Tavin Starts Preschool!

This week was Tavin's first week of preschool.  On Tuesday he had his one hour orientation which Penn and I were invited to go along with him.  First we took some big boy's big day pictures on the front porch of course.

Tavin was calm and collected and very reserved during the orientation which was mostly free playtime while the teacher and her aides circulated around to the children to introduce themselves.  Tavin and Penn loved playing with the vehicles.  I'm pretty sure Penn wants to go to preschool too.  He didn't want to leave all the fun (perhaps evenmoreso than Tav!).  

Tavin sat down to color at one point and he said he wanted to write his name.  He does write some letters, but he also has his own way of writing what he says are words or names.  It looks kind of close to making out real letters.  This was his interpretation of his name.  And he worked hard on it.

Towards the end of our orientation time, the children got to sit at "circle time" with their teachers to get a little glimpse of what their class time will be like.  Tavin was very attentive and sweet and even tried to sing along with the new songs.  

So Tavin was aware that Tuesday he went to preschool with Mommy and then on Thursday it was his first day to go "all by himself."  He had no fear and I was so proud of my little man!  We had to walk this time as Doug had the van.  Here's my big boy before we took off.

He amazed me upon arrival at preschool.  So comfortable with the routine as if he totally remembered it from back when Koen attended there.  He had no tears, no questions.  He just followed my prompts on getting his letter link name tag (he's T for Turtle) and dropping it in the bucket, then we went to the bathroom and washed hands and then I walked him in to play.  He sat down with one of the aides and went right to work with some paints.  Good job, Tavin.  So proud!  He was just as chill and put together when Penn and I arrived back to pick him up (today was a little shorter of a day with an 11:30am pickup to not overtax the little ones with their new routine and surroundings).  Tavin gave me the best hug when it was my turn to be called with the "Goodbye Song."  Ah, it felt good to have him back!  Then we got all packed up in the stroller and headed home.  As we left the sky quickly grew very dark and the wind picked up like crazy.  It wasn't supposed to storm until later in the afternoon, but unfortunately halfway through the walk home the skies opened up and it was the ultimate downpour with high winds making for painful rain in our faces drenching us in less than a minute.  I had just passed a bunch of buildings and was stuck with no cover, so I made a run across a huge intersection barely able to see and was hoping to make it to the post office, another 40 yards away or so, but in between where I was and the P.O., I had to pull over under a bus stop shelter and that is where we sat for about 15 minutes until the worst of the storm passed.  The boys were crying and shivering.  It was awful.  I felt so bad!  

I stayed upbeat though and they held it together.  Tav and I had a nice prayer time together too, which was special to trust in the Lord together to get us home safe and sound.  He did just that too.  Once the rain slowed and the lightning subsided I ran them home the rest of the way.  Soaking wet with sloggy sneakers pushing 75 lbs. of stroller and kiddos uphill through puddles is definitely an intense workout (especially after already walking about 5 miles in the day), so this afternoon I've had a rough time motivating myself to clean our floors before small group.  Anyways, the little guys and I got into dry clothes and had big lunches after our adventure and then spent plenty of time playing and enjoying being warm and safe before naps.  Then of course, they napped great!  Well, preschool is off to an adventurous start for Tavin!