Welcome to my blog!

Thank you for taking the time to stop by and visit! We hope to share with you our journey of raising a child with Achondroplasia, the most common type of dwarfism. If this is your first time here, please start by reading Caitlyn's Story. It will share the beginning of her life with you. Enjoy!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Caty's First Day of Preschool

Today was Caty's first day of preschool - as if any of you didn't know that already. She woke up this morning with a HUGE smile on her face. Scott took the day off - for two reasons, he had a wisdom tooth pulled after work yesterday and also because he wanted to bring Caty to school. He got her out of bed and when she walked into the living room she still held that HUGE smile and said "I'm going to preschool today." We work up at 7:30 so we had an hour before we needed to leave. We had breakfast together, which Caty didn't eat a whole lot of, nerves I think. We got dressed and ready to go. We snapped a few pictures and were out the door. It's only a little over a mile from our house, so not too far.

We arrived and on the walk in she was still smiling. We got into the classroom, I had to sign her in, find her apple on the board with her name on it and find out which color group she was for the day. After we figured this all out, we discovered that she was in the same group as Hayden and Oliver, her playgroup friends. They were starting out the day in the playhouse - a big favorite of hers. During the first few weeks of school, the parents are asked not to hang around too long, so we got her settled in and I took her to the bathroom. I still wasn't 100% sure if she would tell a teacher when she needed to go. We washed our hands and started to say our goodbyes. This is when she broke down; which I was TOTALLY expecting!! She cried and said "I don't want to stay, I want to come home with you." We told her that she would have a lot of fun and that we would see her after school. One of the teachers came over and helped her out as we walked out the door. As this point, you would think that I would have been in tears, but I held myself together. By the time we reached the door, she had stopped crying and the teacher was talking to her. We headed out and peeked in through the window. She was sitting on the teachers lap and not crying. This was a good sign. So Scott and I headed home - I did some sewing (gotta get Caty's fall/winter wardrobe ready) and Scott worked on a paper for his Masters class. I spent a little time on Facebook (Melissa, good chatting with you, even if it was just for a minute), then it was time to head back and pick her up.

We got to the school a few minutes before her class was over, so we hung out outside with the other parents. The door opened and we could go in. She looked so cute, sitting on her carpet square for circle time. She had a HUGE smile on her face - despite what she had been through. Now a little background on why she was so upset about us leaving - as you know, I am a stay at home mom and there is rarely a day that goes by that I am not with Caty. I might go out for a few hours, but that is it for my time away from her. So this preschool experience is going to be GREAT for her. We chatted with Ms Maggie, the director, and she said that Caty had done well. She had a few moments where she looked like she was getting teary eyes - one of those times being when snack was passed out (which surprises me, as Caty is a big snacker). Ms Maggie asked Caty is she would like to go on a little walk, and that seemed to do the trick. We gathered this things and went over to her. We got HUGE hugs and she said that she had fun. She said bye to her teachers and we headed out the door. On the walk to the car and the drive home, we chatted about what she had done - played in the playhouse, played with the train set (another big favorite), made dog puppets, had snack (she said that she just didn't want any, just juice), and had circle time. During circle time, they read a book, sang songs and the special helper for the day got to share her toy from home. We asked Caty what some of the kids names were and she could only remember the special helpers name - Madeline, but it wasn't "baby Madeline" who lives next door to us. She then told us about the field trip on Thursday - we're going to the Folsom Zoo, which I will be attending with her. She also said that she is excited about going back to school - YIPPEE!! Hopefully the next time, we won't have any tears. So the morning was a success!!

16 comments:

Caden and Mommy said...

Jaime!
I'm so happy Caty's first day of school was a success! What precious pictures - I love her outfit! Keep us posted as her preschool adventures continue :0)
Trisha

Alex said...

I'm so glad to hear everything went well! Isn't weird to let go of your baby? When Sam started preschool I had such a hard time letting go! It's SO good for them though!

Mike Mallinson said...

That's so fun!! I'm so glad she had a good time, even though it was a little tough at first... That's so cool that Scott was able to take the day off, too! The pictures were absolutely adorable...

Ever Changing said...

Yea Caty (and mommy& daddy!) for a success on the first day of school! It's a good thing she wants to go back!

Unknown said...

What a great first day! Yay for you Mommy, holding it together...that is not easy! A friend of mine taught preschool for years, and she said "If you child isn't hanging on to your leg as you're trying to get out the door, consider it a success!" So that made me feel much better about Seamus' tears on the first day. Caty looked adorable in her pictures. I hope she keeps on loving it!

Greene Family said...

Congratulations on successful first day of school!! I love Caty's outfit, and all of the pictures are just adorable! I'm sure she'll continue to have lots of fun!

family of 5 said...

Hi Scott and Jaime,

Your experience with Caty is so familiar from when Travis started his first day of preschool. It was an emotional day for me. This was new territory for him. I wanted to stay there. But, I remember him telling me "Go home Mommy, I'll be okay". He was busy playing with the other classmates.I found a preschool with a fantastic teacher which was such a blessing.
Caty is going to have a great experience in preschool.
Good to hear from you...
Michelle and Travis

erica said...

Hey Jaime...I don't know if you remember me, but this is Erica from Texas. I just found your blog. It is so exciting to see Caty in pre-school. I was so excited to see how willing the school was to adapt things for her. Emily just turned two last week and is doing really well. She started pre-school also last week and is the only girl in a class with 4 other boys. She is going to have to be tough. Thanks for all your inspiration. Caty is truly an adorable blessing.

Destini said...

I knew Caty would love school! And what a great week to start - with afieldtrip to the zoo! I love the big smile as well!

erica said...

Jaime...absolutely add me to your blog list. I would love to get to know more families like ours. There is no one else in Tyler. I feel very sheltered, but also very blessed with strong healthy kids. Erica

Kim said...

CAty looked so adorable today! Don't worry about the tears. Preston has been in day care for a year and he still has his days. Now I am a pro at leaving and actually feel bad that the teachers have to deal with him like that.
Caty is going to love it and she'll be singing little songs she learned and everything.
P.S. I am jealous you know how to sew. It would save me a ton in pants hemming! :-)

Jillsblog said...

She is just the cutest girl~

JD started today and said "bye" to me about 10 times before we actually got to the school. LOL I will post later...

Glad she had fun, you will be a pro before you know it!!!

Jillsblog said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
mejane said...

Jaime you are so brave and strong for holding it together! I work part time and I cherish my days off when I get to spend time with my boys. My stomach turns at the very thought of my little ones starting preschool.
Yeah Caty!

mejane said...

BTW...Love the new blog template!

Becky said...

YAY Caty! I am glad she liked preschool! What a cute outfit for the first day too! Hope the zoo trip goes well, can't wait to read about it!
Becky

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