Yesterday was the first day of school!! It was a GREAT day! I can't believe how different it was from last year...Colin has grown by leaps and bounds in the past 12 months! He was all smiles in the morning as we got dressed and ready. Jer was home, so he came with us for our inaugural donut breakfast of the 2011-2012 school year. :-) Colin was in such good spirits, despite mentioning several times that he was going to miss Miss Gina "soooo much". He was a little bit worried about not being with her, but overall he was excited and happy. He actually posed for pictures and walked happily into school. We got all the way to his new room and as I was hugging him goodbye, he got upset and wouldn't let go. Miss Vicki had to physically take him into the room while we made a run for it, but this year I was prepared for his reaction and didn't get upset. I knew it would be hard for him at first as he got back into the routine. The morning was sunny and beautiful with temps in the 70's (which I consider coat weather at this point) and I immediately took myself out for a pedicure while Jer ran his own errands. It was the best hour that I have had in a long time! Jer and I met for lunch afterwards at Zoe's Kitchen and actually ate OUTSIDE on the PATIO because the weather was NICE. It was a miracle!!
The real miracle came when I picked the little man up. As I walked up to the room, he was sitting happily in front of Miss Vicki listening to a story. Miss Mechelle met me at the door and told me that he was amazing all day! He was upset when I left, but he immediately calmed down and was cheerful and having fun all day. When he spotted me at the door, he got up and flung himself into my arms and then immediately yelled, "Close your eyes, Mom!! I have a surprise!". He then led me to his art projects from the day and showed them to me while literally jumping up and down with excitement. Miss Vicki came out to say goodbye and tell me how wonderful he was. She said, "Hey Colin, will you just run in here on Monday and not get upset?" and Colin said YES and gave her a high five! We shall see what actually happens on Monday, but it was still a positive sign regardless. :-) As we walked to the car, he held my hand and talked 90 miles an hour about his day...the different door they took to the playground, getting to use the "big kid" equipment, their class mascot (Gus, the gator), which friends from last year are in his class, what stories they read. I remember last year so well...I picked up a sullen little boy who wouldn't talk to me or let me touch him and refused to even discuss school for the first month. Now here I was barely containing him because he was so happy and excited to tell me everything. He loves school and I sure hope it stays that way! The routine of the day seems to do him so much good. He was an absolute joy last night and that continued into today. He was particularly animated today and has been much easier to deal with. I can't believe that I already notice a change! Our summer was so horrible...for the last month, we haven't even wanted to go to the pool because of the heat. Colin has been cooped up in our house or doing the same handful of things over and over and I think he was bored out of his mind and probably very tired of the sound of my voice. This week, we had a miracle of a cool down and Colin got to ride his scooter at the park and go for walks around the block. Then we added school to the mix and he seems like a new man. I am excited for next week, when we have our first full week of school and get the schedule down. It is going to be a great fall, I can already tell!
