chase's school prep

Chase has been getting ready for preschool.
He is excited, mom on the other hand, is terrified.  He is a bit more challenging at this point in his life than his sister was.  I hate to compare, but it is the truth.

I took him to pick out his backpack, of course he picked Cars and Mater.  Only because they didn't have one with trucks and tractors.
When I brought him home, he was upset because he wanted to take it straight to school.  He screamed and cried from the car into the house, all the while wearing his beloved backpack. 

Also at the store, he had picked out a folder.  Transformers or to Chase "trans!"  I am sure that it just looked cool to him, because he knows nothing about Transformers.

A few weeks ago we went looking for new shoes.  Chase is HARD on shoes.  We usually just get him some at Target or Old Navy and he wears them out in no time.  So I thought that I would look for some a little more durable.  But not too pricey.
Well Chase had some in mind.  He kept telling me, "I want Tanner shoes."  (He loves his cousin Tanner.  And therefore refers to everything that is cool as Tanner...  When we got him a new hat, it was called a Tanner hat not a baseball cap.)

So in our efforts of searching for "Tanner shoes"  I had no idea what Chase was referring.  We scoured the mall, looked at a billion pairs of shoes, had a lot of "No!!!" responses, and began to think that it was hopeless.  I decided to try the Vans store.

We walked in, Chase marched up to the shoe rack.  Stopped and looked for a few seconds.  Reached out his cute little paws, grabbed a shoe, and said, "this one, Tanner shoes!!!"

They were $30  that is more than I would normally choose to spend on a 3 yr old boy who is hard on shoes.  But, I let him try them on.  And well, I shouldn't have.  He took 3 running laps around the store and said "mom, wow these fast shoes!!!"
So, we took those shoes home, who can deny that kind of excitement?

On Tuesday Chase went to meet his teacher, Miss Karen.  He was super excited to finally visit his school and show off his new backpack and shoes.   He was so excited that he spoke to her the entire time in his very deep silly voice. (I am sure that those of you who know this voice, can just imagine how fun that morning was.  It was hard for his teacher and I to hold in our giggles.)

All decked out to go meet his teacher.

"Mom, look at my backpack!"

Cutest preschooler ever!!!

Yesterday, Chase went to school again to meet his classmates.  He was even more excited than his first visit.  And I am sure that he was tickled to actually be able to play with a few items that he had seen on his tour.  When his teacher was ready to start, he was such a good helper.  He went around picking up blocks the instant she began singing the cleanup song.  I must admit, I was a bit surprised.  When that little guy gets focused on something, it is hard to divert his attention.

Then he decided to play shy when we went around the room introducing the kids.  That is so not him.  I think that he just had a delay of anger come out from having to clean up the toys. That or he wanted to go see what else there was to do, not sit in a circle. 

As soon as his teacher stood up to have the kids play some games, he was back to himself.  Full of energy and grins.

The parents went in another room to let the kids have some separation time.  I was near the doorway and could catch glimpses of the goings on.  After some games, the teacher taught them how to get in a straight line to go into another room in the school.  I glanced over when I heard her talking to Chase.  He had lined up behind his friend Maycie (a girl in our neighborhood).  I saw him reach his arms around her and give her a big hug from behind.  After a few seconds and still in his arms, Maycie turned her head back and gave Chase a kiss on the cheek.  My little boy got his first kiss from a girl at school on the first day of school?!!!  We are in for it.