Happy 38 Months Gabey!!

See that picture at the top of my blog?? I'm keeping it up there for a LONG time. When its frosty in the morning, or the first night we need to turn the heat on, or I dig out the puffy coats, I want to see that picture and simultaneously mourn summer and anticipate the next one. Isn't it funny how in July, looking at pictures of sledding and snow seems so foreign? I guarantee that looking at pictures of bathing suits and swimming and lush green backgrounds will seem weird come next February...

And with the start of "fall" and September also comes your 38th month. It was a pretty quiet month for you, all things considered! Other than a trip to the beach with Grammy, Grandad, and CeeCee, we chilled out at home a bit more. Playdates were attended, pools were swum in, dirt was dug and we're still working on grasping the last of the summer-like weather before fall comes...

Rock Glen Pool with Teddy and Stanley (currently tied for the honor the Most Ridiculous Amount of Cuteness)

We definitely did a lot of swimming this summer, but especially in the last month. We swam at Jen's house, the Rock Glen Pool, and the Country Club pool (courtesy of friends who are members). I have to say, though I have no interest in joining the country club, I loved taking you to the pool there. We mostly went with my friend Josie and her little baby, sometimes on weekends with Daddy in tow, and sometimes during the week when it tends to be less packed. Our "final hurrah" was last Tuesday, and there was literally NO ONE there since school had started up again. After an entire summer of refusing to wear floaties and not understanding that if you DID wear them we could let you go, you figured it out. It was awesome. Suddenly you were like a little fish and were even braving jumping in without being caught. Makes the anticipation of next summer that much stronger!

"I swimming!"

On the behavior front, we are doing okay. We have had a few tenative playdates that have more or less gone okay. I think with the start of school next week, and with someone besides me reprimanding you, the remnants of the hitting problem will be curbed (fingers crossed!!!) You have definitely been very sassy lately...you like to respond to things I tell you to do by saying "YOU clean it up Mommy!" or "No YOU go in time-out Mommy!!" But I really can't complain this month and I think that being less "on the go" has benefitted you.

Taking time to smell the roses, errr, dig in the dirt.

Other changes this month are small but all add up to you becoming more grown up. You're getting better at getting undressed and dressed by yourself. You always put your shoes and hat in the shoe basket when we get home. You don't like Mickey in the living room when you're playing sometimes, and you've learned how to coax him out and shut the doors. Sometimes when you are upstairs playing in your room, and I want to go downstairs, you tell me you want to stay there and I let you (we have a monitor, so I can hear you, but it feels weird to say "Oh G3's upstairs playing in his room.") You can carry your plate or cup to the counter and sometimes do so without being prompted. You love to "help" us do certain things, especially Daddy outside. He recently built a ramp (bridge?? its hard to say...) for outside the fence, and you were right in the mix, measuring and helping. Pretty damn cute. Most people in your life have noticed your penchant for mechanical, meticulous, hands-on stuff. I'm not sure I forsee you being an artist, or an athlete (um...we won't talk about your inability to put your hands up, let alone catch a ball. And experiences at the pool with the tetherball were less than successful). But I do see you being an engineer. Or a neurosurgeon. And when that happens I'll be like, "Yes, even at age 3 he was cutting his playdough with such precision!"

Taking it all very seriously!

And so that's the month in a nutshell. We did some other cool stuff like attending a family reunion of Kramers (my mom's side), traveling to Harrisburg to go the Science Center (lots of fun) and hanging out with friends. Soaking up the last of the days of sunlight past dinnertime, fresh produce, mornings outside in the sweltering sun, shorts and barefeet, leaves on the trees, swimming, road trips, and so much more. I could cry just thinking about it all ending. But I AM excited for fall with you...raking leaves (you are SO getting put to work this year), Halloween, pumpkins, festivals, Fall Frolic...all that good stuff. Until next time...one last photo that screams "summer summer summer"....

Peeling corn with Grandad (ignore Grandad's lime-green and maroon ensemble...)