First Day of School and Anna Got Braces!

The first day of school was August 12th! Normally, I take the day off. However, there was a meeting at work I needed to attend. But, Thomas and I both did a shortened day. We walked Luke and Kara to school. Kara was nervous. I am sure it was hard for her.  As I've probably said (more than once I am guessing) she had been at Hollywood Elementary since Pre-K, so to be starting over as a 5th grader was difficult. For example, she was disappointed that safety patrols and the morning news crews had already been assigned (things she likely would have been able to do in Hollywood). She had a great attitude, but we still felt bad for her. Luke had no such memories and walked in like he owned the place. He was not even slightly nervous. He was just ready to get the day going. We were allowed to walk him to his classroom and I don't think he even looked back at us when we left.

And, just like that, all Wilson children are officially school-aged.

May he always have the kind of confidence that he exhibited on the first day of Kindergarten!

We then walked with Jack and Anna to their bus stop. Our neighborhood is so big and has so many kids that their bus stop fills an entire bus. And, my understanding is that there is more than one in the neighborhood! They were both nervous. The other kids at the bus stop all seemed to know one another. Fortunately, Jack and Anna had each other. But, again, I felt bad. In Hollywood, they knew all the kids in their old neighborhood. 

Luckily, the first week went well for everyone. I asked them on a scale of 1-10 what they would give the week, with 1 being the worst week ever; 5 being just what they expected; and 10 being the best week, so wonderful they could have never even imagined how wonderful it could be. Anna said 7.5, Jack and Kara said 6 and Luke said 11000. I think it helped that they all met kids over the summer, so there were some familiar faces in their classes. Jack and Anna are still only talking to each other at the bus stop. They also sit together at lunch. 

In other news: Early on, we knew Jack and Anna were going to need braces. Unfortunately, they both have significant overbites and crooked teeth. They had Phase I (palate expanders) done in Maryland and we were waiting for all their baby teeth to fall out for Phase II (braces). For Anna, that happened recently. We researched orthodontists in Orlando and found one that was close by, had great reviews and took our insurance. Score! He confirmed that Anna was ready. So, on Tuesday, Thomas brought her in. She now has a mouth full of metal. He said to expect her to be in the braces for about 2.5 years. She did well with getting them and was surprised that it didn't hurt at all to have them put in. Unfortunately, by nighttime, her mouth was aching and she didn't want to eat. She is doing better today, but it still hurts when she eats and she says has a bunch of sores on her mouth from where the braces are rubbing against her gums. Hopefully, it gets better quick.

Normal Smile

"show off your braces" smile

Kara doesn't have the significant overbite, but she has a crossbite and will also need braces. She and Jack should be ready sometime next year. We will have three kids in braces at the same time! So far, Luke doesn't have any obvious issues, so we are holding out hope that it won't be 100% of our kids.