Thursday, September 8, 2011

The First Day of Kindergarten

My sweet baby girl Reagan Marie is all grown up!  It seems like it was just yesterday that I was holding her in my arms for the first time.  But actually, yesterday was her first day of Kindergarten!

She's been preparing for and counting down the sleeps until the big day for weeks.  We had a day at the spa for mani's and pedi's, a day of pampering at the salon for a new hairdo, and she chose the dress that she would wear for her first day of school back in July!  

I wasn't sure that I was ever going to get her to go to bed on Tuesday night. We spent a long time cuddled up together, talking about school, and reading a few bedtime stories to settle her down.  We ended our reading with Dr. Suess's Oh, The Places You'll Go!, and it was the PERFECT story for the night before her first day of school!  I have big plans for this book for Reagan, so I was excited to share it with her for the first time for this occasion.  Over the next 13 years, I plan to secretly give this book to all of her teachers from Kindergarten through high school, and have them write a message to Reagan at the end of each school year.  Ryan and I will then give the personalized book to her at her high school graduation!  

She started off the morning of her big day with a phone call to her Daddy at work to sing Happy Birthday to him!  Yes, September 7th was a double duty celebration day for us this year!

Because the school that she attends chooses to do a "gradual entry" for the Kindergarten kids, Reagan didn't have to go to school until after lunch on her first day.  This was great news for us because it meant that Ryan would be able to make it home from work in time to walk with us to school.

You read correctly, we are able to walk to school.  We live one block away from the front doors of the school, so Reagan is already very familiar and comfortable with the school playground as she has already been playing on it for years!

One o'clock finally arrived, and Reagan was about to jump out of her skin because she was so excited.  I was able to slow her down just long enough for a couple of pictures before we left for school.

Of the twenty children in Reagan's kindergarten class, Reagan and 5 others all attended preschool together.  There is also another little girl in class that used to take gymnastics with Reagan, so it was an end-of-summer reunion of sorts for many of the kids!  I think Reagan was just as happy to see her teachers as she was her friends, as we were lucky enough to have already met her teachers before the start of school.
 

I must admit, as Ryan and I walked back home yesterday afternoon with Myers, I was missing my baby girl VERY much.  But I was also very happy and extremely proud of her, as she truly loves school and is so excited for this new adventure in her life.

Because of the gradual entry, less than 2 hours later we were on our way back to school to get our girl.  As luck would have it, and because we arrived a few minutes early, the kids were heading back into class from a playground recess, so I was able to sneak a quick picture of the big Kindergarten girl with a few of her classmates.

Today was a slightly longer day of school, and Reagan was thrilled.  That meant that she could use her new back pack and lunch box!  Trust me when I tell you that she thinks that she is some serious tough stuff with that backpack!

I had a little surprise for Reagan when Myers and I went to pick her up this afternoon... DIXIE!  Of course Reagan was excited to see her puppy dog, (although I don't know why we still call her a puppy when she just had her EIGTH birthday last month) and all of the other kids in her class were excited as well.  I think my surprise earned Reagan serious rockstar status among her classmates!

So, we have one more day of Kindergarten this week, and then we're heading off to Seattle for the weekend to do some serious back-to-school shopping and to celebrate Ryan's birthday.  I must say, I have a feeling that this is going to be a GREAT school year!

My dear Reagan, I am so very proud of you.  You are such a smart, talented, loving, and beautiful young girl, and I know that you are going to excel not only in school, but at everything in life.  Always follow your dreams, and never give up on those dreams.  You are a superstar!  And, as Dr. Seuss once said...

Congratulations!  
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

OH!  THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on your way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.

And will you succeed?
Yes!  You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

You're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So... get on your way!

OH!  THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

2 comments:

Mrs. M said...

It is such a momentous day in their lives. I love the dress she picked out! And what a great idea with the book...I just may have to do the same thing. :)

Lexie Loo, Lily, Liam & Dylan Too said...

She is beautiful! I hope she is having a great year in school!