moving on up!

it's hard to believe, but my boy has been going to "school" for 1 year now and he's officially moving up to the toddler wing starting next tuesday. while having someone else spend the majority of my boy's weekly waking hours with him is still hard for me to swallow, i'm so thankful that we have this wonderful child development center at work for him to attend. he's made some great friends, created bonds, learned and developed and has had some incredible experiences throughout the year. even better, is that his 8 friends and 4 teachers that he's bonded with over the last year are all moving with him...so the only change is a new classroom that offers many new and exciting experiences throughout the coming school year. there will be adjustments - the napping hours are a bit more strict and there is no longer a separate quiet, dark room to lay out the cots in for naptime. nope...all the children will be napping at the same time, in the main room. not sure how that will go over, but i trust the teachers will work their magic and make it happen. there is also a potty room which contains two very miniature toilets. i don't think they push the potty training on the kids, but at some point i do believe they will start introducing them to the kids - which i'm hoping will help us along with potty training once we decide to go down that path.

a few weeks ago we were given a cd of pictures that were taken of k throughout the school year. amazing to look back at these photos and realize how much he's grown and changed throughout the year. here's a month by month recap:

SEPTEMBER: 1st day of school, basking in the sun, experiencing his first art project, fun in the tunnel


OCTOBER: bubbles w/ friends max and luke, playing at the bo w/ sophia, playing in the cozy cave, another art project


NOVEMBER: pushing sophia in the hallway, naptime on the cot


DECEMBER: day before his 1st birthday (bad haircut, mom and dad...at least bad hair day!)


JANUARY: learning to drink from a cup, more fun artwork


FEBRUARY: playing w/ noodles, loving life!


MARCH: loving art again, playing with magnets, puzzles w/ friends max and sophia, mastering the spoon


APRIL: playing in the sand somewhere on campus, creating his masterpiece for the annual art show, modeling next to his masterpiece, fun at the sensory table


MAY: playing outside w/ teddy, w/ his friends at the sensory table, in the rocking chair w/ sophia and harlow, yes...more art, this time w/ animals!


JUNE: family walk around campus, enjoying a popcicle w/ friends, on a walk around the berm, playing outside in the house


JULY: enjoying a stroll w/ sophia, experimenting w/ new mediums in his art, learning to use a squirt bottle to combat the summer heat, outside in the play area - check out those long lashes!



couple things to note: love to see the progression of hair and haircuts (click on any of the pictures to view the enlarged size) and notice the lack of pictures during the winter months. the months of november - february were BRUTAL for sickness and kellen spent the majority of those months excluded for a variety of illness. so glad to be past that and hoping that those immunities were built up so we won't have to deal with that again this winter!