First Day of Kindergarten

I absolutely know that I will end up saying this every year... but HOW is it possible that my BABY is old enough to be a kindergartner?  How?

Throughout the summer Porter had been waking up in the morning and occasionally acting really worried about starting school, asking how much longer he had of summer, etc.  I was getting nervous for him... I know what a huge step it is to go into kindergarten!  I see it every school year... moms and dads drop their littles off at Bean and walk out of the building crying... kids crying... tears.  Sadness.  Joy.  Excitement.  Nervousness.  GAHHHH!

Monday, however, Porter woke up and told me he was so excited to ride the bus.  And this morning started out great!  He got up early (heard the dogs going down the stairs... damn hardwood stairs!), but nevertheless, was excited and got ready for school happily.  I got him breakfast and he started gagging and was complaining his stomach hurt.  Totally his nerves.  His bus ended up coming 15 minutes earlier than I'd assumed and at the time he was in the bathroom (nerves... just like his dad!) and of course I had to rush him as the bus held up traffic.  He boarded the bus with confidence and really never looked back!  He's the first on and last off, so while that makes for a boring bus ride (although not all that long b/c our district isn't that large), it works out good for my work schedule LOL!  In the rush of lateness, I wasn't able to get a picture of him.  Like I said, we were holding up a line of traffic from the highschool.

The busses are all named after animals.  Hudson woke up after Porter had left and asked "Did he get on the (animal) bus?  Was it (insert colors/design of animal)?"  I told him "No, it was just a yellow bus." and he got all serious and said "But Mom, (animals) are (colors/designs) and the (animal) bus should be (colors/designs) too!"  It was so funny!

(Uhm... yes... he picked out his own clothes.  I'd planned on him wearing cute cargo shorts with his shirt... but he insisted on wearing these khaki pants.  With flip flops.  We're bummer parents and haven't bought him tennis shoes for school yet!)

I met him at the school and snapped a few (crappy) pics as he got off the bus.  He said he had a good day!  I stopped him as we got inside the school and we talked about The Kissing Hand (it was a big help last year!) and I drew a red heart on his palm with a permanent marker.  He beamed.  We went to his class, he hung his bag and coat up in his locker and walked in with confidence.  He took his folder to his teacher, she showed him how to choose his lunch and he settled down in his seat to work on some tangrams.

He was fine as I left.  I was fine as I left.  I didn't cry!  I thought for sure I would, but I held tough.  I was a bit nervous for "my" first day of 1st grade subbing.  

I stayed at school until 6pm writing lesson plans and getting stuff ready for tomorrow.  I picked up a Hot n Ready on the way home and was SO excited to see the boys and talk to Porter.  I asked him a million questions.  Here are some things he told me about his day.

"We had cars in the sandbox in our class!"
"I got pizza AND my lunch in my lunchbox." 
"I ate lunch with Eian."
"I saw my friend from t-ball (Billy).  He waved the checkered flag when me and Lukas were racing in the yard (haha at recess).  I was race car #1 and Lukas was race car #2."
"We went to 7th grade!  I mean, we went to Keicher.  Well, we dropped off and picked up kids at Keicher."  

That's about all I got out of him.  He said he loved the first day.  He brought home a Kissing Hand project (so cute) and a German worksheet on colors (apparently they learn German!).  He also brought home a Flag Football sign up and is super excited about that.  I'm feeling so good about our school decision.  I'd been so torn as to bring him to my school or keep him in district.