tonite during a game of monopoly, my kindergartner said "aw, man, that reaks." i said "That reaks? where did you get that?" he said, "school."

it's been a little over a month, and already i can see the subtle differences in him. most of them are good. he's way more independent than i imagined him to be...starting with that first day when he hopped on the bus without looking back. he doesn't mind standing in the rain waiting for the bus, and he never forgets to bring his sweatshirt or back pack home. i'm always amazed at this.
i used to have about 10 jackets in the closet at work, because every night i would forget to take mine home. he remembers things: tomorrow is show and tell, next week he has friday off, in two weeks he's in charge of treats, etc.

tonite we were tossing the football, and out of the blue he's throwing these beautiful spirals and kicking all the way across the yard. wasn't it just last month that he was running away from the ball?

but there are other things too. he doesn't want to snuggle with me anymore, and he says "Mo-omm" when i try to kiss him. he tells his little brother it's not polite to yell, and to please stop whining. he also says things like "you go ahead and go by yourself, mom. i'll stay home and watch the house"

yeah. whatever.

possibly the biggest shocker was getting his school pictures back. i mean, who is that big kid smiling at me with those rockin' little dimples? is that really my baby boy?

i said 'this is a great photo. when you were little, you would never smile for the camera guy. what happened?"

he looked at me all cocky and said, "times change."

they certainly do.