And he's off!

Ajay is off to his first day of kindergarten. He has been so excited for this day. We've had a count down all summer. "How many days until I go back to school?"
Not only has he been verbally telling me he's ready, but his actions have been screaming that he's ready to go back! Our big guy is an extrovert and being stuck at home with just Mommy and Alex for company for most of the summer didn't cut the mustard! Some days the boys would play so sweetly together, and other days there would be constant screams, punches, kicks, "He started it," "I had it first," and much more.
Last week, we started getting Ajay to bed a bit earlier and I started setting his alarm again. Some days he was up before it went off, some days he'd sleep right through it. On a school day the boys get to watch a half hour of PBS from 7-7:30, then they eat breakfast until 8, and get dressed, brush teeth, wash faces, comb hair, etc until 8:30. Everyone should be ready to head out the door by 8:30. Yesterday, the first day of school for the district, we made a practice run. We walked to the corner of our block and met a couple of boys who were riding the bus to school. The bus was a few minutes late yesterday. Today, we were doing great on time and went to the corner. The bus was running a lot of minutes late today! About TEN minutes late! As soon as Ajay climbed on the bus and we waved good-bye (he sat in the very back seat), Alex and I hurried to the van and drove to school. I had more supplies to deliver to the teacher, and I wanted to meet the teacher (she was sick the night of Open House). Ms. T. was very nice and allowed me to come into the classroom to take a picture of Ajay playing at the table. I was extremely happy that Ajay did not balk at getting on the bus, nor did he have problems getting off the bus and to his classroom. There were no tears at all this morning (from any of us). It was a great first day of kindergarten!
He has tomorrow off. The kids have been split up for the first three days and are being tested, I believe. Regular schedule will begin on Thursday.
Even though I packed Ajay's lunch and saw him in school, it didn't hit me, until I got home, that it would be just me and Alex eating at our lunch table today. That will be an odd feeling. Last school year, we always had Ajay back home for lunch.
Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure:

Ajay's lunch in his Goodbyn lunch tote. He's got grapes, turkey pepperoni with light cream cheese, which he'll put on his crackers, there's a homemade granola bar, and some dried cranberries. In the drink bottle, he's got some apple juice. It was in the freezer over night to help keep the pepperoni and cream cheese cool until lunch time. The juice should be thawed out by then, too. When we practiced this lunch last week, the juice was still partially frozen at lunchtime, but it finished thawing very quickly once he took it out and put it onto the table. There's also a little piece of chocolate in there for a sweet treat.



Here's our Big Guy waiting for the bus:



It was still sprinkling off and on, so the boys all huddled under one umbrella. I think I'll need to get him a lightweight umbrella of his own to slide into his backpack.



Alex waited very patiently.



There goes Ajay! (You can see his brown-haired head on the steps inside the bus.)



When Alex and I got to Ajay's classroom, Ajay had already made himself comfortable at a table with some toys. As it turns out, there is a boy in his class that he's played with before! Camren lives close-by and his cousin is a backyard neighbor of ours. I'm glad that even though Ajay's buddy Skyler isn't in Ms. T's class, at least Ajay knows someone.
(Alex couldn't resist the pull of the toys and had to join in the fun.)



Ajay is ready to face the day!!



On our way out, Alex wanted to get himself a drink. This is something he did almost everyday last school year when we would take Ajay to his pre-k class. Alex lines up the little step on his own, climbs it, and insists on pressing the water button on his own. No help from Mama! My boys are getting so big!!





I can't wait to hear all about Ajay's first day!