The last day of school.

The school year has been a great success for both Melody and Malcolm. For Melody, although it was a bit of a rocky start she did very well with the adjustment of starting school. Here's an excerpt from her report card: "Melody had a very successful Kindergarten year. She learned so much and is well prepared for Grade One. Melody says the most important thing that she learned in Kindergarten was to count to 100 because 'some people don't know how'. Melody was most proud of the work that she did in writing because "I used to not know how to write'. We had many varied experiences during the Kindergarten year. On behalf of the family, we'd like to thank Mrs. B for her efforts this year. It's certainly been a great experience for our daughter. Also, despite all our homework woes, Malcolm did really great too. We're very proud of him. In fact, at the end of the year he was one of the kids chosen to receive both the Citizenship and Effort awards in his class. Here he his being recognized at the end of the year assembly. Mrs. Moy: Here's an excerpt from Malcolm's report card: "Malcolm has had a successful year in grade three and a very busy third term. He enthusiastically participated in many activities including: Jane's Walk, the Burnaby Village Museum field trip, and the Mad Science Workshop. Malcolm is one of the first students to lend a hand without being asked; it is common to see him helping a teacher tidy up, simply for the sake of being kind. He feels that his greatest achievement this year was, "reading because now I am great at reading". Malcolm states that his greatest challenge thi year was, "math because it was hard". Here's a good comparison, between the first day of school and the last day:

Kindergarten step 1.

Melody was excited to go to the Kindergarten orientation all week. With the strike action in effect, she was lucky it wasn't cancelled. Tracey and Roger were both able to go with her. Having both Malcolm and Melody at the same school is going to be interesting come fall. Again, it all started fine, but when it was time to sit on the mat with the other kids Melody decided she didn't want to be alone. She wanted Mommy to sit next to her. Being one of the youngest kids in the group can't be easy. She's actually going to still be four in September, just like her brother was two years ago. Malcolm took a while to transition, let's hope that Melody does well. Here are some pictures from her orientation. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

The great things about Malcolm.

I think from time to time when Roger's feeling sad or worn out the blog posts can act as mechanism for release. Essentially, the blog was started to document and reflect on life with the family through my eyes, but the truth of the matter is, ultimately it's for the kids. One day they can look back on their oh so documented lives and hopefully give them insight as to what was happening. Although the blog doesn't always go into all the tribulations of life as a family, perhaps a more balanced approach is necessary. Hence, this blog post is dedicated to the great things about Malcolm.

These are some of the things we are so proud of:

• Malcolm is a polite and courteous boy who cares about others, specifically he cares a lot about his grandma and papa. 
• Malcolm has learned to read, letters, numbers, signs, he's well on his way as a 1st grader.
• Malcolm is learning to be more independent. We believe that his experience at day care and at kindergarten has helped developed this.
• Malcolm has a sense of humour and loves to laugh. Luckily there is a lot of joy in his life and you can see it on his face every day.
• Malcolm does like to try new things and have new experiences. He is naturally inquisitive and enjoys exploring new sites and destinations.
• Malcolm is a very smart boy, with an impeccable memory. 
• He's so interested in science and experiments. We'll have to see if one day he finds out about adding Mentos to Coke. 

The bottom line is that we all love him very much. From the sound of things and what other parents say, he's just being a normal 5 year old.