her a good base to make the right choices, and that she can still find solace in this ol' mom of hers when the world gets too big for her.

She had her friend, Ryan, over yesterday to "hang out" (teen slang for "someone to do nothing with"). Ryan played baseball with us this summer, and we are very good friends with his family. He just happens to have a little sister with T21 too, and she is THE cutest little girl in the whole world. (o.k., well maybe tied for first place with a few others!)

Ryan is such a sweet kid - polite, friendly, helpful - just an all around nice boy. He is going to the same high school as Dakotah this year - the first time they have been in school together.

When I was taking him home, I was saying the same thing to him that I had said to Dakotah - and I told them both to remember the conversation in 4 years at their graduation.

They both kind of rolled their eyes at each other, and said, "we aren't going to change that much."

We'll see. It'll be wonderful to watch...