Getting the hang of it...

9/19/2007 - pictures added

So we made it through our first week of preschool. Ella did really well on her short orientation day and her first full day. In fact, on her orientation day she was one of the more talkative kids (it was only half the class, so it's wasn't too overwhelming). While the head teacher was meeting with the parents, the assistant teacher lead snack time with the kids. I could hear Ella chatting with the teacher about her sister and telling her random things. I think she was the only one talking.

Thursday was the first day with us dropping us off.

Ella was very excited. In fact she woke up and was very mad on Wednesday when I told her she didn't get to go until the next day. Catherine was the one who was sad on Thursday when she saw Ella getting her shoes and coat on and wanted to get her shoes on as well - so I had to let her know that Ella was going to school and she was staying home with mommy. She just sat on the couch and cried.

Tuesday was the first morning that we would all have to be out the door by nine - Ella to preschool and Catherine and myself to Bible study. Ella was a bit hesitant this morning, I imagine because of the long break between Thursday and Tuesday. But all went well - the teacher came and got her right from the car, Ella smiled and waved and disappeared into the building without a peap from Catherine.

The strange thing is when I pick her up from school, I have no real idea what she's done or experienced in those 2 1/2 hours. I have an idea of her schedule and the activities that she does, but I don't know if she's making friends or at least learning their names, I don't know if she's is participating and interacting. I'm used to being completely aware of every activity and every interaction she has. It's just another one of those things you grow to accept as your kids get a little older and more independent - you start to lost some of that first hand knowledge of their lives. Granted it's only a few hours a week - but for that time I have to rely on her or her teachers to fill me in.

Surprisingly Ella hasn't been very forthcoming about her mornings at school. I imagined she would be a chatter box of information - almost too much information. But it's the opposite....so far this is what I've been able to get out of her...

She likes playing with the dollhouse. It's been named as her favorite activity both days.
She now knows her teacher's names.
She likes her cubby.
She played on the seesaw - possibly with or four or five other girls or boys.
She had a chocolate cupcake for snack today - I think that was the highlight of the day!
Also, and most myseriously - she mentioned someone named Rachel (I checked, there are two Rachel's in her class) smelling like poop. What a wonderful observation to share with me!