first day

Aiden had his first day of first grade at our neighborhood school today!  We were ready to go pretty early, so Aiden made his own first day sign and packaged up some treats for his teacher.  We wandered around in front of our house in the steamy humid weather, not quite sure where the bus would pick up (just about everyone at the stop was new too!)  The new neighbors have new puppies that are just adorable.  The bus did eventually cruise up and stop before the intersection, so we took a quick walk over.  Aiden really wanted to be sure that it was the right bus and once he spotted the number he hopped right on.  I had talked to Keaton about how the bus was for Aiden and we were going to wave to him… As the door closed, he whimpered "I want to go too!"  Then after the bus pulled away, a few tears came as he realized his brother was gone and he got to go off on the fun bus.  He perked up and I'm grateful that he helped distract me ;)  He said immediately he wanted to go to Trader Joes, so we hopped in the car.  I couldn't help it and took a quick detour to drive by the school to see the bus drop off the kids.  It seemed like a really nice welcome over there as the kids calmly filed off the bus and into the school with their 'family' group.  Aiden has such a determined walk and pep in his step.  

He had an even quicker pep in his step when he hopped off the very late afternoon bus with the biggest smile and the sweatiest brow…. and a package of Runts candy that he earned from the teacher's "candy jar" for answering a question with good problem solving. He was excited to tell me he was the very first one to earn candy for the school year and the only one for today.  I think his teacher is really encouraging and the candy jar is just one of her tricks.  His homework is to bring in five objects that represent him and start his reading log. Then we as the parents have a homework sheet to fill out his likes, dislikes, etc. He loved his Italian class and said that was the best part of the day. Turns out the Italian teacher doesn't speak any English so it's total immersion. He wanted to buy lunch and looooved using his credit card account. He ate chicken, veggie juice, regular milk, and even carrots!  I think he's really encouraged to eat enough by the aides. He said the biggest difference from his last school is that he gets his own table with his name on it and a place for his stuff.  I think the best part is that his classmates live close by - Turns out two of his classmates a few houses from us, so that is nice!