Catching Up: Will Goes to Preschool!

That's right--my firstborn has started preschool, three mornings a week.

We started by spending an hour and a half there together a few weeks ago. He went by himself the next day, and it was so odd to drive away without him. It had nothing to do with trusting his teachers (I do) or feeling like it wasn't the right decision (I don't); it just felt like the baby monitor was out of range, and instead of toggling the channel switch back and forth to get better reception, I was just...leaving. With no window into my son's life. It was weird, and when it bordered on unsettling, I'd repeat (out loud): It's good for him, and it's good for me. It's good for him, and it's good for me.

On his second Monday, he was unusually cranky, but I chalked it up to tiredness and transition. Then I got an email from the director asking if it was normal that Will had fallen asleep on her floor for a "morning nap." Oh. Not normal, no, so I picked him up early, and soon afterward my mother's intuition detected that he might have an ear infection. HAHA! Just kidding. He clutched the left side of his head and said, "Mommy, my ear isn't feeling better!" We went to the doctor, where I paid fifteen dollars for the (totally wonderful, but still) pediatrician to confirm Will's self-diagnosis, and then we got Baby's First Amoxicillin Rx, and that was that. He was cleared to go for the rest of the week, and he warmed to it and is having a great time.

That's a Toy Story backpack he's sporting--he is officially "into" Buzz, Woody, Jessie and the gang, although his loyalty has recently been tested by what he calls "Cars Movie!" He will sometimes get so excited at the mere idea of it that he'll jump around yelling "CARS MOVIE! I KNOW JUST THE ONE! WHAT IS LIGHTING-DA-QUEEN DOING, DADDY? CARS MOVIE!"

(He also has taken to narrating his toys' actions as if they were characters in a book. For example, the other day he was hopping a little stuffed dog around, and I heard him say, "Ah-choo, the puppy cried." Seriously, like he was reading a story about the dog.)

(Last thing, I promise: Will says "I love you so MUCH, Mommy!" exactly like that. With the emphasis and upward inflection on the MUCH. I really want to capture it on video, but in case I don't, I need it recorded here because it is my favorite thing ever.)