This week was Elijah's first week in the toddler classroom. It's been.... rough. Harder than I thought it would be. Elijah has always been the easiest child, taking any changes in stride. And he's done remarkably well with this change. But what I didn't realize is that this change would be hard on me. I built such a close relationship with Elijah's infant teachers. Especially Miss Erika. She was there the very first day I dropped Elijah off. She gave me a big hug because I couldn't stop crying and told me that she cried just a few weeks before when she dropped her daughter off at high school for the first time. She has seen Elijah grow from a tiny 7 week old newborn, to a 14 month old toddler. And I truly feel like we've been partners through the whole experience. Every time I feel unsure about something, I ask his teachers. They have great ideas, but also let me know that every child is different and ultimately it's up to us to decide what to do. They have found such a great balance between loving Elijah like he's their own, and making me feel like I'm still the most important person in his life.
So when we left that classroom, I was very sad to be leaving those relationships. In his new classroom everything is chaotic and loud and confusing and different. I don't know any of his teachers, I don't know where everything is, I don't know the other kids in his class, I don't know their routine. When I drop him off and pick him up there's so much going on that I don't have a chance to talk to his teachers about what they did that day. There isn't time for me to discuss Elijah's sudden ravenous appetite, or a new habit of taking big gulps of milk and then spitting it out. There's random children's clothing in Elijah's basket, and his orange jacket is missing. I have to provide a sippy cup every day, but I don't know if I'm supposed to wash it every night, or bring a new one the next day, or what. There are different teachers there every time I pick him up or drop him off and I don't know any of them.
I know his head teacher- we met with her for over an hour before Elijah moved into her class. She seems really great and everyone at the center (including Elijah's old teachers) said that we're lucky to have her. She is almost finished with her degree in early childhood education and is also taking a special course through Bright Horizons to get her management certification. What that tells me is that she's in this for the long haul. She's been there since the center opened in May 2011, and I can be pretty sure she will stay for a while longer. That makes me very happy. I really truly believe that I will get to know her, and Elijah's other teachers, and build relationships with them. But for now it's really hard.
Elijah is doing really well though. When I drop him off it's always rough. He won't walk into the classroom voluntarily, and clings to me desperately the whole time I'm there. I've been able to gently pry him off me and get him interested in something else enough for me to leave without him crying. I'm so glad I haven't had to see him cry every morning. The clinging is hard enough. But his teacher is really great and she knows just what to do. He has the biggest smile when he sees me in the afternoon. There's great big windows so I can see him before I actually get into his classroom, and he's always playing and happy. So I know he's doing well all day while I'm not there.
He is sleeping really well now too! His naps are at least 2 hours every day, and he's sleeping a solid 11 hours every night. I can tell he is so incredibly tired by the end of the day. Which is great! They do activities and go outside twice every single day. They also do lunch "family style" which means Elijah sits at a table, with dishes, and silverware, and serves himself food from a common dish. He also drinks milk from an open cup (!!). They brush his teeth every day, and go for walks (not in a stroller!), and he naps on a cot! Not in a crib! This is one of the things I love about day care- they really push them towards independence. If he was home with me all day, he would probably still be taking 3 naps a day, drinking milk from a bottle, and being rocked to sleep!
Yesterday we stopped in briefly to say hi to Elijah's infant teachers. They were so happy to see him and gave him big hugs. I could tell he felt so comfortable in his old classroom. Every day he walks straight to his old classroom, and I have to remind him that we go to the big kids' room now. They told me that it would get better. That I would get to know his teachers, and become familiar with the routine. It was very reassuring to hear that from them.
Besides all that craziness at Elijah's school, we are also in the middle of moving. We have about 75% of the house packed up in boxes, and we have been showing our house to a few people every weekend who are interested in renting it. We close on our new house this Friday, so we will start to move some boxes over and get some minor projects done. The kitchen is our big project, and that will probably be done the second week of December. I don't want to move in too far before that, because I can't handle living with an unusable kitchen for that long. So our plan is to officially move on Dec 7. Hopefully Elijah will be well settled into his new class by then, so it won't be too much change at once. I am so incredibly excited. I really feel like this house is fulfilling all of my dreams. I'm going to have to come up with new ones once we're finally moved!
And next week we are flying to Phoenix for Thanksgiving. I feel much more comfortable with it since we just flew there a month ago for Evan and Kristy's wedding. The flight was stressful, but manageable. I think we will take some things we learned last time, and hopefully it will go even better this time. I know Elijah will be thrilled to see all his grandparents again. It's so crazy that we're flying to Phoenix in the middle of all this moving, but it's just the way it worked out. I'm trying to stay calm and take it one step at a time, and so far I'm succeeding!
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