Making the grade.

Henry went back to school yesterday.

And we aren't talking the just-3-hours-of-Kindergarten stuff anymore...

he's officially made the "grade" years...

He's in FIRST GRADE and gone ALL day!

I had to wake him up at 7:45am so that we could be out the door by 8:10am.

He's had the convenience of going to bed late all summer and waking up whenever he pleases.

This morning he was super excited about going to school.

He just kept saying, "I get 3 recesses now, Mom!".

On the 2 minute drive to school Henry blurted out,

"I'm gonna miss you guys" with the cutest smile on his face.

I was doing so good until he said that. No big tears, just a few welling up and a big swallow.

I'm so happy to see him growing up, but it's sad someone else gets the best part of his days now.

We walked him up to his school and showed him where to line up.

He found his good friend, Miles, who is in his class.

He's smart, a rule-follower and very responsible, so I'm hoping he'll rub off on Henry this year.

I tried to get a picture of Henry and James together but James wanted nothing to do with that.

Henry saw his teacher come out to get them and walked in confidently but stopped to smile and wave at us too.

James and I headed back to the van, trying to process our new reality with Henry gone all day,

but that soon turned to anger when I saw on my windshield...

A PARKING TICKET!

I guess it's a loading zone, but the sign specifically said "2:30 until 3:30", so I'm confused.

Our day was pretty typical....cleaning, playing, running errands, etc.

I must admit it was much quieter than usual...NO fighting! That was nice.

When I picked Henry up at 3pm (more like 3:20 due to some serious traffic) he reported nothing but good things. A few things he said...

- I got FOUR recesses today!

- I sit by a small girl.

- Miles played hide-and-seek at recess, and I never found him.

- I was way hungry at lunch. (he's used to snacking).

- I ate all my food but a few bites of my sandwich.

- Can I play Club Penguin?

He's still my little nonchalant, easy-going kid, so I think he will do great in first grade.

I'm still not quite sure how James will do without him home all day.

He keeps asking, "when does my peeschool start?".

I'm glad we have "pee" school over with for him at our house, but preschool starts in just a few weeks!