Preschool

We are officially parents of a preschooler.  How is that possible?!

Silly Sophie (all 30 pounds of her) back in the Baby Bjorn!

Last week, on the night of the preschool's parent orientation, I was too nervous and excited to eat dinner.  I had butterflies in my stomach for many reasons-- because I know how much Sophie will love school, because I am so excited for her to learn, to socialize, to develop, because I cannot believe that she is almost 3 years old and entering school, because I wish I could just hold on to her and be with her every minute of every day.  Long story short, I was a nervous ball of energy.  The orientation began with the Pastor of Children's Ministries whose opening prayer for all of our children left me crying.  I am officially the mom who cried at the parent orientation for preschool, because I was so overwhelmed with joy, pride, anticipation, fear, melancholy. (Doug must have had something fall into his eye during the prayer, too, because his eyes started to water at the same time....)  We met Sophie's teacher and saw her classroom, and we both said to eachother, "Sophie is going to LOVE this."  Sophie heard us return home later that evening, and she called us into her bedroom.  Doug sat in her reading chair, and I crawled into bed with Sophie.  We talked with her for 45 minutes all about her school, her teacher, the teacher's aide, the class, the daily schedules, the other parents, the snacks, the rules, etc, etc.  She was squealing with joy and getting more and more excited.  She wanted me to read every piece of paperwork that we brought home, including the information on tuition, parking, and emergency procedures. Our conversation became one of those moments when I smiled at Doug, and we both knew that we would remember this night for the rest of our lives.  Our little girl was ecstatic, asking question after question about school.  At one point, she jumped up and down in her bed and loudly said, "Now, can you back up, mommy and tell me about the toys again?!"  Days later, Sophie was still reciting the descriptions and explanations that we provided her.

In the days leading up to Sophie's first day of school, D and I both had special dates with Sophie.  Although neither of us came out explicity and talked to one another about our motivation for the dates, I think we both felt sentimental about our baby girl starting preschool.  Doug took Sophie for an afternoon swim and smoothies and chicken fingers in the sun.  And I took Sophie to Nordstroms!

SOOO EXCITED!

We celebrated the final day of summer with the Whitfield's 1st Annual Back to School Party!  We read all of her books that talked about school.  I decorated the house with yellow (her favorite color) streamers and balloons, and I conducted an "interview" to document everything from her favorite toys to friends to activities.  Sophie talked about how when she grows up, she wants to be "a doctor, a author, and a gymnast." We even got a chance to visit her classroom and meet her teachers.  The first thing Sophie did when she entered her new classroom?  Hugged the teacher.  Then, my talkative girl told her teacher how she likes to pinch her brother's cheeks to get him to laugh, how she has a fish named "Beauty and the Beast",  how her Grandma lives in Spokane, how she has a dollhouse with 3 meerkat babies....and as we walked back to the car after the quick meet-and-greet, Sophie said, "I'm smiling because I'm so happy! I love my teachers.  I'm so excited."

On the night before school started, Sophie chose to read a book of bible stories as her bedtime book.  At the end of one of the stories, the book asks "What do you want to thank Jesus for?"  Sophie looked all around the room, and I assumed that she would focus on one of her toys/stuffed animals/games/etc... but in true "I'm-ready-for-a-Presbyterian-preschool manner, Sophie said, "I want to thank Jesus for the moon."  Mommy and Daddy then had to explain to Sophie why we were crying happy tears again.  She is such a sweet girl.

When the first day arrived, Soph was still so excited.  She squealed with excitement and impatience! She had such a big and genuine grin on her face all morning.  When we rounded the corner to her classroom, other mommies and daddies were holding their children's hands, hugging and kissing them goodbye.  Sophie walked straight past them and into the classroom without turning around.  Doug and I both had to follow her in and ask for a hug goodbye!  Then, she was off to explore.  We were so proud of her confidence, her excitement, her independence, and her joy.  When I picked her up, my bubbly, BIG girl already looked so much older than she had 3 hours prior!  She told me the whole way home about her new friends, about which kids peed their pants and which kids cried (!), about the stories and songs shared, about how she spilled her yogurt on her shirt but she cleaned it up all by herself....it was an amazing first day!  She ran into her bedroom and asked her fish and many of her toys, "Did you guys miss me? I'm back from preschool!"

The Cam-man and I will miss big sissy during the days that she's at school, but he and I are also excited for a little mommy-baby time, too.  And maybe if he gets more 1:1 time with me during the mornings, he won't feel the need to shake things up by demanding so much 1:1 time in the middle of the night...!