First Days of Preschool and Update

Max started preschool this Monday. We have gone from 9-11 each morning and I stayed with him to see how he was going to take to the new environment. Monday we arrived and put our things in their spots and changed into house shoes. All the kids have a cubbie box and a hook with symbols so they know where their stuff is. Max inherited a flower symbol - not sure he was so psyched about that.
The teacher set up cars and a parking garage for Max to play with. It was perfect since that is one of his favorite things. There are 24 kids in his class and it is mixed with kids from 3-6 years old. He did pretty well sharing with the other kids which is amazing since he has had our undivided attention for over a month now. After some play time the kids go in a circle for singing time with the teacher playing guitar. Then we all went outside to play on the playground which was completely crazy at first. All the kids have to put on these plastic overalls that look like fishing waders, rain boots and their coats and hats. They have a few tricycles that all the kids want to ride. Max really wanted to ride but we were one of the last to get out to the playground so everything was taken. Luckily one really nice little boy (Luca) let Max have a test spin. That was the end of our 2 hour visit so we headed home but Max wanted to stay and eat with the other kids (a good sign).

Yesterday Max rode his bike to school and really likes the thought that he can ride to school. The day was similar to Monday with some playtime, music time and then out to the play ground. There are 2 rooms of kids that do things together during the day. Max is kangaroo and the other class is bears. Every morning in the bears classroom they have drinks and cups out and the kids can bring their breakfast with them. When they get hungry they can pick up their lunch box and pour themselves a drink and sit for a bit to eat their breakfast/snack. I brought a snack for Max so he could practice. He liked the fact that he could do it when he wanted. Max got officially introduced to the class during music time and they sang a song where all the kids say their names. The teacher told them that Max speaks English but understands German and if he says something they don't understand then it is probably in English. Then they went around the circle and said what languages they spoke at home. I'd say 90% of the kids speak another language at home. There was Polish, Arabic, Turkish, Greek, Gypsy, and several Eastern European languages. So most of them are in the same boat as Max just a little farther along with their German. Then they did a dance song since I had told them about the Cabbagetown "if you name is X get up an dance" song. In this song you get up and dnace like a butterfly until you pick a friend to dance with. Then the 2 dance aorund for a bit and the first person sits down. The second person then becomes the butterfly and picks a friend to dance with. Max loved it and one of the boys picked Max pretty early on so momma didn't have to worry about him being picked last.
After singing they went outside this time just with jackets and tennis shoes since it was nice and sunny and not so muddy.

In the afternoon Max and I had a big adventure. We decided it was time to try to visit Gigi and Greta who just moved to Frankfurt too. Greta was in the class above Max at Cabbagetown. We took the bus to the Mainz train station then caught a train to Frankfurt main train station, Then we got a trolley car to Gigi's house. It wasn't too hard but it did take us 2 hours door to door. Greta lives near the convention hall in Frankfurt and has a really nice walking path just beside her place. We took the kids on the path and stopped at a couple of play grounds. It was awesome to get to chat about how each of us are dealing with the transition and laugh about different things that are making our lives difficult. We coordinated with Stephan for us to be on the same train back to Mainz but when he didn't get in on the first stop I was worried. After a few calls back and forth we realized Max and I were on the wrong train heading in the opposite direction. It was just a 30 min mistake and eventually we did connect with Stephan who got off his train and waited till we came along the tracks to get back on.

I forgot to write about weekend. We had a great trip to visit one of Stephan's college friends (Frank) an hour south of here. Frank and his wife Tina, their 10 year old son, Joey and their 3 month old, Emily live in the countryside so we had a nice walk along the fields with Max and Joey on their bikes. Max loved hanging out with a big boy and I REALLY enjoyed hanging out with some adults. On Sunday we stopped by a little wildpark to check out some animals with Max. They had a nice playground too that we spent some time on. Sunday night we had our first babysitter come over - Pauline from from Melbourne. Max was great and didn't make a peep when we left. He was showing Pauline his photo album that we got as a going away present. Stephan and I went to an awesome Thai restaurant and checked out an Irish pub. It was a little dead being a Sunday night but we enjoyed getting out on our own and are so excited to have found someone Max likes to come over and stay with him.