Preschool!

So, this happened today:

I can't believe we have a preschooler.  She and I went to orientation on Friday.  She got to meet her teachers and see her classroom.  She warmed up immediately and was very comfortable, so I was feeling pretty optimistic heading into the day.  

School drop off is just a car line.  The teachers come out and get her out of her car seat and take her into school.  Parents are instructed not to get out of the car at all.  So, no hug, no kiss, no nothing.  Just a quick goodbye.  I was really worried about how Reese was going to handle that, but when they came to get her this morning, she just took her classroom assistant's hand and walked away.  She never even looked back!  Matt and I did not have as easy a time as she did. :) 

School pick up was a little different.  When her teacher brought her out to the car line, she saw me and started crying.  The teacher said that she did great when she was with all of the other kids, but when she went into the bathroom by herself, she had a meltdown.  Reese told me that she cried and both of her teachers came and tried to make her happy, but they couldn't make her happy because she just missed her mommy. :(  

She has shared a little of her day with us, and she says she had fun and that she is excited to go back tomorrow.  So, we'll see how drop off goes in the morning.  Hopefully each day keeps getting better! 

Her school posted a photo of each of the kids on their first day, so I got a sneak peek at some of her learning.  Her school is a Montessori school, so the classroom and learning style are a lot different than a traditional school environment.   In this picture they posted, she is learning how to use a screwdriver. :)

We had a busy weekend.  We spent the day in the city on Saturday.  The kids were SO good, and we had a great time.  We started with a picnic in Millennium Park.  

Both kids have been obsessed with peaches!

We went and checked out The Bean.  The kids loved it.  

And Reese licked it right as I was taking her picture.  She stinking LICKED The Bean.  The Bean that every tourist in Chicago comes and puts their nasty, dirty, grubby hands all over.  I wanted to vomit.  

We took the walk over to Navy Pier, and Charlie took a little nap. :)

Reese watched the ferris wheel approaching on a good majority of our walk over.  She kept saying she wanted to go and ride it.  We got there, discovered that for once, there was only a super short line, went to buy tickets, and Reese freaked out and refused to ride it.  She did watch it and contemplate it for a few minutes.

The kids loved watching the water and the boats, but they REALLY loved the seagulls.  This one in particular was cracking them up.  Reese had dropped an almond, and the seagull kept picking it up in his mouth, and then spitting it out and squawking really loudly.  The kids could not stop laughing.

Somebody was pretty exhausted after Navy Pier. :)

We headed back to Millennium Park, and the kids had a blast playing in the water.  

We went to the farmer's market yesterday.  Reese loves going and picking out fruits and vegetables.  She doesn't really understand that you can't sample it though.  Luckily, this farmer was really excited to see a kid that likes vegetables, so she kept giving her more tomatoes to try. :)

There's a great park along the river just down the road from the market.

Reese would sit and throw rocks in the water all day long if you let her.  But Charlie just wants to get in and get muddy.  

And then Reese thinks that looks pretty fun too. :)