Elem's 1st Day of Preschool

Off he goes......

I mentioned before that one of the BIGGEST things going on with us starting in August was the introduction of Elem to his new Preschool. Elem attends Geyer Springs First Baptist Church Preschool 5 days a week! This is a huge transition for us and I could not be more proud of how Elem has handled this huge life change. Since he was 2 months old, he has spent just about every single second with me and our family. He has gone to school at the shelter, only being a few seconds away from me at most, or staid with immediate family, and even that has been limited. So when I say it was a big transition for him, I mean it was BIG. (For Seth and I as well). We have purposely not "left" Elem with anyone else just for our own preference and that being said, he hasn't really had the experience of being "babysat" by a stranger or even close family friend. Yes, we are kind of kicking ourself for that now, seeing as we haven' actually been out together just the 2 of us in forever, but it was well worth it for knowing that Elem was safe and we were spending every second that we could with him.

Seth and I both went to take Elem to school on the first day, and luckily had been able to meet with his teacher a couple of weeks before to ease some nerves and allow him a chance to see the room and get a feel for the place. To make things even a little better, his cousin and BFF, Cecilia, is in the same class. :) We didn't even plan it that way it just happened, so we went with it. Cecilia only attends 3 days a week, so they see each other just enough. Unfortunately, his school doesnt allow the kids to bring backpacks, and there is no need for lunch boxes, so I didnt get to get that ever so loved "first day of school with new backpack and school supplies" picture! So I had to take what I could get. Elem is still in this phase where he doesnt want me to take pictures of him-I dont understand it-so I have to take what I can get. And Seth thinks I am crazy for taking so many pictures, but I still try! These are a little gloomy for some reason, but it is safe to say the place was night and perky and full of little faces when we walked in.
On our way in-

Uhm-Mom? Dad? Are you sure you think I should go in here?


First things first-gotta wash our hands and get our name tag so the teachers will know who we are :) I had to make SURE everyone knew is his name was Elem (like L-M-N-O-P) and not EEElem with a long E. That drives me crazy.

Here he is on the bulletin board-he is the only kid that had a silly picture-go figure. Goes right along with his personality. ha!


And what do you know....look who is in the same table group together....


He went right on in and started playing with the manipulatives at the table and started talking to his teacher, Ms. Tracy. He was totally ready, and way more ready for us to go than I was. I seriously had planned on staying for AT LEAST 30 minutes and we pretty much left after 10! He told us he loved us and gave us lots of hugs and kisses and he was good to go. We told him Cecilia was on her way to school to and she would be there in just a couple of minutes and he was good to go with that.


On our way out, we found little miss sunshine, all perky and very happy for her First Day of School Pic to be taken!


I am so proud of Elem, there were no tears, no sad faces, no running out the door or anything! The whole first week went just like this, until Ms. Tracy was late one morning, and that was a whole different story. I wont go into how I started tearing up(crying really) because how Elem was crying and I had to leave him with a stranger!!! Because other than that he has just done so well! he is the second biggest kid in his class and his teachers love him! He does great at school and is well mannered and from what I hear from the teachers, has only had to go to time out once since he started! So thats a great report for me! Mommy's little boy is growing up so fast!