preschool

On Tuesday Ava headed off to her first day of preschool. The day started nice and early when around 2 in the morning Kate woke mommy up with the flu. After a long rest of the night, she finally settled down just in time to get Ava off. Ahh, the life of a mom.

Ava's been very excited - some of her best buddies are at preschool with her and we've been talking about it for a while. So we went out front to take pictures and she was adamant at first that her backpack should be beside her. I'll spare you the entire photo shoot but here's a few of my favorites.

Her beloved butterfly backpack

Hamming it up

So off we headed to school. I told Ryan the closer we got to preschool the quieter she became. Ava LOVES anything like this but dreads new experiences. It's so hard as a mom when you wish you knew how to ease the transitions for her but know it just takes her time to absorb, relax and engage. I'm learning to let her set the pace more and connect on her own time table.

I obviously wasn't going to walk my newly sick babies into the classroom so we said goodbye outside. I was proud of my little girl though, because while it was hard for her to go, she didn't cry hardly at all and went (sober-faced) into the class. Just when I thought I'd at least get a picture of her and her teacher, she turned on me. And for the sake of her and her teacher, I headed on home.

As a little girl growing up, my dad brought us home flowers on the first day of school. The tradition continued at our house - it was so sweet to see Ava's face when she realized the flowers were for her only. She has since showed everyone who comes to our house and still thanks Ryan for them often. It's been pretty special. It's going to be a sad day when I say they finally have to go.

Daddy and his girls (yes that's Olivia hidden behind her hair)

Later that week, I snapped a quick photo of Ava walking in with her big kid buddy. She loves it, talked lots to me about what they do, can't wait to go back . . .and probably still hasn't said more than a few words at a time while AT school. I'm not worried at all - I know my little girl and she'll be at home in no time there.

I'm proud of you Ava Cherise!