Last Day of Kindergarten

I'm thinking this morning that surely this last year has gone by faster than all the others. Some kind of weird physics phenomenon or something. Because wasn't it just yesterday that I let my first born venture off into the world without me??? Look at him hold his dad's arm so tightly as he boarded the bus for the very first time, back in August:

I was back by the car. With the camera covering my face, thank goodness. It was a difficult morning for me, to say the least.

Be sure to notice how there is no baby gate in that picture above. That's because Suzi, who is now walking all over the place, was still just a teeny tiny two month old. Where has this year vanished to???

Isaac was nervous too, but luckily he was more excited, and I did a pretty good job of hiding my nerves from him.

He's proven that excitement was a better reaction than nerves, for it's been a really great school year. We got his report card yesterday, and miracle of miracles, he got an "Outstanding" in follows class/school rules. Who would have ever thought that possible when he was getting kicked out of preschool??? Except for his mama, of course. Now to those of you who didn't think it was possible, I say to you: well, nothing, because I want to be as good a person as my son. I'm awfully proud of him.

He got a few more outstandings, in rhyming and math. The rhyming thing I find hilarious. It's been his highest grade all year. I love that. Perhaps he'll have a future in rapping.

This year has been an important year for all of us. Chris and I have...changed our expectations. Well, me more than Chris. I believe Izzy is capable of getting all outstandings, and it was hard for me accept those "S's" at first. But now I've learned to focus on the results, not just the grade: Izzy can read! He can write to 100 (and further) by himself! He can add and subtract! His progress this year has been nothing short of astonishing.

The pride he has in his new abilities is wonderful to see too. His last homework assignment was to write 1-20, or more if they wanted. He sat down and wrote to 99 without help, and without any mistakes. Then he told me that after that he got a little confused. When I told him the next number was 100, he started screaming and jumping for joy. He ran to his dad yelling, "Dad you won't believe this, it's a miracle!!!" His teachers have done a fabulous job in helping him to see how exciting and awesome learning can be, and I am so grateful to them.

So this morning, as I sort of recreated the first day of school pictures, there were no nerves, just excitement and pride.

While we waited on the school bus, he had me draw a heart on his hand, as I always do. I started doing that right after Christmas break when he'd decided that he didn't want to go to school anymore because he would miss me. It was a few days of horrible fighting with him, with Chris and I insisting that too bad, he had to go anyways, when I hit upon the idea of drawing a heart on his arm or hand so that he'd have my love with him all day. Worked awesome! One of the better parenting ideas I've come up with, if I say so myself, and it had instant results.

He longer needs the heart, but he still likes it. Somedays I turn the heart into a chick or a puppy, somedays I draw it running or diving into a pool. It's been a fun way to spend time while we're waiting on the bus.

So this morning, I get my pen out and draw the heart. I was going to turn it into a panda, his school mascot, but instead he said it would be cool if it was a graduating heart. As I finished it up, he asked if I could put a "K" on it for Kindergarten:

He's going to make an awesome first grader!