Happy Halloween! The Halloween fun continued into this week, even though we’d already had a good share of activities over the weekend. While Dan had carved his pumpkin at the Halloween party on Saturday, Mio and I decided to paint our pumpkins at home this week. She’s still a little too young to be wielding a knife, so we thought painting would be a much safer alternative. 😉
Painting our pumpkins at home together.
Mio kept saying, “Pumpkin! Paint!” and while we each had our own pumpkins to paint, she kept dabbing her paintbrush on mine to help me paint my pumpkin. So sweet!
With our completed pumpkins this morning. Happy Halloween!
Mio and I’s painted pumpkins next to Daddy’s carved pumpkin.
Earlier this week on Tuesday, there was a little Halloween event at Mio’s preschool! Parents were invited to come by earlier than the usual pickup time, so we could sit down in the classroom as the kids sang to us. It was our first time really getting to observe our kids in the classroom setting, so I was really looking forward to it!
The sign on Mio’s preschool classroom door showing the kids’ names.
While Mio was quietly sitting in the circle with all the other kids in the class when I entered, as soon as she noticed me sitting at the table, she sprang up and clung to me, refusing to sit back down in the circle and sing with the other children… much to my dismay because I wanted to see her participating like all the other kids. Oh well… she’s the youngest one in the class (they let her into the class this year even though her birthday was just past the cut-off date), so I guess she’s still comparatively a bit of a baby and has some separation anxiety issues. After the kids finished singing their songs, they were invited to change into their costumes for their mini Halloween parade outside.
Mio changing into her Snow White costume for the third time in a week…
The 2.5 year old class is the youngest class, so that day they walked out into the parking lot, showing off their costumes to the older classes that were seated across from them. The older classes then sang songs to the little ones — it was really cute!
Mio being bashful in front of the older kids.
The 3’s and 4’s classes singing to the 2.5 year old class children.
Taking a picture of all the kids in Mio’s class together… or trying to.
It was tough getting them all together in a picture, so this is just some of them. What a cute bunch!
Happy Halloween, everyone! Hope it is eventful and full of fun. 🙂
Mio had a fun-filled Sunday afternoon as we took her out for her first real trick-or-treating experience! We hadn’t introduced trick-or-treating to her the last two years, because we figured she was too young for candy, but now she’s definitely at an age where she can understand and appreciate the concept and of course the treats! A growing trend at community centers and churches in recent years is trunk-or-treat — it provides a safe and fun alternative to the tradition of going to door-to-door asking for candy. Volunteers gather in parking lots, their car trunks open and decked out in decorations and sometimes games, handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. It’s also an easier option than the traditional walking door-to-door for younger kids (as they tend to easily get tired) because they can still get plenty of candy without having to travel as much. Mio’s preschool had a Trunk-or-Treat event which we went to first, and then we continued onto Vienna Baptist Church, which probably hosts the largest Trunk-or-Treat in the local community.
Trunk or Treat at Mio’s preschool.
She got the hang of trick-or-treating pretty quickly!
Mio making her way around the preschool parking lot.
Playing a game to win a treat!
The second Trunk-or-Treat event we went to had an accompanying fall festival for kids, with lots of games, activities, crafts, and face painting that they could partake in before they went trick-or-treating around the parking lot.
Mio throwing her fishing line over to get some candy.
She got some fruit snacks!
Getting her face painted.
The finished facepaint: an apple to go with her Snow White costume!
Time for Trunk-or-Treat, round two! There were about 30 cars to collect candy from.
Some of the decorations were pretty elaborate…
We ran into Mio’s friend Junna-chan (in the penguin costume) there, too!
Mio helping herself to candy. She made sure to say “thank you” at every station!
A vintage Ford Model A vehicle that was also at the event! Dan had a fun time talking to the owner about it.
A happy Snow White with her Daddy! Her bucket of candy was so full by the end of the afternoon that she was having a hard time carrying it.
Mio had a blast trick-or-treating for the first time, and she kept saying “Hooray! Candy!” and examining her loot in the car ride home. Mama and Daddy have to be careful in making sure the candy is rationed and she doesn’t eat too much at once. 😉
Today was Mio’s first day of preschool ever! We had initially not planned on sending her to preschool yet until she turned three, but we saw that a very local preschool had one last opening they were trying to fill for the upcoming school year back in May (when most preschool enrollment has filled up) and I was noticing that she seemed more bored at home lately despite my efforts to take her on playdates and to playgroups, so we decided to go ahead and sign her up! Shortly afterwards, we discovered that we were expecting our second baby, so it all worked out because it will give me a little break from taking care of two kids once the baby arrives early next year. Hopefully getting out and having some independent time away from me, seeing that she’ll be fine without Mama will mitigate her recent clinginess, too. It’s just two days a week, from 9am to 12 noon, so it’s not that long and I think it’s just the right amount of time away while she’s still at this little age.
