Third grade

Guess who was SO EXCITED to be a third grader at a brand new school? No fear, no nerves and certainly no tears from this little guy. He left that to Mom.

Finally after 7 months, his top two teeth are breaking through the gums. Finally.

He was equally as excited about his matching backpack and lunch box that we scored from the Down East Outlet for a total of $7! There was a name stitched in both the backpack and the lunch box but nothing that a little seam ripper couldn't take out. Good as new. Melissa gave me a heads up on the crazy discounted price so we went as soon as we could and I was super pumped about such a great find. The retail price on the backpack alone was $60.00. Riiiiight. I'll just go ahead and put that on the 'ol Visa. Nope. $5 was a much better deal.

A lady in the ward hooked Cole and I up with a little carpool buddy named Maya and Maya's mom takes the morning shift and I pick up in the afternoons. It's a pretty rad situation considering I don't do mornings well. The first day I said I wanted to take Cole myself because I needed a little feeling of security knowing he made it safely and got in the right line, etc. Cole's teacher is the same teacher that his cousin Natalie had at that school for third grade. Even more funny than that is the fact that his primary teacher from our last ward is his new Principal! We love Sister (Mrs.) Bird and that was a very welcome surprise. She told me she checked on him on the first day and he was doing great in class and seemed happy.

This is about when the lump in my throat started to swell.

 After dropping Cole off and I watched him disappear into this new school with a bunch of strangers, I quickly made my way back to the car so I could "let it out". I had a good, long cry. My little guy isn't so little anymore and I said a prayer that he would have a good day and be protected. This parenting thing is hard sometimes. I wish I could keep him in my protection and care 24/7 but I know that's not realistic. Or healthy for him. I think the fact that we have another little one on the way is easing this transitional time for me so I can't imagine how hard it would be if we didn't know we'd get to do this again. Cole is just such a happy boy and has made the last few months much easier than they could otherwise be. I am really struggling with a lot of things right now and he is taking it all in stride. I could learn a thing or two from him.

Cole was in great Spirits after school and said that third grade was "TOTALLY AWESOME!" I hope he keeps thinking that. When he got a new teacher half way through last year, he started saying he didn't like school and I know it was his teacher. I wasn't a fan of Mrs. Shipp so it didn't surprise me but it did make me sad. We're officially 1 week into third grade and he still likes it. Phew. Who knows how long he'll be at this school but I'm happy that he's happy for now.