Preschool Graduation

Yesterday my baby graduated from his first year of preschool.

How fast this year has flown by!

He had such a great teacher for his first school experience and I'm so glad she made his first year such an enjoyable one!

Madden can be pretty shy and timid at times and Mrs. Kortney greeted Madden at her front door every day with the biggest smile on her face, SO full of energy and SO excited to see him and have him at school with her!

And I really believe that small and simple thing made it that much easier for him to walk in the door with her every Tuesday and Thursday morning.

This picture of him and her hugging just melts me :)

We love you, Mrs. Kortney!

She had the cutest little graduation program for the parents and Madden was cracking me up!

I thought he'd be super shy and not want to do it (there was a LOT of parents and grandparents there and I was all the way in the back row)

But he got right up there and couldn't wipe the huge grin off his face!

He kept waving to me throughout the whole program saying really loudly, "HI MOM!  TEACHER, I SEE MY MOM!  LOOK!  RIGHT THERE!  HI MOM!"

After welcoming all the parents, his teacher asked all the parents to stand and join the kids in saying the Pledge of Allegiance.  Madden couldn't see me way in the back row when everyone stood up but when the pledge was over and we all sat down, he yelled really loud, "MOM!  DID YOU SAY THE PLEDGE TOO?  DO YOU KNOW THE PLEDGE?"

Then his teacher had all the kids turn their backs to the audience while she got them all ready for a song and dance they were doing but Madden kept peeking over his shoulder smiling so big at me!  It was just the cutest thing ever!

He's just so different than he was at the beginning of the school year!

He used to be so shy and now I don't even know if I would describe him as being shy anymore!

When the music started, all the kids turned around with cool sunglasses on and letters around their necks and sang this cute rock-n-roll alphabet song.

Madden didn't sing one word.

He just had a huge smile on his face and played the air guitar on his letter B the whole time :)

When it was over and I asked him why he wasn't singing he said, 

"Because, mom!  I couldn't sing in front of REAL PEOPLE!"

Ok, so I guess he is still a little shy :)

Then Mrs. Kortney handed out diplomas to all the kids and Madden said, "I didn't know there was KIDS graduations!  I only been to DADDYS graduations!"

On the way home, Madden looked through his goodie bag his teacher gave him.

It had lots of prizes, the cutest poem, some candy and all the pictures of Madden at preschool she took over the school year.

He LOVED the pictures! :)  

Our lunch date after graduation was his choice...and of course he picked McDonalds.

Normally, I'd try to convince him otherwise, but it was HIS day.

And when we pulled into the McDonalds by our house I suddenly remembered it was exactly where we went out for a special lunch date after his very FIRST day of preschool too.

We even sat in the same booth!

I distinctly remember the conversation I had with him that day after his very first day of preschool, and it literally feels like it was yesterday!

But then when I came home and compared side by side pictures, I can really see how much he's grown up!

I love these memories so much :)