1st day and last day! What a difference 10 months makes.
That Hansie is so confident now. He even told me he maybe wanted to try sleep away camp with Freddie. What what?!?!
Both boys were obviously excited for summer. Freddie was clear that he had some sadness to leave his teacher and friends. Hans did not share in this sentimental sappy conversation but I know he'll miss school as well.
The kid loves his class and his teachers. I was thankful to get a picture of him and his teacher. He's really made a place for himself in her heart. She really does love him and he loves her.
And the last note home of the year from the Assistant Principal had a special signature. Worth every penny spent at the auction for that :Assistant Principal for a Day."
What I want to remember about this year was that Hans was READY for preK. All day. Every day. Without his Mama. Without his brother. On his own.
Charlie was away at a conference so I videoed more than I took photos just to make sure he could have glimpse.
It was a sweet morning filled with friends, songs, and sweets. Of course I pretty much sobbed the entire time.
Hans has made several buddies, most of whom are girls. He likes to tell me about how he's Lucy's BFF and he knows because she follows him everywhere. His teachers tell me he has a strong sense of fairness, and desire to do the right thing. He mediates scuffles among his classmates.
He's also won over his teachers who have found his stubbornness far more endearing than I do!
a selfie with his friend Kyle
I loved his class and adored his teachers. I wish we could keep this same group next year but I know another year of new experiences awaits him in kindergarten. Kindergarten! Hans is off to kindergarten!
Yup, a shredder. Weird kid! And he was thrilled to head off to school to celebrate with his class.
I got to visit and help him share his favorite book with the class, Tuesday.
And then it was time for cupcakes. I asked him what kind of cupcakes he wanted and he replied "chicken." Well, I wasn't sure if he wanted chicken flavored cupcakes but he got a tiny chicken atop each one.
And that afternoon brought more celebrating, with wishes of happy birthday everywhere he went with that crown. He loved it.
Pizza for dinner...
And ice cream cake.
And we finished the day with opening cards in bed.
Happy birthday my sweet boy. I loved finding this video of you today to remind me of how much you've grown and just how much you are still very much the same!
He likes to wear his sleeping pants and sleeping shirt.
He likes to eat cookies.
He is smart because he knows science.
My Dad works hard at his science lab.
Daddy always tells me that I can have lunch at his lab.
It makes my Dad happy when we wrestle.
If he could go on a trip he would go to Minnesota and he would go to Minnesota.
I really love it when my dad wrestles with me.
If I could give my daddy anything it would be a trash can to put under his desk. (NOTE: Hans has been asking for a treats can to put under HIS desk for quite some time!)
My favorite thing about my dad is he watches me do gymnastics.
Freddie had his first swim meet! (And my camera had a dead battery!)
Warming up
Warming up...had to be there at 7.30 am to warm up!
Waiting for his heat, in the center
Freddie's part of the swim team now, having moved up from their learn to swim program after almost 3 years. He's by far the smallest kid on his team, and from looking at the other teams at the meet from the NYC area, he may be the smallest kid in the under 8 division.
Talking to Coach Michael Right before his race in lane 1
He's on the right talking to his coach before his race.
Waiting behind the block on the right.
He swims 4 days a week for 1.5 hours each day, and loves it. And he was just as excited for this meet as he was nervous. He had questions about how would he know where to go and what to do, and all the usual stuff. But by the second day his questions had changed to "Can you just put money in my wallet so I can go get my own snacks at the snack bar?"
He didn't belly flop!
I downloaded the swim meet app so I could see his events and keep track of his times when they posted. He wasn't quite powerful enough to stop the clock at the end of the pool so I'd have to wait for the official to post times. It'll be nice to track his progress with these times archived here.
In the center in a red swim cap
He saw 4 races, two on Saturday and two on Sunday. 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 50 backstroke, 50 breast stroke. So we ended up at the pool about 6 hours each day, and each race lasted a little over a minute.
His swimming changed after the first day as well. He didn't come in last in his heat, but rather scoped out the weakest link. I watched him glance over at his opponent in each of the races on the second day and push to pass him at the very end. He's figuring it out.
Most importantly he loved it. Didn't care that he was little. Didn't care that he was slow. And he's excited for his next meet on Fathers' Day weekend.
Showing me his silver tattoo that he got from coach
I'll charge my camera and bring some entertainment for Hans. He's not as into watching 6 hours of heats in the steamy chlorinated room as I am.
Won't be much longer before he's on that deck too.
