We've been talking it up for weeks:  Cor's first day of pre-school.  At first, he was really excited about the idea of going to school, just like his big brother and sister.  He liked the idea of wearing a backpack, eating special school snacks, and playing with other kids...

But about three weeks ago, fear surfaced.  Cor would start to cry whenever we had to bring him along to school, to pick up or drop off Elliot and Olivia.  He refused to walk through the section of the school building where his classroom was going to be (we had shown him the room when Elliot and Olivia first started school this fall).  He repeatedly told us that he had decided not to go to pre-school anymore...

But then, about a week ago, things started coming back around.  He got to play in the classroom by himself a little bit, while his mother talked to the teachers at the pre-school for a sort of in-take conversation.  He really enjoyed playing with their pretend kitchen.  He really liked the wide variety of toys and books and puzzles that were available to him.  He started warming up to his teachers.  And he started to talk about "play-school" (his adaptation of the phrase "pre-school") in a more positive way:  again excited about the backpacks, the snacks and drinks, the toys, and the friends at school.  In fact, over the last couple of days, he's even been practicing his good-byes to me and Marci!

This morning, the time finally came.

The whole family went along for the occasion (it is, after all, likely our last first day of school for someone in our family!).  Except for a bicycle tire with a slow leak (that we just started to notice yesterday evening), which needed to be pumped up before we could ride to the school, everything went very smoothly.

After weeks of anticipation, Cor was finally able to walk into that school building on his own accord, as a member of the (pre-)school student body!

He didn't seem to be fazed in the slightest by the whole thing...

But we'll see how it goes from here on out.  Now he's going to be really learning Dutch.  He's going to be making some of his own friends.  And he's going to start learning his own way in the world.  I'm sure there will be some difficulties that will present themselves in the coming days, weeks, months, and years... But it's neat to see our little boy growing up!

By the time I left (knowing that Marci was going to be staying for the whole morning), Cor was already starting to play with some of the other kids and assimilate himself with his new environment.  If only I could make adjustments in life so quickly!

So for better or worse, the adventure has begun...