Stephen starts school

Stephen started school on Tuesday, September 3rd.  I know I am so behind in blogging.

I took these pictures before we left.





He loves his lunchbox!





I left this one zoomed out because I thought it would be good to compare other pictures to as he grows since it shows how tall he is against the door.







Here was his lunch on the first day.  Cheese, cucumber, strawberries, crackers and applesauce.



I started a post at lunch on his first day of school, but I never finished it.  I am going to insert it here:

START OF FIRST DAY POST:

Stephen started school this morning.  I've been talking about it for a week or so trying to prepare him and I always act very excited about it.  Thankfully he and Hayden are going together and I hope that makes this transition easier for both of them.  I know it will be scary for them to be in a new place without anyone they know but each other.  I hope that having each other helps both of them, but I still know it is going to be hard.

This morning we went to drop him off.   He looked so cute and he seemed to be excited.  I tried to control my emotions because I wanted him to be excited and not upset.  He sat down at a table to play and we slowly snuck out of the room.  I felt bad not saying good bye, but I knew he would lose it.

This has been a hard day for me and it's only lunch.  I wasn't ready for this.  I'm not ready to let my baby go.  I saw this poem on pinterest before I was even pregnant and while I didn't get it then, I knew one day it may make sense.  It was written by a mom sending her child off to kindergarten, but it sums up exactly how I feel today.

I wonder what you're doing right now, and if everyone is treating you kind.
I hope there is a special person, a nice friend that you can find.

I wonder if the teacher knows just how special you are to me.
And if the brightness of your heart, is something she can see.

I wonder if you are thinking about me, and if you need a hug.
I already miss the sound of your voice and how you give my leg a tug.

I wonder if you can possibly understand how hard it is for me to let you grow.
On this day know that my heart breaks, for it is the first step in letting my baby go.

I wasn't ready for this day.  I know all of the reasons that he needs to go to school, but I'm still not ready.  This is such a hard day to be a working mom.

I know this is just a transition and he will grow to love school.  I remember the day I went back to work and how hard it was.  And the days Blessing was the one to comfort him instead of me.  We made it through all of that and we will make it through this.  But not without some tears.

END OF FIRST DAY POST.

The first two weeks were rough!  Really, really rough.  At drop off he would cling to me for dear life and scream for me as I left.  This mama's heart broke every single day.  Every night I laid in bed dreading the next day and going through it all again.  Each day got a little better though as he would calm down soon after I left.  He also wouldn't nap so he was super tired in the evenings which made him fussy.

I also miss him SO much during the day!  When he was home I didn't really see him that much, but our mornings were much more relaxed and I got to see him at lunch.  I also just miss hearing him playing and laughing from my office.  By 3 o'clock, I can't wait to see him and hear his sweet voice.  My heart aches just to see him.

This week things have gotten much better.  He still cries when I drop him off, but instead of clinging to me he walks into his room or if I'm holding him he goes to his teacher.  He also napped 2 days this week!  That is huge and made me so happy!

The first two weeks, he would wake up crying for me at night.  I would go up and rock him back to sleep.  Sometimes it was just once a night and sometimes it was a few times.  While I loved rocking my little boy, I was so sad that he was waking up like that.  He has stopped doing that this week though, which makes me happy.  I do miss holding my sleeping baby though!

We still have a ways to go, but I am so happy things are getting better.  I know this is just one of many tough transitions we will face (how will I ever handle him going away to college!?!).  We are just taking it one day at a time.