Letter to My Son

Dear Son,

Sunday was a potty training day in full force.  You had two accidents in your underwear, but you also pee'd in the potty 6-7 times!  You think it's a game to get candy, so I'm not sure how long you will be happy with the game or when potty training will become more of a habit.  When we did FaceTime with Holly, Deanna and Burkley, Holly said, "It's good that Gregory thinks potty training is a game."

You told me that you wanted candy and I said you needed to pee in the potty.  And you only received one candy at a time... a small mini M and M, which meant that you "had to pee every 5 minutes" until you had enough candy to make you happy.  The first accident happened when you were chilling out on the sofa after a walk.  The second accident happened when you had a pooh diaper.  You won't pooh in the potty yet.

Sunday, you also visited with Kevin, Cameron, Layla and Celeste!

Celeste was a trip!  She is doing a fantastic job in walking; she's bold and curious and she won't put up with anybody messing with her.  You tried to take a toy from her, but Celeste put her right hand out and yelled at you!  Stopped you in your tracks fast.  It was hilarious.  

I loved seeing ya'll playing on the piano.  I noticed that Layla was very gentle with the keys on the piano.  

You and Cameron rough housed almost the entire time.  Cameron was patient and gentle with you, while you were corning him with sword games.

But you also stopped to play with Layla too.

Kevin said that he noticed a huge difference in your sociable qualities and said that summer camp must have been a great experience for you.  You even talked with Kevin, asking him to fill your MandM container.

I hope we can get our families together again soon.  You love playing with your cousins.  It's a variety of ages and skills - you rough play with Cameron, you don't know how yet to play with Layla (you want to rough house, but you aren't sure) and you don't yet understand that Celeste is a baby... but believe me, I think Celeste could take you on!  She has two older siblings and probably knows how to hold her own really well.

In the hopes of continuing your education and social skills, we enrolled you in preschool at St. Augustine's Episcopal School.  We've heard a lot of good things about the school and I like the church community.  Today was your first day of preschool!

Daddy says this first picture looks like a "mug shot" Lol.

We met your two teachers, Mrs. Kristie and Ms. Maria.  Both seemed really sweet, quick to smile and eager to assist the children.  I like the ratio of children to teachers, 2 teachers, 6 children.  There was one other boy, and the rest are girls.  The teachers did mention there might be late enrollment, so the numbers could go up by one or two more children.  

You won't leave the campus, but they will bring zoo representatives, magicians and (shivers) clowns throughout the year.  I was happy to hear you will have art, music and chapel every day.  There is a really nice, closed-in, playground area too, but they will wait until the weather is cooler to bring the kids out there.  You saw the playground when we left and cried, pointing to it and saying, "PLAY TIME" but we couldn't go in.

Today, all six children went from activity table to activity table.  You were more interested in the toys than the other kids, but you did watch them.  I stayed away from you as much as possible, but sometimes you would call out, "Momma!" and come grab my hand to show me something.  You loved the alphabet and animals on the walls, as well as seeing the cartoon characters with numbers.  

I asked Kristie if they take pictures.  She replied, "Yes, throughout the year and at the end of the year, we put a little something together for the parents."  Each day you bring in your bag and take it home with anything from the teachers (forms, art projects, etc).

As for potty training, Kristie and Maria will watch the children for "potty signs" - such as the pee pee dance or holding themselves, which is what you do.  And they have a set schedule for potty breaks as well, bringing the children to the bathroom.  I asked about the M and M method, but we can't bring candy to the classrooms.  They will have healthy treats for the kids and the parents will be assigned certain weeks to bring healthy snacks too.  I guess this means Mommy can't bring cupcakes for your class like she did with summer camp.

As with summer camp, there will be an adjustment period, I'm sure.  But as the teachers said, "We have so much planned for them throughout the day, they will have a lot of fun things to do and learn from."  

We are so proud of you, sweet son.  You are adjusting well to so many changes, learning new things, going to summer camp and now preschool, potty training, etc.  It's amazing how much you soak in and repeat and understand with your vocabulary.  I love your sudden "I Love You"'s... that makes my day and I can never hear enough of that.

Yesterday while you were taking a nap, Daddy and I looked at you and Daddy said, "We couldn't be more lucky."  How true.  You make our family beautiful.

Love Always,

Mommy