The BIG Day!!!

We've been getting ready for today for quite a while...and it's finally come! All the kids had mixed reactions: Emma kept looking around with huge eyes wondering why I had pulled her out of bed so early and why there were so many people around...I've been talking to Alex about how he and Mommy get to play and have fun together while Zach and Camilla go to school, so he kept saying, "Mommy play...ride horses...see giraffes..." (I guess he plans on going to the zoo every day during school!), Camilla was a mixture of being nervous and excited to start kindergarten (she was the last one in line following the other kids a little reluctantly), and Zach was an old pro going into first grade...just excited to see his friends again (especially because his best friend is in his class again). It's been fun this afternoon to hang out with Alex since he doesn't really have to compete for my attention with Emma yet...so I nursed her and read him books...we had a relaxed breakfast together...I'm looking forward to that time with him. He has actually wanted to start helping me nurse Emma and was genuinely upset with me the other day when I explained that he couldn't...so he's taken up the new habit of nursing his stuffed animals!!! He just shoves them under his shirt walks around saying, "I nurse babies!".
Zach has really taken it upon himself to help Camilla feel ready for school...he's been explaining school procedures and playing school for weeks. So, I was surprised the other day when Zach said, "Camilla's not going to like school." When I asked why, he replied, "She's going to be so pretty that the boys will always want to chase her and she's going to hate it!". Camilla couldn't decide whether to be mad at him or embarrassed at his compliment!!!