First Day of School! First Day of School!

Drum roll please... it went GREAT!!!!!! I really couldn't believe it, but am SO relieved and happy that Lucas is happy. Here is how the day went...

We got Lucas up at 7am and acted like it was a huge day. We were singing, "First day of school!" and dancing around as we got ready. On the way to school we talked about school and his new friends. He was naming them with me and saying, "nemo!"

When we got to school I carried him in and the first thing that happened was his new 4 year old friend Nicholai introduced himself. Lucas gave him a high five and wanted to get down to explore his new surroundings. I was planning to stay for 30 min, so I helped him look around. The other kids filtered in and he met them and gave them high fives. He was really loving it, but didn't realize yet that that mama doesn't stay at school with you.

At about 8:30 the teacher rang the bell and announced that they should wash their hand for breakfast. She asked Lucas to come with her and he threw his arms around my neck and said, "no" very matter of factly. He repeated this several times and we finally decided that I'd just hand him to her. He was interested in blowing out a candle that she had lit, so she said he could do that after they washed his hands. He reluctantly went to her, but didn't cry as I left. I, on the other hand, completely sobbed all the way to work. I regretted not bringing my make-up to work because I looked yucky all day.

The teacher promised that she'd call mid-morning and then after he went to sleep. When she called at 10 they were outside and she said that he hadn't cried yet. She said he had eaten a muffin for breakfast and was mostly observing the other kids... not really interacting, but she said that was normal for the first day.

She called again around 1:15 and said he'd just fallen asleep!! She said that by lunch time, their second meal, he had already figured out how to get his place mat and napkin out and set his spot for lunch. He ate a little chicken and banana and played with his peas. Next it was time for them to rest. The teachers set the cots out and Lucas cooperated by getting on his cot and covering up with his blanket. She said that he was almost asleep a few times, but every little noise made his eyes pop open. After about 20 min of this he called out "mama?" - ahh, it broke my heart to hear this. The teacher went to him and told him that mama was at work and that he needed to rest. He responded by saying "done!" She told him that he couldn't be done yet and that he needed to rest. How did Lucas respond? He snotted her! Actually, he just blew his nose out of frustration and nothing came out, but still. She told him that he couldn't do that and got him to lay down again. She said he fought it for about 10 min, but then couldn't help but falling asleep and sleeping for 2 hours.

When I arrived at 4:30 to get him the kids were playing in the playground area. I was able to talk to the teacher for a few min before Lucas noticed me. She said that he had responded better to the male teacher when they were washing their hands... he just looked at her, but when Len asked him to wash his hands he was glad to do it. Then in the playground he found a ball and went up to him and said, "Len? Len?" to get him to play ball with him. When he saw me his face lit up and he ran to me as he exclaimed "Mommy! Mama!" over and over again. He jumped in my arms and smiled at me - he was so happy : ) Next he started naming all of his new friends and pointing to them... it was if he was telling me about his day! Next he asked to nurse, so we went on the front porch and had some quiet time. The whole time his eyes were lit up and he kept telling me little parts about his day - "bunny" "nicholai" "mack" "katrin" etc.

I took him to Whole Foods to get a cupcake as a first day of school treat, then we stopped by the park to play with his friend Lucas. When we got home Jeff was out on a jog, so we played in the yard as we waited on him to get home. Lucas spotted Jeff a block away and ran about 100 yards screaming "dada! daddy!" all the way to him. When he got to Jeff he threw his arms up and gave him a big hug!

The rest of the evening we talked to him about his day and what he did. It may have been the few bites of cupcake that I let him have, but he could not contain his excitement. He was in such a great mood and I swear he was already more vocal after just one day of school.

We are so happy and relieved and so proud of Lucas! We know the 2nd day may be tough because Lucas will know when we get in the car that he has to be away from us all day, but we'll see... first day was a success though and we're so happy!

Lucas all dressed and ready for school. He was SO excited!

Mama with her big boy.

Dada with his big boy.