A sister.

A mobile sister. Poor Gabe.

We survived the first week.

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.

Bubblegum pink floof in action.

Making a break for the closet- probably hoping for a shirt. This thing is so full that she can actually crawl in it without it tripping her up- and you can’t even see her bootie, there’s so many ruffles.

Now there’s need for a shirt AND some pants! Good thing her brother knows how to open closet doors.

Uh- oh. Shirts and shorts are in the dressers, not Gwen’s closet! (Note the THREE GARBAGE BAGS FULL of outgrown clothes from Aunt Kelly and Sophie- and there’s more!!!) And yes, Gabe has been in underpants for several months now- I haven’t bragged about that yet!

And here’s a little peasant dress I made from Portabello Pixie’s Claire pattern a while back. Finally got around to photographing it! The pettiskirt actually looks really fun under it- it makes it poof out and the pink ruffles peak out of the bottom! I’ll have to get a shot of that one day!

Three

“They” sure lied about the terrible twos- Gabe was a breeze through most of his third year on the planet. Three is something else, though. Challenging- yes. But, it’s truly amazing to watch his mind work- he is proving to really be his parents’ child, that’s for sure. We can only blame ourselves.

Preschool?!

Yep, our THREE YEAR OLD (Happy birthday, Gabe!) starts preschool next month! We found an absolutely amazing school for him, and we’re all so excited about it. I decided to try to make him a little backpack to celebrate the occasion- and WOW! It worked! I made one!

I’ll be honest- this was a challenging project for me- my first zipper, my first quilting (on the bottom panel), my first time sewing with interfacing, my first time sewing piping- a lot of firsts! I used a tutorial/pattern from Made By Rae- it made it all possible. There were still parts that were over my head for a minute, and I had a few panic attacks during the process, but, I can definitely recommend it if you are an intermediate or even advanced beginner with a sewing machine.

And I’m pretty sure he likes it- that’s the important part! He’s had a lot of fun zipping it up and stuffing it with toys and books. And he was a willing model- that, alone, speaks volumes!

Broken hair, a wink, and wispy tendrils.

Dad’s been working on a wink with Gabe as long as I can remember- he’s had blink down since he was tiny, but, wink was apparently a challenge. This was pretty close, though, I think! And that’s “broken hair”, by the way. He doesn’t tolerate “broken hair” for long. Tousling his hair gets me an “Oh, Mo-om!” now.

This, on the other hand, is crazy hair. And a really funny wink.

And our little girl’s hair is getting longer- I love every last wisp, every last strand.

Day 89

“Oooh, smells so pretty, mom!”

Heheh. No it doesn’t- it’s a scentless weed. But, he’s awfully cute.

Day 77

This one just made me laugh. Gabe always wants to hold Gwen- ALWAYS. Even if they’re both sitting on the floor right next to each other. Obviously, she doesn’t usually mind the attention. I’m pretty sure he’s her favorite person in the world. I bet “Gabe” will be her first word.

Day 74

Lynx barged in on our little portrait session. Gabe is so good with these dogs these days. I’m so thankful that he grew out of that stage where throwing things at the dogs was such a blast!!!

Day 72

What goes on in that mind? Oh, what I’d pay to get a glimpse into that head sometimes.