Preschool!

Joseph started preschool on September 10, 2013.  He is going to Little Saints which is a part of our church, St. Anthony of Padua.  His program is on Tuesday and Thursdays from 9:00 to 2:00.  He is in the 2 year old Monkey class with most kids turning 3 by the end of January and his teachers are Miss Kari and Miss Thelma.  

On September 6th we had a meet the teacher day where we went into the classroom for about 45 minutes.  Joseph did great and made himself right at home.  I think he did get a little nervous/overwhelmed though and he asked Miss Thelma where the books were and had me read about 5 books to him while he sat on my lap. Sweet boy.

His buddy, Trace, is in the same class.  Trace's mom and I met through baby boot camp when we first moved here and we see them often so it is great that they have one another!

I had picked out a nice, button down, collared shirt for him to wear on his first day but he really wanted to wear his soccer shirt from Paul and Aunt Lindsay so we went with that.  He was pretty excited for the first day-he wore his backpack around the house frequently prior and would pack his lunchbox in it.

I know that there are way too many pictures here of him but I just couldn't choose which one was my favorite so decided to include them all-love all of his facial expressions!  

And I had to get one of baby sister, too!  

I had to take a picture of his first school lunch :)  The little bag that has his name on it came from the teacher and we put his snack in that to keep it easier and separate from his lunch.  He only wants peanut butter and jelly for lunch so far.  

Here he is in the school parking lot ready to walk in!

Here he is telling me that his backpack is heavy!

 Trace and Joseph were so excited to see one another!

When I dropped him off he did so great!  He gave Miss Kari his napmat, put his lunch box in the container and put his backpack in his cubby and then walked right over to Miss Thelma to wash his hands.  I basically had to chase him down to give him a hug and a kiss.  I did well, too :)  I think knowing that he was excited made it so much easier.  I caught myself thinking about him all day-wondering what he was doing, how he was adjusting, if he ate his lunch, napped, etc and I was definitely excited to pick him up at 2:00.

My friend Tanna, Trace's mom, captured these next two photos of getting Joseph at the end of the first day.  They totally made my day when she sent them to me!  The teachers said that he did great-no issues at all-followed directions and just went along with everything.  He even napped which surprised me!  He was definitely a little groggy when I picked him up since he only napped for about 45 minutes and it took him awhile to snap out of it once we got home so I think that will take some getting used to. I was kind of hoping that he wouldn't nap at school since it is shorter than he naps at home but so far he has napped there every time so we are just making some adjustmets to our afternoons at home.  

The first thing that he said to me when I saw him was, "Where's baby?"  Aww!  So sweet!  One of the rules at the school is that siblings aren't allowed in the classroom so Ella hangs in the stroller with the office ladies and Tucker (Trace's younger brother) right outside of the classroom when I walk in to pick him up.  Joseph was so excited to see her as when we walked out of the room.  When I asked Joseph what his favorite part of the day was, he told me, "Nothing!"  He didn't really talk much about it but I have been able to pull a few things out of him-he likes going to motor (similar to a gym class that they do for 30 minutes each day) and at motor he sat on an orange circle, Miss Kari reads books, and they do the weather each day.  As we were walking down the ramp outside of the school on the first day he said to me, "I missed you Momma" which definitely made me smile!  And the only tear I had that day was when I opened up his backpack and found this:

At dinner we ask one another what their favorite part of their day was and when we asked him he said , "When I gave you my picture." 

I know it isn't official school yet but it is definitely the first step in letting him go.  He has done great every day!  He still doesn't seem overly excited to go but walks in without a problem and the teacher tells me that he is good all day long.  Hoping for an exciting school year!  I stole this from my friend's blog-just loved it and perfect for any age!