Big School!

Since making the decision in February to send Josh to preschool this year, I have had extremely mixed feelings. I am so happy to admit that after his first full week, I could not be more certain that we have made a fantastic choice for him. Josh is naturally outgoing and quite extroverted (gets that from his father, for sure)! He has needed more daily interaction than I have been able to offer - all my character voices sound basically the same, and I am not nearly imaginative enough. He made fast friends on the first day, and he is noticeably thriving in his new surroundings!

Here are some photos that his teachers uploaded to the class website today:

This is Kipton - Josh's number one new buddy. Josh loved making this cloud painting and told me all about dipping the sponge into the paint before pressing it to the paper!

A sandbox inside the classroom - how cool is that!?

That is Miss Jodi, one of his teachers. I love how approachable and confident she is. I am amazed at her multitasking skills, and look forward to getting to know her better as the year goes on.

This is Laney (short for Delaney) and she is one of Josh's friends that he met over the summer. She is observing Big Red, the class Beta fish - Josh is building a shelter in the background.

And by the way - how have I never heard of a Promethean board before?? That's one on the back wall.

The best part of this whole week has been the conversations Josh and I have in the car on the drive to and from school. It's about a 23 min drive and I park so that I can walk him in/meet him at his classroom. Eventually I will let him hop in and out at the curb (maybe), but for now I really enjoy getting those extra moments with him.

On the drive the first day our conversation went sort of like this:

Josh: Tell me a story about Grandpa when he was a baby.

Me: One time Grandpa played a trick on his sister and told her that a ghost named George lived in their closet.

Josh: But that was when Grandpa was a baby in your tummy?

Me: Grandpa wasn't a baby in my tummy, I was Grandpa's baby. You were the baby in my tummy.

Josh: So you were a baby in Grandpa's tummy??

Me: No, babies are only in tummies of mommies - I was a baby in Marmee's tummy.

Josh: Oh. Well how do babies get out of the mommy's tummy?

Me: Well, when babies are born they come out of the mommy's tummy.

Josh: I know that already, but HOW do they come out?

Me: (nervously) Um... Well, there is this place called the birth canal... And when babies are born they go through it. (I know... What a terrible answer, but this was the last conversation I expected to have on the morning of the first day of Pre-preschool...)

Josh: But where is it?

Me: Um... It's inside of mommies... 

I can't remember how I managed to change the subject, but somehow I was able to distract him from this line of questioning. Needless to say, I was ill prepared for that discussion. Going forward, I have to prepare discussion topics in advance!

Here is a snapshot of his sweet little face that I hurriedly took the morning of his first full day of Pre-preschool. I love that he was holding on tight to his beloved Mellobear. He gets to nap with Mellobear everyday.

Oh, and he really loved that spikey hair! He pointed it out to every person we encountered as we walked to class.

And a couple more for good measure: