First Day of School

Today was Ethan's first day of preschool! Shockingly, I had no nerves about it whatsoever and was simply excited, which is odd since I've been lamenting all the big-boy changes of late. Ethan must have sensed this because he went in like an old pro! We got to the building, and he strolled right in to his classroom. I had to pull him back out to show him his hook for his bag. He resisted, but finally grinned when I pointed out he had a blue nameplate. Then he charged right back into the classroom, heading straight for a plastic bin and carrying it over to the play kitchen to "fill it with water." I stood back for a minute and watched him and then decided I might as well go! I asked him for a hug and a kiss. He sighed and gave me a hug. I asked if I could have a kiss. He audibly groaned and gave me a quick peck before going back to his work. I told him to have fun and keep his underwear dry. He responded, "K!" On my way out, I reminded the teacher to remind Ethan to keep his underwear dry, and as I left, he had already discovered the real sink and was gleefully washing his hands. I left and he didn't even bat an eye. The little punk =) (Not that I wanted him to be upset, mind you; I just expected some sort of goodbye =P)

I left the building (practically skipping, I'll admit) and rushed to enjoy my 3 hours of childless-ness, the only ones I'll get before my class starts back tomorrow. I wish I could say I did something fun, but in reality, I came home, uploaded a picture of Ethan to facebook, and then set about cleaning the house. I scrubbed the bathrooms, unloaded the dishwasher, dusted, captured an escaped goat (damn goats), and then headed back out to talk with a friend for an hour before heading back to the preschool to fetch Ethan.

I walked into the classroom behind some other mothers, whose kids came running into their arms. Not Ethan. He stayed right where he was, sitting on a shelf, and pushing a toy vacuum. Finally he noticed me and exclaimed "Mommy!!!" I went to give him a hug, and he said, "Mommy back!!!" Then he started showing me all the toys he played with, including a book that had wheels on it that he made "vroom vroom" noises over as he pushed around. Every adult in the classroom (his two teachers, the director, and an additional helper for the first week) came up to me to comment on how much he liked to wash his hands... apparently every time they turned around, he was back at the sink. Now they know what life is like at home! They also pointed out that he'd had no accidents, so that was my one fear put at ease! I asked Ethan if he was ready to go home, and he grabbed my hand and went to get his bag. As I put him into his carseat, I asked if he had fun, and he responded with an enthusiastic "Yes!"

All in all, it was a great first day for both of us. Hopefully he's just as excited on Thursday!

Twenty-Three Months

Dear Ethan,

In one short month, you will be 2. And as momentous as your first birthday seemed, somehow your second seems like an even bigger deal! It's been a busy and accomplished month, and the last month of your second year will see even more milestones.

We're 100% done with diapers, and you're in underwear full-time. You average an accident a day, though some days you have none and occasionally you have more, so things are going pretty well! The only downside has been less sleep since you wake up earlier from both your nap and overnight in order to remain dry, but hopefully your bladder will expand some as you age. I'm so proud and amazed by how quickly you've come with this!

Your vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. You boss us around all day long and continue to crack us up with the sentences you construct. You tell jokes (not very good ones, of course), you dictate your surroundings, and you let us know what you want and need. You know all of your letters (one-to-one correspondence, even!) and are getting better with numbers (you can count to nine, though you don't always get the correspondence). Almost daily, we turn to one another and say, "Did you hear what he just said?" with a mix of awe and amusement. You're certainly becoming your own little person!

You love playing with friends, and you're going to have plenty of opportunity because in two weeks you will begin preschool! In fact, your first ever first day of school is less than 24 hours before my last ever first day of school! It will be hard to be apart from you for 4 mornings a week (between preschool and my class), but you'll be with friends and we'll both be learning so much.

You're amazing, little one, and as big as you grow, you'll always be my baby.

Love,
Mommy

3 Day Potty Method: Day 3

Only 2 accidents all day long. 2. That's it!

AND we went for a short drive this morning (during which I discovered Target doesn't open until 8 AM), we went to Target (after 8 AM), and we went to the farmer's market this afternoon, all with no accidents!

I have moved away from some of the 3-day method in that I have a few tricks to make the potty seem more appealing during times I suspect he might need to go (he generally goes about every 45 minutes, more often after drinking liquids). The most successful way to get him to decide he wants to go potty is to tell him Mommy needs to go. He races ahead of me and shouts, "Ethan first! Bye-bye, Mommy!" tugging his underwear down and grinning at me mischievously. My other method is to tell him we can do [insert activity here] after the next time he uses the potty. It began with nursing since I don't enjoy being peed all over and want to make sure his bladder is empty before letting him lie in my lap for long stretches of time, but it's useful for other activities as well. It's slightly coercive, yes, but the impetus is still on him to recognize that he needs to use the potty, he still has to climb up himself, and he decides when he gets down. So hopefully I'm only aiding him in his ability to decipher his body's signs and not irreparably screwing it up.

As terrified as I was of this step (and as anxious as I still feel throughout the day), I do feel like he was ready and am very glad to have said goodbye to diapers. Honestly, I think part of my anxiety throughout the day is not wanting to screw up a good streak. Who I think I would be disappointing if my 22 month old has an accident here and there is beyond me, but it's definitely my own desire for perfection. I should probably get a handle on that before I pass it on to Ethan, huh?

Time will tell if this sticks or is just a novel phase, but hopefully it will continue to be just this easy!