In true Heather fashion I started the day excited and put the boys in their cutest and my favorite outfits. We took a picture before we loaded the car to get the boys to school.
The drop off with Erik was rather undramatic. I didn't even come close to crying to getting sad, I was just excited to get to spend time alone with Elliot. Both Carl and I dropped Erik off and he instantly ran into the classroom. There was no long good-bye, big hugs or anything. He was gone. So many friends have told me how they cried at this moment, but I am excited for Erik and excited for myself. I was more giddy than sad.
Since I took pictures of Erik's first day of preschool I thought I would do the same for Elliot. His first mommy & me class was something I was completely unsure about with Elliot. See we have playdates very often with 10-12 kids so he is use to rather large groups of children. During those playdates he usually clings to me and doesn't wander off too much. This is why I had concerns about this class, I thought he would be rather clingy. As usual Elliot just surprised me.
The way the class works is that half the class goes to discussion and the other half stays and watches a "partners" child. So today I had a super easy girl who was a great independent player, stuck by Elliot and I and responded well when I asked her not to do things. I couldn't have asked for a better little girl to watch. Never cried once over her mommy. This gave me a good opportunity to take pictures.
We started off the class with a lot of outdoor play. He went to all his comfort zones and played with toys that were very similar to what we have at home.
Then we headed inside and did a little quieter play. Elliot is really into puzzles lately and sat instantly by the puzzle. I was watching the little girl and taking pictures so I didn't notice at first, but he pretty much put all the shapes in the correct spot, but couldn't figure out how to get it in the hole. I was impressed that he was able to match up the shapes.
Then one of the teacher aides noticed he liked to put things together and gave him the clothes pins which he thought was truly fun. I have been meaning to do this myself, so I am glad he got to play with these in class.
Then he did some playing with other kids, well some independent play with other kids around. That seems to be what happens the most at this age.
Then Elliot did something that completely shocked and surprised me, but it was one of those "aw" moments I will never forget. He picked up the baby doll and started holding it and carrying it. While he was playing with it and looking at its face, he gave it a HUGE kiss. Then a HUGE hug. It almost made me cry to see him be such a sweet loving boy.
After the first discussion and play time, it is circle time. I just knew my Elliot who loves singing and music would LOVE circle time. He clapped at all the songs, did all the motions since it was all songs we usually sing at home and had a HUGE smile on his face the entire time. He was so happy I brought him to that circle. Its impossible to take pictures during circle time so I don't have any right now.
After circle time the kids have a snack and I was a little unsure how this would go. Technically Elliot is too young for this class, by a few months, but it was the only one that worked with our schedule so I thought he might "fail" at snack. Honestly he did a lot better than some of the older kids. He sat, ate his snack and drank out of his cup better than his brother did at this age. Just one minor spill and he was fine. I was so proud of my little guy.
After snack it was mommy's turn to go to discussion was I was a little uneasy about this with Elliot. Erik never had a problem and never cried or anything when I left him. Although Elliot has had sitters and knows mommy leaves and comes back I just didn't know how he would react in this new situation. I thought for sure he would freak out and they would have to call me back into the classroom. Again Elliot surprised me. He was totally content and happy, and there were a lot of crying kids in the classroom, but my leaving never phased him.
We then went to pick Erik up from school. He did a running hug again and was so happy to see me. Preschool is almost worth it for moments like that. Then we had a quick talk with his teacher, I wanted to see how he did on his official first day. She actually asked me about his oral fixation, no surprise there, and we came up with a mutual plan on how to address it. He did three art projects and a lot of playing. I don't have all the details yet, hoping to hear more after nap, but he seemed to enjoy himself and really liked it. He definitely likes his teacher and talks about her all the time.
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