Day 2

After school ice cream cone

Well, the mystique is gone.  He didn't want to go back.  "I don't like that school.  I want to to go outside with you," he said this morning as we got dressed for the day.  As we got Freddie settled into his class Hans said, "I don't like my class.  I go with you, Mama.  K?"

He had me hold him as we walked in, and he didn't want to let go.  Miss A peeled him off, and there were tears, not wailing, but some sobs.  Out the door I went, but within the minute I stood outside listening he stopped.  He got involved with the other kids, specifically the only two girls in the class, and went on to have a great day.

He was NAPPING (Hooray!) when I went in to pick him up.  He gave me a big smile when he opened his eyes.  He jabbered lots to his teacher as we got everything together and gave her a big hug goodbye.

We'll see what next week brings.

School Report

Heading in this morning

My inbox pinged about 10am with a note that Hans was doing well.  He was engaged in the activities and interacting with classmates.  Whew.  The class was going out on a walk and details of their whereabouts were included in case I wanted to take a peek at him.  I resisted and focused on my work.  

Another ping about 11.15am, and the message read:  Ms. A said he did great on his walk. As they came in he started to cry said he missed you. So I took him to go visit Freddie.  Freddie did such a great job comforting him and getting him calm. I told him he could play in preschool for a few minutes and will take him back to his class for lunch. He agreed. :)

Picture his teacher sent me as they got ready for their walk

I popped in about 11.45am as I was leaving the building and the director let me know he was fine, returned to his class without issue, and was gearing up for lunch.  

At pick up time he was chatting with a teacher, and his first words to me were "Where's Freddie?"  Everyone else was napping, but his teacher said he wouldn't consider napping.  Sigh.  He did tell me he had a good day and said he wanted to go back tomorrow.  He was wound up when we left, and I sure hope he had just saved his sass for mama.  

As we read stories he talked more about school:  I used potty.  I told teacher I had to potty.  I cried.  I all better now.

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Hans' First Day of School

He's off.  

He was definitely excited about using his back pack and lunch box.

He was acting excited, but I wasn't so sure I believed it.  I really thought he was going to cry, but he didn't.  (That isn't the case for me though!)  Miss A put out her hand, and off they went to his cubby and then to the carpet with his friends.  I filled out the communication sheet for the day and watched.  He didn't even glance in my direction.  I walked over and he quickly puckered his lips.  He gave me a quick kiss and back to setting up the trains he went.  "Bye, Mama," he said without missing a a beat of the action on the floor.

Gearing up for this we've been talking about it quite a bit...you'll stay with your friends and mama will come home, mama will pick you up after nap, you'll play outside with your friends, you'll eat your lunch at the rectangle table with friends.

He's been talking about mama leaving and staying with friends.  One day on a walk to the classroom to visit for lunch he jabbered the entire way there about having lunch with friends and mama leaving, although upon entering there were two kids in melt down mode and Hans would not let go of my hand.  I got it.  All that screaming was a little unsettling especially considering we never have any screaming in our house, right?  And then at lunch he scooted his chair waaaay over away from the child next to him dropping noodles all over.  We exchanged glances and I got that too....we never have noodles flying at our table either.

Each of our stops in the classroom to visit when dropping Freddie off had been successful in that he warmed up to the kids and teachers within a few minutes and inserted himself in the action.  He also didn't want to leave even when our visits extended over an hour and transitions he wasn't familiar with occurred.  That surprised me, and made me feel confident he'd do just fine, even if there had been some tears this morning.

I'm the mother of two big boys.  Sniff. Sniff.  I am very proud of how independent they both have become.

And what will I be doing all day (it's 6 whole hours alone!) while the boys are at school?  Today there will be lots of refreshing my inbox waiting for an update.  Hopefully there will be more to update here in a few hours!

Freddie is VERY proud of Hans going to school. 

Big Dinosaur

Just a random conversation between us...because I don't want to forget how he shakes his head when expresses himself, rumples his eyebrows, and use his hand for emphasis.

