Hadley's Last Day of Preschool & Graduation

Last week Hadley had her last day of preschool on Tuesday and a little graduation ceremony on Thursday morning. It was a fun week celebrating the end of her first year of school!

And a look back at her first day! If you look at her head in relation to the doorknob in the first & last day pics, you can see how much taller she is now! Crazy to think she's grown that much from September to May!

Speaking of how much she's grown & changed over the year, Hadley's preschool teachers put together a little portfolio for each of the kiddos. It was so precious! My favorite was seeing the development of her writing her name! {Below are pictures of a couple of the pages in Hadley's portfolio.}

A few pics & videos of Graduation Day!

{We dropped off our graduate in her classroom & then headed to the gym to grab our seats for the ceremony.}

{It was too cute seeing all of the kiddos in their caps & gowns huddled together on their classroom rug!}

{Little brother taking it all in!}

{Hadley posing with her teachers, Ms. Sarah & Ms. Meka}

 

 

The first video below is of the students walking in as they played the graduation song. Hadley is the first one to be seated in the second row. I love how she bounced so happily into her seat & how her face lit up when she spotted me in the audience.

 

 

This next video is my favorite! During the instrumental parts of this song when there wasn't any lyrics, the microphone was passed from student to student and they each shared what they wanted to be when they grow up. We heard lots of ballerinas, firefighters, & teachers. One of my favorites was a little boy who said he wanted to be a husband! Hadley said she wanted to work at Super Cuts! ;)

 

 

And below is the graduate passed out after the ceremony! ;) I seriously couldn't believe this happened! I can probably count on one hand the number of times the girls have fallen asleep in the car. Brady on the other hand consistently falls asleep in the car if it's near his naptime. After graduation, I planned to run two errands on our way home. As were nearing the destination of our first errand, I asked Hadley if Brady was still awake or not b/c he was kinda quiet. Despite asking her a second time, she still didn't answer me. It wasn't until I parked and turned around did I realize it was her who had fallen asleep! I guess preschool graduation is pretty exhausting! ;)

And this last picture is random, but I had to include b/c I feel like it captures Hadley really well at this stage. After getting home from graduation & our errands, I put Brady down for his nap and I was in desperate need of a snack & a few minutes to cool down. {Trying to keep a 10 month old content & relatively quiet during a graduation ceremony while simultaneously trying to take photos/videos and then running errands with two kids in tow in 95 degree heat will do that to you!} While I ate my snack, Hadley gathered up all her materials to "pretend paint." She sat across from me at the table hard at work on her imaginary creation & just talking away non-stop about what she was working on for Bear. At 4 years old, Hadley is incredibly independent & self-sufficient, creative, sensitive {code for she cries/pouts when things don't go her way}, smart, funny, sassy, loves being read to, and is the best big sister and little sister you'll ever meet.

 

 

It was a true joy watching Hadley grow & learn over the course of her very first year of school! Up until this year, all of Hadley's friends have been Shelby's friends and all of Hadley's school experiences have been of Shelby's schools. It was so fun getting to witness Hadley navigating this first year of school for herself--this place that was uniquely hers. One of my favorite things about her starting preschool this year was getting to hear her share her school stories with us at dinner every evening when we all share about our days. It's like she's suddenly no longer just our little girl or just Shelby's little sister, she's her own person! And she's amazing! We're so proud of you, Hadley!