preschool...and the bus

With Riley's third birthday came a switch from daycare to preschool. His full schedule of preschool won't start until Shelby heads back to work in June but morning preschool in the town school system, where he'll be getting speech lessons now, began Monday.

We're excited that Riley will be getting more therapy than he was getting before. And it's great that he is going to have a lot more interaction with other kids. (That's already paying off in other ways...but that's a topic for another blog.) The most challenging part of the whole thing is that he goes to preschool on a BUS! Well, it was challenging for us as parents, but not for our boy.

Waiting for the bus















Riley has for some reason always loved buses and especially school buses. (Here's an example.) So it's no big surprise that he had absolutely no problem with getting on a school bus all alone to go off to school. What a big adventure! Here are pictures and the video of him getting on the bus:

Here comes the bus!















Getting on the bus

On the bus















Funny, at first he kind of looks at us as if saying, "Aren't you coming too?" Then he's perfectly fine and ready to go by himself. Our big boy! He was quite happy. Mom and Dad were all weepy.

The house was way too quiet with him gone. It just seemed wrong. I mean, he's THREE.

So I got ready for work and did a basement bike ride. Shelby went out for a run. She cut it a little close to when Riley was getting back though, and had to kick it into high gear to get home in time. She cut a minute a mile off her previous best since her return to running after Kendall's arrival. Runners will know what a big deal that is, but for those who don't it is a huge difference. The motivation of a loving mom is an amazing thing.

So Riley got back home. I think that he missed the bus more than us after it left. Hah! Here's a picture and the video of his triumphant return:

I'm home!















Getting off the bus

Over the first week of preschool Riley has brought home various art projects, has had to do his first show and tell and has had his first speech lessons. He looks forward to school (and the bus) each day. He looks like such a big boy with his backpack on. We're very proud of how he's handled himself. He's such a good boy.

There are a lot of milestones in parenthood. Going off to school rates up there amongst the biggest. It's tough enough when your kid is five, but at three it's nerve racking. We've been blessed with a boy who not only took it in stride, but loved it. That certainly makes sending him off each morning much easier.

But not easy.

Way to go Riley Boy!


Jonathan