Pre-Preschool

Today, my sweet boy, my precious first born, had his first day of pre-preschool. What is "pre-preschool", you ask? Well, it is the school your child attends when he has not learned to use the potty, but is mentally, socially and emotionally ready to participate in some sort of school-like environment. It is actually a day care with preschool curriculum and organization. I know the owner socially and she is an AP mom. I trust her implicitly and therefore trust her employees. It is perfect for Sam right now.

He was very excited to be there, excited to see me go and genuinely wanted to stay when I returned, 3 hours later, to pick him up. They made an art project, played outside and learned about where our food comes from (i.e. a steak comes from a cow...). It was harder for me to take him there, than it was for Sam to be there. I cried all the way across town after I dropped him off. Part of me is excited for him and part of me is so sad and not ready for him to learn about our world outside of the home. I think these are normal feelings. I really missed Sam this morning and thought about him non-stop from 9:00am until 12:15 pm. I hope that I will eventually enjoy the time more...time with Arlo, time to myself. I think I will as this becomes more routine for us.
He did talk about his "school" all afternoon!

9:33 - 9:37 pm

Arlo took a late nap this afternoon/early evening. So, I knew that he would be up a little later tonight, but we were watching a family movie so I felt like it would be nice. Around 8:30 pm I could see he was ready for bed, yawning, rubbing his eyes...you know the signs. I rocked and nursed him...it was so sweet. He looked up at me and smiled with his rosy cheeks and nose. He looked like a little cherub baby with his blues eyes sparkling....mmmm. This is why I love nursing him to sleep.
I set him down in his co-sleeper and quietly left the room. Over the next hour I helped get Sam ready for bed, brushed his teeth, cleaned the kitchen, and convinced Sam that it would be ok for Daddy to put him to bed. At 9:33 pm, Arlo woke up with painful gas. Here is what went through my head in the following 5 minutes:

9:33 ~ Oh, my poor sweet boy. I'll burp you...pat, pat, pat...uuururuurrrrrp...ok, all better now, let's get you back to sleep.

9:34 ~ Why are you still whining? I just burped you...I really need you to go back to sleep...mommy needs a break!

9:35 ~ Uuuuuuurururup...ah, yes, there you go. Why are you still whining? I can't believe we actually want to have a third baby, and go through this again? Could I even go through this again?

9:36 ~ Oh, his eyes are closing. That's it sweetie, go back to sleep...wow, that was a quick change in mood. He looks so sweet sleeping there against my breast. What a beautiful boy. I love him so much. I love you Arlo.

9:37 ~ There you go sweet boy, back in bed. Ah, yes, I can see why we'd do this again...what a sweet baby I have, sleeping so softly.