Cole's Kindergarten Debut

After spending most of my summer fretting about Cole's impending kindergarten debut, something unexpected occurred...school was delayed due to the teachers strike! I went from thinking that I never wanted my baby to start kindergarten, to thinking that my baby might actually never start kindergarten. At first I viewed the strike as a gift...a few more days at home with Cole. But then a few days turned into many days and I began to get impatient. The strike did end up being a true gift in that by the time it was over, I was MORE than ready for Cole to begin his school career!

School was supposed to start on August 31st. Here's what it looked like...definitely not the "first day of school" picture I was anticipating. We brought treats to the teachers at his elementary school to show our support and appreciation for them. We were off to a good start!


~F I N A L L Y~
On September 15th, we got the word that the teachers and the district reached an agreement, so it was time to get out the new "it's the night before the first day of school" pjs. We'd been waiting for these! (Cole picked these Transformer jammies. I know, they're hideous, but he thinks they're way cool.)




So here we are, the morning of Cole's first day of school. He was so excited to go to big kid school...it really was the sweetest thing ever.


When we pulled into the school, the first thing Cole said was, "Hey, where's the picket line?" I thought that was pretty clever. We did make several visits to Horizon during the strike, but I had no idea he was paying such close attention to all the honking and shouting I was doing for our teachers!

Here we are at our official FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

If only...

...Cole would look...

...at the camera...

...and smile!


Here he is with our neighbor boys, Rickie and Bryce, waiting for Miss Gregg to open the door.


I went to high school with this little boy's mom. How funny that our kids are now in kindergarten together. I never would have imagined this back then!
Jaden and Cole



Miss Gregg opened the door and instructed the kids to find their name tags. Cole went right to his seat and got to work. What a big kindergartener!

Let the learning commence!

Shortly after this, I left Cole to begin his school career. I think it's important to mention that I didn't cry. This is beyond a miracle, because I've been crying about it for the last 4 years or so. It was a great feeling to drop him off, knowing that he was ready, and that I finally was too!

Here he is coming out of class after school.


He doesn't look too happy in this picture. He said he wanted to go home because he missed Daddy. Daddy was home all week with an injured foot and the flu, so I think Cole really was missing him...



Of course, Mrs. Galassi was there and came by to share in our big day. She's been there for many of Cole's "firsts"...
Here she is with Cole on his first day of life...

...and here they are together on his first of kindergarten!

Thank you, Molly, for being an important part of Cole's life. We love you!

This was without a doubt Cole's favorite part of his first day of school, Miss Gregg gave him a giant cookie. What a great way to end the day!

So now we're about four weeks into the school year, and Cole's doing great. I can already see how much he's learning and growing in just this short time. I can't wait to see all the changing that he does over the next several months. I'm so proud of him!