Ava's first day of 1st grade.

 Our little first grader started school today. (Tuesday)

 Her & Malia walked together, they were both bummed they ended up with different teachers this year.  Malia was a little nervous about her first day, whereas Ava said she wasn't nervous at all, just excited.  Both John & I agreed that she did look pretty nervous as we were leaving, a little deer in the headlights-ish.

 Ava is excited though that her teacher's name is Mrs. Nelson, we love the book "Mrs. Nelson is Missing", which is about a class full of kids that won't listen to their sweet, nice teacher, so she goes missing and has a mean witchy sub that gets the class in line.  Turns out Mrs. Nelson was just wearing a costume and tricked the kids into being good.  So of course I warned Ava that she better be good so Mrs. Nelson doesn't end up going missing.  : )

 As we were taking all our standard "first day" photos, Liliana, from last year, showed up.  She was Ava's first friend she met in kindergarten.  

 The girls all hugged and were so excited to see one another.

 And then Liliana announced that she is also in Mrs. Child's class, just like Malia.  I could see Ava's heart breaking a little in that moment.

 But she shook it off, she also whispered in my ear "I'm pretty sure that's the class that just watches movies all day anyway" Meaning one that we had talked trash about last year (even though I'm sure that's not true) I thought it was cute that she was justifying her class being more for her. 

 I really do think they made a good choice to put her where they did, even though she only knows 2 or 3 people in that class.  It's a 1st grade / 2nd grade split, which I'm not really sure how that works but I have a feeling they will be much better prepared to handle her advanced reading skills than her last teacher.  And they will likely challenge her in all areas, to a little higher standard.  

 The homework they sent home already looks a little challenging and much more serious than kindergarten. I hope she can embrace it, and learns to enjoy it. 

By Monday she needs to write a poem, do a math sheet with 30 simple questions, and write a story about a restaurant she would open, what it would be called, what it would be like inside, where it would be located, and such.  She also has to read out loud for 15 minutes a night. A pretty big jump from no homework last year!

Here's Norah giving Ava a little pep talk before we left. 

Ava came home from school happy and in good spirits, so I declare today a success!  I'm so excited for her new adventures as a first grader, can't wait to see what kind of growth she has over this next year!