My Big Kindergarten Kid!

Eliot started Kindergarten!! He's our first to go to grade school, and we're so excited for him! He's more than ready, and is off to a great start at just about a week in. Here he is on his first day:

 We spent quite a bit of time the day before searching for just the right shirt (since none of Mom's choices were acceptable!). He finally landed on a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt.

I love the sweet expression on is face in this one.

When we got to the school, we were met with a pretty exciting scene -- balloons, signs, and even a red carpet to welcome the Kindergarteners!  All the Kindergarten teachers, principal, and even some of the older kids were out giving high fives while music played. It made the kids' entrance so upbeat and exciting instead of scary or sad. What  a great idea! Even as a reluctant first-time mama, I couldn't help but get caught up in the excitement of it all!

Eliot wasn't nervous at all. He was ready to start his new adventure! No tears at this goodbye at all! (From him, at least!)  Grant surprised us both by showing up during a little break between hearings, and he's the one that sent Eliot down the red carpet. That sure meant a lot to me and made it so much easier to walk away after dropping off my little boy. Still, there's nothing that takes away the surreal nature of that moment.

Zachers and I went home after dropping Eliot off and went for a jog and then home to make a surprise for Eliot: 

We took all the extras to his friends in the neighborhood who also had their first day of Kindergarten that day.

Overall, Eliot seemed to have a great day! He had a "no biggie" attitude about the whole thing! He thinks his teacher is very nice, he absolutely loves recess, and has talked a lot about a little girl named Katelyn. :)

Can't believe we're already to this stage, but it sure is a lot of fun!

And how am I holding up a week into it? The first day was so much fun, and I thought it was going to be easier than I expected, but as the week wore on, I got kinda sad realizing this is for real and he really will be in school every day. But I know it's time, and he's ready, so off we both go -- on to learning new things and stretching and growing!