School Daze

My great grandmother bought me this great golf polo.
I looked "spiffy" for school!

Ayden has done well with adjusting to his new school. Only one day did we have trouble at dropoff, which resulted in throw up. All other days he's settled in fairly quickly and begun playing with the toys or helping his teacher. He especially loves to help people and says, "Help me?" when he wants to be of assistance. (Yes, he should be asking if he can help you, but I don't care how he says it! At least his heart is in the right place!) Ayden's favorite part of the day is going outside to play on the playground. Unfortunately, lunchtime follows playing outside, so he's not always cooperative at lunchtime because he doesn't want to leave the playground. Regardless, his reports have indicated that he is cheerful and interactive, participates in group activities, and listens to his teacher. His teachers describe him as a "helpful, wonderful child" that is "such a joy." Every parent wants to hear that his/her child is behaving well and appropriately and having fun doing so. We are so happy for him. Below you will see Ayden sharing his daily report with his daddy.

Though the school does teach him colors, numbers, shapes, and letters, we aren't sending him so he'll learn those things. Honestly, our bright two-year old is already doing really well with learning those concepts in everyday living. Bryan and I laid some ground work with his colors many months ago, but he was either yanking our chain or didn't have a clue as to what was going on. Then G-Daddy showed up in early July, and he made learning colors fun and new. Ayden was receptive, and, with G's encouragement and the use of Eric Carle's My Very First Book of Colors, as well as the corresponding iPad app and some Lego Duplo blocks, he learned the following colors: blue, black, brown, green, yellow ("yellyo"), orange, red, pink, white, and purple. (As a side note, I never believed that children picked their own favorite colors, but I now know they do; Ayden seems to love blue and purple.) In addition to his colors, Ayden has learned to count to 15; he gets to seven with no mistakes, and his teens all sound the same, but he is really doing great. With regards to shapes, he knows circle, square, oval, and triangle. He also recognizes some letters, such as G, A, and Y.

What we do want from school is for Ayden to learn how to interact with other children. Some things Ayden has acquired while interacting with his classmates:

• "No."-- We had never heard the word "no" from Ayden until after his first day of school. I'm not sure how we managed to make it this far avoiding it!
• "Oh, boy!"-- Apparently, his classmates have taught him, "Oh, boy!" In exchange, he has them saying, "Oh, man!"
• "Ready, set, go!"-- He sometimes forgets the "ready" part, but the other two he combines well with car racing or running around the house.
• Gross motor skills-- Already we see an advancement in Ayden's ability to climb, run, and slide. He has also been trying to jump, which still looks more like a gallop.
• His second crush (Ms. Anna was his first)-- We aren't sure if has a crush on his classmate or his assistant teacher. Since the three of them are together often at lunch and on the playground, it's difficult to tell. Maybe he has a crush on both!

Unfortunately, playing with children also means subjecting Ayden to the germs we've been avoiding for two years. As a result, all four of us have gained a cold, and Ayden has missed two days of school due to illness. We have been trying to teach Ayden to cover his mouth, with some measure of success; Ayden was strangely initially opposed to the idea. Bryan and I are tired of wiping snotty noses, administering Tylenol for fevers, and cleaning up throw up because of gunky congestion and coughing. We knew he'd get sick, but we didn't think it would happen so quickly. Of course, it's possible that we got sick elsewhere, but I have my doubts...

I feel terrible!

And how am I doing with Ayden being in school? I think it's awesome! Ayden gets to hang out with kids his age, play outside regularly, observe and participate in eating activities, and take direction from another adult. Brogan and I also benefit: I get to exercise, go to Bible study, and run errands; Brogan gets one-on-one time with me. It's a good thing for all of us... as long as we can stay healthy some of the time!

I want to acknowledge Ms. Kristin, Ayden's physical therapist. She works in conjunction with Ayden's school, and she has been a tremendous asset in helping Ayden make the transition. She has walked him into the classroom, hung out with him at dropoff, checked in on him during the day, and even sent me text messages and pictures to show me how well he is doing. She has gone above and beyond to make us all feel comfortable with Ayden's first days at school, and I am so grateful for the love she has shown us!

Pictures of Ayden at his home desk (painted dragon created by Great Aunt Susan) after the break...

The desk is good for all kinds of things!