William's first day of KINDERGARTEN

I knew this day was coming, but I canNOT believe William has left my nest to venture in the world of elementary school.

I was beyond nervous about everything. This was my first child in full day kindergarten. I know, Kindergarten isn't goodbye forever but I feel like time speeds up significantly once my kids enter school and they get to experience new elements of their world without me by their side.

He was pretty stoked the days leading up to it. The whole week before he pressed for me to take him to get his shots so he would be ready.

(Here he is post shots showing stickers to Matthew.)

We got to have a one on one meeting with his teacher and it went so well, I am really pleased with his teacher this year, she is a perfect match for him. It was so precious watching him take in the classroom, reorganizing all the toys so they looked better. He decided his favorite part was the science area.

(This was from the Meet the Teacher....this was he "nervous" face.)

But this is how he "WHEELY" felt.

 Right after the meeting we went to the park and William was so independent of Matthew and me. It settled well with my heart that he was ready for this transition as I watched him talk to other kids on the playground.

(here's a few pictures of them together at the park, because gosh, Matthew is sad with his buddy gone!)

Give me all the crying emojis now please.

The next day at the library, it was the same thing. He grabbed books are "read" them to his brother, and played with other kids in the outside space.

He was just growing up right before my eyes. Naturally, he was an absolute delight that last week home, so I would be miss him EXTRA when he went to school.

These pictures are from the "soft start"- he got to go to kindergarten for an hour just to test it out. I love how kinders look with their oversized backpacks!

He just quietly walked over, grabbed a Clifford book and started reading.

I had to include this one because it is the only one with his buddy Luke.

Here his is on his REAL first day of school. He was so independent and wanted to walk in all by himself. 

One more snap and then I was off to keep myself distracted while I definitely did not count down the minutes until he got home.

When I picked him up at 2:30, he bound for the car with the biggest smile on his face and a first day of kindergarten crown on his head. The first thing he said was "I bet you can't wait to hear ALL about my day! And guess what? I ate my lunch ALL gone!"

Here is what WIlliam wants me to say about kindergarten.

"I like it. It's really fun. We have two lunch times. My friends are Luke, Grady, Sam, Niko. I like Mrs. Jones, cause she's so nice. She does fun stuff."

We came home and got RIGHT to homework. He was really loves doing homework.

In order to help the other kids, I told him legos was part of his homework, haha. It is just so crazy how much he has grown even in the last couple weeks.

Here he is on day two. He made sure I stayed ten feet behind so he could walk to school "all by himself."  

The first day, Johnny and William said they fought during recess, after a lecture about how we are ALWAYS on our sibling's team and our family does NOT fight, I was pleased that for a brief five minutes, the boys played on the swings together and Johnny bragged to all his friends how fast Wiliam was at pumping. I love that they get to see each other a little bit every day.

Yesterday he came home from school and went to bed for the night at 5:30 pm, so I'd say he works himself pretty hard!

I am beyond grateful this transition has gone as smoothly as it has, and know God has been in the details. I have felt His love for Wills and I know, His grace has made all the difference in raising this little boy.