First week of preschool...

My big 3 year old ready for his first day of preschool!

I felt so bad that I didn't have a "proper" backpack for him (I ordered one online) so he had this huge backpack strapped on with nothing but 7 diapers and a pack of wipes in it and the poor boy could hardly hold it up.  It was pretty funny.  He was determined to carry it, though.

Daddy saying, "Bye Bye."   I can only imagine what was going through his mind at that point...

His teacher said he had a good first day.  There were some tears off and on, which is to be expected, but he played well with other kids, sat on the rug and listened, participated in activities, had lunch with the kids and even sat on the potty.  He was very happy to see me and Luke, and promptly fell asleep in the car.

I'm sure it's been a little stressful for John Michael with this huge change in his routine, meeting new faces and being away from home for 3 1/2 hours each morning. 

But, it's also been stressful for me. 

John Michael is my 4th child to go off to preschool, but my first to not be able to communicate what he did at school, what he ate, what he played with, who his friends are, etc.  I can ask him if he learned about dinosaurs and he'd probably say "Yah" even if he didn't.  If you hadn't guessed yet, I am a very involved mom... I care about what my kids are learning and doing in school and want to help reinforce it at home.   So when a friend asked me on Facebook what was his favorite thing to do at preschool, I got sad.  I didn't know... plus he's been taking a bus home this week Monday through Wednesday, so I didn't have that communication with the teacher.

Fast forward one week.  Today was Day 5 of preschool.  I picked him up so I could talk to the teacher.  Teacher Karen thanked me for letting him come to her class.  She said he's doing very well and he's such a joy to have!  She sent me a photo on Wednesday of John Michael playing with a little girl he calls "Lula" and another boy who is visually impaired.  The three of them were playing with blocks at a table... that is so cool!  I think "Lula" will take good care of him... like a sister.

At pickup, I also asked the teacher what he likes to do and she said play with blocks, Playdough (gingerbread scented dough this week), and play with the dollhouse (Greta's influence on him).  His speech teacher loves him and said he's doing very well.  She said he talks about his baby brother, Luke, a lot.  He's putting the ending consonant on "boat" which is also good.  And she's impressed by how well he sits on his special spot on the rug and listens.  She's going to implement a Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) for him to help with his communication.  Sometimes, a picture is worth... well, you know...  It may even prompt him to say the word.  He also had adaptive PE today and Tuesday.  I haven't met the teacher yet, but I heard that John Michael had fun jumping today.

When I walked in the door today, he was with a group of kids talking with the teacher.  He saw me, shouted "Mom!" and pointed and ran as fast as he could to give me a hug.  It was so sweet.  You should see him run... it's still pretty awkward and you think he's going to fall any second, but he didn't.  I go t the hug and he turned and went right back to the kids.  Then he showed me "The Snowman" book that he likes.  It's without words, which are pretty cool books where you make up the story.  We'll have to check that out at the library.  Needless to say, he's had a great first week.

John Michael's first official preschool art project.  I'm sure it's the first of many, many projects to come and I LOVE IT!

(On a side note... it's not been totally stressful for me... I've gotten most of my Christmas shopping done this week since I only have Luke with me now.  This is definitely one of the benefits of preschool, too!!!)