Taylor's first day of Kindergarten

I sent my baby off to Kindergarten on Monday, August 10th. I think the anticipation and planning of sending him was worse than the actual day/even that he went. He has been looking forward to this day all summer and every person he sees he tells he is in Kindergarten now! He is SO proud of himself, and of course so am I. Of course I want my child to grow up and live all of lifes experiences but I just cherish every moment of his childhood and feel like each year he gets older, he gets closer to not needing me as much. And I WANT HIM TO NEED ME DARNIT! Anyway, we packed his book bag, layed out his clothes, did his homework and then I ran off to my room to cry. It just hit me all of the sudden and I got choked up and had to bolt! I didn't want to really cry in front of him because it is hard for a child to understand why I would be SAD about him going to Kindergarten-this is such a HAPPY thing for him! He knows that I get sad as he gets bigger b/c he always says "and you're going to cry when I get big mommy aren't you?". I tell him all the time he will always be my baby no matter how big or old he is. He laughs and thinks it's funny. I don't want him to ever stop calling me mommy either-I wonder how long I will be able to hold on to mommy before it is traded in for mom? Anyway, the actual day of taking him to school was actually my first day of school also and my boss was nice enough to let me switch and work the afternoon instead so I could take him and pick him up from school. All went well and I didn't even cry! I think this was partly due to the fact that Connor was with me and he was ALL OVER THE PLACE (as usual) and I chose not to bring a stroller so I was busy trying to keep him w/ me and I think that distracting the crying. When I dropped him off at his classroom door, he said goodbye and ran back quickly to ask me which pocket of his bookbag his Kleenex box was in and then turned and eagerly walked into his role as a Kindergartner. An elementary student. No longer a preschooler. And I left my baby to be a big boy. Ahhh, and what a handsome big boy he is. Can't even put into words my love for this wonderful boy!!! Thank you God. Here are some pics of his big day.