Caiden's 1st Day at Kindergarten

My little boy is growing up. I don't know when it happened, but one moment I was nursing him and the next minute I turn around and he is running off to play with his friends and heading off to school.

Today Caiden took his first step down the path of a very important milestone. Today Caiden started Elementary school. We got up early, put on his first uniform, took the standard "first day of school" pictures and headed off to join the other moms and dads armed with cameras in their hands.

My little man with his new backpack and his uniform
Kiya wanted to snap a picture with her brother on this important moment (notice we didn't do her hair).

Caiden was fine on the car ride over, but the moment we actually got to his classroom he became shy and very nervous. He became quiet and just kind of sat and looked around (he's just like his mama - he has to observe first). He deposited his lunch box and backpacks in the proper containers, and then his teacher, Ms. Phillips gave him a name sticker and showed him his desk. The longer we stayed, the more nervous I think he became. So we took our cue and decided to leave and let him adjust. As we were walking out we saw his friend Derrick, and knew things would be ok for Caiden.

Even though he was nervous he still posed graciously for a picture with me :)

Caiden and his desk partner, Angelle

Caiden's desk

Ms. Phillips and Cade's classroom

Dave saying goodbye to Caiden

I did get one smile out of Caiden

But this is what he looked like when I left :(

We picked him up relatively early and decided to celebrate his first day of Kindergarten with a dinner out. We expected Caiden to be quite animated, but we found him to be quite tired. Why would Caiden be so tired?? Well no naps of course :)

Caiden said that Kindergarten was MUCH better than preschool. When asked why he said "because we don't have to nap", however I think that nap did more for him than he bargained for. :) (side note: I would SO take his daily nap for him. I miss that about school).
Caiden was excited about the class pet, a beta fish they named "Rocky", and interestingly enough the behavior chart which he has assured me that he will stay "green" (which is good). He also talked about different shaped tables that were different colors, but to be honest, I am not sure what that is all about. He said he had a lot of fun, which is a good thing :)

This is "Rocky" while Caiden initially voted for "Swimmy", Rocky and Nemo had more votes. So they took a revote with just those two names. Rocky won.

After School Caiden...notice how much more relaxed he looks...cuz he's big time now. :)

I'm not sure why he looks so sad in these pictures. He wanted me to take them. Maybe he's going for the sympathy vote. Nah...he was REALLY tired.

Caiden spins the wheel

Caiden's relaxing with his friends.
Look at the laid back Caiden with all the girls

His teacher Ms. Phillips said that Caiden is a "very good listener" and was very helpful cleaning up the classroom. She also noted that he is very meticulous as they had a name puzzle in which they had to put the letters in their name and glue them on a paper. She stated that he took great care to ensure that his letters were lined up neatly and with no spaces. That's my boy :)

Caiden's name puzzle. See how nice it is :)

Caiden's teacher sent home a green star with the following note :)

Caiden wanted to share his day with Gigi and Grammie Sue and Papa Jim. :)

I'm so proud of Caiden. He survived his first day of Elementary school and he did famously!!! I love you Caiden. :)