1st day back in a routine

From ms. Christine -

Holland had a really excited and cheery morning!  He grabbed some saltines to eat and he climbed readily into his high chair to eat.  There were only a few so I gave him some applesauce too.  He was so excited to see all his familiar things, as if they were new again.  We read through a bunch of books telling me "done" if he was ready to move on before finishing the book, and he played very happily in his bed with the baby doll and the dog.  I tried to have the baby sit up against the end of the bed, and it looked like it was going to tip over, so I said, "Don't fall!" and put the baby on the pillow instead.  Holland thought it was really funny and kept putting the baby (and then the dog) over by the ledge saying, "Don't fall!" over and over.  He was willing to help me put a few things away this morning and participate with his diaper change (he had another big poop), clothes change and washing hands (which *he* even reminded me of through words and signs).

He played a lot with the cars on the train table.  He was being a little rough with the tracks and a couple fell on the ground, and he stepped on them.  I talked to him about picking them up to take care of them instead of stepping on them and he ran away laughing, carrying another piece of track with him.  I stopped him, and stayed firm to my limit, asking him to put the tracks back on the train table.  He threw himself on the ground and cried for maybe a minute or so, and I talked to him about the importance of keeping them there or they could easily get lost, and he stopped himself and put the pieces away.  It really seemed like he was testing me and checking to see if I had become more lax with my limits or not.

Around 10, he started to slow his pace and show a few signs of tiredness, so I told him that in 10 minutes, we were going to get a book to read before we go to sleep.  He immediately climbed up onto his bed, turning down the book, so I said goodnight and left the room.  He didn't make a peep and was probably asleep in 10 minutes.