The first day of preschool was a hit! An absolute standing ovation!!! And Gwendolyn can't wait for more today. There are so many things that went really well, and I am so excited about it all, but there are a couple little stories that just stood out as really adorable.
The first was actually the night before. Gwendolyn wanted to put her special first day of school purple pony dress on that night and it was only when I explained that no one was at school, all the children were in their beds, and all the lights were out, that she relented her cries. She was just so darn excited.
And when we arrived at the school in the morning, she wanted to see everything. She was bright eyed, looking around, wanting to see it all at once. We tried every craft they offered — she was immediately ready to roll up her sleeves and bring on the glitter glue 
. We looked at every room. We checked out her cubby with her picture already on it. And our brave little girl was waving hello to all her new friends.
During snack time we got to listen to three stories about spiders and afterward we colored a wooden spider. A little girl who had been talking to us throughout the day and during snack time suddenly and completely out of the blue said, “Can she stomp?”. Not quite sure what she was meaning (you never know what the lingo is these days And that was it. She was simply sharing something about herself. And now Gwendolyn and I know that this darling little girl can stomp. And she knows that Gwendolyn can tap. So cute!
Another encounter that really stood out to me was during free time. We were exploring and the minute Gwendolyn spied the swings I could see she so wanted to try, but wasn't sure if she was allowed. We talked about it and she told me she wanted to go on them. As I prepared her for this (put the stroller flat, suctioned her, took her off bipap, etc.) four little girls came running over with lots of questions. We talked about suction and how it doesn't hurt Gwendolyn (to which one little girl said, “I know. I have that at the dentist. It totally doesn't hurt. It helps.”). They had questions about her bipap. And then they all argued about who got to push us on the swings. And Gwendolyn loved it. She peeked over my shoulder watching as four determined little girls pushed a big Mommy with Gwendolyn on my lap in the swings. We stopped for a minute and one little girl said, “She doesn't talk like us.” And so I explained how Gwendolyn uses her eyes to say yes and then asked her, “Do you like the swings?” And Gwendolyn proudly rolled her eyes up and said, “Ah-huh” and all the other little girls said, “Ah-huh” right back. It was just great!
I know this is going to be such a positive experience for Gwendolyn. Bill and I were definitely fighting back tears as we watched Gwendolyn so excited, so determined, and so absolutely 100% proud of herself. And we are so proud of her, too.