First day of school! First day of School!

Oh my gosh. Is he not the cutest little boy you've ever seen?! Oh I just want to squeeze him! I can do that. I'm his mom. :)

Today was the first day of Kindergarten. It went great. For him, and for me! Going to orientation last night was a BIG help for me. First, I got to realize that I'm not the only crazy mother out there that doesn't have a clue what to do on the first day of school. It was good. I let all those other crazy mothers ask all the questions I had. ha ha! I also got to let some of my tears out last night. I couldn't help it. The principal got up and spoke and he said "you're going to blink and the next thing you know it will be graduation day". I got that giant lump in my throat and a teensy little tear may have snuck out. I wasn't the only one! It was great to meet the teacher and learn what to expect today and for the rest of the year. Mrs. Cooper is just what you think of when you think Kindergarten teacher. She's tiny, and soft spoken--she has a really soothing voice, but she seems energetic and excited for the new school year too.

On to today...

Jake was MORE than excited. He got dressed and ran downstairs for his backpack. "Can we go? Is it time to go? I'm ready to go!" I made him pose for a few pictures and I drilled him a little:

"Make sure you listen to your teacher. Follow directions. Do what the teacher tells you to do. Be good."

When we got to school, he could not get out of the car fast enough. He had his seat belt off and backpack in hand before I even turned the car off. We walked down to the classroom and this is where I snapped this picture up top. He was just so ecstatic, he could hardly contain himself. We walked out to the playground and found his cousins Caitlin and Hannah.

Caitlin is actually in his class this year. He ran off to play and then the bell rang. It was SO funny because he knew he had to do something and go somewhere, but you could see on his face he was like what do I do? where do I go? But he made it and got in line for his class. And then they were swept in and sat in circle time. It was kind of a whirlwind for me. I wasn't quite sure what to do. Do I stay? Do I just go? Well, Jake was absolutely fine...MORE than fine so I snuck in, gave him a quick peck on the cheek and another "follow directions" cue, and I left. :( Another tiny little tear welled up but I held it back. Oh believe me...I could have let loose with sobs and everything. But I didn't. I was surprised there were only 2 little girls (twins) crying when they had to start class. Everyone else was like this was old hat to them. It definitely made it easier on me. If Jake would have shown any apprehension at all, I totally would have lost it!

My SIL is part of the PTA group and they had coffee and doughnuts for the parents in the cafeteria. I went with her, met some of her friends, met the principal and then she said lets go check on Jake! I really wanted to, but then I really didn't. I didn't want to be that mom who was still there after an hour pacing the hallway! LOL! I did get a little peek...he looked just a tiny bit nervous but I could tell he was just taking it all in.

When I came back to pick him up he said, "Mommy, I was really good. I listened to my teacher and I followed directions. I didn't get in trouble. Maybe tomorrow I'll get in trouble." Ha ha! I had to laugh at that. :D

So, it's kind of bitter sweet. My baby is growing up. But at the same time I'm excited for him. There's so many new advetures to come. :)