Preschool!

Yesterday was his first day of speech therapy preschool. Nope, there is not not one picture to document his big day. He was throwing a fit that he had to go and there was no way he was going to let me take his picture. I didn't want to get him more mad, so I skipped it. I was lucky that I got him there on time and the school is only 2 minutes from our house. He never seems to be able to take his shoes/boots off when I ask him to, but yesterday every time I put them on, he took them off. (Of course a crazy picture taking lady like myself was sad since I wanted to have pics of him with his back pack on, going into school, in his classroom, with his teachers, you know, "my baby is growing up" kind of pics)

He started off kind of rocky once we got there too. The teachers were having a little "meeting" with the parents about how the class would be structured, the schedule, what to look for in their back packs, what to talk to them about at home, etc. The kids were supposed to be sitting at the table playing with play dough (which is not C typically will do for longer than about 2 minutes). I looked up, and I didn't see him. No one noticed that he left the classroom and was down the hall!

When I came back to pick him up, one of the teachers told me he had a pretty good day. She said he only cried one time and it was because they told him that he had to put his art project in his back pack (I have mentioned before that he's very protective of this things). I am glad that she made him leave it in there though, because at his previous speech therapy they always gave in to him when he threw his fits. And he had to sit on one of the teacher's lap for their circle time and during their music time since he didn't want to participate, which is fine. At home, he couldn't stop talking about it. He made a little book about bears and already has it memorized. He gets so proud when he "reads" to us.

And now I am in the process of looking for a preschool for him to attend in the fall. I didn't realize it's such a big deal to find a preschool. If I hadn't run into one of the boys from Caleb's old speech therapy, I never would have thought I had to start looking now! (And should have started a long time ago!) Most schools are holding their open houses in the next couple weeks, and their registration is at the beginning of February....for the FALL! Apparently for some of the schools (obviously the better ones) parents line up 4-5 hours (so 4 AM!!!) before registration starts so they get a spot for their child!! I realize it's "only" preschool, but there are a lot of things we have to think about when choosing one for Caleb. They need to be willing to "take on" a child with an extensive past medical history and who has chronic health conditions. (I am not sure how much this will be an issue yet) I want him to be in one that will help him academically, but at this point he needs more nurturing and socialization than anything else. That being said, he's also very smart and loves to learn. So, do I put him in a little "church" preschool (where they mostly play and academics aren't priority) or at one of the "known" schools (that build a "well rounded child") where the parents line up for spots? My head is spinning just thinking about it!