Preschool Begins!

Today was a very big day in the life of Miss Jillian Howe....the very first day of preschool! Jillian is now attending Kingdom Kids Christian Preschool on MWF mornings from 9-11:30, and is staying for the Lunch Buddies program until 12:30. This gives her the opportunity to eat lunch with other students of varying ages and an additional 30 minutes of gross motor play time. She has been looking forward to this day for a long time, and to say she was excited upon waking this morning is a huge understatement. She was up bright and early and barely touched her breakfast because she was so busy being excited!

 Daddy got to wish his big girl well before he headed off to work for the day

 The happy preschooler decked out with her backpack and lunch box, ready to roll! She looks incredibly grown up to me. in the photos below. I should back up and say that we had a big back to school shopping outing on Labor Day. Jillian and I started our first annual mother/daughter school shopping tradition, and we had quite the time at the mall together. She was very opinionated about the clothes she selected and was quite proud of these new pink tennis shoes (she chose them over the more expensive purple ones and saved her 'ol dad $15 on that purchase!)

 I wanted to take a picture with my big girl before school, but forgot to have Matt take one before he left. Guess this will have to do!

Look out, Kingdom Kids, Jillian is about to enter the building!

 Jillian was literally jumping up and down with excitement as she was about to enter the classroom. She changed her tune dramatically, however, once it was time to say goodbye and stuck to me like glue. The teacher had to pry her off of me to get her in the classroom. She never cried or protested verbally, and did just great once she was inside.

Jillian got to bring an item for sharing time today that corresponded with the themes of the week (red, circle, numbers 1 and 2). She chose her red Kansas Jayhawk teddy bear and did her parents proud!
When I picked her up after Lunch Buddies she was pretty quiet and looked VERY tired. She didn't say much except to tell me she had a good time, but also to tell me "I had a hard day, Mom". Later she revealed she got in trouble, but couldn't tell me why or what happened. I know for a fact that I would have gotten a note in her binder if she had in fact been in trouble and there was nothing there. Matt and I speculate that she may have been redirected or verbally reprimanded by a teacher and took it to heart. Though she doesn't bat an eye when we do so, she is very sensitive about getting reprimanded by another adult. In any case, she is pumped to go back and Friday and is so proud that she is now in school. We are proud of you, too, Jilly Bean!