My little shy, anti-social Sophie has really started to blossom in the last couple of months. She’s really starting to be more social in a lot of ways, and one of those ways is that she l-o-v-e-s the other kids in her class at preschool. But she especially big puffy hearts one kid in particular, and his name is Julio.
When Sophie started this particular preschool right after Thanksgiving, I was worried about her adjustment, but she got comfortable with the other kids right away. She mentioned Julio’s name within the first couple of days. At first I was like “Julio? Really?” – I thought maybe I was misunderstanding her. But I asked her teacher, and sure enough – there was a boy in her class named Julio. By the end of the week she had also mentioned a little girl named Ashley. By the end of the second week, I knew the name of every kid in her class (there are 12 including her). She was excited to tell me about all her new friends, but Julio’s name is one she mentions without fail. When I am dropping her off and she sees him walking down the sidewalk she gets so excited and yells, “Here comes Julio!” or “Look, Julio’s here!”
One day before Christmas when I went to drop Sophie off, I saw Julio’s mom dropping him off, and I tried to tell her how much Sophie luuurves Julio. But, I discovered there is a bit of a language barrier: her response to me was to smile and nod and say “It’s cold!” (Which it was.) Dangit, I am really regretting that French minor I had in college! Spanish would apparently have been much more effective!
A couple of days later when I went to pick Sophie up, the class was running a little late so they had me come in the room (usually they just throw the kids out the door at you). As I was getting Sophie’s coat on, Julio kept saying “Bye So-PHIE, bye So-PHIE!” very energetically. One of Sophie’s teachers smiled and said, “He doesn’t say much in English, so that means something right there.”
So apparently Sophie and Julio are members of the Mutual Admiration Society.
Sophie thanks Jesus for Julio every night at bedtime (usually either Ashley or another classmate, Dominic, also gets a shout-out to the big JC as well.) She can now write his name, which along with her teacher’s name and Ashley’s name, is her favorite thing to write.
And every day after school, when I ask her who she played with at school, she yells “WHO-LEE-OH!” before I can even finish the question.
I’m super-excited that Sophie has made such good friends at school, and I think it’s just a LITTLE bit cute that her BFF is a little boy who speaks even less English than she does.
Also super-excited that it ties in so perfectly with a Paul Simon song. I mean, really! It’s Sophie and Julio down by the schoolyard, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
ADORABLE! I haven’t noticed Molly having any particular friends at daycare, they’re all just sort of happy and falling all over each other. I’m sort of excited for when that starts.
In first grade (I was kindergarten deprived), my favorite was Angela Baker. She was cute, rich, lived in one of the three “Mansions” in Germantown, and tried to give me her dog…a Poodle…Grandma would have none of that dog thing.
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That is too cute! Thank you for sharing all of your stories, it is so nice to see a blogger who is so much more than just a blogger…begin able to laugh with you and share in you Mommyhood pains is so much fun!
This made me smile! So happy Sophie is doing so well and making friends.
Oh man did she write you a great blog title in choosing that little boy. Good taste, Sophie!
So cute! And I am so glad she is making friends! Maybe you should start coming over to do Spanish lessons with Charles Robert. Wouldn’t that be fun 🙂
so cute!
That is cute beyond words!
That is adorable! Thanks for sharing and making me smile!
I AM SO IN LOVE WITH THIS POST! It made my heart happy!
I have a shy son. I sent him off to public school this year & the 1st person he started talking about is Layla. Every day there is something about Layla. I went to parents night about a mth after school started, that’s when I found out Layla was in a wheelchair. It don’t matter to me, I was just proud my son could see the person & not the chair. He came home yesterday & was very mad. The teacher moved everyone around & he no longer sits by Layla. He’s now upset that no one will help her get her things.
That is the cutest thing ever. Ever!
My son was a painfully shy fellow- and I was so nervous when he started a new preschool at 2. But he made fast friends with Denise (Neicy) and it has been his girlfriend ever since (1.5 years). Her mom works at the preschool and although they aren’t in the same class anymore we still talk about them. Kale continues to say Neice is his girlfriend and she continues to say Kale is her boyfriend. They are very cute together and completely opposite. She is very outspoken and he is still pretty shy and usually reserved. It somehow works for them!
I completely understand the name thing. Several times Teagan has said a name of someone in her class and I’ve had to ask the teacher. But then at a parent night I heard people telling me the same thing about Teagan’s name- they didn’t think it was a real name!
THAT is awesome! I finally had to get a list of Josie’s classmates because we thought for sure she was making people’s names up! But being in pre-school for 2 years now with mostly the same kids, only 6 kids went to kindergarten this year, has really made a stronger bond with her class-mates and I am super proud of that! I have had the same best friend for 32 years and that is just because he is 6 weeks older then I am, and my other handful of really really close friends I met in LIAH which was our pre-school we attended 30 yrs ago! LOVE IT!!
Way to go Sophie!!!