Gradual Entry

So this week is gradual entry week at preschool for Sydney, meaning we are meant to slowly introduce them to the idea of going to school all morning and being away from Mom.  Well, I decided that gradual might not be the way to go with Sydney and decided to rip the bandaid off this morning and leave her on her own in the classroom.

We talked about it the day before and this morning, how she was going to be a big, brave girl and stay on her own and say goodbye to Mommy with no crying.  That didn't exactly happen.  She cried alright and, as I hid around the corner from her classroom making sure she settled down, her crying turned into the pitch of a screaming eagle.  And then, as promptly as it started,  it stopped.  I almost thought something was wrong, until I saw another Mom walking down the hall who had just left the classroom.  I asked her if Syd was okay, "Oh yeah, she's painting now," she replied.  Alright!  Settled into class within a few minutes and had a great day!  We're well on our way to a tearless goodbye, I can feel it now!


So while Syd was having a ball at preschool, I took full advantage of having some time to myself and got some errands done that had long been on my list.  I pulled a crinkled lab requisition off the floor of my car that my doctor had given me some three months ago and finally got around to making it to the lab to have some bloodwork done!  And I managed to pick up some hostess gifts for Rosh Hashanah, some honey jars which I will pack up with a lovely, gourmet jar of honey and give as gifts for the lunches and dinners for the high holidays.

I also got Sydney a special little treat for being such a good girl and staying by herself at school today, a sparkly Hello Kitty necklace.  She loved it, was grinning ear to ear when I gave it to her when I went to pick her up after school was over!

She clearly had a fantastic day, was singing songs that they had sung during circle time later in the afternoon and was talking about her teachers and classmates too.  All good signs that she's enjoying herself and engaged while she's there and not missing Mommy!

We stopped for a quick play at the park this afternoon to enjoy the amazing, sunny day today:

Sydney had her first swimming lesson of the season late this afternoon.  Now that she's almost three, she can go in the water solo, without Mom.  It was so awesome to not have to get my bathing suit on and go in with her and just enjoy the lesson from the sidelines!  She had such a great time in the water, took very quickly to her instructor Kaori and was splashing and playing and enjoying the water so much!

We stopped to get a little bouquet of flowers for ourselves to celebrate the day on the way home:

I've started sorting through Sydney's ever-growing wardrobe, weeding out clothes that are getting too small for her and summer stuff that won't fit next year.  We've got a pretty good pile of things ready to pass along!

To round out our day, I made a some yummy Thai food for dinner tonight, our two favourite dishes: green curry chicken and pad thai.

Not sure how I squeezed all of that into one day along with a few hours at Paul's office helping out and a  workout at the gym tonight!  It's been a busy day!  Tomorrow is another full morning at preschool for Sydney, I have the feeling it's just going to get better and better as the days go on!