And tomorrow he'll be graduating...

Where in the world did 5 years go? Everyone always warns you that kids grow up in the blink of an eye (which sounds pretty awesome when you're in the "diaper-blowout" stage or the "I-DO-IT-MYSELF!" stage). Today was a big milestone as Luke continues his transformation into a grown man. Today was his first day of Kindergarten!!

Luke has been eager for Kindergarten since our first open house in January. As parents, we did all we could to make his transition to Harriet Bishop a smooth one. And we did a good job, because the fear and nervousness didn't surface until yesterday. :) We had a long talk last night about his nerves and discovered his greatest fear was not being able to perform what the "big kids" were doing in the gym class Luke spied on Tuesday while visiting the school. We talked away those nerves and prayed for God to be with Luke during the school day. Problem solved. Right?

The big morning arrived. Luke woke up really happy (as he usually does). He showered, got dressed, watched a little Phineas & Ferb, checked his backpack and posed for a few pictures. Then Luke, Mom & Dad celebrated this momentous occasion with sprinkle pancakes at Perkins. We had an awesome time! We arrived back home and walked over the the school. With each step, Luke grew more and more apprehensive. We stopped first at Project Kids, the before school program he'll attend starting tomorrow. He met Ms. Judy and immediately velcroed himself to Dad's leg. Then we walked upstairs to wait outside the front door for the bell to ring. Whining & pleading ensued... he was certain he didn't want to go to school anymore and Mom and Dad were certain a huge crying fit was on its way. We made our way to his classroom and distracted him by searching for his name tag. He found it, but once it was around his neck he got a panicked look on his face. Then, like a gift from God, a little angel arrived and stood near the seat next to Luke. Luke smiled. She smiled. Luke said, "hi". She said, "hi". The parents looked at each other with a quizzical look. Then we asked, "Do you KNOW each other?" Lo and behold, she was a classmate of Luke's from Little Lakers. Fear left his face and was replaced by a perma-grin. Dan and I breathed a sigh of relief, as did the other mom. The bell rang and we said our goodbyes as if it were any other morning. And that was it. Our little boy is one step closer to graduation. I would give anything to bottle up this morning for posterity. We're so proud of him! :)

Trying to get Luke to share details about his day is like trying to pull nails out of a board with a Q-tip. But this is what we got out of him after school:

It was super fun.

He chose peanut butter and jelly for lunch.

He had recess, but only once.

He didn't rest on his towel, he just relaxed.

There's a boy named Lewis (like the boy in his "verb" book).
He's going back tomorrow.