August 13

Today was a big day: Caleb's first day of preschool!

Bear with me while I bombard you with photos?

Caleb was so, so excited to start preschool. His teacher came to our house to visit a few weeks ago, and last week we got to go visit his classroom. This boy was absolutely ready for the fun to begin!

He was pretty pumped about the baseball backpack, too. It's the Pottery Barn Kids preschool backpack - just the right size for his little frame, though it is not quite big enough to hold a standard sized notebook or folder. 

The outfit was a result of me wheedling and bargaining; he wanted to wear his Batman shirt (with cape) and shorts that is actually a set of much-too-large pajamas, made of a really crummy polyester. Maybe on Day 3 or 4, buddy, but not on Day 1. Sorry. Also, please note that while Daddy is gone, I am breaking Caleb of the socks-with-sandals look. It's just a no-go.

And off we go! My mom accompanied Caleb, Daisy, Lily and me for drop-off. It was chaos in  there - parents everywhere! But Caleb washed his hands, found his cubby, hung up his backpack, greeted his teacher, found his nametag (he was able to identify his name right away, even though it was written with lower-case letters!), and ran off to play. I called after him, "Bye, Caleb!" and he didn't respond. I tried again. Nothing. Finally the teacher called him, and he looked back and said, "Bye!" then off to the blocks.

My kind of first day! I felt a twinge of sadness as I left him, but then I realized that he was so excited, and so ready, to have an experience like this. I am so proud of my big boy!

When we got home, it was time for some yard work. You know, the stuff I've been neglecting for the past four or five months? 

Daisy put on her (much too big) gardening gloves and helped me pot some plants. Can you tell how excited she was?

We made quite the mess, but we got the job done!

Gosh, she's cute. Today she had a perfect blonde ringlet right on top of her head. Her hair is so funny!

Then Daisy insisted that we take a picture of her like we did of Caleb. She was pretty pleased with herself.

Later, Maggie came over to play. Lily and I left for a chiropractor appointment while Caleb and Daisy were napping. When we returned, we found Maggie on the couch, with a very sleepy Daisy draped across her, snuggled in tight. It was pretty sweet.

Sadly, Maggie had to go back to her real life, so we said goodbye. When I asked to take a picture, Daisy refused. Finally I bribed her into cooperating by telling her that she could hold her baby sister in the picture. That's why Lily looks the way she does, and that's why Maggie is laughing so hard. It was pretty funny.

I got out a play mat that a friend made for Daisy when she was a baby, and laid Lily down on it. Daisy immediately grabbed one of her baby dolls and laid it next to her sister.

And then she grabbed another, and then she laid down, too. I promise, I had nothing to do with arranging this shot. But gosh, it's funny! Also, it totally reminds me of this old blog post. (Scroll all the way down to the last photo!)

Lily's first tummy time. She was unimpressed.

But she was quite impressed with Grandma's snuggling abilities.

(Also, I put her in this sleeper that was Daisy's for the first time today. It's size 3 months, and almost too short! I guess I better start moving Lily out of the newborn clothes, and into the 0-3 month clothes before she outgrows them!)