First month of school

School started this month. Alex is in the Upper Toddler room. After his first day of orientation, he was so excited to go back that he refused breakfast, sitting by the door with his shoes chanting "Preschool! Preschool!" However, our first dropoff was a different story. I walked him to his classroom and he burst into tears. I've gotten a lot better at this than I was with Jonathan at age three. I handed him to Ms. Margaret, waved goodbye and took off. He settled down pretty quickly. Dropoffs remained hard for the first week, with Alex sobbing into his breakfast "No classroom! No classroom!" We developed a variety of ways to cope with this. Some kids take comfort objects, like a photo or a snuggle blanket. Alex decided he would feel better if he picked some of his tomatoes and brought them in a baggie.

And Jonathan was a huge help! I've been really proud of him. I started parking the car but waving goodbye to the boys at the door. Jonathan walks Alex to his classroom, where he helps him hang up his coat and backpack. Jonathan especially likes making the door chimes jangle loudly. Alex is pretty happy to follow his big brother down the hallway, his purple backpack reaching down to his knees. Jonathan then backtracks to his own classroom. At the end of the morning, both classes meet on the playground. Jonathan and Mac have been nice enough to let Alex tag along. I haven't learned the names of any of Alex's classmates, but he loves to say "Hi!" to Mac and Arden in the mornings.

Jonathan is thriving back in his school routine. He lays out his clothes "like Flat Stanley" the night before. His alarm clock wakes him up at 6:30. With encouragement, he's getting dressed on his own and coming down for breakfast. We need to help him by pre-opening cheese sticks and yogurt cups, but if we do that, he can get breakfast ready for himself and Alex as well. I drive them to school, playing Beatles songs the way there. Alex requests "Hard Day's Night" and Jonathan's current favorite is "Lady Madonna." Alex likes to check two or three times "Miss Becky come get me?" and I assure him that she will. His teacher is thrilled that he knows his shapes, letters and colors already. And Alex loves the songs they sing at school. Both boys are doing well. It's nice to be back into a routine.