And just like that, after two short (but very long) years, Baby goes to school.

He also celebrated his second birthday a couple weeks ago. He had family, friends, presents, Thai food, juice, and chocolate cake. Aside from the 15 seconds he blacked out while eating a half pound of cake (we’ve yet to give him much in the way of sugar), what shall we guess of his favorite part of the party? If you guessed anything other than the playground that’s available to him on any other day, you’d be wrong. He just wanted to play with trucks in the dirt.

So back to this school business. As mentioned in the previous post, it’s a wonderful place. He did exceptionally well with the transition, and even naps a little during the day. The biggest challenge for us will be food. We pack the lunch, so we need to provide nutritious food that’s essentially left out for several hours before lunch time. We can put something in a cooler or thermos, which may be necessary for the protein part. We have some go-to’s but don’t want to be so lazy that he’s not getting a variety. We’ve half-indulged his picky eating thus far so it’s biting us a bit. But Baby is a toddler, so a little bit of pickiness is to be expected right? That’s what I’ve told myself anyway.

Cute moment: while visiting the school for a potluck, Baby grabbed his lunchbox and brought it over to their eating table to show me what they do for lunch. He then showed me where he washes his hands. Is this the beginning of that long period of parenthood where the child tells you about school and shows you what he made during the day? Next up visiting school plays? Homework? Graduation? Requests to borrow money?

A birthday message to Baby: you are a very sweet little guy and I love you. You are playful and patient and I can’t imagine any other life path that doesn’t involve you. My greatest wish for you in life is to be empowered to find happiness, joy, and fulfillment in anything you do. And good health. I will do my best to give you a childhood that points you in that direction.