Grace's First Day of "School"

This post has taken me almost a week to put together...I apologize for the delay, but this mom is having a hard time coming to terms with having a Big Girl!

Our morning started bright and early.  Scratch that, it was dark and early.  Very, very early.

Grace woke up at about 4:15 a.m., bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready for her first day of school!  She never does this, she never wakes up in the middle of the night.  So I went in to her room and very nicely told her that it was too early to start getting ready and that it was still night time, and laid her back down and told her that Mommy would not forget to wake her up for school.

I got up at 6:15 and jumped in the shower.  As soon as I was out, I heard Grace doing her morning coyote howl, so I plucked her out of bed and threw her in the tub.  This is a new routine for her, but she likes it.  She used to take night time baths, but Mommy gets off work too late, plus we need to keep that hair under control and it's easier to do right after a bath.

I'm sure you can't imagine why we need a bath to get Grace's hair under control...

Soaking in the tub before school!

At 6:45 Grace was out of the tub and in a diaper, and I was done with my hair and makeup.  I got Grace dressed in her outfit that we had picked out the night before, then I propped her on the counter and she brushed her teeth while I did her hair.  Pig tails.  So darling, but the little hairs on the back of her head just aren't quite long enough, especially once her hair dries!

Then Mommy had to get dressed, and I did not pick out my outfit the night prior, so Grace sat on the floor and watched Friends and ate a fruit cup while Mommy tried to piece something together.  My outift, although decent, was not as cute as Grace's.

Delicious fruit cup.

Mmmmm!

7:15, I feel like I'm forgetting something.  I've been trying to throw an extra outfit in the bag to send to school, but nothing seems to match.  Do I need extra socks?  Probably not.  Will the shoes she's wearing with outfit 1 look okay with outfit 2?  Where are the diapers?  Oh yeah, already in the car.  Should she take juice?  I'll grab her some juice.  Where is her blanket?  Did I already grab socks?

Then I remember that I promised Nana we would take First Day of "School" pictures.  I grab Grace's chair and a book, ask her to sit in her seat and look at her book, and snap a couple of pics.  Then I do one with the blackberry to send to Dad, and then I grabbed everything/everyone and headed out the door.

First Day of School Official Pictures

Mom, can we go to school now?!

We are finally out the door at 7:35, supposed to be at school at 7:45, and it's a 45 minute drive.  I call them and tell them I will be late - closer to 8:15.

In the car, we have a grand ol' time singing along to the radio.  I think Grace will be just like her mom - my car is my own personal recording studio!

Sweet girl looks a little anxious.

We roll in to school at 8:10 (sweet!  5 minutes earlier than I guestimated!)

The teacher shows me where I sign in, and I give her some of the paperwork they have been waiting for.  I take Grace back to her classroom where there are 4 other 12-24 month old babies playing around with different toys, stuffed animals, and foam-climby-things.  One little girl was especially friendly and came right up to greet Grace.

Grace was friendly, but not too excited about interacting with the other kids.  She wanted to be off discovering her own things!

I stuck around for about an hour.  Two babies cried for most of that time.  Grace was not one of them.  She was very courteous and careful when playing with toys and children.  She tried to cheer one of the crying children up by giving him a toy.  It didn't work, and I could have sworn I heard Grace, "Well, to hell with you then."  Because that's what I was about to say.

I left right around breakfast time, and when the teacher said it was breakfast time, one small, sweet little girl made her way over to a table with little chairs all around it.  Grace saw that and was intrigued.  She LOVES chairs!  So Grace went and found a chair and crawled in it all by herself, and starting swinging her legs and tapping for the table, obviously excited to see what would happen next.  I gave her a kiss and told her I was leaving, and she waved at me and said, "Buh buh."  As I made my way out of her room, she turned in her chair and then stood up on it to wave at me and yell, "Buh buh!  Buh buh!"  The teacher had to correct her; we do not stand on chairs, Grace.  So sweet.

I came back when I knew the kids would be up from their naps to check in on her.  She had taken a really good nap (surprising, considering the circumstances, but very reassuring) and the teacher was impressed that Grace grabbed her pacifier, her blanket, and put herself to sleep.  (Thank you, Babywise!)

The kids were having a snack when I arrived, and Grace seemed to be fitting in just fine, although she was in the dreaded, unmatching outfit when I got there, and her hair looked ridiculous.  The teacher told me Grace had a really fun time outside, was a little sad sometime that morning because several other kids were having some issues and she probably just got overwhelmed, but was doing really, really well.

Grace wanted me to hold her for a while when I was there, but then I put her down and encouraged her to show me things that she liked.  I try to really encourage Grace to be independant.  As much as I love it when she needs me, that is really selfish.  It's great to feel wanted, but it's even better to see Grace discovering things on her own and interacting with other kids, even though I am there.

The teacher got all the kids cleaned up and then got coats and shoes on them, and said, "Okay, line up at the door!"  I watched this little group of 1-year-olds herd around the door and, was amazed to watch Grace just follow suit!  When did she get so smart?  Baby Genius, I'm telling you.

Then, they opened the doors and I watched as the little tots just filed out the door and through the preschool to the outside area.

I had held it together pretty well until that point.  That got me a little choked up.  My little girl, walking in line, in her school.

I headed back to work feeling pretty good about how Grace was doing.  At 5p, I headed to my second job.  I hadn't been on the floor at Eddie Bauer longer than an hour when I got a call from my husband.  He said the school was trying to get a hold of me and that Grace was sick and they needed me to pick her up within the hour.

Crap.

So, my wonderful manager at Eddie Bauer got right on the phone and found someone who could come in and cover for me.  But it took that girl at least 30 minutes to get to the store.  That's 30 minutes of hell when you're not quite sure what's going on with your baby!

I finally got to Grace's school around 6:45p, and I found her running around with one sock on (apparently she took one off to chew on - not the most Baby Genius thing I've ever seen her do) and having a ball.  She finally figured out those foam steps and was having so much fun climbing on them and carrying toys up them and then climbing down and chasing other kids and being a baby.  I looked at the night-shift girls and said, "Uh, does she look sick to you?"

Apparently, she had had three loose stools throughout the day, and a temperature of 100.  I told them in advance that she is teething and that she has been having some gnarly diapers, but I guess it's a state regulation that if the baby has three loose stools and a temp, they have to send them home?

So I packed up a VERY reluctant Grace.  She had no interest in leaving with me when she had just figured out how fun this place was!  I decided we had time to make a much-needed trip to Target, and we spent about an hour strolling around and looking at different things.

I kept Grace out longer than I meant to, and when I got her in the car at 8:30p she was MORE than ready to hit the hay.  She slept all the way home, and then didn't wake up until it was time to go this morning at 7a.  And she still looked tired when she got to Nanny's!

Tomorrow is day 2 at school.  I am hoping her teeth won't cause us many more issues.

All-in-all, I think day 1 was a huge success.  I am so proud of my little girl - she is so smart and brave and is growing up to be a wonderful little person.

Also, the hubby comes home tomorrow night!  Hooray!  He gets to spend the weekend with Grace as I am working on Saturday and have our last volleyball tournament on Sunday.  I've kind of missed the kid...he's not a bad guy to have around.

**Update**
Day 2 was a huge success, as was Day 3 and Grace is currently at school for Day 4.  Each time, she is less bothered by me leaving and more bothered by me picking her up and taking her away from all of her new friends and super fun toys!