Preschool

I'm having a hard time believing it myself, and it just happened, but my baby boy is big enough to start preschool. After lots of prayer and looking around, we decided to start Jake in a preschool at a nearby church just one day a week. I was super excited to find a preschool I liked that offered the 1-day-a-week option. I think it's perfect for us right now. Anyhow, everyone knows the best way to start of the school day is with a good breakfast. Jake's choice for the day was oatmeal and a banana...It's also important to take good care of yourself, which includes brushing your hair and teeth... I tried some pics on a bench area in front of the school. Jake was definitely not giving me a smile. That's OK; I know he was trying to figure out what in the world was going on. We've been reading him a book about going to school for the past couple of weeks and I started our morning off with it, along with talking about school and how much fun he was going to have and things he would be doing, but it's hard to know what he really thinks...

His class are the "Cubbie Bears." There's 8 in his class on Fridays, but they have other cubbies on other days of the week too...

He did terrific when I dropped him off. I gave him a hug, said "I love you, have fun and see you later", and he was off. No first day jitters for this one. I didn't want to come in the classroom and disrupt, but I managed to capture a quick pic from over the door...

His preschool day is from 9 am-1pm, and by noon I was super anxious and ready to pick him up. I couldn't have been happier about pick-up as well. The timing was magical b/c just as I reached the door to pick him up, I saw Jake lean over to hug one of the other little boys in his class with a big smile on his face. He hadn't even seen me yet, and I have no idea what spurred the hug, but he definitely initiated it, and he definitely looked happy as can be. He then looked up and saw me, and the smile just continued as he reached up for me. Definitely a moment to warm a Mommy's heart.

So far, so good. I definitely feel validated about our decision to send him to school and the school itself. Here's Jake with his teachers, Ms. Linda and Ms. Karen...

Ms. Karen has been teaching at the preschool for 15 years, and Ms. Linda for 14!!! I couldn't ask for more experience or more kindness. I'm really looking forward to see how Jake grows and matures this year with this new addition to his experiences.