First Day of First Grade!

First Grade!!!

 I will never get used to the idea of my boys growing up.
Rylan started First Grade--he's away from me all day! He's always been my little buddy, my big helper. Oh, what am I going to do without him near me all day long?
I kinda feel like we didn't have much time to think about it. I mean, I know we had a whole summer to enjoy (which we did to the fullest--maybe our best summer ever!!) But we were on vacation until Sunday night and mostly used Monday to recover from vacation...laundry and relaxing. So Tuesday morning came quickly and we just kinda had to jump right in.
We also went to the school on Monday to meet his teacher, Mrs. Olson. She's young and cute (a friend of my friend Sarah) and has a really cute jungle themed classroom. We walked around the classroom finding his desk and cubbies and a few other classroom perks--a reading jungle and pet frogs! I was excited for Rylan because he sits in the same pod as his friend Christian and he knows at least half of the class (which is made up of 15 boys and 9 girls!) Some kids from preschool 2 years ago, some from kindergarten, some from the neighborhood. Being in the classroom got me a little excited for school to start!

A few weeks ago Rylan picked out a dump truck lunch box. He's using his backpack from preschool and kindergarten--it's held up well! That's really all he needed. He woke up on time on his own and made his bed and got dressed right away. I had his breakfast waiting for him and made his lunch request: honey sandwich, cheese stick, apple (and I threw in some chocolate milk for fun). Before leaving we took a few pictures and he told me he was excited for school! With Tyce and Asher still in jammies we drove Ry to school and walked him in to his classroom.

There was no hesitation. He put his backpack in his cubby and sat down at his desk, excited to play with the play doh. I took a couple pictures, gave him a hug, and that was that. With a deep breath I walked out of the classroom with only one look back to make sure he was okay :) I left the school with my friend Mindy (whose son is also in Ry's class) and she kept me laughing. But as soon as I got in my car I lost it. I allowed myself to cry until we got home and then I made myself stop!

Luckily we had something fun to do. Mindy had invited everyone to the park for "A Morning of Mourning". Tyce really needed a nap but Asher and I really needed to go. Two against one, we won :) Asher played while I chatted with friends. We left about noon, put Tyce down for a nap and had some lunch. I've always wanted to have fresh, warm cookies waiting for my kids when they get home from school so that was definitely happening today! I don't remember the last time I made cookies so I was very excited :) I talked to Kacy for a long while and before I knew it, it was time to pick up Rylan!!!

Not thinking ahead, I realized while at the park that I didn't tell Ry where I'd meet him after school. Luckily Mindy had asked the teacher which doors they come out so at least I could be there waiting for him. He seemed happy and big!

Ry's not much of a talker so I didn't expect to hear many details about his day. He told me he had fun and his favorite part of the day was recess (of course). He played with Christian the first recess and nobody the second recess cause he wanted to play with the jump rope or balls and Christian didn't want to. He sat by Christian and Cullen at lunch and had plenty of time to eat all his food. He saw a few friends from his kindergarten class that are in other classes and maybe he'll play with them another day. And that's about all he told me.

Wednesday morning, while getting ready for school, he said "Mom, you know why I like first grade? Because I get to eat lunch there and have TWO recesses!!" He's been going to bed on time and waking up on time which is nice. It's always hard to wake up sleeping kids!

Asher is missing his play buddy. Rylan really was great all summer to keep Asher occupied. They sure made lots of messes, but Ry was always thinking up fun things to do. I think Asher forgot how to keep himself occupied. He's been my little shadow and practically refuses to be in a different room then me. Between playing and my daily tasks, our time goes quickly! Soon we will be setting up play dates!!

So as hard as it is to send off my little boy, I know he's going to have a great school year and I'm excited for him!