Avi's first day of pre-school

Or should I say pre-shul?  Of course one of my favorite parts was the shopping!  We went to no less than four stores hunting for the perfect backpack.  I'm sure this will be a regular tradition, but we opted for a larger one in the end so he won't grow out of it so soon. 

Luckily we got to show him his new classroom the day before school really started.  He wasted no time in checking out all of the toys.

I think it really helped him deal with any anxiety about school, because we had no crying the next day.  I was also probably way too proud of the fact that he is the only potty trained kid in his class and that we were the only parents not carting in bagfuls of diapers that day. 

Of course the ice cream social afterwards with his friend Nisha didn't hurt either.

We made it a special outing for Avinash and left the baby at home.  somehow that didn't make as much of an impression as we thought. 

Ice cream and cookies make everything better.  Especially with a friend.

The next day he was slightly less than excited for pictures.  Getting up and ready this early isn't exactly part of our usual routine.

Smiling, but blurry.

He laid down again, but the baby helped that smile appear a little.

At least someone is looking at the camera. 

I think in the future I think I'd like to take a full family picture every year.

Finally happy on his way out the door.  He really wanted to get there and for us to quit taking pictures!

Finally at school, looking all grown up ~ my big and little boy.  He walked right into the classroom and didn't look back once!  As my cousin Niharika said, all that is waiting is the scrapbook page of this moment.

I was so proud of him.  Even better he came from school with a positive note about his behavior (is it possible he is really learning to share?) and a glowing report from the teachers about our sweet boy.