School Update
Sarah Graves has been going to her new school for six weeks now and I have to say that she seems to be adjusting. Our mornings and evenings seem to be going much more smoothly. I'm not saying she is happy all the time, but she wasn't happy all the time before the change either. Brushing her hair still gets her upset and having to change her panties in the morning can be a major upset, but overall, it is pretty smooth. Some morning we even have a few minutes to play before we go and she is enjoying singing in the car on our way to school as long as it is "her music." I usually get a special request to put on "Wheels on the Bus!"
I have figured out that our evenings go better if I have a snack waiting for her when we get to the car. She does not eat much of their food at school and she is starving and thirsty when I pick her up. She has tried some new foods, but this picky eater is stubborn (wonder where she gets that :) ) and is not willing to eat most of what they serve. She does drink her almond milk pretty regularly, which is something she turned her nose up at before. The real tantrums are less frequent in the evening, so we actually get to enjoy some time playing before bed. Taking a bath is a bit of a struggle, so we save that one for when Aunt Nay or Lovie come over, just kidding :)
Her teachers have nice things to say about her. One teacher has mentioned that she talks a lot and prefers to hang out with the adults, which I can understand since most of her time has been spent with adults. She generally follows directions well and is known to play well with others. She has several friends in her class that she talks about regularly and they come to greet her or tell her bye in the afternoons. One of her friends, Anabelle, so sweetly came to the door to give her a hug the other morning and asked if Sarah Graves needed to pee pee on the potty! That makes me feel really good to know that she has made some friends.
I was very worried about whether she would still be able to dress cute and wear practical clothes to school. She definitely has a reputation for going to school a little more dressed up than some of the others and she is known for her bows! Her teachers keep the kids clean and we have only had a few things come back with spills. Her teachers even humor me and change her bow when they change her outfit so that she is coordinated!
Most of the outfit changes have been related to the potty. Her teachers have her in a good routine of going pee pee on the potty, but even they have not had success with getting her to poop on the potty regularly. She knows what to do and when she should do it, but she doesn't want to go on the potty yet. I'm not struggling with her about it because I'm afraid that Chubby's arrival may impact her potty routine anyway and it is very difficult to control a little person going to the potty.
For a while I was concerned that she was not getting a lot of direction or stimulation for learning at school, but over the last couple of weeks my fears have eased. We get a report emailed each day describing what activities they worked on that day and what learning objectives they address. I think as the classes have settled in to their routines, they have been able to do more activities to teach and probably spend less time soothing crying children. My favorite part of the report is the pictures it includes, especially when my baby is in one of them! Here are two pictures of her from recent activities.
I have figured out that our evenings go better if I have a snack waiting for her when we get to the car. She does not eat much of their food at school and she is starving and thirsty when I pick her up. She has tried some new foods, but this picky eater is stubborn (wonder where she gets that :) ) and is not willing to eat most of what they serve. She does drink her almond milk pretty regularly, which is something she turned her nose up at before. The real tantrums are less frequent in the evening, so we actually get to enjoy some time playing before bed. Taking a bath is a bit of a struggle, so we save that one for when Aunt Nay or Lovie come over, just kidding :)
Her teachers have nice things to say about her. One teacher has mentioned that she talks a lot and prefers to hang out with the adults, which I can understand since most of her time has been spent with adults. She generally follows directions well and is known to play well with others. She has several friends in her class that she talks about regularly and they come to greet her or tell her bye in the afternoons. One of her friends, Anabelle, so sweetly came to the door to give her a hug the other morning and asked if Sarah Graves needed to pee pee on the potty! That makes me feel really good to know that she has made some friends.
I was very worried about whether she would still be able to dress cute and wear practical clothes to school. She definitely has a reputation for going to school a little more dressed up than some of the others and she is known for her bows! Her teachers keep the kids clean and we have only had a few things come back with spills. Her teachers even humor me and change her bow when they change her outfit so that she is coordinated!
Most of the outfit changes have been related to the potty. Her teachers have her in a good routine of going pee pee on the potty, but even they have not had success with getting her to poop on the potty regularly. She knows what to do and when she should do it, but she doesn't want to go on the potty yet. I'm not struggling with her about it because I'm afraid that Chubby's arrival may impact her potty routine anyway and it is very difficult to control a little person going to the potty.
For a while I was concerned that she was not getting a lot of direction or stimulation for learning at school, but over the last couple of weeks my fears have eased. We get a report emailed each day describing what activities they worked on that day and what learning objectives they address. I think as the classes have settled in to their routines, they have been able to do more activities to teach and probably spend less time soothing crying children. My favorite part of the report is the pictures it includes, especially when my baby is in one of them! Here are two pictures of her from recent activities.
In this activity they were working on counting and matching. She is sitting next to one of her good buddies, Sidney.
In this one they are working on learning about their five senses and this was the sense of taste. They all tasted a treat and rated their favorite flavors that the teachers charted. You can see her buddies Sidney, Joseph, and Anabelle in the background.
I think her favorite activity they do is wearing her swimsuit on Friday so they can go and play on the splashground! They also set up water tables and other water toys for them, but she likes getting wet! I can only imagine the job it is to get toddlers out of their swimsuits and into their clothes for the day!
Overall, I think she is adjusting well. It took a little longer than I would have expected, but she seems happy and well cared for.
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