Today was the first day of preschool for both of the kids. Laney was off to the 4 year old 9-2pm class, and Liam and I attended the 9:30-11:30am Parent/Toddler class. Laney has been apprehensive about this day, nervously discussing it with us for the past few weeks in a tiny voice. I am happy to report that the day went very well and everyone had a good time. Laney didn't shed a single tear, nor did she need to take her lovey out at all today. She went right into her classroom, put her backpack into her cubby, and got to work making pictures for mommy at the writing table with Margo and Shane (friends from last year.) She gave Liam and I hugs and kisses goodbye, and never looked back. She announced to me after school today that she was a big girl now, and just had decided to be one this morning. She also told me that she was not going to cry at gymnastics today, and that she went to the bathroom 4 times at school (which is a big deal because she wouldn't go at all last year.) I was also happy to find that she enjoyed having lunch at school since she flat out refused to stay for lunch bunch last year. I am feeling so relieved that she loves school! Her teachers couldn't be nicer and today was a great start to the school year.
 |
| Liam has yet to master putting on a backpack. Wearing it makes him cry! |
 |
| I can't believe they are both old enough to go to school today. |
 |
| The preschool was just remodeled, and it is so nice inside! |
 |
| Liam joined Laney at the writing center before heading to his class |
 |
| Liam on the 2 year old playground. |
Liam had fun at the parent/toddler class too. He ran all over the playground, and was most interested in climbing on the boulders and jumping off. He also helped me set out the snack for his class, attempting twice to take a plate of snack back out to the playground with him. He discovered the toddler sized automatic sinks today and fell in love with washing his hands. He washed his hands so many times that I had to forcibly remove him from the bathroom so other kids could have a turn! He ate his own snack, and then started on the other kids snacks when I wasn't looking. Oh well...he is so much bigger than most of the kids, I guess they won't miss their food. Liam was all over the classroom after that, trying out all of the new toys before settling into running up the small staircase and running down the small slide. There are quite a few only-children in the class who don't know how to take turns, but Liam solved that by yelling "TURNS" at them in a loud voice when he thought they were trying to cut in line. He also tried yelling "SHARE" when other kids wanted to play with his toys, adopting a defensive stance as though he were about to blitz the offensive line and run off with the toys. A little intervention on my part saved the day, and I am relatively sure that he didn't make any enemies today. Poor guy was pretty worn out by the end of class and kept asking to go home about 15 minutes before class ended. He did give his teacher a big hug when we were done, and wanted to "call daddy, tell school" when we got in the car. I took him to Panera afterward, followed by a riveting trip to the car wash and quick shopping trip to Thinker Things (toy store). It was really nice spending time with just Liam, something that rarely happens for him. It's interesting how he behaves so much better when he has no sibling to compete with for my attention. Hmmmm....note to self: schedule more one-on-one time with each of my kids. We made it back to school to pick up Laney and I was shocked that he hadn't passed out in his car seat. He ran into her class and gave Laney a hug immediately (LOVE!) On the way home I announced to him that when we got home I would give him some milk and he was going right to bed to take a nap. I told him "no books, no songs, just night night." "Okay mommy," he replied, and true to his word, he got right in bed and cuddled up without a fuss.
The only hitch in our day was that Toby had a nervous breakdown while we were gone and went around the house destroying things. He did a #1 and a #2 in the craft room, stood up on 3 different windows and scratched the blinds, wrenched the door open to Liam's room and scratched up his wall some more, knocked a wooden seahorse off the wall in the kid's bathroom, pulled the security handles off of both the front and back door, oh, and did this to our back doorknob:
 |
| Yes, he ate our doorknob. It looks like the Incredible Hulk tried to exit our house via the laundry room and squeezed a little too hard. Guess we know what Patrick will be doing this weekend. |
Poor Toby just couldn't handle this new Miller milestone! Either that or there was some thunder here today. Note to self: add "give Toby a valium" to my checklist for Tuesday and Thursday mornings.
