First Day of PreSchool

Brady and Brody have finally begun their school journey!  They are attending a local preschool three mornings a week and we are all very excited and enjoying the new experience.

A few days before the actual first day of school we had a preview day.  The boys got to try out all the game, toys, costumes, instruments, and scooters before the actual first day of school.  I could tell that they were going to be a little apprehensive about being at school alone but after a bit of time, they would love it.

Attending preschool has given us a view into the boys' personalities and relationship  (especially into the "twin" relationship) that I have not been able to witness at home.  First off, Brady was introduced to the concept that his full name is Bradyn---and he loves it!   Contrary to my exception that he would ask to be called Brady at school, he insists on being called Bradyn.  Upon hearing that Bradyn was his brother's full name, Brody immediately became sad and insisted that we call him Brodyn.  In keeping with this, when the boys were handed slips of paper with their names typed out for a name tracing exercise, Brody insisted that his teachers hand write an 'n' at the end of his name so that it would appear "correct".  I almost died of laughter when I pulled the slips of paper out of their bags and saw "Bradyn and Brodyn".  To take it one step further, Brody has also started calling Chris "Dadyn" and me "Momyn" to ensure that all of our names end in 'n'.  Next, it is amazing to me how inseparable the boys are at school.  Brady and Brody have such distinct personalities and really seem enjoy very different things at home.  Contrary to my expectation that they would gravitate to different actives during discovery time, they seem to want to stick together and play exclusively with each other.  Brady and Brody get sad when they do not get to eat snack at the same table and their teachers keep telling me that they keep encouraging them to play at different stations but the boys want to stick together.  In keeping with this idea, Brody has come home sad that other kids do not want to "play" with him.  When I mentioned this to his teachers she told me that Brady and Brody (like a lot of twins) play together in a more complex way that most 3 years olds and they cannot quite understand why other kids do not want to share and interact with them as intricately as their brother.  This too was a surprise to me because the boys seem to play really well with their twin and triplet friends but there may be more nonverbal (or mom) communication going on that I thought.  I'm sure this experience will force them to have to interact with their classmates in a different way than they are used to.  Last, I love how imaginative their play has gotten since going to school.  They come home with all sorts of different scenarios that they try to reenact with their own toys.  They have gone from building Magna-Tile towers for the sole purpose of knocking them down to building intricate cities and villages.  They are also really into collecting all of the pieces of every game and puzzle and storing them in their play house or random "treasure" boxes for "hiking" or "camping" trips.  It makes cleanup painful but it is so cute to see them applying new meaning to old toys.   I am looking forward to how these dynamics will change over this year as they continued to be exposed to new and more stimulating situations.