Noah started preschool!

August 16th was Noah's first day of school! Over the last several months Noah went through various stages regarding school: First, he was super excited to get to go to school like the big kids that he saw with their backpacks. Then, as he developed some insecurity surrounding our preparations for moving...he announced that he would not be going to school (or primary at church) in Arizona. He needed to be with his mom. Then, luckily, right before school started (after 2 tours of the school, and meeting his teacher) Noah got excited about this new adventure. The night before his first day of class, we laid out his first day of school outfit (underwear, socks and all) on the floor like a person. He'd received his beginning of the school year blessing from his daddy. We read Llama Llama Misses Mama (this book was so great to read with Noah over the few weeks prior to school starting). And Noah went to bed excited for morning to come. When the big morning came I made his requested first day of school breakfast: Scrambled eggs, toast with nutella, mini blueberry muffins, blueberries, and OJ. He felt pretty special (so, the cat's out of the bag...I don't usually make breakfasts like this).

Mark's friends Tommy & Ryan were still in town from their hike (they got back to our home the night prior). They let me leave Lincoln with them so I could take Noah on my own. Here are a couple of pictures that we took of Noah by the front door. On his shoulder he has the bag his preschool gives all the kids (they fit nicely in their cubbies).


We got to school a few minutes early (an accomplishment for me) and while we were waiting with the other parents and kids for the doors to open...Noah went up and was anxiously peeking inside. Pretty cute.

This is Noah with his M/W/F teacher, Miss Lisa, before class started that first day. She is fantastic. That little grin on Noah's face summed that morning up perfectly...happy to be there, but feeling sweetly shy too. I came in with Noah for a couple of minutes, snapped this picture, looked at their class pet with him (a chinchilla), and gave him a big hug and kiss. Then I left. No clinging or crying like I'd worried about. And Noah did great too. (ha, ha)

On Noah's second day of school he insisted that we needed another picture in front of the door before leaving since Lincoln didn't come with him the day before. This was his first day having Lincoln and Mommy drop him off. I wasn't going to deter him wanting to take a picture, so I agreed. While we were taking this picture, our next door neighbor came outside and said hi to the boys. So, they looked over at him when I snapped the photo. I liked it though, so here it is.
Our boys.
Well, Noah just finished his 3rd week of school now, and it's going great! We are very pleased with the school and both of the teachers he has. Noah enjoys going, and he tells me that he is getting less shy and making more friends. I love hearing about all the different things he learns at school, and it's also so strange to have him walking around the house singing something that I wasn't the one to teach him!...especially when it's in Spanish and I have no idea what he's saying! It's great though. He enjoys their music class, the crafts, telling me what they make or have for snack-time, what books they read and what he played outside that day. If only he'd always stay so excited to tell me every detail about his day as the years go on. I'll enjoy it while I get it!

His enthusiasm is good (or bad, depending on how you view it) for Lincoln too. The first time that we dropped Noah off, Lincoln cried. Not because his brother was leaving, but because he wanted to go to school too. It looked so fun! Then, after hearing about everything from Noah, Linc is only more excited for when he gets to start going to preschool (next year). Every day when we drop Noah off, Lincoln gives Noah a hug and tells him to "Have a great day!" and then he turns around and tells me that he needs to get bigger now (so he can go to school too). He has recently started pleading with me (as we walk to car after dropping off Noah) saying, "Mom. Please! Let me get bigger!"

Every now and then when I pick Noah up his teacher will share some nugget of Noah's that made her giggle. A couple of days ago they went around the class each telling their favorite thing to eat. When it was Noah's turn he declared that his favorite thing to eat is "meat!" and he proceeded to ask the teacher if she knew why. "Why?" she asked. "Because I'm a carnivore like a tiger!" Awesome. Noah is really into animals right now, particularly African animals. He wants to be a tiger for Halloween and just got his costume in the mail. Anyone that will listen gets a rundown of details about his favorite animals, and various animals that are endangered or extinct. If you want to really be his buddy right now, just ask him to tell you about the various species of rhinos.

I have to mention one last thing about Noah's school that is really fantastic. His teachers send a daily update outlining what they did in class that day, as well as any info or reminders we should know about. It's been really fun for Mark & I to read the emails, and very helpful to continue encouraging dialogue with Noah about what he's doing at school. We couldn't be happier with our choice of preschools for Noah, and I am so grateful that it's already been such a good experience for him. He is already asking when he can start staying at school full day (6.5 hours), like some of the other kids do in his class. Next year, buddy. Next year. I can hardly believe that he'll be in Kindergarten next year.