Ela Goes to Preschool

I really don't know where I went last month, sorry about that.  We're rolling into the fall routine now, so I should get back to the blog a bit more now.  I wanted to post a picture with this, but my camera is being uncooperative so I'll have to settle for some stories about Ela's grand return to preschool.
Preschool started Wednesday, but we've been building up to it for weeks now.  I had a parent meeting a few weeks ago, and when I was telling Ela about it, I asked her if she was excited about being a frog this year (that's her class name).  She replied, "Yes! I'll be a good frog.  I'll go ribbit! Ribbit!"  I nearly fell over laughing.
Last week, there was a room visit day, and Ela had  fun looking at all the new toys in the room.  She seemed less interested in the kids than I expected, but on the way home, all she could talk about was how she wanted Kate to come play at her house.  We haven't ever done a playdate with anyone who couldn't just walk over, so I'm looking forward to setting that up. 
This year, Ela's class gets to use the carpool at preschool, meaning parents just drop them off and teachers walk them in at the beginning of the day.  At the end of the day, the teacher brings them out to the car too.  The parent never has to leave the car, which for me and Lily, is awesome!  The school has a great system, so it all runs very smoothly.  Today when her teacher brought Ela out, she told me that Ela likes to eat lunch.  I had to double check and make sure she was bringing me the right child, since Ela doesn't eat... ever.  What we figured out was that she doesn't really eat much, she just really likes sitting at the table with the kids, and she's always the last one done. 
I know Ela's enjoying preschool because she sings on the way there.  Ela is not a performer by nature, but she'll sing to herself when she's happy.  On the way to school lately, she's been singing "This Old Man."  I've been impressed by her counting ability as the verses go on, but she doesn't really know all the words, so she makes some up.  Her version goes something like this (I'll start with a middle verse to give you the idea with the counting):
This old man
He played five
He played knick knack on his lunchbox
with a (mumblemumble mumble) BONE
This old man went rolling home.
This old man
He played .... one two three four five six...
He played six
He played knick knack on his carseat
with a (mumbledybumble) BONE
This old man went rolling home.
If she's having half as much fun in the class as she is getting to and from it, then I'm happy.