Can I go to preschool now?

Ever since one of Alyssa's best day care buddies left day care and started preschool last fall, Alyssa has been talking about going to preschool. We started the search for a preschool in January and soon found that many of the options we were considering were either too expensive or wouldn't work with our schedules. Several friends had recommended Milestones to us, so we checked it out. It looked like a great environment, so we signed Alyssa up...and the wait began.

We went school shopping and got new shoes, got a new haircut, and even bought a book bag. We put together a calendar, so she could see which days she would go to Miss Gwen's and which days she would go to preschool. And yesterday, she picked out her outfit and a family picture to take with her, she packed her backpack, and she headed to bed praying that she would have a good day.

She got up with a smile this morning, got herself dressed, and waited. She didn't know quite what to do with herself while the rest of us got ready. She didn't need to eat breakfast because they provide that at preschool, and she didn't want to play...she just wanted to go. She had her rain boots and coat on (yes, it was a rainy morning) a good 30 minutes before we needed to leave and she kept asking "Can we go to preschool now?"

Finally, we left, dropped Lauren off at Miss Gwen's and headed to preschool. There were so many kids coming and going, she was looking everywhere, asking what they were doing and where they were going. But we finally arrived at her classroom. Her teacher, Miss K, was there and so was one of her day care friends. She walked right in, put her backpack in her cubby, smiled and pulled out a piece of paper and began to draw/color with markers.

When I picked her up, she was smiling. She told me it was so fun! She asked why she doesn't "ever ever" get to play with markers at home and told me all about cutting one paper and gluing it to another. She said they played outside, and that there's a big slide and three little slides. She told me all about the other little boy who left to go to another school and had to go to the sidewalk to catch the bus. She told us about cereal and bananas for breakfast, pizza grilled cheese and corn and peaches for lunch, and her yogurt & blueberries for snack. She told us about silly things that she did with her day care friend and she even told us that she didn't suck her thumb at nap time (not sure whether I believe that one though). She was so excited to tell everyone about her day and is already looking to Thursday when she goes back.

It's so great to see her so happy to be growing up, doing new things, and meeting new peoples. For as shy as she can be sometimes when we're around, it was awesome to watch her walk confidently into her classroom this morning and get the report that she'd had a great day.