Quality time

It has been a great week so far. On Monday, Gabe went to preschool. Let's just say he wasn't as happy to be there as he was on Friday. Kevin dropped him off and said it was painful. His teacher Katrin said that he was fine the rest of the day, just cried when his dad left. She reassured us that it would get better each time that he came. I hope it is a quick transition because I have to drop him off on Friday and when that kid cries for me, it's like someone is ripping my heart out through my stomach. These are not normal cries either. They are packed with tearing words like, "Mommy, can you hear me? Mommy, please answer me. Please don't leave me here mommy." It takes every ounce of will power that I have not to rush in there, pick him up and say, "we're done." I have been assured that every kid in his class has done the same thing at first and that in a month, he will be crying when he has to go home. A whole month? Kevin and I love the school and feel like it is a good combination of organized play with learning. The teachers are so loving and I've heard that they will even come to your house and babysit so that Gabe can get used to them a little faster. While Gabe was in school, I got to work a full five hours and it felt great. Kevin and I agreed that I spend close to 160 hours a week with Gabe - so 10 hours a way from me isn't going to scar him for life. Can you tell I'm still trying to convince myself of this? The cool thing is, I get SO much done while he is at school that when we are together, it is full on Gabe and mom quality time. I don't have to sneak away to the computer because I have some work...its all about Gabe. So Tuesday and Wednesday have been chocked full of fun times together.

On Tuesday, we spent the morning at the zoo with friends. Here is Gabe on the skyride. Which we had to ride twice. He is really into the monkeys (as usual), the lizards, and the Galápagos tortoises (on your mark, get set, go!).


Today, we went to playschool and the theme was textures. We did rubs of fish and dinosaurs with different stickers and materials. He loved this craft. We are off to buy some stensils tomorrow. The lady who hosted was so creative. She made triangle shaped crayons using ice cube trays and melted old crayon nubs. They were colorful and the perfect shape for the kids. Here is a picture of the kids' artwork. Gabe's is the bottom left (says the proud mama bear). Afterwards, we stayed at the playground for a long, long time. Gabe was worn out when we got home and took a three hour nap (ok, we took a three hour nap). And later tonight I will pay for it during a date with my little friend, insomnia.

Finally, here are a few pictures taken from the last two weekends. A week ago, we went to a friends birthday party at the train museum park. The theme was "Thomas" - duh. We went on mutiple train rides. Then last weekend we went to a friends birthday brunch. Gabe was busy as usual, transporting goods from one end of the house to the other (sorry Elaine)...in Mickey Mouse ears.