Fall in full swing

Fall has definitely shifted into full gear. Karter had two full days of preschool this week and also had his first riding session of the fall.

Tuesday was his full (2 1/2 hour) session of preschool. Kurtis took him (since the preschool is at the church and Kurt works there) and then also brought him home afterwards. Karter did really well. He played outside on the swing and on the teeter-totter. He loves the swing but was not so fond of the teeter-totter.

Inside, he played foam blocks. Trista would build towers and he would knock them down. He also had his hands painted and hand prints made. He didn't mind the hands being painted, but he did not really like it when they were washed.



In circle time, the teachers invited the children to play on Karter's tray and introduced it to them. The children we also told that when Trista said it was ok, they were allowed to push Karter's chair.

Karter fell asleep while sitting with Trista, during the final 10 minutes of class. When Kurt picked him up, he told Karter to say good-bye and Karter looked at Mrs. Brenda, smiles and lifted his left hand to wave. Kurt said it was pretty neat!

I was at home working. I have to admit that it was tough for me to keep my mind on things. I called two times to make sure he was ok. Lucky for me, they were too busy to pick up the phone from this worried momma. I never felt this way with Paige. I guess the fact is, I know that Karter relys on me for much more than Paige did at the age of three. Karter has been like my second skin for three years. It is hard to not worry about him when someone else is caring for him. I have all the trust in Trista, she has done such an amazing job with Karter and it is evident that she cares for him. I just struggle with the emotions of not being there with him. I am the one who is having separation anxiety!

Thursday mornings start off with riding at 9am. This week was his first session since June. They mounted him to the horse without the pillow support. He rode sitting so straight for 15 minutes. The walkers told me he was holding himself for most of the ride. After 15 minutes he got tired and they put the support on. He rode for 10 more minutes. We quite 5 minutes early so that it was a positive experience for him.

After riding, it was straight to preschool. That morning, he finger painted again. This time however, instead of painting his hand they just stuck it straight into the paint. In addition to painting, he also colored a picture. Trista helped him for most of it (hand over hand) however she did say he held the crayon on his own at some point. The pictures (so well chosen for him) is posted below.




By the end of the morning he was quite tired, but he managed to not fall asleep this time. There were a few friends that played tea with Karter, bringing him tea cups and trying to include him in their play. Jacob was also very concerned that Karter always have a toy on his tray and brought him one whenever his tray was empty. What an incredible thing preschool has been already. I am so glad that we did choose to put Karter in this year.

Each day at the end of the preschool day, Karter comes home with a sheet that tells me what he did that morning and how he did. We have started to put each of these in a binder. They are great tools to communicate and it is really neat for me to be able to look back over the school year and see his progress.





Trista has also said that if we keep a camera in Karter's school bag she will take pictures for us. So you can look forward to some pictures next week!