First Day of School

Yesterday was the first day of full-day Kindergarten for Luke!

He has been ready for a good long while.

The whole family went in to drop him off at his classroom.  He gave us each a hug, said good-bye, and sat down at one of the tables ready to get started. 

It was fun to be there as a family with him.  I knew he would do great and not have a problem with us leaving.  I also assumed I would be in tears in the car, on the ride home, but I did great too.

Until I got home.

David hung around for a few minutes and just as he was leaving for work I admit that I shed a few tears on his shoulder.  Luke is ready for school and I am excited for him, but also sad that my little boy is growing up...thus the tears.  I even asked him the day before school started if he could stay 5 forever.  Mind you, Luke has been anticipating his 6th birthday (coming up in a couple of weeks) for the past 4 months.  Even so, he very sweetly said, "If you want me to."  Oh, he is adorable.  Do you see why I want him to stay young?  I then had to tell him that nobody could stop him from growing up and that it is actually a good thing and a lot of fun.  Now I just need to do a better job of convincing myself!

Leaving the school...with smiles!

Luke's only apprehension had to do with riding the bus home.  It is less than half a mile to walk to school, but there are no sidewalks and narrow roads, so he will be driven to school each day.  He could take the bus, but the bus stop is about as far away as the school with no sidewalks and narrow roads to get there.  The bus route changes for the ride home and the stop just happens to be at the end of our driveway!  How lucky is that!?!

Luke has asked me repeatedly over the last few weeks if I was going to be outside when the bus dropped him off.  I readily assured him each time that I would be there ready to greet him.  After getting off the bus yesterday, we walked inside together and he promptly said, "The bus wasn't too scary."  Yay!

Today when he got off the bus he said, "The bus is fun!"  As he was sitting down eating his after school snack I asked him to tell me his favorite thing about his school day and he immediately responded with, "The bus."

(He worried about the bus for weeks and now after two days it is his favorite thing about school!)

 Racing up the driveway!

He had a great first day and was about as happy as I have ever seen him.



Caden's Transition

Watching Luke leave for school on day 2.

It has been a little sad for me to watch Caden miss his brother.  At the same time, it shows how much they like each other and I have always wanted our sons to be good friends.  I hope their friendship continues to be constant during this time of change! 

I wanted to record a little play-by-play of the past couple of days for Caden because when put together it is easy to see how much he loves his big brother. 

Yesterday, during the morning hours there were a couple of times that I heard Caden call out Luke's name and then say, "Oh, he's not here." 

By 10:00am Caden asked if we could go pick him up from school.

(I wish we could have!)

During the last half of Porter's nap, Luke and Caden have "quiet time" together each day (or play time with the door closed).  When quiet time rolled around for Caden, he said, "Well, this isn't going to be fun." 

(I will say it was the quietest quiet time we have had for a good long while!)

When Luke got home he asked Caden if he played with the sand and water tables in the backyard and Caden said, "No, I was waiting for you."

(It's just more fun with Luke around.)

This morning as I was pulling out of the garage to take Luke to school, David stopped me and asked if I had Caden with me as he couldn't find him in the house.  Turns out he had run out the front door (half dressed) to wave good-bye to his Luke.

When I got home from dropping Luke off, I asked Caden if he was waving at me and Luke this morning and he said, "No, I was waving at Luke."

(Just Luke...got it!)

I then said, "Yeah you are his best friend" and Caden responded with, "He's my best friend too."

Before David left for work this morning he asked Caden if he missed Luke and Caden gave him a firm "no."  I think he was trying to be brave, because when David (who was wondering at his response) asked him if he wanted to go pick Luke up, his eyes became just a little hopeful and a quick "yes" escaped his lips.

(Again, I wish we could have!)

He asked me repeatedly throughout the day, "When is Luke coming back?"

(Oh, how he misses him.)

I know Caden will adjust and adjust quickly.  He will be in preschool himself in a couple of weeks.  He has been waiting all summer for his turn to be a big boy and go to preschool. 

In the end, I am thrilled that these two like each other so much.