One Week Down

So, you heard about day #1...

Day #2: Pretty similar. Loosened up a little. Still not eating lunch or even playing near other kids.

Day #3: Screams and cries and clutches at drop off. As though she's realized "this is it, and it's happening every day..." I realized I wasn't giving her any good cue I was leaving since her drop off is on the playground. So, after talking to the teacher, we changed drop off to include walking into her room to leave horsey in her cubby and then a goodbye at the gate to the playground.

Day #4: Drop off at gate... went okay. Crying, but the teacher distracted her pretty fast. They waved goodbye and I could see by the time I was driving away her crying had stopped. She ate lunch today. But, except for the first day, she's been taking short little naps... She comes home a complete ball of social energy. As though all the shyness has only stored up all her need to play and socialize and so she explodes when at home in the evening. Today was better and calmer though, so we speculated this meant she got more socializing done at school.

Day #5: Drop-off was tear-free again. She ate lunch and took a tiny nap. Played "near" kids the teacher reported. Teacher, assistant and director all separately reported to us that today she was significantly more involved and engaged and less shy.

We'll see how coming off the weekend goes. Mondays she is home with me for mom-Kate time which I love. I work a hairdresser's schedule and while I miss the Saturday family time, I really totally love my Kate-mom time on Monday. Hopefully Tuesday will be okay and she'll pick up where she left off.

Other news...

Kate loves counting. Not necessarily counting accurately, but you'll hear her counting every few minutes. She also now points to words and says "AB Cs" and wants to know the sounds. She can pick out a "sssss" and knows that the "p" is for "papa." I think because she's such a bookworm she's just really interested in figuring the whole letter thing out.

We have noticed that she's learned to swing from the bar above the slide at school. I am waiting to see what else she brings home in her new bag of school-tricks.

This week she's starting to string together three words into phrases. For example, when she was talking to my dad she told him "Daddy boo boo boat" to let him know that we had some problems with getting the boat out today. Cracked me up. The other day we watched the metrorail go past us and I talked about how maybe sometime Kate and I can take the train. In response she specifies "Kate Mama Daddy train" so I don't forget Daddy P in the outing.

We are just soaking up her twos and loving all the words and personality and independence that she is flaunting. She's such a joy. Every day just gets better.