The boys (both!) started pre-school this week. This is Brady’s 3rd year of school so he’s an old pro by now, but it was Nolan’s first time (really, ever) doing anything without me. Both boys were so excited for the idea of school- new backpacks, packing a lunch, cool shoes, we just weren’t sure how Nolan would do with the reality of school being away from Mommy, Daddy and Brady. This year Brady will go 4 mornings a week and Nolan will go 2. That’s right, that means I will get a whole 8 hours to myself each week. Woot! Time to move the pile of laundry off my treadmill and actually use it! But I digress…

Brady started school on Monday, but Nolan didn’t have his first day until Tuesday. That was slightly confusing for poor Nolie as he was just sure he was supposed to go to school too.

Brady was a superstar on the first day. He was so excited to get into his classroom and get his learn on!                                                                                                                                                               

We were totally “those parents” taking hundreds of pictures in the classroom and even Brady’s teacher made a comment about how we really seemed into “taking it all in.” Ahem. Brady made up for his crazy parents by giving his teachers a sweet 1st day of school present.

Hey, I was a teacher. I know it doesn’t hurt to suck up juuuust a little. I’m not above it.

From the sounds of it, Brady had a great 1st day. When we came to pick him up he said, “Why are you here already?” He’s all warm and fuzzy just like his momma.

Now onto littlest man’s 1st day of school. He was so stoked. He posed perfectly and everything. That never happens!

We even got a couple shots with big brother (who was clearly an expert at this picture thing by now.)

Happy, happy, happy heading into school.

Oh, look! There’s my name! Happy, happy, happy.

First kid in the class- get the firetruck all to myself. Happy, happy, happy!

And then I left to take Brady to his class…

Sweet little Brady just working away, completely un-caring that I’m leaving the room. He’s so cool.

Apparently that’s when things got a little less “happy.” When Chris left the classroom, Nolan got a little panicky but was quickly calmed by his trusty blankie that we brought for this exact reason. We both made a quick get away and prayed that things would go well and we wouldn’t get a phone call mid-morning to come retrieve our traumatized child.

In true Chris and Karen fashion, I was all “Woohoo! Kids are both in school!” and he was all “Boohoo! They’re growing up so fast!” Love my big, emotional man.

Turns out we did not get any phone calls from the school. (Yay!) We actually got to take advantage of a rare kid-free, Chris not traveling, morning, and went out to lunch downtown.

I guess pork and grits can help ease anyone’s stress…

When we picked up Nolan he was playing happily! His teacher reported that he had a good day, although he did NOT want his diaper changed at all (guess we need to work on that potty training thing) and he would NOT leave his blankie in the classroom during playground time (we’ll work on that too.) One of my favorite parts of the day was seeing how interested Brady was in Nolan’s day. “Did you have fun, Nolan? See, mommy and daddy always come BACK!” Ahh, melted my heart.

We’ll see how day 2 goes for N-Dawg, sometimes that’s even harder than the 1st day, but at least we all survived day 1! Brady is loving school and Nolan is off to a decent start. Here’s a quick video of him breaking it down on the way home from school. Clearly he wasn’t too traumatized!