Gearing up for preschool!

Matthew had open house for his school this morning and it went great. He'll be starting on Tuesday and going 2 mornings a week from 9-12. I'm excited for us both... for him, I am really looking forward to him making new friends and enjoying new experiences. He's such a social kid and I think it's going to be great for him. For me, frankly, I'm looking forward to 2 mornings a week to myself for a month, and then I think it'll be nice to have that time to bond with baby girl after she's born.

So we went this morning, which he said he didn't want to do unless there were going to be lollipops involved. I did him one better: not only would I give him a lollipop afterwards if he was a good boy, but I was pretty sure he'd see his friend Henry there as well. That was enough convincing for him! When we got there, he left me right away and went over to play with a huge group of girls in the kitchen/play house area. I was really surprised to see the classroom so boy/girl segregated at their age! Eventually he did make his way to the other side (where he found his amazing discovery - the lizard that's the class pet) and he had to come running to show me that.

Any time he found something really cool, he'd come get me and take my hand to go show it to me. I think he's really going to enjoy it. My expectation for next week: I think Tuesday is going to go great, and Friday will be more of a challenge when he realizes that he's going to be there without me. But I still think he's going to love it overall.

There is an older group (I think 3.5+) across the hall that's already in session and at one point he broke out of the room and ran across into the other class. They were having story time and were all sitting in a circle, so he just sat down in the circle with them and was perfectly content there. They also had a room full of very cool toys (which were much more easily identified than in his classroom b/c his room was filled with parents & other kids!) and he was pretty annoyed that I insisted on taking him out of there. He nearly lost that promised lollipop with the semi-tantrum he threw over me taking him out of the older kids' classroom... but I did end up giving it to him anyway ;).

They have 2 little bathrooms plus the plastic potties there, and he used the bathroom while we were there. I think he liked how short the toilet was, plus the novelty of it. He peed in the bathroom at home again before his nap, so he's definitely making progress.

Anyway, all in all a good morning for Matthew, and I'm glad. I think he's going to really love having the 2 mornings a week to socialize, etc. I also liked that when he was at the lizard tank, one of the teachers' helpers picked him up and was letting him feed the lizard. He clearly had no problem with her holding him, etc (and I was all the way across the room at the time). So he definitely seems to be fairly well adjusted. I still think we'll have some challenges with leaving him there without me staying, but I know he'll get through it quickly.

So that was our official start to preschool and I think it was a success! He just woke up from his nap in a much better mood than he went down in... so I better strike while the iron is hot and get some stuff done while he feels like it :).