oh the places you'll go beautiful boy {2016}

I'm not sure where the last year went. When Dylan started school last September it felt like such a big milestone, and while he was completely ready I felt so sad that an era was ending, even though I knew that another exciting one was beginning.

From that very first day when he walked oh-so-confidently into the classroom, he's taken everything school had to offer and has run with it. School has opened his eyes, broadened his horizons, given him friendship, taught him skills... and he's has grown up so much.

But it hasn't changed that spark that's makes him, him. And I think that's always the worry as a parent, that school might change them somehow, that they'll have this whole world you are not a part of, and that it might alter them. I worried about Dylan losing his innocence; because he's a sensitive and really friendly little boy, and I don't want that to change, and I worried that school might do that. But school has simply nurtured the little person we have raised him to be so far, while also challenging him and making him even brighter, sparkier, and more friendly, sensible and inquisitive about the world that he was already!

If anything though, school has made Dylan even more "him" than he already was.

But that doesn't mean that I don't have that bittersweet, sad feeling in my belly again as he starts a new year. Because I do, but it isn't nerves or fear. I'm sad that six weeks of having my best boy at home all the time are behind us. I have so LOVED having him home. 

However the main source of my sad feelings though are based on the fact he's going into Year 1. He's excited for Year 1, his teacher says he's more than ready for Year 1, and I am looking forward to all the challenges he'll face this year and the things he'll learn; because I know that's what he's most looking forward to. 

But there is a part of me that just keeps thinking... Year 1? He's not a baby in the school anymore. School isn't new anymore. He's a real school boy. He's getting to be such a big boy now (not in height I should add, he's still a bit of a dinky dot). Year 1 feels different, no longer the babies of the school,  he will no longer follow the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum, but instead will be following the National Curriculum now. It feels like a big jump somehow, even though I know it isn't. And of course, as his mummy, I still look at him and see the baby he once was, and it takes my breath away a little bit to marvel at just how far he's come from that tiny little bundle.

He was so excited to go into school this morning. He was all chattery nervous excitement in the car on the way, and then he practically ran the whole way to school to see all his friends. There was an inkling of a wobble as he approached the door, because he doesn't know where to put his PE bag and his book bag yet. I reminded him that he knew where his new classroom was, and that his new teacher would soon tell him all the things he needed to know... and then he was off with a big kiss and an even bigger smile.

You're ready. So ready to rock Year 1 in the only way you know how!

We're so proud of you little man

I decided to do a little back to school interview just before the holidays finished. I thought it would be nice to ask these same questions each year and see how the answers change over time. So here is 2016's...