Last Day of School

Pics from the teachers from the first month of school.

Playing on the playground with friends.



Forced picture with mommy :)

Today (May 19) was the last day of Mother's Morning Out, or "school", for Davis. It is a bittersweet moment. Davis has grown so much in the past nine months and our experience at St. James has been truly wonderful. It will be hard on both of us to not have "school" over the summer. Davis looks forward to seeing his friends and all the fun activities he does at school. I enjoy the break with the security of knowing that Davis is in a safe, loving and stimulating environment for a couple of hours a week. We've already submitted his registration for the fall.

When school started, Davis had JUST turned two making him among the youngest in the 2 year old class. Some kids started at the age where Davis is ending, which is hard for me to believe now. We had just found out we were pregnant and I was in the midst of being on and off of bedrest as we prayed that our pregnancy would stick. The teachers told us to not do for our children what they can do for themselves. One point in particular- don't carry them into school. They can walk. Well, this was a lightbulb moment for me. I had always carried Davis everywhere out of habit. His transformation, and mine, started that first day of class. He was learning to have some independence and I was learning that it was important for him to grow in that way. Yes, it took about 13 minutes to walk him from the car to his classroom door (a trip that now takes about 3). But, it was an important step for us that lead to so much more. Davis started the year with tears each day at drop-off. By October, he was racing to his classroom, laughing with anticipation for his day at school. The tears in the early days were hard, but oh so worth the outcome.
At 2 years and 9 months, Davis is a smart, strong-willed, sweet and funny little kid. He's not a baby anymore. I was looking at pictures from nine months ago and I still see traces of baby in him. Not anymore... he's tall and lean and his face has thinned out. He's finally got tons of hair and he's so sure of himself in the physical sense. When he started school, he had to be carefully monitored on the playground. He was timid about going down a slide by himself. During yesterday's playground picnic, he was jumping and running all over the place, keeping up with everyone else. I could hardly keep my eye on him, and I loved seeing him have so much fun and interacting with all the other kids.
He was barely putting sentences together back when school started and now he's my little chatterbox (where does he get that from??;) who talks and talks and talks. He knows all the preschool basics and is ahead of the curve in that area, according to his teachers. He's done really great with potty training, which was worked on both at home and at school. He loved his music class and sings often. He's braver. He understands so much and I really love watching his memory develop. I fall more in love with him as his personality becomes more developed. I don't know how that is even possible since I always think, how could I love this child any more than I already do?

One of my favorite things about school was going to pick him up each day. The moms gathered outside the classroom door and had a few minutes of social time, often discussing issues with the kids, etc. On Tuesdays, the kids would turn the corner coming from music class and one by one spot their own mother waiting at the end of the hall. Davis would spot me and his eyes would light up, a huge smile spreading across his face bookended with his huge dimples. His arms would stretch out and he'd run to me saying "mommy, mommy!" Always followed by a huge hug. On Thursdays, they would let them out of the classroom door and I would get the same reaction from him. Memories of that will always make me smile. I'm sure there will be a day when I pick him up from school, quite possibly in a minivan, and he's be embarrased to be seen with me!
So, here we are today with a 7 week old and Davis being a big brother. We've come a long way this school year and it's been a good ride. Time does go by so fast. There were two moms in the class who each had babies in those first weeks of school. Those babies were crawling around at the picnic yesterday- another visual reminder of the amount of time that has passed and how quickly this new little baby is going to grow.