Goodies Picked Up at School

Besides germs, I've been thinking of other things Lewis has picked up at preschool:

• Saying NO!
• He doesn't really say it snarkily (yet), but he does say it a lot. So long, laidback and go-with-the-flow Lew. He now says no before we can even get a question or statement out. Most of the time he realizes he actually does want to do the thing we are talking about/asking about, but it still adds another level to the conversation.
• He 'parks' some of his toys.
• He'll do so with his bigger cars, Thomas ride-on toy, grocery cart, etc. (sometimes) when he is finished playing with them, like someone taught him to do so. I wish he would do so more often with all of his toys. :)
• He doesn't like the crust on his bread! 
• I've wondered when and how kids decide that they don't like to eat the crust, and apparently he's picked it up from someone at school. He will inspect pieces of toast, sandwiches, etc. and make sure that they don't have an 'edge' piece...I watched him at breakfast the other morning, rejecting pieces of toast with crust and happily eating 'inner' pieces. I will NOT cut the crusts off of the bread for him. If he doesn't like them, he can eat around them. :) What a nut!
• He loves to use his colors in sentences.
• Instead of just talking about his tractor or his train, he makes in a point to say his RED tractor and his GREEN train. He's very big on the adjectives. :) He likes to go through his colors at mealtimes, too--he'll go through all of our dishes and tell us who has what: ORANGE cup, GREEN plate, PINK fork, BLUE cup, etc.
• His speech (and singing!) have both come a long way, even in this short time.
• He's definitely speaking more frequently, using longer sentences, and repeating things a lot (until we acknowledge them). :) The weekly email from the teachers has told us that his whole class is a musical class, so they sing a lot. They have circle time, first thing, where they sing a song with each of the kids' names in it, plus some of the 'classics' like The ABC Song, Twinkle Twinkle, Row, Row, Row Your Boat, etc. The teachers have said that the kids have broken out into song on their own a few times, too, during non-circle time times, which I'm sure is adorable. :)
• During the two days he is there, he goes to Music, Art, Creative Movement, and Library time. And they have playtime each day, either inside or out. The director said he really likes Creative Movement. I giggled at it at first, but thinking about it now, I realize that they teach the kids developmental skills that maybe I'm not going to know to teach him to do on my own (like hopping into a hula hoop with two feet).

Things are going a little bit better this week with school, his first days back in almost 3 weeks. Kevin dropped him off yesterday morning to some tears, but he had a great first day. I took him today, and he was pretty okay on the drive there. At drop-off he welled up with tears and just started saying 'Mama' slowly, over and over. It was pretty sad, but I tried to keep it positive and told him I would see him in a little bit. :) At pick-up, he was happy as could be. 

He DID skip soccer again today (for the 2nd time...3rd time if you count the week he was sick). They said he went in the gym but preferred to stay on the sidelines with the teacher--she said he was focused on going outside to the playground, so they went out there instead. I guess that would be a new lesson we have learned: not to pay for sports lessons until we're sure he's ready and interested in them. We'll consider it a donation. :)