Last Friday, we went to the preschool’s “sneak peek” so Mio could meet her teachers and see the different classrooms she’ll get to go to:
Mio’s favorite room was the “creative movement” (PE/dance) room. Surprise surprise…
Here she is checking out the Science class. I didn’t know preschoolers learn science!
She also loved the music room at preschool! So much to look forward to.
The “sneak peek” was really helpful because it got Mio used to the classroom environment, and she got to familiarize herself with her teachers (who were all super nice!), and get excited for preschool. All weekend she was repeatedly saying, “Gakkou!” (Japanese for “school”) and “Fun!” so it was reassuring to see that she was looking forward to it.
This morning, we got up bright and early to eat breakfast and get ready for Mio’s first day of school!
Breakfast before going to preschool
Of course, we had to take some obligatory photos in front of the house to remember this milestone!
“I hope my teachers and classmates will like me…”
“Oh, the things I’ll learn…”
“I JUST CAN’T WAIT!!!”
We’re so proud of you, Mio!
And off we go!
Personal backpacks are actually not allowed at Mio’s preschool. They are all given totes from the school labeled with their names, but we’re free to decorate them however we please.
Each classroom at the preschool has a door that leads outside facing the parking lot, for easy dropoff and pickup for parents. We all gather in front of the door in the morning, and one by one the kids are ushered into the classroom, and parents are encouraged to just stay outside and watch them go in. The teachers help the kids hang their bags and coats up, and get them situated in the classroom.
Arriving at preschool. Mio scurried towards her teacher’s open arms and went into the classroom, without even turning around once!
Mio didn’t cry… probably because she didn’t even realize that we weren’t coming in with her until we had left. I wasn’t feeling that emotional this morning while I was getting her ready and taking pictures of her, but the moment I saw her go off into the classroom, my eyes welled up with tears. It was bittersweet, and I couldn’t help but cry when I got home, too, wondering the whole time what Mio was up to and how she was doing. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wonder for too long. For the 2.5 year old class, because they’re still so little and need time to transition, they start on a graduated schedule, where they are just at school 9am-10:30am (for 1.5 hours) the first week, 9am-11am (2 hours) the following week, getting 30 minutes longer every week until they reach the full 3 hour schedule the last week of the month, which they’ll stay at for the rest of the school year. Even the 1.5 hours today felt unexpectedly long because I’ve gotten so used to being with Mio all the time.
When I went to pick her up at 10:30am, they had already put some photos from the day up on the bulletin board, as well as some updates about what each child did/liked.
I thought this was such a cute idea! Mio apparently liked “the pig.” lol
The daily schedule for Mio’s preschool class.
Among the photos that were posted was one of Mio crying on the playground, being held by a teacher. Apparently she had cried a little later in the morning (probably when she realized Mama and Daddy were gone), but she was okay as the morning progressed.
For pickup, the parents wait outside the same door we dropped the children off at, and the teacher opens the door and one by one calls each child and hands them off to their respective parent. Even though I was the first mom to arrive, Mio was the last one to get called and come out… apparently because she was showing no signs of wanting to leave! Even when they brought her outside, she kept going back inside to play with the Lego toys inside. I had to practically drag her out of the classroom and into her carseat because she was so reluctant to leave!
Showing off her first artwork from preschool.
This month, the kids are learning about circles, the color red, and apples, hence the theme of the drawing. Good job, Mio! Looking forward to seeing what other art she’ll create in school.
Mio kept exclaiming, “Gakkou! It’s so fun!” on the drive home, and she was so excited from the day that she skipped her nap (much to my distress). Tonight, as we were getting her ready for bed, she picked up her school bag and said “Gakkou! Yay!!!” She can’t wait to go back tomorrow! I’d spent the whole summer wondering and worrying about how she’d adjust to starting school, but it turns out it’s proving to be a much easier transition (at least so far) than I expected! We’ll see how the following weeks go, when the novelty starts wearing off… I’m hopeful that she’ll continue to love school, though. After all, it’ll be her “job” for the next twenty years! 😉
