Back to School

Wednesday was Nicholas' first day back for the new school year.  He's still attending St. Mark Preschool but he's now going to school three days a week instead of only two.  My plan was to increase a day each year until he starts kindergarten, which seemed a nice, gradual plan.  He's now in the 3 year old classroom which means a teacher and classroom change, which we hope will be an easy transition for him.  The room is much smaller than his other one but there are only 5 kids in his class, so it should be plenty of space for them.  They can have up to 8 kids in each room but I like the idea of more one-on-one interaction with the teacher so five students sounds like a really good number.   I was also pretty excited to hear that they've now added music and Spanish class to their curriculum each week.  Nicholas will love having all of that activity and stimulation.  He's just such an active little boy with a very inquisitive mind.  The more you throw at him, the better.  I didn't get to go for morning drop off but Greg said it went exceptionally well and Nicholas just ran off to play with all the toys.  I got there a little early in the afternoon for pick up and got to see him playing in the classroom through the window.  He was having such a great time and was totally content.  When I popped my head in to say hello he was so involved in his playing that he took little notice of me.  I finally had to tell him we had to go and I'm taking that as a very good sign of what's to come.  It feels fantastic to have him back in his routine and getting to do fun things outside of the house every day.  I know that preschool is so good for him.

After such a great start to the school year, we celebrated with a trip to the zoo with Grammy.  I bought a season pass for us awhile back but it's been so horribly hot all summer long and we just haven't had the desire to go since last Spring.  Well this week Mother Nature gave us quite a treat when she dropped the temps about 25 degrees so we've been soaking up all the outdoor time we can.  It was perfect weather for the zoo - cloudy, breezy, and even a little downpour.  Dare I say it?  It was almost chilly for a moment!  There also weren't very many people there so the afternoon turned out to be quite enjoyable.  Nicholas was starving when we left so we stopped at McDonald's to get him a Happy Meal for the ride home.  I guess a full belly was all he needed to send him over the edge of exhaustion because he fell sound asleep on the way to the house.  It was 5:30 in the evening and that's just not something that happens very often.  I think he had a good day.