Farewell to the Little House

Right after Labor Day, Anthony moves up to the preschool house at his daycare.  This is a big step.  He will attend the "Big House", as it is affectionately known, until he enters (gulp) kindergarten.

Next Wednesday is Anthony's last day at the "Little House".  He started attending daycare at the Little House when he was just 4 months old. He looked like this:

At the Little House, he took naps in a hammock hanging from the ceiling.  He still had his g-tube.  We were terrified to leave him there; I used to call every day just to make sure he was still alive.

When he was 18 months old, he moved up from the infant room to the toddler room.  This was another big step.  

In the toddler room, Anthony  ate meals around the table with his friends and took naps on his own little cot during quiet time. He was the only kid in the toddler room who wasn't walking yet.  I remember him proudly doing his army crawl into the dining room to have breakfast on that first morning.  But he fit right in.  He had fun playing outside, doing art projects, and participating in music time. (He's going to be in for a rude awakening when he finds out there's more to "school" than this, but that can wait.)

The Big House is even cooler than the Little House.  It's a bigger space with lots of different areas for art, writing, playing with cars and trains, a dress-up/pretend area, and anything else a preschooler can think up to do.  They go outside every day rain or shine.  The outside area has a big sandbox and play structure with a climbing wall and slide, trikes and a track to ride them on, and more art areas. And a bunny.  Every year the kids make jam for Father's Day. 

Three other kids from the Little House will be moving up with Anthony, and some of his old friends moved up last year, so he'll be among some familiar faces.  We're really excited about this new step for him, but also a little nervous.  Will he miss his old teachers and the kids that are staying behind at the Little House?  Will he be intimidated by the bigger kids? Will they be nice to him and will they understand what he's trying to say when he uses his signs?  We'll be right there to help him with any challenges, but I have a feeling he's going to do just fine.

Big House here we come!