Summer ends, 1st grade begins

Why does summer seem to go by so fast? Its back to school for Apollo, which means a well deserved break for Melanie, read as: one less kid to contend with for 6 1/2 hours a day, but the school routine is kinda cutting into our summer fun. I am already lamenting the shorter days, earlier bed times, cooler weather, less time in the sun, and fewer evenings in the pool.
 
 

Apollo is a 1st grader now. This is his second year in a Spanish immersion program. Thus far, although he has some apprehensions about school in general, he is a good student. Apollo is very bright, and I am always blown away with how perceptive and insightful he is about things. There are some areas for concern however. Yes, I like to believe that my kids are perfect, and to me, they very much are, but I cant deny that I see character traits that will not fit in the mold that society has prepared for him. For this I am actually thankful. I want my kids to be different, but they need to learn to navigate around the "mold" to come out ahead. The real challenge is for us as parents: How do we help him be the person that he is, and at the same time help him to "fit in" with his peer group? Its not that he is awkward in any way, it is a simple matter of who he chooses to interact with and how. We try to help him find words for what he is feeling and ways for him to address those feelings.
  My favorite thing (and sometimes least favorite) about Apollo is that he can mimic and impersonate anyone. My personal favorite is when he impersonates me, especially me laughing. Once he starts in, I can't can't contain my own laughter. Apollo feeds off of this and mocks me even more. He has quite a talent for this. As much as I enjoy this behavior, his constant mimicry of Orion is aggravating after a while. Apparently he does this with his friends as well...at school, at the health club...anywhere, ALL the time. It will be interesting to see how well this is plays out for him. It border lines on being a bully at times.

We are considering getting him into theater as an outlet for his comedic talents. In the mean time, Melanie has informed me that I will be the one making the visits to the school for all behavioral matters...she blames my genetics after all.

  While Apollo is busy being a comedian/quasi-bully, Orion is busy saying the cutest and sweetest things. "See Apollo, I told ya!" - making a point to show his brother he was right.
 "I like chocolate milk because it tastes good,"- when asked why he always wants chocolate milk.
 "Dada, I want you to throw me in the sky like an airplane,"-every time we are in the pool together.
 "HEY! Mama put a baby diaper on me!" - Upon waking up in the morning and finding a pull-up on that wasn't there when he went to sleep. He gets very angry about this. (I am the one that puts them on him, but I let his mom take fall)
"Is it time to wake up yet?"-while prying my eyes open at 6am, "The sun is up, dada!"

My personal favorite for the past month was a conversation I had with Orion while lying in bed with him one night tucking him in. "Orion, you're getting so big!" I stated.
"I'm not big! I'm little!" he snapped back in protest.
Surprised by this I asked, "Don't you want to get big like Apollo?"
"No. I want to stay little," he replied.
"Why do you want to stay little?"
"Because, I'm dada's baby!" he answered, the meaning deeper than the words could convey.
A lump formed in my throat as I reassured him, "Orion, you will always be dada's baby. Even when you are as big as dada."
His grip tightened around my arm and within minutes he was fast asleep. I think 3-years-old is my favorite age.