Our Baby Started Preschool

I'm not sure I believe it yet.

Pink backpack?  Check.

Pink lunch bag?  Check

Big girl undies?  Check.

Emotional preparedness from mommy?  Oops.  Forgot that part.

I mean, I know she has two school days under her belt after this week, but... she can't really be old enough for school yet!  Can she?

There weren't quite the tears for me on the night before her first day like I experienced with Will's first day of Kindergarten.  But I know that's because she's going to have her Nana for a first teacher and that feels like a very comfortable transition for both Sophie and me.  The leap into grown-up independence doesn't feel quite so drastic in this way.   

But I did still have some babyhood flashbacks as I got her dressed this morning and really can't believe that we have TWO school aged children now! 

My sweet, baby girl.  I love her so, so very much! 

As she pranced around the house this morning, Sophie sang "It's my first day of preschool... my first day of preschool... my first day of preschool" to her own little invented tune.  :)  To say she was excited, is a bit of an understatement.

We had whole wheat waffles, bananas and yogurt for breakfast and Sophie took her time as usual.  She used the potty and wore her big girl undies, of course.  I know I haven't updated on potty training in awhile, but this was a questionable feat until just recently.  So far, so good this week.

There's just something about seeing your child wearing a backpack (for real) for the first time that really floors you for a few minutes.  You might just be breezing along, organizing every tiny detail of the morning that could possibly be organized and then BAM!  The backpack is on and you're like "Holy crap! We're really doing this!"

But she's just a baby! 

Big brother was extremely supportive this day.  Neither of them are big into having their picture taken (as is clearly evident here) but he gave her hugs, wished her luck and then immediately asked how her first day of preschool went upon hopping off his school bus that afternoon.  None of these sibling pictures are outstanding, but I love them all so much for their authenticity. 

This little lady is going to LOVE preschool!  So many new friends.  So many fun activities.  And finally following in big brother's footsteps with the opportunity to go off to school instead of always staying behind and watching him go.

Upon arrival to the school, we snapped some pics with Stella & Mya who had already been inside and claimed their small group name tags.  :)  Love these girlies!  And love that they're doing this together.  ;)

Coincidentally, all three wore the same sandals (from Nana) this morning.  So cute. 

Mya & Stella's friend Payne (and hopefully soon-to-be Sophie's buddy too!) pulled in shortly after we did and took a picture with the girls.  Payne is just beyond adorable.  :) 

The obligatory waving goodbye and walking in the school doors pictures...  Of course, I followed her though.  Haha! 

Nana/"Mrs. Skees"

I didn't get a picture with Mrs. Cuthbertson but the first morning was a little bit hectic with all the brand new students, so I'll get one at one of her helper days. 

Sophie also met a girl named Cheyenne upon arrival who was an avid kitchen enthusiast like Sophie.  Fast friends! 

Sophie is a Frog Friend (for small group activities) with Mya and Payne.  And also just like Will was! 

More kitchen play with Mya. 

Love the big red hat that Cheyenne found.  Haha!  So cute. 

Sophie had a quick tantrum right around the time of this picture when Jaxson wanted to play with some of the cupcakes she apparently thought she could claim as her own already.  Sophie and Jaxson have literally grown up together at the babysitter's house, so they play like brother and sister.  I know my mom was just a bit nervous about having three granddaughters in class AND Mrs. Cuthbertson having her grandson AND many of these kids already knowing each other prior to school.  It might all be fine... or it might be a challenging dynamic with all the intermixed relationships that could cause for some jealousy and fighting.  Soooo, mom enlisted my Aunt Shirley (her sister) to come in and help for awhile (I don't think they have a time frame in mind) as these kids all ease into the classroom and learn routines/meet friends/get acclimated.  I had to scoop Sophie up and remind her that these toys are for everyone to share and that Jaxson was just trying to play with her.  Yikes.  Hopefully, that is not a habit for her.

Sadly (for me), we barely had a goodbye because she was so engrossed in her make-believe play and had just recovered from the tantrum.  But I knew she wasn't nervous being there and there would be plenty of adult eyes looking out for her.  So I gave her a kiss and said goodbye.  I'm not sure she even heard me.  Sniff. Sniff! 

The day went very well.  No more behavioral issues from Sophie on this day and mom said the kids did very well with the laxed first day routine.  Again, I didn't get a play-by-play from Sophie (as was the same with Will) but I was able to creatively ask enough questions to get a fuzzy picture of her day.  I'm not sure she understands special helpers yet, because she didn't seem to understand those questions, but she will soon enough!  Her first helper day is next week!

Okay, this was school day #2 on Thursday, September 6th.  Sophie's school days will be Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. until noon.  It was BLUE day today and the students were invited to dress in blue to go with the theme.  I wanted to take a few more pictures outside today because it was sunny and nice out, as opposed to the foggy/rainy morning we woke up to on Tuesday.  In fact, there was a school delay on Tuesday because of fog and preschool only ran from 10-noon while Will had a two hour delay from Kindergarten.

Now there's a Craig-face if I ever saw one!!  She's also holding a partial triangle of plain waffle that she didn't finish and was taking on the road.  :)

A successful first week of school!  Mom said Sophie challenged her a couple of times on the second day with not wanting to follow directions when she was calling the class to do something, but nothing out of control.  Ah, well.  That's our Sophie!  Preschool will be good for her.  We're looking forward to our helper day next week!!