Pre-School

Huelan's preschool has been great.  We were kind of bummed last year when the oldest kids matriculated to Kindergarten and Huelan was the biggest one left in the school, but there soon came a couple of kids about her age and she was able to show them the ropes.  The teacher, Ms. Jan, runs it out of her her house, and her house is just 4 houses from ours, which is supremely convenient.  We are going to miss it.

On Monday, Huelan went to an assessment appointment at the school she'll be attending next year- Joaquin Miller Elementary, where they have three Kindergarten classes.  We met one of the teachers- Ms. Savage, and she took Huelan for her assessment while a parent volunteer led me on a campus tour.  I figured that the assessment was just going to be some simple questions designed to help sort the kids who had more academic preschools from the ones who haven't yet learned their letters and figures.  Huelan said that there were lots of questions, but she thinks that she "got every one right." So she's either well prepared or delusional.

She was so excited to see her new school.  Ms. Savage took her on a mini-tour and she beamed the entire time.  

We made a day of it.  I took her out of school early for the assessment, and after we went for lunch, candy, and Cinderella in the theater.  Pretty good day.

Here are some pics of her preschool from a little while back.

This is one from when I picked her up during nap time. 

All the kids love the calendar. She proudly tells us everyday what part she put up. 

Sophie, Bella, and some other kids I don't know. 

Bellies and Buttons

She had a phase around at around 16 months old when she was obsessed with belly buttons.  She would try to get at everyone's belly button, just walk right up, lift a shirt, and poke.





He's been in his phase for a few months now.  He's not as assertive as she was, but he definitely likes to get at a belly button when he can.

Pic Catch Up

It took us a while to get this done.  Traditionally, the baby wears a white sheath dress-like thing. He probably wouldn't have fit in it when he was two months old, so he had no chance now.  Oh well, better late than never and he got to rock the preppy look.

Baptism Pics!

Campus Tour

I thought that we lived closer to campus than any of my other friends, but it turns out that one of my friends lives in Rockridge and another lives just four houses up from the Claremont Hotel, and his wife walks to work at Boalt.  That is legit access to campus.

Even though we don't live quite as close, we're still plenty close to walk around campus on a sunny day. I actually think that this is the first time Vansen has been on campus since he could walk (it's been probably 10 months).  Huelan was at a gymnastics birthday party at the Golden Bear Rec center at Clark Kerr, so we took advantage of the sunny morning and hit up some of the spots.

The kid loved it.

Some more pics here

Sometimes

She's just in the mood to be a ninja princess turtle fairy. 

Dancing Queen

She may not end up as a professional dancer, but she has no problem putting herself out there.  Vids from the most recent "recital," about three weeks ago.  For a quick hit, the third and fifth vids are probably the funnest.

Time Capsule

This is the scene pretty much every night- standard kids getting ready for bed action sequence. Jockeying for step-stool space, negotiating for a toothpaste refill, and needing to be reminded to brush those back teeth. 

It's hard to compare these daily moments to the big ones- first steps, first words, road trips, and big memories yet to come, but we put all these mundane moments together and that's our day/month/life. I think down that road these daily moments will be as fun to remember as the big ones, and I hope I'll be able to recall the echo of the bathroom, the hiss of the faucet, and the tapping of the toothbrush against the sink. The silliness that happens in between and around those daily moments and routines.

Great to have this blog as a memory aid when the ol' noggin starts a foggin.