School Days, School Days! (and a bit more)

Last week, Grandma took Colten to his orientation at CCW preschool, and he was so excited to go!  Even though it didn't start until 9, he was begging to leave the house by 8:30.  I was thrilled and hoped his excitement would carry over to the start of school, especially since Kayleigh was going with him and would be in his class!

Kayleigh and Colten during orientation!

Colten at his desk.

  He seemed pretty excited about school until the night before, when he admitted to being nervous about going and said, "I just want to stay home with you guys."  I tried my best to talk to him about all of the fun he would have and all of the friends he would meet, but he did not want to hear it.  I even told him to look forward to going to McDonald's afterward, as per special request since they have Power Rangers in their happy meals ; )  He said, "how 'bout I don't go to school and we can just go to McDonald's."  Thank goodness for the Nugget books from Hallmark; they are about a puppy who starts school, and we had been reading them for the last month.  That night, they really helped me talk through some of Colten's fears with him, especially in regard to me leaving him and reassuring him that I would be back for him in a few hours.  By the time I left him for the night, Colten was a bit more at ease, but I could tell that he was still unsure about tomorrow.
Aside from waking up at 5:25 am and being unwilling to go back to bed, the morning of school went surprising smoothly.  He played Disney's Road Rally on the ipad, ate pancakes and grapes, got dressed in his school outfit willingly, and even volunteered to go outside and take a few photos before going to school! 

 

And of course he is holding his Barricade Transformer!

So serious : )

A few years ago, Beth gave me a beautiful glass pendant for my birthday.  Colten has always loved it, so I gave it to him to keep in his pocket while at school, telling him that if he missed me, he could feel the stone in his pocket and know that I was thinking of him and that I love him and was giving him a hug.  He immediately took to the idea, saying, "I love this stone," as he hugged it to his chest.  When Grandma arrived to pick up Ryan and wish Colten a great day, Colten excitedly showed her the stone and told her, "Mommy is inside of here, and I can talk to her if I miss her.  She will hug me and tell me she loves me then." I couldn't help but tear-up. 
As our time to leave approached, Colten asked me if I could just wait in the car outside while he was in school.  When I said yes, (he would never know I really wasn't there) he said, "Can we go now?"  I was more than thrilled and hoped that the drop-off would go as well...
But it didn't...Colten was still excited when we arrived and was happy to meet-up with Kayleigh in the parking lot.  I even got a few more photos before going inside! 

Colten at school!

But everything changed when we got inside.  He immediately clung to me, refusing to put on his name tag (but have no fear, I got it on and he forgot about it).  He held my hand as I talked to his teacher Miss Angel, and Kayleigh went off to color.  As another teacher tried to take Colten over to color, he grabbed my skirt and would not let go.  I bent down to give him a kiss and wish him a good day but was barely able to as the teacher tore him from my skirt.  Tears filled my eyes; I knew that I had to leave for Colten's sake and mine so I headed for the door, tears pouring from my eyes, wanting desperately to look back, wanted desperately to say a nice good-bye, but knowing I just had to keep going.  Once in the hall, I could hear him crying and screaming and my heart broke.  Krissy and Vic following soon after saying that once Kayleigh saw how upset Colten was, she too began screaming "Mom!"  Needless to say, all three of us left feeling terrible.  I immediately called Grandma and cried to her, worrying that Colten would feel upset by the way I left.  I just hoped he remembered his stone.

