Lucas' new playgroup

Yesterday I took Lucas to a playgroup organised by the CAF, and is free for anyone who makes an appointment. The playgroup is for kids ranging from age 0 to 6 years and activities are planned in advance in a 4 monthly calendar and divided by age.
I have always wanted to go since Lucas and I got here but was fearful as my French is not fluent yet, so the principal from Lucas' creche offered to go with me - I thought that was very nice of her and yesterday I also managed to speak to her about Lucas' behavior in creche.
L'Atelier Gepetto is the name of the playgroup, run by 3 young women. Yesterday's group was for toddlers ranging from 2 to 3 years. I was introduced to Sophie who is in charge and she explained the playgroup routine to me. She told me that as it is Lucas' first time he may not join in the activity (yesterday was arts & craft, using glue and grains - rice, beans, pasta to "paint" a snail) and I was not to fret or worry about it. Sophie and Emmanuelle (Lucas' principal) took turns assuring me that it is normal that Lucas is wondering around, playing with toys and the slide instead of taking part in the activity. Sophie also told me that all the other kids have been attending the playgroup for a long time and are used to sitting down for the arts & craft sessions. But there were some kids who got bored and joined Lucas at the slide.
At the end of the session the 3 women scattered cushions on the floor and asked the kids to sit down while they took out hand puppets and sang to the kids. At first Lucas was not interested but he soon became curious enough to venture to the front and stood there watching. He also proferred his cheek for a kiss from Sophie :)
After the kiss Lucas went to the nearest cushion and sat down - YAY!!!!!!
When the puppet show ended Lucas was enthusiastically clapping, and when he saw Sophie keeping the puppets he started crying because he didn't want it to end!
Emmanuelle was so happy and excited to see Lucas participating she kept asking me if I saw Lucas sitting on the cushion. Her involvement with Lucas shows how much she really cares and I am having 2nd thoughts now about taking Lucas out of her creche.
At Gepetto, I met Laurence, a french mom to Matheo who is 2 months younger than Lucas. Laurence came to say "hello" and told me she speaks English :) I was so happy to have met her. She has also just moved to Tarbes from Paris in July. We exchanged numbers and met up yesterday afternoon at the playground. Laurence also brought another friend, Julie who is french and speaks english, though both of them said that I should practice my french on them :)

On another note, yesterday when I put Lucas in his bed for his afternoon nap, he was crying really loudly, so I went in to check on him and found that he managed to climb up to the rails and was dangling halfway out of the bed! He did it today as well and that is worrying as the rails are really high. Perhaps it is time we get rid of the rails and see if he will stay in bed without the rails.
Fred and his mom have both managed to give Lucas his time-out in his room - if Lucas throws his food or starts a tantrum, Fred brings him into the room and leaves him there til he calms down. I was surprised that Lucas doesn't come out of the room until Fred goes and get him, and yesterday, Lucas even called out to Fred to ask if he could come out.
I tried it on Lucas today but it didn't work with me...

Also, yesterday Fred managed to make Lucas sit on the potty for a full 5 minutes, reading a book. We have been trying to get Lucas ready for potty training and he's been going without the diaper a few hours a day. We have told him that if he needs to "pee" or "kaka" he has to tell us. He does tell us allright but only after he's done the deed! This morning he did the deed in his PJs but unlike the last time he didn't walk around the apartment, leaving a trail of shit....  He stood there waiting for me to clean him up.
My baby is growing up so fast!