End of the [school] year.

Well, Thad survived his first year of preschool.

And, if he's anything like me, according to my mom, "He only has another 25 years of school left!"

That's a scary thought. Lol.

Anyways, here is a photo of Thad on his very first day, back in September:

Now, about 8 or 9 months later, he has grown so much. He loves to sing, and can recite almost everything on television or in the movies. His social skills have improved immensely (he no longer thinks it's ok to push babies, or punch kids in the face). He knows the days of the week and his vocabulary has exploded. It's been a good year for him.

On his last day of school, the kids all sang songs for the moms (in what appeared to be a perfect throwback to the 1950s, none of the dads were able to make it, since they were all at work, lol.).

Thad seemed less than enthusiastic at first.

But he eventually warmed up...

Oh! And before you go judging his clothing, today was the first day in this child's entire life where he insisted on dressing himself. Every other day of the week, I pick out clothes, and he wears them. But this day? Oh no. This day, he insisted upon his train shirt, his basketball shorts and his frog boots - the perfect "end of year" attire.

After they sang songs, each of the kids got a little certificate for their completion of 3's Preschool, as well as a bag of candy.

At first, Thad showed me his certificate.

But this photo was captured during a very brief moment in time. He was waaaay more excited to show me that after a year of school, he had earned a bag of Skittles.

Rock on, little man.

Then, as if the bags of candy weren't enough, the kiddos got to have a little party - complete with frosted donuts and juice. You could just see the look of stress on the moms' faces as they thought, "Oh holy hell, my child is going to be a nightmare in about 30 minutes, and it's only 9am!"

It was almost like it was payback for all the mornings that we each got to leave our children at school, while we enjoyed a few hours of peace and quiet. Thad's teachers knew what they were doing the entire time...I am sure of it. ;)

LMAO. I love 3-year-olds.

Is it weird that I am thinking of calling her mom to ask if she can come over for a photo shoot? Seriously, she's GORGEOUS! What photographer wouldn't want photos of her to add to their portfolio!?

And, of course, the obligatory "Thad with his teachers" photos.

This first one makes me laugh because Ms. DeYoung was Thad's absolute favorite teacher, from the start. He always talked about her outside of school, and always wanted to say goodbye to her, before others. But, as you can see, this picture makes him look (1) creeped out, and (2) terrified. Lol.

It's hard to believe that this first year is already over. Thad is under the impression that now that he is done with 3's Preschool, it means that he is four years old. I keep having to remind him that no, he's not - but his birthday will be here in a few months and THEN he will be four.

I am hoping that he has as much fun, and loves his teachers as much as he did this year when he is in 4's Preschool. I am sure he will.

He's pretty adaptable. ;)