Eli's First Day of School!

Eli went to his first day of nursery school today.  My baby.  My baby went to school.  He wasn't in such a great mood when we were getting ready to leave (and thus was not interested in having his picture taken).  Truth be told I think the poor little guy was still feeling a bit under the weather.  But, I was pretty sure he was past the contagious stage and I really didn't want him to miss his first day of school.  So, off he went.

 

And maybe he was a little nervous in the car.  

But then he got to school and everything got better. It really helped that he's going to school where Lily went to school last year...and since he went there almost every day to drop her off and pick her up he is very familiar with the school. In fact, quite often last year I think that he wanted to stay there with her! So now's his chance! And it helped too that Merrill, the preschool hamster (and one of Eli's favorite critters) was still there. And right away Eli ran to see Merrill.  

And it sure seemed like he was going to have a hard time when I left. At first he wouldn't let go of me and the two times I mentioned having to leave soon he was not too pleased. But then he got playing in the sandbox with some trucks and when I told him I had to leave he really didn't even look up. There were other children crying, so I decided not to push it and just slipped out quietly. No tears for him, but I sure did fight them off once I got into the car. My baby.

And what did we do while Eli was in school? Well, Lily and I did school!:) It was nice to have a little alone time with my girl. I am still feeling a little crummy health-wise (which does make teaching a little more difficult), but Lily had a great time learning about moss and nonvascular plants today in our science class (here she is investigating some moss with her magnifying class)!

And we were almost finished with her school when it was time to pick Eli up. When we got there he was happily playing outside with one of the teachers and a few other kids. And Lily ran right up to him, hugged him, and told him how proud she was of him (and my heart melted). He has such a big smile on his face. And then we got in the car and the grumpiness from the morning returned (I think he was plenty worn out at that point). I did manage to learn that he played and had group time and painted. He told me that playing was his favorite part. And when Joe asked him if he wanted to go back to school in a couple of days he said,"No." Despite that response I'm pretty sure he had a good time and I'm nearly certain that this is going to be really good for him. And still...I'm glad it's just one or two days a week (we can choose) because he is, after all, my baby and I'm not ready for him to grow up too quickly! I am so very proud of my little man today!  

And now tomorrow we'll go back to homeschooling together! And here's a couple of pictures from homeschool last week (as the kids were "painting" the sidewalk). So far we are enjoying all the various kinds and aspects of school this year!