Noah's First Day of School!

This is Noah saying, "today is the first day of school!"

So here's how it went--this a.m. we got all ready to go and got his backpack and shoes on and headed out. He was still pretty happy to go I think. We got there and all the little kids were heading in for their first day of school with little backpacks on. Which, BTW, I could only find Noah this huge backpack that's practically bigger than he is--all these other kids had ones that fit right. I could NOT find one suitable for his size!! Something else to research I guess...

Anyway, so we go in, and the nice man (director of ECE) is standing at the door welcoming people. We walked to his class and he was still okay. He saw his name on a bulletin board outside the door and said, "that's my name!!!" We go in, and two kids are already crying. He wouldn't take his backpack off. I finally got him to take it off and find the teacher so I could sort of hand him off and this lady comes in with her kid and starts asking Mrs. H where to pick up and what time. UM, HELLO!?!?!? A. If you'd gone to the orientation, you'd know that already, and B. it's in the fricking handbook. I was pretty annoyed, because I knew Noah was getting antsier by the second and he needed to be turned over to the teacher.

So anyway! I finally did--I hugged him and when I did, he clung to me. I said, "I love you! Have fun! You're okay! I'll come back for you at lunch time!" and then Mrs. H scooped him up (crying!!) and I left. UGH UGH UGH. I walked out of the classroom and started crying. This other mom was coming out of her own kid's class and she saw me and said, "I know! I did it last year! You feel like the meanest mommy in the whole world!" Then she hugged me and I swear I hugged her like I'd known her my whole life! Then she gave me a Hershey's kiss. Bless her heart! Oh, BTW, Mimi had Kyle for this a.m.!

So then I went to the parking lot and waited like 45 minutes. I think I thought they were going to call me. I kept looking at my cell phone to make sure it was working. They didn't call. So then Chris pulled up cause he hadn't left for work yet and he brought my wallet (I was such a frazzled mess this a.m. that I couldn't find my wallet!). So then I went to Costco and then came back. When I got back, I saw him walking with his little class wearing his ginormous backpack and carrying a little paper. They go in this little room and get picked up from there. When he saw me, he started crying and saying, "NO!! NO!!" and clung to Mrs. F (the aide that is a super duper loving grandma type). He wouldn't let Mrs. F go!! I said to Mrs. H, "is that for my benefit?" and she said, "yep!" I said, "have you ever seen that reaction before??" she said, "ooohhh yeah!!" We kind of laughed. THey told me he'd been really good and that he calmed down pretty quick, but burst into tears a few times (so sad). He didn't eat his snack and it was in his backpack for him. We finally pried him off of Mrs. F and got him in the car and he said, "today was a great day at preschool!" I was like, WTF??! Sounds good to me!
When we got home though, we had some challenging behavior today--a lot like the kind we had when Kyle first came home. All in all it was good though. He said good things about his day, and told me about a kid named Logan. He told me they'd red a book with "one two buckle my shoe" in it. But then he said, "can I stay??" I said, "stay where?" he said, "with you??" I said, "some days you'll stay with me, and some days are preschool days." He seemed sort of okay with that.

Hhe had a bit of a hard time at bedtime and wanted to "rock with you, mommy?!" So finally he goes to sleep, I lay him in his bed, and...the fricking power goes out. His fan turned off, and he popped open his eyes! By then it was seriously probably 85 degrees in his room and I was so ticked. I got him back up and rocked with him some more, but then said it was time for bed. I laid him in bed with some books and said ta ta and he was SO MAD. GREAT day for that to happen, KWIM?? But luckily he quieted down within minutes, the power came back on, and I could see him in his crib just laying there kicking his leg up and down. So he's more resilient than I thought I guess!

Oh, P.S. The little paper he was carrying was a white paper with a red die-cut shape of a school/church on it with the name of the church written on it, and then his little handprint, and his picture! It said, "My first day of school." Noah, September 2008. You should see the pic of him, it is SO pathetic. I felt so sick when I saw it! He looks positively miserable. But, he did SO much better than I thought he would, so back again we'll go next week.