Gavin's First Day of Preschool

The day is finally here. Stephanie and I are the proud parents of a preschooler--or, as they call them at IvyBrook Academy, "Inventors." Speaking of IvyBrook, yesterday we were at USCL and someone asked me where Gavin was going for preschool. I replied "IvyBrook," and Gavin followed up with "actually, it's IvyBrook ACADEMY." All Gavin meant to do was, in his mind, say the name properly. I laughed though because it kind of came off as snooty-snooty.

Anyway, back to his first day. I didn't have the luxury of having my mom (Grandma Mary) here with me this time, so my picture-taking was limited to the must-have photos. Sorry I couldn't share more. I have been talking with Gavin a lot over the past few days about school--be nice to the other students, listen to your teachers, use the potty, don't pick your nose, etc. His class lasts from 12:45pm to 4:30pm, so we had a fairly normal morning leading up to school. I gave him and Liam an early lunch, got us all prettied up, and headed out. Before walking out, I took another series of pictures of Gavin (like the one seen above). I love the pose in the following picture though. I just imagine him thinking "I'm gonna go own this school."

So, we got to school a little early (I don't want any admin/teachers/staff to have a negative opinion of my boy simply because I couldn't get him to school on time). Steph, you'll be proud to know I got there before all the moms (just like my last Target toy clearance trip). While we were there waiting for the class to open, Gavin grabbed a seat in the lobby and watched a slideshow of pictures that were scrolling on an overhead TV.

The pictures that were in the slideshow were of prior school days, but in the future, the pictures on the TVs in their lobby will be from the previous day's classroom activities. This is just awesome. When I came back at the end of the day to pick him up I was able to enjoy pictures they took THAT DAY of Gavin and his classmates playing and interacting. These photos are taken and uploaded to the school's website every day, so we'll always get to see bits and pieces of his days.

After watching TV for a bit, Gavin came over and chatted with Liam a bit. He loves being "cute" with Liam--lots of "aw" and "Liam, Liam" and "he's such a baby" and phrases like that. Liam eats it up too. Here he is making Liam laugh. There was a much better moment captured on film, but it came out too blurry.

After a few minutes, Gavin spent his remaining "waiting" time walking around and checking the place out. He mostly talked to the fish in the school's fish tank. Liam, on the other hand, was not so content waiting for the classroom to open up. As evidenced here:

I just imagine him thinking, "the heck with Gavin...this in my school. Let me in!" From this point forward Liam warmed up to the place. In fact, he covered nearly every foot of the lobby, and even crawled to the door of the principal, plopped down on his butt, and just looked up at her like "hey, I'm Liam." Before long, we were surrounded by a handful of other families waiting for class to open. And soon enough, class opened. Steph, here is the proud (and heartbreaking) picture of your son going off to his first day of preschool (Steph, I wanted you to get the view you would have had you been there). I love the "action" in this photo--it almost looks liking he's happily skipping off to class.

Now that I've said all of that. That last picture was taken for "effect." I was actually still following him to class, where I would then hand him off to his head teacher, Miss Sandy. Here's a picture of Gavin being helped by Miss Sandy. It's not the best pic, but I was trying to slip out quietly at the same time in case he was like "where are you going daddy." Of course, he was plenty ready to part with me and join his class...

On the way out the principal reminded me that she would be calling me in an hour or so to let me know how he was doing on his first day. She had to leave a message though--daddy had the luxury of taking a nap at the same time as Liam. The message she left was great though. She said he was doing amazing, and that she may in fact "make him the class president." When I went back to pick him up I asked her what prompted the remark and she simply said he is soooo friendly and interactive and talkative that he seems like the ringleader in class (great news, of course). Gavin can sometimes be a timid follower, so I'm happy to see him being more outspoken and assertive. After talking with the principal for a moment (and watching photos of him with his class on the TV--still awesome), I went back to his room to pick him up. It was great seeing the kids greeted by their parents (or caretakers--as if I know who these adults are). Most of them were thrilled and happy to share their day. Here's my boy being ushered to the door with Miss Sandy:

Miss Sandy had high praises for how Gavin was today. She reiterated what the principal said about his level of interaction. He had one minor incident--he fell out of his chair while he was sitting improperly on his knees (like he often does at the dinner table). I asked her, "did it serve as a teachable moment," and she explained that he sat properly the rest of the day. Miss Sandy also shared some insight that will be embellished later. Basically, she did some preliminary assessments with him, and she said he did AMAZING on them. Now, I'm not sure what types of assessments she did, but I do know that she has experience working with high performing students so I was so thrilled to hear this. Steph and I think the world of Gavin and his abilities, but that's the way parents are supposed to think. To hear it from an educator validates our feelings, which is just awesome.

Miss Sandy then told me that Gavin made a new best friend today. 

So, I asked Gavin, "I hear you have a new best friend?"

Gavin: "Yeah, her name is Macy."

Me: "Wow, that's awesome. Is Macy nice."

Gavin: "Yeah she is."

And that was the end of that conversation. However, when we were driving away I asked him, "so why do you like Macy so much?" His reply (priceless): "She laughs at all of my words."

Me: "What do you mean?"

Gavin: "I say stuff like 'there's a vug under my rug' (from Dr. Seuss), and she laughs. And then she says 'there's not a vug under my rug.' And we just laugh."

Me: "So Macy is your new best friend and she laughs at your words."

Gavin: "Yeah. Well, she doesn't laugh at ALL my words. Just some of my words."

By the way, Macy is the adorable little girl on the lefthand side of the last picture from above--the one where I was picking him up from school. It's funny that she appears to be glancing at either him or the teacher in the picture.

When I picked him up I knew he had to be starving. He hadn't eaten a great lunch at home, but he did get a snack at school. Anyone who knows Gavin knows that he is literally OBSESSED with snacks. Earlier in the day I told him that his teachers would be giving him a snack about halfway though his day, and then he couldn't let go of the topic: "what kind of snack daddy?" "when will I get that snack?" "my teachers will give me the snack?" "I love snacks." ...and on, and on. So, I though it was funny that when we were walking to the car Gavin turned to me and said, our of nowhere, "daddy, I got my snack. It was Cheerios. And pineapples." It's almost as if he knew that our earlier snack conversation had been left unresolved. Anyway, back to Gavin being hungry. I told him how mama and I were so proud of how wonderful he was at his first day of school, and I told him I'd take him out for dinner. His response: "How about Firehouse Subs?"