A day of firsts

Today was the big day that we had been anxiously (Lucy), excitedly (Alice) and obliviously (Estelle) awaiting. Alice attended her first ever morning of pre-kindergarten and, consequently, Estelle spent a few hours at daycare with Silvana and Andres.

We began the day with a hearty breakfast of coffee (Lucy), Cheerios (Alice) and barley cereal (Estelle) and headed over to daycare to drop off the little one. She was laden down with a pack of diapers, wipes, change of clothes, blanket, bunny, and cup of baby formula (Agathe, moi aussi j'ai gouter du lait autre que celle de maman la semaine dernière. J'aime assez ça, mais je n'en bois pas beaucoup) Somehow she managed to carry it all in and was still kind enough to pose for a picture...

Next we drove over to Alice's "big girl" school, which occupies a room in the local community center. The school is called Les Oiselets and Alice's group are the Lucioles (fireflies). We were among the first arrivals and settled into some free play with new and exciting toys. Once all of the kids had arrived, we played an introduction game. Alice's two teachers are called Diane and Marie. Most of the kids are called Nicolas, Luca, Gabriel, Jonathan... (you get the idea, there are 11 boys and 6 girls) Next we got to visit the school bus which she will take and meet the driver, Isabelle. After we did a craft (necklace), had a pee break, and ate a snack. It was totally adorable to see them all spread their place mats on the table, pull out a healthy snack (only fruit, veggie or cheese allowed) and munch in relative silence. We then played a busy game, sang some songs, had story time and sang our goodbyes.

No dilly-dallying for us, we raced over to Silvana's to find that Estelle had thoroughly enjoyed herself. She played with the other babies, had a short nap and ate half a banana (never mind the milk!) Silvana was quick to realize that Estelle does not like to be rocked before her nap, she is more of a "just put me down and let me rub my bunny in my face" kind of girl.

All of this made for good napping after lunch when we were home.

Thursday will be the first school bus ride (Alice only!), so more photos to come.

First thing this morning - she hasn't suspected anything is up yet...

Alice's expression: "I'm so done with this place, get me over to school"

Threading her necklace - gotta work on the fine motor skills

You guys got any dollies in here?

Snack time - where have all the girls gone?

Inspecting her surroundings