First Day of Pre-K

Elias had his first day of Pre-K last week at his new school. He was a little apprehensive about not going back to his preschool from last year, but he warmed up within the first few seconds of being in his new classroom and seeing the potential for so many new friends.

He goes to school three mornings a week and spends the other mornings asking me why he can't go to school that day.

We're really excited about this new school and know it will be a phenomenal experience for all of us this year!

This first day of school picture was actually taken after school. In classic Brown Family style we were running late to get him to school on time and miss the classic on-the-porch or in-the-tree first day of school picture. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that Elias was up for 3 hours during the middle of the night before school started, causing extreme exhaustion for all of us. :-)

All the parents and students went to the class and read The Kissing Hand together. A really sweet story and Elias has talked about it over and over again.

First Sleepover

Elias has a best friend named Elijah. The first things Elias will tell you about his friend is that "he has brown skin like me", he "likes cars too" and that "we're both from Eef-opia".

Elias has found a lot of comfort in the ways he identifies with Elijah. I honestly thought that identity around race/color and adoption would come at a later age, but these boys haved talked often about their color, adoption and birth families since eary on (age 3 and 4). Needless to say, all of us are just thrilled that they have each other.

We are fortunate to know Elijah and his family, and it's a huge bonus that they live just 4 miles away from us. The boys LOVE to get together and go through withdrawal if they are apart for very long. We've been out of town SO much this summer and Elias has been so sad not to see his best friend very much.

With all this time apart, we decided that a sleepover was in order. This was Elias' first time to have a friend spend the night, and to say that he was excited is an understatement. He checked in with me at least 30 times that day to make sure Elijah was still coming to spend the night.

The boys played for a while, had some yummy homeade ice cream, and then it was time for bed. They carefully arranged their identical Cars sleeping bags on the floor of Elias' room. While I was reading them a story, I noticed that Elias adjusted his sleeping bag over and over again to make sure that it was touching Elijah's at all points possible. He didn't want to be an inch too far from his best friend!

After the boys were down, us parents played games for a couple of hours longer. The whole time we could hear whispers and giggles and numerous trips to the bathroom. Every time I checked on them they'd be back in their sleeping bags, side-by-side, chatting away. I have no idea what two boys can talk about for so many hours! (Elias told me later they were talking about racing cars. No surprise there).

So excited to be together!

Getting settled in their sleeping bags

Finally fast asleep. (Notice how Elias, ever the snuggler, is touching Elijah's arm.)

Just 6-7 hours after falling asleep, the boys woke up bright (actually it was still dark) and early. Needless to say Elias was very tired and subsequently put his shorts on backwards. He couldn't figure out how to turn them around and kept trying to twist them to the front while still wearing them and got so frustrated. So sweet friend Elijah helped him get them off and on again.

After getting some fuel from chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, the boys raced around and around and around until Elijah's parents came to pick him up.

We can't wait for the next sleepover!