1st Day of Preschool

Today was Chloe's first day of preschool.  She woke up in a good mood and was ready to tackle her new journey.  She did so well that if you didn't know it was her first day, you would've thought she's been there a long time.  She was like a preschool pro.

Immediately after we arrived, she dove right into playing.  She completely made herself at home.  She explored all the different rooms and checked out the different books and toys.  She didn't need to warm up at all.  At one point as I was talking to the school director, I noticed she waved hello to a parent as she dropped off her child.  Then she waved goodbye to that same parent as she left.  There was no stranger anxiety at all.

About 45 minutes later, the director (who is also one of the teachers at the school) announced that it was story time.  She started walking over to another room as the children followed.  Randy and I stayed behind the crowd to observe Chloe's reaction.  We were proud to see that Chloe followed the group without prompting or needing directions.  She just followed the herd and sat down in the circle along with everyone else.  She remained seated and quietly listened to the story.

We took the opportunity of her being engrossed in story time to quietly sneak out.  She had no idea we left.  I went on with my day wondering whether she cried when she realized we had left; whether she ate her meals; whether she drank her milk; whether she napped; whether she wet her pants; whether she paid attention in class; etc etc.

While Randy and I were on our way to pick her up after school, we made a bet on whether she cried this morning when she realized we were gone and whether she will cry later when she sees us again.  My money was on her crying on both occasions.  Well, I lost all my money.  The girl didn't cry one weep all day long!  When she saw us walk through the door, she happily greeted us with a joyful "Mommy! Daddy!"  and then she proudly showed us the lego pieces she was playing with.  The teacher gave us a quick run down of her day and it was all positive.

1. She did look for us once after story time, but she was quickly distracted by something and forgot she was looking for us.
2. She drank all her milk.
3. She ate most of her food.  The only thing she didn't really eat was the carrots.
4. She didn't have any potty accidents.
5. It took her a little time to settle down to nap.  She kept wanting to get up and play (which is what we expected).  But she eventually did fall asleep.
6. She got along with everyone.

Overall, Chloe adapted to preschool really well on her first day.  I credit this to two factors:

1. She has an easy going and outgoing personality.  The fact that she is not shy or afraid of strangers makes for an easier time to adapt to a new environment.
2. She has had experience with group settings because her babysitter had taken her to her son's preschool for drop-in play once in a while.  Those drop-in play sessions consist of free play, group story and singing times, and snack times.  Therefore in a way, Chloe had been exposed to preschool-like settings in the past.  The only difference is this time she was all alone without her babysitter nor us in sight.

All in all, Chloe had a really good first day of school.  We could tell she had a lot fun along the way because her excitement carried on well into the evening.  The little chatter box kept talking and laughing, talking and laughing all the way home from school, throughout bath time, throughout dinner time, and on and on until she finally fell asleep at 10pm.  We could not turn off her enthusiasm.  We didn't want to turn off her enthusiasm.  If only we could bottle it all up and save it forever.  

Chloe's 24-Month Checkup Stats

Height: 33.25 in (30%)
Weight: 24lb 12 oz (30%)
Head Circumference: 48.8 cm (90%)

Chloe had her 24-month wellness check on Friday 12/2/11.  In the 6 months since her last checkup, she grew 2.25 inches and 3 pounds.  That's a mighty good growth spurt if you ask me!  In fact, if you look at where she stands as compared to other children in her age group, whereas at 18 months she was in the 28th percentile in height and 13th percentile in weight, she is now in the 30th percentile in both categories.  That's right, she went up in both. Way to go Chloe!

Chloe's Second Family

Yesterday, Friday 12/2/11, was Chloe's last day with her beloved babysitter, Auntie Felicia.  姨姨, as she calls her, has been like her second mother ever since she was 2 months old.  Over the course of 22 months, Chloe has built a strong relationship with 姨姨.  Every morning she looked forward to going to 姨姨's house.  When it was time to go home at the end of the day, sometimes she didn't even want to go home with me.  That's how highly she thinks of her 姨姨.

As we prepared her for preschool over the last couple of months, I was also dreading the arrival of Chloe's last day with Felicia. I felt sad for Chloe to have to leave someone she loves so dearly.  I myself felt sad that we had to leave behind such a good caregiver for our daughter.  Felicia had been a god-send for us and we counted our blessings everyday that our daughter was in good hands.  On top of that, I wasn't sure if Chloe understood that a long farewell was approaching.  To be honest, I didn't think she understood.  But just in case she is smarter than I thought, I've hyped up the fun of going to school and meeting new friends.  Hopefully that would soften the impact of leaving 姨姨.  I also refrained from telling her that going to school means she could no longer go to 姨姨's everyday.  I didn't want any bad connotation attached to the idea of school. 

Finally this past week, I couldn't refrain myself anymore.  I finally said to her, "Chloe, this is your last week with 姨姨.  Next week you are going to school. Ok?"  I think I said that to her twice this week and each time she replied differently.  One time she just curiously asked "Gool?".  The other time she actually said "No gool.  Go 姨姨".  So...did she realize what was about to happen?

Finally on Friday morning, the bittersweet end was here.  In the morning, I told her, "Chloe, today is your last day with 姨姨.  You have fun with 姨姨 ok?"  Chloe replied, "Ok Mommy. Have fun Mommy."  Her reply made me think she didn't know what was going on.

Randy went with me to pick up Chloe from Felicia's this last time.  I needed Randy to go with me because I knew I was going to cry.  Yes, I'm weak and sentimental that way.  Sure enough, tears did roll out of my eyes even though I fought really hard to keep them in.  Felicia was teary-eyed as well.  Both of us remained calm and composed, however.  We didn't want to alarm the kids.  The kids, including Chloe, Keith and Max, showed no signs of sadness.  It was a regular pickup session in their eyes.  In fact, Felicia told us that when she told the boys Chloe will not be coming over next week, the boys thought Chloe is about to go on vacation.  When Felicia told them it was because Chloe will be going to school next week, Max excitedly asked, "Is she going to my school?"  This proves that all three of them are still too young to understand what farewell means.  Which is probably a good thing.

Before we left, we took this picture of Chloe and her second family.  You can see how happy they are together.

Even though this was a last farewell as caregiver and care receiver, this was not a last farewell altogether.  We are making a point to visit often.  We do not want Chloe to forget 姨姨 and all the things she's done for her.  At the tender age of 2, I know Chloe will probably forget a lot.  But we promise to do the best we can to prevent her from forgetting too much.  We have to have frequent get-togethers and play-dates to preserve this close-knit relationship.