Progress Report

Each day, Bry's teachers fill out a sheet recording how much of each meal he ate, when he napped, a description of his mood, and a brief note outlining the days' activities. Comparing notes from his first week with more current notes highlights Bry's gradual adjustment to his home away from home. His first day:

Bryson was busy pushing and dumping out the big trucks in the sand. He was excited about checking out the gym. Bryson would get a little sad but then find another toy to play with. He also liked to clean up the toys that were on the floor. Bryson was sensitive during and after lunch. It probably didn't help that we had another very sensitive toddler at that time. Even though he was mad and sad, he organized the dishes. Bryson let me rock him and we looked at a book before nap.

And last week:

This morning after breakfast Bryson went for the fire trucks! Played with them for quite awhile. Very excited about going outside - went right for the trucks in the sand. Lots of chatty talk about what he was playing with. Great mood today!

It's nice to see him getting used to the routine, especially now that the desperate clinging to mama and crocodile tears at drop-off are gone. All the same, it makes him seem older and more mature than his 21 months, older than our baby whom I could have sworn we just brought home from the hospital last week. Sniff, sniff. (Cue "Sunrise, Sunset" and all that.)

Taking advantage of his maturity to try to sneak him into the upcoming election.

It's also been interesting to watch Bry engage (or not engage) in the social process at school. It's still mostly all parallel play, but most days he comes home chattering about some event with one of the other kids. Usually said event involves repeating what one of the teachers must have said when someone broke the rules. One day he came home reciting, "Please not throw balls, Jayeon" over and over and over. Last week it was, "Ella! Ella! Ella! Please not push Bryson! Move away! Sit on couch!" That one drew a little (okay, a lot) more attention, mostly from mama. Someone pushed my boy? Let me at her! I could totally take her!

Bry also makes plenty of cute comments about his classmates. When I went to pick him up one day, he was amidst a jumble of kids waiting their turn for the slide. As the little girl ahead of him went down, he shouted, "Jayeon down slide! Wheeee! Yay, Jayeon!" He seems to have a thing for Jayeon.

Observing Bry among his peers also highlights his particular quirks and characteristics. Since we only have one kid, Bry has pretty much had the distinction of setting what we believe the norm is for all kids. Seeing that he is, in fact, the only one of his classmates who seems to constantly narrate what he is doing: "Pots. Pans. On stove. Over here. Build tower yellow blocks. High! Smash!" has been eye opening. Kids don't all talk nonstop from the moment they wake up until 10 or 15 minutes after their heads hit the sheets at night? Huh.

Bry's teachers had picked up on his love of cooking and trucks from the get-go. And it only took them about a week to notice his fondness of having things just so. They tell us that he loves to clean up, and specifically that he likes to put everything in its proper place. One morning at drop-off, Bry spied a rake in the classroom that clearly belonged elsewhere. He cried out, "Rake! Sandbox!" until one of the teachers acknowledged that, yes, rakes do go in the sandbox! Most of the time I just shake my head and cite daddy's genes for this trait. It sure doesn't come from his mama, who relies on an elaborate filing system of piles and more piles. Good thing he got his good looks from mama.

All in all, we've seen about a 4000% increase in Bry's tolerate-daycare-routine meter readings. And that's nice, because it frees up precious cognitive energy that can be used for important things, like writing my dissertation catching up on Battlestar Galactica. (Bry, you heard it here first! Your parents are nerds!)