Katie Anne's First Day of School

Today was Katie Anne's first day of school for the 2009-2010 school year!

I had to get to work in my classroom, so she started back to day care full time today. As you saw in the previous post, we tried to build the excitement last night by packing her backpack together and laying out her new outfit for the first day. When she went to bed, the magic had not yet worked... she was sure she wasn't going.

This morning, she was very excited about wearing her new outfit and backpack. I got her this cute applique/monogrammed shirt from my friend Tara Rowell... check out her blog here for ordering info!

Katie Anne was still a little ambivalent about actually heading back to school. She was looking forward to playing on the playground and seeing her friends, but she also said she thought she'd just go to the bank with Daddy. She reconsidered the bank plan when Saunders pointed out that there weren't any playgrounds at the bank, and she finally decided she'd just go to school instead. Here are some pictures of her before we left.

How does this backpack thing work?

Oh, I get it!

The side view:

Of course, "Big Lily" aka Dora needed a back-to-school picture, too.

All the way to school, she talked about her friends and what she'd do all day. She was really looking forward to playing on the playground, dancing, singing, playing baby dolls, and playing with Play Doh. When we got to school, she was happy to go in. She put on her backpack and marched in like a champion. Here she is, walking in the front door, ready to go!
We unpacked her things, and she chose a baby doll off the shelf.
Then, she sat down to eat breakfast with a friend. I gave her a hug and a kiss, she told me good-bye, and I started walking to the door. Foolishly, I thought, "Man, this is going to be so easy!" Pride comes before the fall... as I opened the door, I heard the anguished scream, "Mommy!!! Don't leave me!!!" I went back in and talked to her for a few minutes, and she cried to go home with me. When I told her I wasn't going home, but was going to school to clean instead, that gave her a moment's pause. Then, Mrs. Christy took her over to the window to look for a red bird at the bird feeder, and that was my chance to slip out.

She got a great report from her teachers today - her paper says "Full of Smiles!" Mrs. Angela said that she was a little whiny until they went outside at around 9:00 (so about 30 minutes of sadness), but playing outside quickly cured her blues, and she was fine for the rest of the day. She ate a good lunch and took a good nap. Katie Anne said this evening that she'd had a great day, and she told us all about playing with her friends, playing on the playground, and she even sang a new song she'd worked on today - Where is Thumbkin? She asked me when we were putting her to bed if she'd get to go back to school tomorrow, and she was happy when I said yes, so I know she enjoys it. Hopefully, each day's drop off will be easier for her as she gets more used to the routine!