First Day of School!

I have been excited for and worrying about this day for the past few weeks.  Excited because I know how excited Leighton is to be starting school again.  Excited because I love how eager he is to learn and make new friends.  Excited because it's a whole new adventure for him.  Worrying because we aren't sure if it's the right/best school for Leighton.  Worrying because our experience with his last school wasn't stellar.  Worrying because Riley will miss Leighton so much.  And worrying about just how much I will miss him too.

You wouldn't think this is the 3rd year in a row that we've sent him off to school based on how I'm feeling.  I didn't feel so sad the other 2 times.  When he first started, I think I was far more focused on how he'd do with the transition and on Riley's impending arrival than I was on how his not being home with me anymore would affect me.  Last year, I am not sure what I was focusing on!  But this year, I feel sad that our time at home together is done.  I have enjoyed having him with me as we explore and learn our way around Houston and make new friends.  I have loved having his (CONSTANT) chatter to keep me entertained.  I have loved his company.  And I will miss him.  Probably even more than Riley.

But, now it's just us two girls to conquer the world of Houston!  It will be great for Riley to finally have some one-on-one attention while Leighton can go off and develop even more independence.  I can take her to play groups and story times and start to find her some friends her own age to play with.  We can sit and concentrate on colors and numbers and shapes and puzzles and the alphabet.  All the things we seem to forget to focus on when we are busy playing more sophisticated and complicated games with her older brother.

She only gave me one small moment of nope not leaving the school without Leighton in the car attitude before agreeing to go.

She was very excited to bake him a cake though!

And he was even more excited to eat it!

And he was thrilled to tell us all about his day.  And to show us the pictures he drew at school.  The first one is of his new BFF, Laila.  We met her at the pre-K playdate at the playground on Saturday morning and they hit it off right away.  When we got there this morning, she was outside the classroom refusing to enter until Leighton got there!  The answer to almost every question was "Laila" when he got home!  Who did you sit next to?  Laila.  Who did you eat lunch with?  Laila.  What did you do while waiting for Mommy's turn in the carpool lane?  Sang with Laila.  How was rest time?  There wasn't room for Laila next to me.  Did you meet some other kids?  Yeah, but some of them were ridiculous and were arguing with Laila so I told them to stop.  You get the idea!  Then there is a love note to me (awwwwwwwwww!), one of space, and finally a mermaid, but not Ariel.  The last picture is one that Laila drew for Leighton.

Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!