First week round up

Luke is now officially a veteran of preschool. OK, so not really. This past week has had its fair share of ups and downs for dear Luke. He seems to have the roughest time in the morning... or maybe thats me when I drop him off?

On day 1, I stayed with Luke for a little while to get him comfortable with his class. He was doing fine when he thought that I was staying the whole time like I had the Friday prior! When he realized I was leaving, he threw a conniption fit... I tried to calm him but it wasn't until breakfast arrived that he was truly ready to forget I was there. We had him stay half a day on that first day, and he was definitely ready for us to pick him up at noon. He had been perfectly content eating his lunch until he saw Nate and me... at which time he stood up, hands straight down, mouth wide open, just crying. He was so overwhelmed. We felt bad, but got him calmed down and went home for nap.

The second day, we timed our arrival perfectly so that we arrived at the same time as breakfast. Luke was happily distracted and I was able to leave without a lot of drama. We did half day for the second day too, but much less drama on the pick up at noon. Luke's teacher told us that he had laid down on someone else's cot earlier so we figured the next day, he'd be ready to take his nap there.

On Wednesday morning, the drop off drama started again. Everyone told me that the first two weeks were the toughest, but I thought that based on minimal drama the day before, we could magically move on to easy drop off. No such luck. Luke did not want me to let him go. We tried playing Legos, blocks, puppets... anything! But breakfast was a little late, and I had to go to work. I left the classroom after many hugs and kisses, and watched through the one-way glass window from the hall as he paced the room looking for me and tried to get out the door. Ugh. It seriously tears at your heart. Eventually he calmed down and enjoyed an Elmo book. Thankfully Luke took his nap easily there too, and did very well in the afternoon.

Thursday morning was the same as Wednesday, and I stopped in at lunch time to see how Luke did. His teacher was excited to report that he had a great morning, went down for nap easily, and had used the potty twice.

Say what?

Luke? Our Luke? Used the potty? He's never done that at home! The preschool kids get to ring a bell after they successfully use the potty, and everyone in the class stops and cheers whenever they hear the bell. Anyone who knows Luke knows that he loves to cheer for himself, so I think he thought he was missing out by not being able to ring that bell. So we're keeping the whole bell thing going at home now, in hopes that we can jump start potty training.

On Friday, Luke's occupational therapist went to visit at preschool for his first session there, and was happy to report that he was having a great time and seemed well adjusted. They worked on getting him more comfortable and independent on the playground, and Luke's teacher said that he did remarkably well today on the playground during outside time.

Let's hope that the two week rule holds true with Luke and preschool, because today was another rough morning, though I am thinking that perhaps I am sticking around too long... maybe preschool drop off is like removing a band aid.

Anyway, as soon as we get through this Luke two week period, we start Will at his preschool... oh, good times!