October 2012: Hank's new preschool

Hank started a new preschool the first week of October.  When we moved to Santa Clara, he finished out a few more weeks at the preschool he had been attending in Palo Alto but then we decided to take the summer off.  We did get on a waiting list at one school just in case it opened up in the fall.  There are a ton of schools around us but only this one seemed like a good fit for us.  Thankfully, we got a call in September that a spot would be open the first week of October!  So, after four months of hanging with mom and sisters, Hank went back to school!  He goes three days a week from 9-12.  We love this school so much.  He has made some great friends there.  His teachers Miss Premala and Miss Jasmine are so caring and they nurture the children so well.  He has two teachers in his class.  Some days there are 10 kids and some days there are 4 kids, it just depends on the day.  School is out at the end of May, and he starts again in late August for the next school year.  Today we were able to get a spot for summer school - which is three weeks in July.  Yay for me, I mean Hank! ha ha

Here are pictures from his first day of preschool at the new school.  He was so very excited to go to school again!

 

 

 

Posing outside of school.

Checking out his new classroom.

 

Where I found him when I picked him up.  He didn't want to leave!

-a

Valentine's party loot!

Hank came home with so many cute little art projects, treats, and valentines from his class Valentine's party on Friday (Valentine's Day was on Thursday, they repeated the party for the Friday students.)  He LOVED sorting through everything and checking it all out when he got home.

He loves this little jigsaw puzzle he received.  It's his first venture into these type of puzzles and he really seems to enjoy trying to figure it out.  He also received two pencils and he could not have been more thrilled.  He wants to write with them all the time.

How cute is this little mailbox that he made?  It's a shame it only stayed cute for one day.  I was on the phone with his doctor's office on Friday afternoon  (Hank was having a reaction to his medicine - but it is all good now) and he was impatient with me so he decided to stand there and pick off all of the stickers while he jumped up and down and asked me to get off the phone.

Ruby wanted to see all of Hank's goodies first hand so she climbed up on the table and made herself at home.  This is one of my biggest headaches right now!  Trying to keep this girl off of the table.  We find her there so many times every day.

Hi Ruby.  Just hang out on the table as if that's normal and safe.

Charlotte keeps it safe down on the floor.  Ruby is making her way down to the floor to come take a little baggie from Charlotte.  The advantage to being up on the table is you can see everything and she used her perch to spy Charlotte had something worth taking. 

Hold on tight Char.  Ruby's going to snatch that super amazing baggie from you! 

-a

Hank the lion!

Hank was a lion for Halloween this year!  He has been wanting to dress up as a lion for about two months now.  Obviously he had no idea what "Halloween" meant but we told him this summer that he could wear a costume soon and asked what he wanted to be.  He said he wanted to be a lion and we asked him every couple of days since then and he never wavered.  He has also been practicing his roar for a long time as well.  He was excited to go to school so he could frighten his teacher, Miss Premala.  So funny.  

Much to my surprise, he let me take a bunch of pictures of him on our porch before we got in the van to head to preschool this morning!!  But maybe it had something to do with the candy I bribed him with.  Not sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we got to preschool this morning, he wore his costume for approximately two minutes then started taking it off.  Miss Premala said he never would put it back on after I left!

 

At school, they do an art project right when they walk in the door as they wait for all of the students to arrive.  He sat right down and got to work.  He gave me a look that said I should leave so I stopped taking pictures and headed out with his sisters.

Hank was very excited about his face paint aka mom's makeup that he thought was real face paint.  The nose and whiskers made him look so cute.  He was a great little lion!

I put the girls back in the van. When I opened the back door to load in the stroller Charlotte and Ruby were just laughing and smiling at me.  Ruby even gave me a shout out with her foot.  Both girls started flashing HUGE grins behind their pacis.

Ruby

Charlotte

 -a

Hank's first day of preschool

Hank started school for the first time this week!  He will go to preschool Tuesdays and Thursdays all day.  It has gone well so far and the teachers have given us updates during the day both days this week to let us know how he is doing.  They do that for all new students.  I love it.

 

 

Hank had tons of fun posing for his official first day of school photos before he left with Brett.  He has been using this backpack for a while and sometimes he likes to act like it's so heavy it makes him fall over.

Brett dropped him off on his first day and tried to get pictures of him standing outside of his new classroom but Hank was too excited and wanted to go into the class instead of hanging outside.  He did stop long enough to check out this mural though so Brett was able to snap a quick picture before Hank ran off.  Hank got to visit the school a couple of weeks ago to play so he knew exactly what to expect when he showed up on his first day.

Once inside the class he went straight for the trucks and cars of course!

Hank has been going to day care a few mornings a week ever since the end of my pregnancy with the girls so we are used to seeing him go off to "school".  But since he has officially started real preschool I couldn't help but feel a little emotional a few times this week while he was gone.  Preschool is going to be great for him (and me!) and he already loves it.  The tricky part is that he has to learn how to nap on a cot in the same room with other kids.  He has a lovie, pillow, and blanket from home to help him out and he did better on the second day.  The teachers are so sweet and are happy to help him make this transition.  He definitely gets worn out and probably a little overwhelmed by being at school all day.  Both days this week he was pretty clingy to Brett and I when he got home. He really missed us and it was so sweet.  When we ask him about school he gets excited so we know he is enjoying it and that makes us happy.  This boy is getting so big!

-a