Preschool!

Lydia loves Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.  She sings the little tunes he sings on the show all the time, and often sings them to comfort Sophie.  Like at breakfast if I leave to use the restroom I can hear her sing "Grown ups come back!"

For months I've watched Lydia approach other kids at the Library or grocery store or wherever, wanting to make friends and wishing that I could form a playgroup for her so that she had regular social interactions with kids her own age in addition to what she gets at nursery.

So after watching an episode where Daniel Tiger goes to school for the first time I asked if that was something she was interested in.  And she absolutely was.  For weeks we've talked about preschool and what Lydia could expect and yesterday was her first day!  The night before we found her a backpack which she promptly filled with stuffed animals.  Daniel Tiger brings Tigey, his Tiger stuffed animal to his first day of school, and Lydia wanted to do the same.  Sophie was a little jealous of Lydia's backpack, so Jon brought one up from the basement for her to wear, and it cheered her up right away.

First thing yesterday morning Lydia walked out of her room carrying her backpack.  Despite still being in her pajamas, she was ready to go!  We found an outfit she approved of, gobbled down breakfast and did her hair as quickly as possible.  We took a picture outside while Soph was still sleeping, hoping that those few extra minutes might allow her to wake up on her own.  She didn't.  And she wasn't happy being woken up.  Lydia was so worried about being to school on time!  And because we didn't want to risk being late, Soph got to be carried around the block in her pajamas.  She was not in a great mood, but she kept it together and the three of us took off and made it to school a few minutes early.  She was on time!

  While she was at school Sophie and I (mostly I) made cookies for Lyds.  And when we picked her up she said, "you came back!"  We then walked home talking all the way, and enjoyed some delicious milk and cookies.

When Jon got home that evening and asked how school was, this was her response, "Corn cobs!  Paint!!  Yellow, red and brown.  It got messy.  She brought me some apples.  They were sour!  There was a tree with monkeys, a swing that birds could swing on at the top of the tree.  We didn't play with cars.  I played with green play dough.  I used a roller and a cutter.  I was making a big birthday cake.  Our teacher pulled out Thanksgiving stuff.  Ms Lisa read a book about the roast beef and the comb inside it.  The little boy set his comb on the roast beef and it melted.  And his dad threw it out the window and the dog caught it."  I am not familiar with this one.  Anyone...?     

All evening she kept talking about how school had worn her out.  She was so tired from school!!  But she's looking forward to another day tomorrow!