EVB: 5 Years + 11 Months Old!

JEB: 3 Years + 6 Months Old!

Miss June Bug is SO excited to be 3-and-a-half! (If you refer to her as being 3, she is quick to correct you!) Our little lady has been busy lately; here's what she's been up to:

• Loving preschool! June is so happy walking into school on Monday and Wednesday mornings ... She enjoys painting at the easel, eating snack and singing songs during circle time.
• Patterns. June has been going through a phase as of late where she likes to point out patterns and create her own, especially with her food.
• Continuing to work on writing her name. I've gotten her to write all four letters of her first name once or twice, but she mostly just writes the "J" and sometimes the "U." June isn't particularly interested in conquering this skill right now, but we'll keep practicing.
• Talking up a storm. June has always been verbally proficient, but recently she seems to have experienced a vocabulary explosion. June is especially chatty when I pick her up from preschool and when she and I have our one-on-one time while Ellen is at school.
• Perfecting her pedal. June has been getting more proficient at pedaling her Trekster trike as she grows taller ... Hopefully we can squeeze in some more bike rides before the snow flies!
• Getting excited about turning 4. Don't rush it, sweet girl. :)

 

Patterns with food: bunny cracker, strawberry, bunny cracker, strawberry ...

graham cracker, bunny cracker, graham cracker, bunny cracker ...

bunny cracker, grape, bunny cracker, grape ...

June's First Day of Preschool!

On the heels of Ellen's first day of Kindergarten, we had the excitement of June's first day of preschool! June will be attending St. Ambrose on Monday and Wednesday mornings in the Caterpillar Room (same program Ellen participated in when she was 3 and 4 years old).

June Bug was full of energy on her first day, though I wondered if she'd have a difficult time at drop off since she tends to be a little clingier than Ellen was at that age ... Boy, was I wrong! June marched confidently into her classroom with a giant smile on her face, despite a number of her Caterpillar friends crying about having to leave mom and dad. June found her name tag, then walked over to wave proudly to us through the "waving window."

Miss June had SO much to tell me when I picked her up. She filled me in on the details of snack time, where she sat during circle time, how she needs to sit "criss-cross applesauce" with hands in her lap ... so much excitement. It was a great first day!

Demonstrating the proper way to sit during Circle Time

Silly preschooler!

Ellen's First Day of Kindergarten!

I can't believe we officially have a school-aged child ... As in rides a bus, eats lunch at school and is gone all day! Ellen was so excited about starting Kindergarten, which is awesome. Mom and Dad were excited for her, of course, but also a little nervous about sticking her on a bus and realizing that she's growing up way too fast.

Lunch packed and ready-to-go

Off to the bus stop!

Walking with her classmates to her Kindergarten room

Success! All smiles getting off the bus at the end of the day!

Raspberry Picking

We love Afton Apple and have been picking apples there each fall for the past few years. Last summer, we tried strawberry picking, which we loved ... This summer, the girls and I decided to see what raspberry picking was all about. We had so much fun! The picking was great (and I appreciated that I didn't have to squat or bend down to pick like you do with strawberries!). We got a pretty early start on a weekday so ours was one of only about four or five cars in the entire lot. We had a few extra long rows of raspberries all to ourselves, and Ellen and June were literally the only ones on the gigantic playground! Can't wait to go again next year!