First Day of Preschool

So, Emily finally had her MUCH ANTICIPATED first day of preschool! But... first she had an orientation day on Tuesday. Basically, we went to the school...

checked out the classroom with 2 other friends from her class...
sang a few songs on the carpet...
and explored the playground.
Giddyup, let's get to the good stuff... the first day!

Before leaving for school on Thursday (September 15, 2011) we took a family photo.

Once there, we took a few more.

(I hope I remember to un-blur these pictures before printing her blog book)
(A little boy before us took a silly picture so Emily thought it was the proper pose for this shot. This was actually the first of the two before I asked her to give me a smile.)

As soon as 9:00 rolled around, the door to the classroom was opened and Mrs. H (the teacher's aide) was there to greet the children.

Emily had no problem saying good bye to us and HELLO to Mrs. H! After Emily walked happily into the classroom Mrs. H turned to us and gave a big thumbs up. It was sure to be a good day!
Unfortunately, we (Mama and Daddy) had to go to an orientation with the preschool director. A couple notes I would give to her for future orientations: have an outline, hit the bullet points, take questions, let the parents go! I mean, Everett is only 4 months old and HE knew things were lagging a bit!
By the time we were off campus and back home, Everett and Mama had enough time for a meal and a diaper change before it was time to head back to pick up the big preschooler! (11:45 dismissal)
She was quite excited to see us but also VERY happy to report all of the fun things she did. The first of which was, "Mama, we ate cookies! We got to have two cookies!" I asked her what kind of cookies and she said, "regular."

Every day there is a paper in the foyer that lists everything they did in each classroom and I returned to school, minutes after leaving, to take a picture of it but was too late. Bummer, should have thought of it BEFORE leaving. Oh well, live and learn. Here are some of the things listed from memory... sang chocolate bubble gum, played with red cinnamon scented playdough, had free draw time with markers, did an obstacle course in motor development room, read books, and had a snack of apple juice and 'Nilla Wafers. Of course, when I saw the apple juice listed I asked Emily if she drank the juice. As expected, she did not, but had water instead.

The whole way home she talked and talked about school, mentioning once that she "weally, weally, missed (us)." She also told me how "weally, weally, hungry" she was. Surprisingly, she didn't fall asleep during her nap time - a little too excited perhaps. During the time she was in her room though, her teacher, Mrs. MacDonald, called to talk to me about Emily's first day. She said that Emily was smiling from ear to ear, was very sweet, and sat so nicely during their story time. She also mentioned that they like to observe the kids' interests the first day and that Emily went right for the puzzles and the trains. Mrs. MacDonald said Emily had a GREAT day!

Later that afternoon, Emily played "school" for the first time in her playroom with me and Everett as her students. She pulled out her princess books...

and said, "I have a weally special story to read today." Then, as she read it she would turn the book to face us and say, "look at the pictures, look at the pictures." (in a very sweet voice) But, I am sorry to report that cameras were not allowed in her classroom.
You'll just have to believe me.