I have to admit that I am feeling pretty emotional today.  It is Avery’s last day of her first year of preschool.  HERE is a link to the post I did on her first day, with pictures.  And here are some images from this morning (check out Alexa’s diapered form in the window – ha!  I couldn’t bring myself not to included it, knowing how much Alexa hates to be excluded from anything Avery gets to do!).

Although Avery fit into the same outfit, the clothes fit very differently, and that skirt will soon be moved over to Alexa’s half of the closet.  But the craziest thing is that the biggest changes are the ones that you can’t see.  Her ability to communicate, to express complicated ideas and to understand things has exploded in so many ways.  Socially, she has developed so many skills, so many ways to work things out with her peers instead of needing to be directed.  She is rarely the kid pulling a toy from another kid anymore (unless, of course, she is playing with her sister), but understands sharing and taking turns, and besides these days she would rather play WITH her friends and will engage in long and involved pretend play.  She has learned so many things – she can sing a song that tells you all the continents, for example – but more than any individual facts that she has learned, she is so excited by the idea of learning.  She asks all sorts of questions all the time and wants to understand how things work, wants to know how things are spelled and what letters are in words.  Although seeing my baby grow up is a bit bittersweet for me , I could not be prouder of her.