School!

School started today.  Maybe I'm just not a sentimental person, or perhaps it doesn't hit until you drop them off on their own, but it wasn't really emotional for me.  Well, I take it back, it was emotional in the will-they-like-me and what-do-I-wear first day jitters for ME.  The classes are for little ones and their parents/caregivers, so I think I worried about connecting with the parents more than anything.

Turns out I really didn't need to fret.  There are only seven kids (all boys) in the class and only three showed up today.  One mom is Japanese and doesn't really speak English and the other kid had both of his parents there, so there wasn't a lot of interacting between us adults going on.  Hopefully this will change once we all get into a routine and used to each other.

Josh did REALLY good.  The first couple classes are just about getting used to the room and the (few) rules and being comfortable, so it was pretty much playtime for two hours.  He was in heaven.  Especially popular was the painting (which mean ol' mommy doesn't allow at home, go figure) bubbles and the dress up area.  There are two dedicated teachers, one of which is the therapist Josh has been working with for the past year.  Other specialists like occupational and speech therapists will come in through the year for extra help and assessment.

Josh impressed everyone at snack time with the impressive rate he can shovel in food.  They have a system where they give each kid one bite of cracker, cheese and banana and as the child eats it, s/he has to ask the parent (who holds the stash) for more.  We've already done this with Josh, so he was shoveling in food and asking for more with his mouth still full of food.  Table manners, no, but it is communication.  The little Japanese boy wouldn't eat without a fork, which made me feel a tad uncivilized as I watched my boy shove in the food as if he didn't know when he might eat again.  I blame this on Yorgesen genetics.  David and many of his siblings eat very fast.  He tells me that with nine kids, if you wanted a second helping you had better eat fast and get to it first.  Apparently this trait is genetic because even though Josh gets all the (good) food he wants, he still shoves in whole handfuls and asks for more even when he can't even fully close his mouth.

Ben just hung out and played with toys and he got snacks too.  Starting next week the UO students will be there and one of the girls who has also been coming to our home visits will help take care of Ben and other siblings.

All in all it was pretty good.  None of the kids had big meltdowns and of the three boys Josh was the second best-behaved and the best talker, or at least the most constant babbler.  I've never been around a group of kids where Josh had the biggest vocabulary!  I also got to see how confident he was in a new environment, which made me really happy and proud.  He might lag behind in some areas, but he is a strong and confident big boy.