Sophie's First Day of Preschool...

Yesterday was Sophie's first day of preschool. She will be going every Wednesday and Friday mornings. I was really quite unsure how she was going to react. There was no way for me to explain to her what was about to happen...which was that I was going to drop her off with some complete strangers in a new building but that I would be back and that she would be okay. Sophie has only been left with family and very limited family at that. So the morning started off well. I woke her up, fed her breakfast, got her dressed, and we were off to preschool at 8:40am. Usually, Sophie does not wake up until 8:30am but she really did not mind waking up a little early. She seemed to be in a good mood. We arrived at her preschool and the clinging began. She would not let go of me. I set her down and she stood there holding my leg. Then she fell backwards and the crying started. I picked her up and she calmed down a bit. Then I handed her off to one of her therapist* and the crying really started. I stood there outside her classroom for about 10 minutes watching her cry through the one-way mirror. She climbed off the therapist's lap and made a run for the door (okay it was more like a wobbly walk). Then it was time for the special needs kids to go to the classroom with the typically developing kids. It was my cue to leave because if she dare saw me...

I arrived back at Sophie's preschool at 11:40am. She was still eating her lunch so another therapist introduced me to the typically developing kids and their teachers. By that time, Sophie was done eating lunch and the therapist was walking Sophie down the hall towards me. I yelled out Sophie's name and she looked around and saw me. As soon as the therapist let go of her hand, she walked quickly towards me with a big smile on her face. I gave her a big hug and then she wanted back down. She was checking the things out around us as the therapists were explaining her day to me. She did GREAT!!! They described Sophie "to a T". They said when she first went into the classroom with the other kids, she just kind of observed what others were doing. She was attentive during story time. She enjoyed music time. As the day went on, she warmed up a bit. She even walked up to a little boy and tried "talking" to him. So as it was time to leave, she did not want me to hold her. She was being Miss Independent!!! She held my finger as we walked all the way to the car. She is going to do so great in preschool. I am so excited. She was in a great mood the rest of the day.

* Sophie will have four therapist at her preschool. She will be getting 30 minutes of speech therapy and occupational therapy every day. She will be getting 30 minutes of developmental and physical therapy every other day.

Here are some pictures...