Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

Finley has had a relatively stable course of life thus far. The one exception being that at ten months, I began my new preschool job and Finley began going to Beth's house (a family daycare).  He was crawling, eating almost-grown up people food, still nursing, not talking, but overall a pretty cool cucumber.  Here he is during his first day:

He made a very smooth transition to being surrounded by other little kids and coming to rely on other grown ups to take care of him.  Sniff, sniff.  He played well, ate well, napped well, etc. from nearly the very beginning and that made my job transition quite easy.  Here he is months later, still happy as a clam on Beth's 3-season porch.

Well, big changes have been in store for Finley and about 3 weeks ago (yes, yes, I'm behind here...), Finley had his last day at Beth's. Both Finley and another little girl were saying goodbye that day, so Beth and her lovely assistant (and Finley's fave), Susan, planned quite a fun celebration.  There were treats after lunch and special presents for all the kids to play with out on the driveway.

 This "big giant ball" that Finley showed me when I arrived at pick up (with his name written on it), has been a huge hit in our basement these days and I love that he always reminds me that Ga (aka Susan's grandmother moniker) gave it to him because she will miss him.  Beth put lots of photos, like those above and below, into a little photo book that Finley has loved looking at before bedtime.

 

Just like the police car we have at home, Finley loved going on patrol each day.

On Fridays at Beth's it was "only boys, no grills" as Finley would say.  Finley adored these guys, especially Carter (tall boy in tan shirt) and Zac (green shirt holding lovely).

Lots of hugs to go around as we said our final goodbye.  I was holding back tears while Finley happily waved, gave high fives, and yelled "BYE" to everyone.  One final picture shows Finley with Susan (on the left) and Bethy giving Finley a final goodbye hug.  

I thanked them both from the bottom of my heart and passed on Dan's appreciation as well.  Finley was truly family at Beth's house and having your child be loved like that by someone else is quite an amazing experience.  

So why did we say goodbye? Well, aside from the commuting inconvenience (Beth's is close to my school, not our house), Finley was signed up to start summer camp the following week!  We has enrolled him at a nearby (5 minutes!) preschool for the fall and signed him up to do camp there as a way to get to know the school, teachers, and etc.  Despite the fact that we are moving in August and he will go elsewhere for preschool, camp was still going to be great for him to make friends, meet new teachers, and have his own little world while adjusting to being a big brother.


Camp began last Monday and a quick visiting day the Friday before really helped get Finley psyched to start.  This first morning, I was a bundle of nerves as I got him all sunscreened up and packed his lunch (he helped me plan the menu--mini cinnamon raisin bagel, yogurt, and a peach). We met his teacher Paula, who was very nice, and Finley got right down to business making pancakes in the play kitchen in his room.  He was so busy in fact that after 10 or 15 minutes of chatting with Paula, I told him I was leaving and he ignored me completely.  Yes, my velcro baby/toddler, was blowing me off.  So I gave him a kiss and asked him to look at my face before saying goodbye to him again and he gave me a slight acknowledgement before I headed down the stairs.  I turned to check on him and he was watching me go, but no tears...except for mine, which I tried to brush away as I waved at the nice ladies in the office on my way out. Sigh.

I went back to pick him up (4 hours later) and he was thrilled to see me and threw his arms around my neck saying "mommy mommy mommy."  Paula said "He had a blast, what a great kid!"  According to her report, he enjoyed snack (cheerios and oranges---though he asked for help to get the peel off each slice) and cleaned it up himself, played well, made a picture with glue and paper scraps, and even sat like a big boy with the 4-year olds to hear a story at circle time, plus he ate ALL of his lunch! I couldn't be prouder!  He skipped and held my hand on the way to the car, only stopping to ask if he could carry his own lunch box by himself :) Once buckled in the car, he said, "I had a fun time at camp, Mommy."  And minutes later as we drove home, he said, "Oh--my pretend phone is ringing. Let me get it."  I asked "who is it?" and he said, "Paula"  How cute is that???

Each day is more or less the same routine, though now I get a hug and perhaps a "bye" or "see you after lunch, mommy."  Last Thursday, Paula gave us a terrific photo book she made of his first week of camp and Finley has loved "reading" it before bed most nights.  While he doesn't look terribly photogenic in all the photos, it's neat to get a peek at what he is up to during the camp day.

Looks like fun, huh? He can't seem to recall much of what happens at camp, but I can get little nuggets of information from what is says on the whiteboard outside his room (reading Rainbow Fish, making paper plate crabs, etc.) or talking to Paula ("Finley is so adaptable and sweet.")  Occasionally, I get information from the boy himself-->Last night before bed, he told me he likes the big sandbox at camp and I asked if he ever climbs the structure. He responded, "I go up there with Gideon, he's my friend, and he likes to go on the structure with me."  Aww. It does break my heart that he won't get to go to this wonderful school in the fall, but how wonderful to know that he'll surely make a smooth transition somewhere new when the time comes.

More changes ahead for Finley as my due date approaches (10 days!) and we pack up and move to our new home (early August).  He's been a trooper thus far with all the packing, cleaning, and camp adjustments, we couldn't ask for better!