1st Day of Preschool

Today was the boys' first day of preschool at the preschool/daycare in our neighborhood. This summer we talked a little bit about going to preschool this year, but didn't dwell on it too much. As we talked about it a little more the past couple of weeks, I could tell the boys were thinking about it a lot. Sometimes they said they were excited and wanted to go RIGHT NOW! Other times they adamantly proclaimed that they were NOT GOING TO PRESCHOOL! This usually occurred when they were fussing about something completely unrelated and wanted to win the debate. Both boys were up a half dozen times last night, so I could tell the anticipation was a bit overwhelming. 

I'm pleased to say the first day went great!

I had them pose for pictures outside of our front door before we left. Of course, they first had to ring the doorbell.

It took a few takes, but we eventually figured out the sign-holding task:

Loading up the good ol' minivan:

At first they placed their new Lightening McQueen backpacks on the floor, but then they decided they better hold them in their laps. In their backpacks were a change of clothes and a light flannel blanket for nap time. I'm working on making them each a quilt for nap time, but they're not quite done yet.

I tried to get a few more pictures outside of the building, but they were ready to go inside.

I think the water fountain outside their classroom is going to see a lot of action from these two:

Once in their classroom, we were greeted by two adult helpers who supervise the kids before their teachers, Ms. Bernadette and Ms. Shannon arrive for the day. (Ms. Bernadette is on vacation this week, but we did meet her last week when we stopped by to drop off some papers.) This week, I'm letting the boys "sleep in", which means they're getting up around 7:00 or so. Next week when I officially start back to school, then I'll have to wake them up early enough to drop them off around 6:30. I wish it wasn't so early.

They put their back packs in these bins:

There's not enough room for their bins to fit in the cubby holes, because right now there are about 20 preschoolers. Ms. Shannon told me that the older preschoolers will be moving to the pre-kindergarten room at the end of August and there will only be about eight preschoolers left in their class.

This was the sign on their door. I didn't notice it until after I went to pick them up this afternoon because I was trying to not linger too long and get them upset by my leaving. How did they know I'm partial to stars? ;)

When I went to pick them up around 4:00 they were having a great time on the playground. They both full-out sprinted over to me when they spotted me and almost knocked me over with their double hugs. I wish I would have had my phone out to take a picture, but it will definitely be a neat image in mind for a long time to come.

Aiden showed me the sandbox and playset:

Reid went back to tossing the football and shooting hoops with Mr. Austin. Today was Mr. Austin's first day too and when he came over to introduce himself he told me he thoroughly enjoyed playing with both Aiden and Reid today and that he is a twin himself. I'm so glad Reid has someone to play sports with and I could tell Mr. Austin's words were completely genuine.

One last picture from the classroom. (I'll try to take some more tomorrow when I pick them up.) This is the parent info board which is just inside the classroom entrance. I think it's good for me to be reminded of how much teachers of younger students reach out to keep parents informed. Us high school teachers tend to tell the parents to buy their kid a graphing calculator in August and then bury our heads in grading until the end of May. No wonder we don't receive any of those cute teacher appreciation gifts featured on Pinterest.

After we arrived home, we FaceTime chatted with Daddy. They sort of talked about their day, but after quite a bit of rambling they started telling him about our trip to Minneapolis at the end of July. It made for some confusing story-telling.

Aiden then helped me make chocolate chip cookies for an after-school snack. They ended up being an after-supper snack, but were well-received just the same:

Reid arrived in the kitchen just in time to lick the spatula and then went back to playing in the living room. I had to cut him off after a couple of cookies, but I think he would have inhaled the whole batch if I had let him. In addition to eating like a teenager, he's apparently figured out how to lounge around like one too.

When I went to pick them up it took 30 minutes before I could finally get the boys to the van, so I'd say that was a pretty good indication that they were having a good time. Ms. Shannon said Aiden was the more shy-guy today. Of course that's not a surprise. He wanted me to hold him when we first entered the classroom while Reid was ready to jump right in. When Ms. Shannon said he could hold her hand if he needed to, he informed her that he only wanted to hold Mommy's hand. Definitely a mama's boy, which I honestly cherish. Ms. Shannon said neither one of them cried, they did great using the potty, and both took good naps during rest time. She said sometimes it's hard for kids to transition from in-home daycare to a daycare center, but they did a great job. I'm so glad it went well!

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I posted the following on Facebook with some of their front door pictures:

First words this morning...

Aiden: This is preschool today, Mommy?

Mommy: Yep.

Reid: YAAAAAHHHH!!!

A little later...

Aiden: I'm going to be a little nervous today.

Reid: It's okay, Ainnie. I'm going to be there too. I'll take care of you.