nate's first day of [pre]school

Today was it. Nate's first day of [pre]school. He's totally ready for some regular structure - he loves it. And today was the best day we've had in a long time. He was so well-behaved all day. He even fell asleep for an hour right after school!

We've been talking about going to school for a while now but Nate's usual response was "i not going to school." He's either really unsure of the unknowns or overly confident. But until this week he wasn't excited about school.

Luckily his cute teacher, Miss Monaca [she's in our old ward], had a pre-school open house last night for us to come see the classroom and meet his teacher. He was beyond excited as we drove there but then was pretty shy and hesitant the entire 30 minute open house. But I knew that would be the case. Monaca's classroom is adorable! [it's a little bit of a drive for us to get to school . . . so the entire way out there Nate kept saying . . . "mom, this is a little too far for me."]

Today? A totally different story. He was beyond excited. He wore his backpack for a good 30+ minutes before we had to leave & he was excited to get his "school" picture taken. He was eating breakfast and I could tell he was thinking about something. All of a sudden he turns to me and says, "mom - I won't cry at school. I'll just wave goodbye and say 'mom, have a nice day!"

And that's pretty much what happened.

School wouldn't be the same without these TWO kiddos. Two of Nate's favorite people - Hadley & Harrison. It definitely was fun for him to get to go to school with two of his buddies.

I can't believe I have a kiddo in school.

I debated a little bit on whether to keep Nate at this preschool since it is a little ways from our house and I won't be able to come home while Nate is there. But he loves being with his two buddies so seeing him today made it all worth it. And I've committed myself to walking [with an occasional jog in there] while Nate's in school. We'll probably stick closer to home next year but I think this year will be a great one for him.

I'm really excited to have some quality time with this monkey. Even though preschool is killing Ryan's nap schedule I'm excited to have some time with just him. I think he was ready for a little toddler freedom, too.