We are SO proud of this kid! We officially have a preschooler.
Gabe’s first day at school was Wednesday, and woah. This was the “before” picture in which he looked the *least* freaked out. He looked so tiny and nervous- so cute! He didn’t cry, though- and broke my heart a little by walking away with his director without even a glance back at me!
And after preschool! They have all the kids in the yard when pick-up time comes around for the part-timers, and when I pulled up, Gabe was busy hopping off the slightly raised pathway into the sand with some of the other boys. They all ran up to the gate shouting “A mommy or daddy is here!” SO cute.
Thursday started a little tough. His dad did the drop-off, and it was going fine… until one of the other newbies arrived. Sobbing. Gabe joined him. And his dad had to give him a big hug and hand him over. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m glad it wasn’t me!
When I got there at p/u time, I was a little more stealthy and just sat and watched him for a minute- he sure wasn’t scarred from his rough start. He was spinning around on the huge tire swing with two of the girls from his class- laughing his little butt off. His directress let me know that he’d stopped crying after just a few minutes that morning, and had had another great day!
Friday started out fine- no tears! And he was a little annoyed with me when I came to get him this time- he REALLY loves that tire swing and didn’t want to stop!
We are just thrilled with his preschool and the staff. He has some of the cutest classmates, too. He’s talked about drawing lines with pencils, snack-time, playing in the sandbox, pouring water (a typical Montessori exercise) and the bunnies and chickens. He’s obviously been working on letters this week, too- he pointed to a P and a B and called them “pah P” and “bah B” when I was reading his bedtime stories to him. How very Montessori of him! 
I wish I could be a fly on the wall there one day and see how his day goes without him knowing I’m watching!
Unfortunately, Gabe has brought home his first preschool cold, too. There are so many great things about his new experiences that we’ll just have to forgive this one negative aspect of being around so many other kids. But, boo- poor kiddo.