Day ??? - Gavin's First Day of Preschool

Summer's over- No more time for swimming in the pool
Tomorrow is Gavin's very first day of preschool

His bath is done and books were read
Now, he's warm, cozy and fast asleep in his bed

 The camera is charged and his tote bag is packed
Tomorrow's the day- not sure how we'll react

We may shed tears when we say our goodbyes
I really can't believe how fast time flies!!

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Today was Gavin's first day of preschool.  He will go to school two mornings a week for 2 1/2 hours.  However, they slowly build up to the full 2 1/2 hour school day over the course of a couple of weeks.  This week he gets dropped off a half hour after Ryan and picked up a half hour before Ryan (which means we're making 4 trips to and from school this week!).

He was excited and wound up about school from the moment he woke up this morning.  And, he was very pleased with the "air go" scene that Mommy painted on his tote bag.  Ryan picked out puppy dog and duck iron-on decals to decorate the front of Gavin's bag. 

I admit I'm biased, but I think they are two handsome boys!  The teachers just swoon over them!

Gavin insisted on wearing Ryan's fireman raincoat.  He was adorable even though it might take him another year or two to grow into it!

After dropping off Ryan, Gavin anxiously waited for his scheduled drop off time.  Thankfully, Mike was able to make it home in time to accompany us.  I remember how emotional I was dropping Ryan off for his first day of preschool when he was two.  I thought I might need some emotional support, especially since I expected Gavin to have a dramatic reaction when the teacher removed him from our car.  I had visions of him kicking, hitting, biting, screaming, crying, and trying to claw his way back to the car. 

But, drop off went smoothly.  He calmly greeted his teacher, let her pick him out of of my lap, and held her hand as they walked into school, never looking back.  I was stunned.  I teared up in disbelief that he didn't cry at all!  All along I was dreading his waterworks, and he didn't even shed a tear! 

Mike sensed that I wasn't ready to go back to an empty house, so he took me to Panera and we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast together until it was time to go back and pick up Gavin.  Although I missed the boys terribly, it was wonderful to spend some time alone with Mike.

Pick up went equally as smoothly as drop off.  Gavin calmly walked out holding his teacher's hand and climbed into the car.  She gave him a glowing report.  She said he cried for just a few minutes when he got into the classroom, but then calmed down and sat in her lap for the remainder of the scheduled activities and even ventured off on his own to explore the room during independent play time. 

It's also helpful that Gavin is such a good talker.  He can actually tell us what he did during school and can answer most of our questions.  He told us school was "good," that he had "apple juice" for snack time, and that he got to "play with toys" and "sing songs."

When we picked Ryan up a half hour later, Ryan was eager to hear all about Gavin's first day.  Then, like yesterday, they held hands all the way home!