Second Grade!

Today is Clayton's first day of second grade. I can't believe how big he is. We went to back to school night last night to meet his teacher and see his classroom. He has a few friends from his first grade class that are going to be in his class this year and he is really excited about that. Based on what I learned last night, I think he's going to have another great year!

As usual on the first day of school, Clayton bounced out of bed. He had asked me last night to help him remember the name of his teacher - just in case he forgot. However, when I woke him up this morning, his first words to me were, "I remember her name! Mrs. B---! Mrs. B---!" I could tell that he was relieved that he hadn't forgotten.

First order of business was breakfast. It has always worked out that Justin has been home to make Clayton a special breakfast on the first day of school (no one does breakfast like Justin). This morning was no different. Justin came through with chocolate chip pancakes! Clayton was so excited. I should have counted how many times he said, 'Thank you!', but I didn't. It was a lot though. (Doesn't that breakfast look delicious!?! I had some so I can say that it tasted as good as it looked.)

Clayton demolished his breakfast and then ran upstairs to get dressed. Justin and I sat at the table a little longer and talked and before we knew it Clayton had come back down, fully dressed. It was definitely a new record for him! I could tell that he was chomping at the bit to get to school. So I humored him and we brushed his teeth and fixed his hair and were still done with about 30 minutes to spare (which NEVER happens with him). He kept begging me to let him get his shoes on and go to the bus stop. I assured him that it wasn't time yet and that he wasn't going to be late. I let him pass some of the time with the iPad. Finally, FINALLY, it was time to go to the bus stop!His backpack was so full today. I thought it felt pretty heavy, but he assured me that he would have no problems carrying it, second graders are pretty strong! I also can't help but notice how much better his backpack fits him this year. Last year this backpack looked so big on him, this year it doesn't seem to dwarf him nearly as much. My boy's growing up.We got to the bus stop a little late. Remember last year when his bus was 30 minutes late on the first day of school? I was sort of counting on that same thing happening this year too so I wasn't too concerned with punctuality today. So we waited...and waited...and waited. We took some pictures to pass the time.Clayton wanted to take a picture of the baby. This is what overdue looks like.After waiting for about 15 minutes, Justin drove past on his way to work. He informed us that Noah was awake and watching cartoons in the house. I decided that, since the bus was showing no signs of appearing yet, I'd go get Noah and let him wait at the bus stop with us (the bus stop is only two houses down from us, so grabbing him didn't take long). He loved waiting with Clayton. He also loved hamming it up for the camera.Remember last year on Clayton's first day of first grade when Noah's face was swollen from mosquito bites? Well, to continue our theme of Noah's unfortunately sensitive skin, this year he is having an allergic reaction to something (we go to the allergist next week to figure out what). Poor Pootie, he just can't catch a break.These two did, however, provide me with my brand new favorite picture ever. I love it so much!To make a long story short(er), the bus never came. We waited for about 40 minutes. I tried calling the bus depot over and over but all I ever got was a busy signal. I ended up grabbing Josie, loading her up in the car, picking the boys up from the bus stop and driving Clayton to school. When we got there I thought we could just drop him off, but because we were so late by that point (which he didn't get penalized for, thank goodness) I had to physically take him into the school and sign him in. Noah was wearing his pajamas, Josie was also in her pajamas (the difference was that Noah had shoes on and Josie didn't), and I was wearing my ratty old sweats and a shirt that, while it completely covers my enormous stomach, is pretty threadbare. We were a sight to be seen for sure!

After we made it home, I made chocolate chip pancakes for Noah and Josie and finally got through to the bus depot. Trust me, they got an earful. They assured me that things would be much smoother and much more punctual tomorrow. They better be, you don't want to anger an overdue pregnant woman two days in a row.

I'm excited to see Clayton after school today. I know how much he loves school and I can't wait to hear how his day went. He's going to have a great year, I know it!