Our Journey to Carson

A Successful First Day of Preschool!

Yesterday was the big day. Carson had visited preschool on Wednesday (kind of a rough start) and Friday was our trial run. Just as I have done to Meggie every year since kindergarten (she didn't attend preschool), we had to take the obligatory "picture on the front porch" before leaving. Carson was actually quite excited to go to "sa-cool" and cooperated nicely...

"Mama, why are we outside without our coats on?"Showing off his backpack!

When we got to the school, he ran right in and happily led me to his classroom...OK, so he actually headed down the WRONG hallway, but we found the room anyway! He ran right in and wanted to start playing. I had to call him back to take his coat from him! When I suggested taking a picture with Miss Tracy, he giggled and ran right over to her! The results were MUCH better than Wednesday......now THAT'S my boy! I only left him at school until lunch was over...figured a full day might be a bit much for him AND for Miss Tracy! When I arrived to pick him up at 12:45, there was a crowd of kids running around in the entry foyer of the school. I stopped in the director's office to ask her a quick question and, when I looked out her window, realized it was Carson's class! They were having "gym" class!! (I find that so funny, to have gym class for 4 year olds!)

They started to line up to go back to their room, but then Miss Tracy saw me. She told Mr. Zorin (her assistant teacher) to play their gym game one more time -- so I could see Carson in action! Miss Tracy blocked Carson's view of me (I snuck out of the director's office and was seated in a chair in the corner of the foyer). They were playing Chubby Checker's "Let's Twist Again" on the CD player. While the music played, they were supposed to dance around. Carson was having a BALL!! He kept dancing and laughing! When Mr. Zorin stopped the CD, they were supposed to fall to the floor and pretend to sleep. Carson cooperated with the entirety of the game!! He kept running up and tickling Mr. Zorin and would occasionally hug Mr. Zorin. It was so cute...like they were having some unique male bonding moments!

When it was time to line up to go back to class, Carson saw me sitting in the corner. He looked at me with absolutely no recognition in his face. I panicked a bit inside...he's at preschool for 5 hours and he FORGETS HIS MAMA!?!?!! Suddenly, he smiled and ran towards me. (Whew!) I told him to go back with his class since they were lining up. He got in line, but kept turning around to wave at me. It was SO CUTE!!

When I went into the classroom to collect his things, Miss Tracy said it was like he had been with the kids for weeks! She said he repeated a lot of what the kids said and seemed to understand all the directions they were given. His daily written report summed his day up this way: "Great!" What a relief! I took him home for nap time, but it looks like he'll be ready for a full day of preschool next Friday! (And by the way, he has been practicing the "I'm a nut" game at home with Daddy, so he did much better with that!)

At OT on Thursday, Carson got a wrist splint. He really didn't like the fitting for it...it took 10 seconds for the plastic to mold to his arm and he yelled "No MO!" with every number Miss Mary counted out. (I tried hard not to laugh at him...one...No MO!...two...No MO!...three...NO MO!...) I worried a bit that I wouldn't get him to wear it! In a moment of inspiration, I told him the splint was his Ultraman Glove...SOLD! He thrust his arm forward and wanted to wear that thing!! It is actually for sleeping, to force his wrist straighter since he holds both wrists slightly bent all the time. The goal is to stretch the tendons and muscles in his forearm while he's sleeping, therefore allowing him more mobility. He will eventually get splints for both wrists, but we started with one. I wanted to take a picture of the splint, but he wouldn't actually pose for me...I snuck these pictures as he was waking from his nap on Friday...
He will gladly put his Ultraman Glove on for naptime and bedtime...our problem is he keeps using it to "shoot" the ceiling fan and won't go to sleep! (Maybe the Ultraman idea wasn't the best...) Thursday night, he woke up at midnight crying and we had to take it off. Last night, he made it 'til 5:30 AM...progress!

Last night, our friends Scott and Sarah and their little boy, Selleck, came over for dinner and we went out to look at Christmas lights. After dinner, I had one goal before leaving to look at lights...I wanted a picture of the boys together. Can I tell you that getting a 22 month old and a 4 yr old together for a picture is impossible?! After these, I just gave up!
Meggie had a few friends over last night and they wanted to get their picture taken with our little "celebrity." Here's our Little Man with all the big girls...
...doesn't he look thrilled?! He may not have been a fan of the posed photo, but when they pulled out Guitar Hero and gave him a turn, he thought he was the coolest!This morning, we got another snowstorm! It started snowing this morning, then freezing rain, and we've been getting dumped on all day! Meggie and her friends took Carson out into the snow and they had a BALL! They rode the inner-tube sled, had a snowball fight, and made a huge snowman in our front yard! Meggie took pictures and I'll post them soon...I didn't get to take photos 'cause I caught a bug and have been stuck in bed all day, sick.

That's all for now...check back in for the next update!