We Have a Preschooler

I cannot believe that our little girl is no longer in the Toddlers room at school but has moved up to the big room with the Preschoolers. The past week and a half the school has been transitioning Reese between rooms, easing her into this switch, meeting the new teachers and some of the new (and big!) kids she doesn’t know, and familiarizing herself with the new room. So far the transition has been nice and easy and we have had good reports from the teachers that all has gone well. Thursday morning was the first morning that I dropped her off in the Preschool room and she is now there for good. Her cubby and nap blanket and everything have already been moved up for her. It was the first time I met any of the Preschool teachers and I know that she will continue to be in good hands but it was certainly bittersweet saying goodbye to her excellent teachers of the past year as we gave them cookies from Lowrider as a thank you and Reese at least gave them a hug goodbye.

But how do I have a preschooler?!? The other kids (those that I don’t know from Reese’s time in the Toddler room to date) all look so big and grown. I don’t know why but the entire past two days I’ve just literally been in a state of shock that we are already moving up. I know she is ready and this move will be good for her. And until the fall, the preschool room is mostly just play before they start more classroom like lessons during the “school year”. But our little girl is getting older. I’m so fortunate that she is still such a cuddlebug with me otherwise I think I would have already felt like my baby has left me. Here’s her latest as we start into the second half of the year, as we wait for her baby brother/sister’s arrival, and as she starts as a preschooler:

• Reese’s sleep has not changed. She has been taking good naps and sleeps pretty well throughout the night so that’s a blessing.
• Reese’s latest favorite foods would be: corn, chocolate, cookies, pizza, rice, noodles, pasta with red sauce, hummus, meatballs, burgers (at least the buns), fruit snacks, mac and cheese and French fries. She’s also fully back into tomatoes, apples, pears, berries, bananas and cucumbers thank goodness to help offset the aforementioned foods.
• She is and has been fully potty trained now for about a month! We started on Memorial Day Weekend and after one not so good day I had my doubts but the second day was like something clicked with her and she hasn’t looked back since. She’s had only two accidents at school in the past month, had no accidents during our trip to Arizona and has been able to go #1 and #2 no problem. I am so proud of her!
• Pretty much nothing is off limits to this girl on the playground now. She can do just about everything (minus monkey bars) without assistance but we are still there to watch her nevertheless. She also got her first taste of trampolines while we were in Arizona and I could see that being a hit in the future (and possibly a purchase in the distant future).
• We are wrapping up soccer classes for the summer. They’ve been good to keep Reese active and playing during the rainy months but we are looking to free up time to play in the water and go on hikes or bike rides more often this summer.
• Reese has not been too emotional lately. There have been few tantrums and she is getting better at controlling her frustration and instead of screaming or crying she blows her lips or shrieks for a quick second, which is cute, or wants to hit or throw things, which we are working on her with.
• Shaun the Sheep Farmageddon (aka Song Sheep to Reese) and the original Frozen are basically the rotating movies in the house. She requests these every single time so unless we trick her into another movie it will be one of these two.
• Reese now says she wants a sister. This first started in Arizona but it has been sister, not brother, ever since.
• Reese and Lottie painted their own nails the other day while we were not closely watching them. I thought this was going to be a horrendous mess but somehow they managed to not get it on anything!
• Reese still prefers independent reading at home so instead of us getting to read to her we each get a book and read together on the bed on our own and then switch when she is ready to switch. I don’t know if we are ever going to be able to convince her to let us read to her.
• Reese really does enjoy swimming and wearing her puddle jumper. Her school used to go to swim lessons during the summer before COVID and I really hope that they would resume this for the summer as we await the openings of other pools offering swim lessons to us.

That’s a quick summary of my little, but not so little girl. I can’t believe we are only a few weeks away from her being 3. Although if you ever ask her how old she is she will tell you every time that she is 6 (?!?!).

Chelsea