From there, I went to pick up his cake.  A few weeks before, I was watching the news as they talked about how to make going back to school special.  One idea was to have a cake for your child every year on the first day.  I loved the idea and decided to start a new tradition.  I cried the whole way to the bakery...After picking up the cake, I called the school so they could check on Colten and hopefully put my mind at ease.  Krissy had just called too and was told that Kayleigh was doing well and coloring so I hoped for the same.  All I got was "he is just fine.  Don't worry."  I hung up and cried even harder.  Since she didn't offer any insight into what Colten was doing, I interpreted her statement to mean that he was still upset but that she didn't want to tell me.  I just kept picturing him sitting there crying, wondering why I had left without a good-bye and my heart kept breaking.  Krissy and Grandma kept trying to reassure me, but I was still upset and nervous.  I occupied my time by prepping for dinner, but after that found myself just pacing around the house, waiting.  That was the longest three hours of my life.
Finally I headed back to the school, unsure of how I would find him.  As I walked toward his room, I spotted him sitting on the floor close to the teacher and Kayleigh as the teacher read a book.  He saw me through the window, smiled, and said "Mommy!" but he kept following the teacher's instructions and clapping along with the story.  Then Miss Angel called to him and he came running into my arms, giving me the biggest hug, and saying "Mom, I had so much fun at school!"  My heart smiled, and this time happy tears filled my eyes, as he kept talking, "we went to dinosaur land too! and I only touched my stone once!"  He was filled with excitement and bursting to tell me all about it!  I cannot even begin to describe my joy!  He happily said good-bye to his teachers and even told Miss Janet that he loved her : )  Once in the car, he asked when he could go back, and said that he had lots of friends there.  I could not have asked for more!
As promised we headed to McDonald's for a Power Ranger Happy Meal after picking up Grandma and Ryan.  What a fun-filled and emotional day!  And it was only noon!  We still had a surprise cake and transformer to look forward too!

Colten is so excited for his Power Ranger!

Colten's schoolwork!

Colten's 1st Day of Preschool 2012 cake!

So happy!

"I LOVE icing!"

And what a great way to end the day it was!  Colten was so excited for his cake or maybe I should say the icing!!!!  And of course he LOVED his transformers!  He had been wanting the Shockwave and Fusion Tank set so we had it for him as his first day of preschool present.
 Since their first unit is about dinosaurs, we pulled out all of his books about them and read them before bed.  Colten is looking forward to next week's dinosaur show-and-tell because he is going to take one of Daddy's dinobot transformers from when Daddy was a little boy.  When I asked Colten what his favorite part of his day was, he said, "going to school!"  I couldn't have been happier.  All that was left: "Goodnight sweet boy. Sleep tight. I love you."

And a few bits more...

Ryan's first banana Mum-Mum!  And he loves it just like Colten once did! (Sept 2012)

Ryan's first bite of cherry jello! (Sept 2012)

 Over Labor Day weekend, we took the boys to the Canfield Fair and had a blast!

Colten and Ryan in our annual pumpkin picture!

Colten fishing for a prize in kiddyland!   Looks like he has a bite!

A family photo in the village

Ryan FINALLY fell asleep!

 We had a great time despite the heat.  Colten wasn't up for riding any rides but enjoyed the tractors and looking at the train.  And luckily we made it back to our car and got both kids inside before the skies opened up, letting rain pour down.  Perfect timing for once : )

A few more random moments from the past month -

The first time Colten has ever fallen asleep while playing or watching tv, and he was out cold!  Even Ryan's screams didn't wake him from his slumber : )

 Ryan hasn't started walking independently yet, but he sure cruises around with his walker!

Colten loves to walk with Ryan!

"Check me out!"

Ryan has so much fun now that he is on the move!

Our two boys!

 Colten and Kayleigh have so much fun playing together.  Kayleigh recently got a pink Mustang and Colten loves to drive her around the yards.  He is ever the gentleman, and she is so much a lady.  Vic even joked because as Colten was driving, Kayleigh was giving him instructions as to where to go : ) And so it begins! 

 

 One day when it was time for everyone to go inside to get ready for baths and bed, Colten said, "wait, I have to walk Kayleigh home first."  Shocked, Krissy and I obliged and watched as they held hands until Colten had walked Kayleigh to her door.  They are too cute together; Colten is so blessed to have such a great friend (or "girlfriend" as he likes to say) living right next door!  And come to think of it, I am just as blessed, Krissy!  ; )

 Happy Back to School Days!