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Tuesday, September 04, 2007
We swooped back in to town last night, just in time for Elnora to start preschool this morning. She's going two days a week from 9am-11:30am at Mango's Place, the drop-in daycare center I've been using all summer.It was interesting to watch the dynamics at play in the other kids and parents that were there this morning. There were probably six kids there by the time we arrived. The class only holds 10, so most had already shown up. Half the kids were crying and holding onto their parents (who were also crying.) The other half were quietly standing back by their parents, waiting to see what was going on.
Elnora walked in, headed over to the table, checked it out, went to a cubby, checked it out, looked at me, waved and said "bye ma!" I laughed to myself, went to the next room to drop Emmitt off and headed out the door.
She certainly is her mother's daughter.
I imagine at least some of my readers will make comments about how there's no need for kids to be independent at a young age, but I'll fully admit that I'm glad to see Nora developing an adventuresome spirit. She's never been clingy (unlike Emmitt who was a snuggle-bug from the moment he was born) and has been happy to go stay with her grandparents, aunts, uncles or family friends since the time she was a baby.
The class is all 3 and 4 year olds, except for Nora. (She'll be three in November.) I talked to the teacher when I picked her up and she said Nora did great. (Though she wasn't ready to be done singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and kept asking for more verses during song time, lol.) I asked her if it was going to be a problem that Nora was so far behind in terms of speech, but she said she seems to hold her own quite well.
She's been coming along really well with her speech this summer. She can say almost all of her ABC's (about 4 letters trip her up) can say 8 of the first 10 letters (four and seven trip her up), and is speaking in full sentences now (In fact, while she stayed with my mom last week, she told her "Me go to wa-wa's [great-grandma] house, eat pancakes, mmmmm-mmmm good").
She's still clearly behind most kids her age, but she's catching up rapidly. I'm hoping by the end of the year she'll only be a little behind instead of a lot behind. In the meantime, those wheels keep spinning in her head.
Labels: All About the Kids, Life as a Mom
Jen,
Gee where does the time go? Pre-school? Yikes.
I'm totally with you in celebrating Elnora's independent spirit. That "I can do it by myself" confidence will serve both of you well..you won't worry about her as much as if she was the hide-behind-your-skirts kinda kid. My daughter REFUSED to have me walk her to her first grade class...I can do it, I'm big now. It KILLED me but, looking back, I'm happy that she had that confidence.
As for Elnora's speech, I'll bet that she 'catches up' quicker than you think. The more time she spends around the other kids the more motivation she'll have to keep up with them. They won't be able to interpret her the way you and Daddy do and she'll most likely figure out what it takes to communicate.
The next thing you know, you'll be wondering why you EVER wanted her to start talking. lol
Hi Jen
Your daughter looks adorable. Just thought I'd let you know I'm blogging today (www.breastfeedersanonymous.blogspot.com) about breastfeeding t-shirts and would love you to stop by and tell us more about The Lactivist t-shirts.
Cheers
RACH!
Congratulations on Nora's first day of school! She looks adorable!
Congrats! My son just had his first day at preschool today too :)
Keep the stories coming!
Elnora has a very dignified look about her. So cute.
The caption for that photo should read "Again with the camera? Geez Mom..."
Too cute!
My son started preschool this week too. The drop-off was the complete opposite of yours though:-0. He screamed at the top of his lungs and tried to run out when I left. But when I picked him up they said it only lasted a few minutes and he had a great time. I wasn't surprised b/c that's exactly what I did every 1st day of school until 2nd grade! But I was definitely more of an emotional wreck than he was. I didn't even take a picture b/c I couldn't stop shaking and worrying and brushing his hair repeatedly and changing his shirt everytime something dripped on it so the teachers wouldn't think I'm a neglectful young mom. I think my hubby was worried I had gone off the deep end when I found out he had not washed our son's hair the night b4 in the bath. Of course the teachers are gonna care, right?? :-) I think I've come back down to sanity now- but who knows, the 2nd week may be harder for me than the 1st.
What a darling picture! She's absolutely precious!
she is too precious. They really do grow up fast! I'm sure she'll catch up with her speech much faster being with older kids, too, and it sounds like she can communicate pretty well even if she hasn't worked out the grammar part yet. That'll come! Nour was an early bloomer but she still has trouble with some words, and it's so cute when she says things wrong, because she doesn't do it often, I kind of feel like I missed out on the toddler language phase.
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