Spotted at Preschool

Moving Up Ceremony

Another school year and summer in the books.  And another "moving up ceremony" for Freddie to mark his transition into the leadership role in his class.  Last year he was relatively new to the preschool class when the ceremony took place.  This year he's made some close friends and understood this marked their moving on to kindergarten (without him).

The "without him" part is something I anticipate may create a bit of the blues in my boy.  His main playmates are older and things will be different with them heading to big school.  His teacher doesn't think he'll have any problems at all gathering a new posse of friends though.  We'll see.

The ceremony was a lot of fun.  The entire center participated in a concert, just like last year.  Except this year there was a new student in the audience...

Last year I held him tightly as he wanted to get in there with Freddie.  This year he got to be a part of it too.

Hans will officially start next week, but he's been visiting and we've been talking it up.  He was very pleased to be invited to sit with his class.  He followed instructions, sat through the entire performance, and only scanned the crowd for me once.

I cannot believe I watched both of my boys sitting with their classes.

After the concert was the ceremony.  There was a song, a poem, and certificates.

Lots of cuteness all around.

Of course I post a video!  He's in the front all the way to the right.  Is there something that allows mamas to hear their baby's voices over all others?  Can you hear his little voice the way I can?

Field Trip to Victorian Gardens

Once again I got to chaperone Freddie's class field trip to Victorian Gardens. 

Exiting the subway station, Freddie with his monkey backpack

Last year it was so much fun for me to see Freddie with his friends from school.  It is a whole side of him I don't see or know about completely, and although I think he likes it that way, I am so thankful I get a peek every once in a while.

The trips the teachers take on with a group of 3-5 year olds amazes me.  We ride the subway and make our way through the busy streets bordering Central Park to get to the amusement park.  It's just how things are for these city kids, I suppose.

 
In was interesting to see how Freddie has matured and his fear has dwindled in a year's time.  Last year he rode everything but there was definitely some hesitation and a bit of going with the flow for the sake of keeping up with his peers.

This year I didn't see any of that, but he seemed to like having me along for some of the rides.  I hung back and watched most of the time though.  He didn't need me.  This was his show.  And I loved watching.

The few other chaperones took their kids off on their own to ride rides, but we stuck with his buddies.  The fun of the trip for Freddie was being with his friends AND having mama along.  The fun for me was certainly getting to see him with his buds.  He loved holding hands with his friends, discussing who would sit next to who, planning which ride would be next and the different seating arrangement.  I cannot believe this is my baby boy!

A picnic lunch in Central Park with buddies and a long, and I mean l-o-n-g, walk back to the subway rounded out the day. 

 
I'm thankful to have been a part of it, and look forward to more.

Life with two year olds...

It's hard to see it but that blur is a dime he's showing me.  A dime that lived inside his body for 48 hours.  A dime that entered his mouth at 6am on Sunday and exited....well, exited.  I'm glad it's not stuck in his esophagus.  I'm glad he only puked once.  I'm glad he had no issues eating or drinking. I'm glad he usually poops in the morning while I'm downstairs on the treadmill and Dada is on duty.  I am glad we had a box of rubber gloves on hand for our tie dying part later this week.

Scenes from the lake: Boating

{Fish Lake}

{Where's the skipper?}

{Somebody's gotta bail}

{One man show}

{Skipper}

{Hanging out}

{Cruising}

{Wind in our hair}

{Row}

{Go, Rhys, go!}

{Checking out the sailboats}

{Regatta Champs}

{Not an ounce of fear}

{The littlest and the biggest tuber}

{Yeehaw!}

{Show off}

{Don't worry.  They didn't squish him.}

{They even went pretty fast.}

{Another show off}

{The biggest show off}

Scenes from the lake: Swimming

{Gearing Up}

{Being brought out to deeper waters since he won't step on the lake bottom}

{One}

 

 

{Two}

{Three}

{No videos, but a cool gif}

{All together now!}

{Last man standing!  He does jump in but I never was able to get a picture of him in the air.}

{Dada gets in on the action}

{Bathing beauties}

{At Fish Lake}