But on to the real excitement of this journal - the kids! 

Cole will be 4 months old in two days. He's a big boy!  Everyone says so.  Like with Gabby I always heard "she so little" we constantly here "he's so big."  It's pretty funny!  Cole is such a flirt and loves to be held.  He's very talkative and very smiley and his sweet little voice makes our hearts melt.  He's a very good baby - mellow and happy.  But he has his moments.  And they mostly happen toward the end of the day.  He has very strong neck control.  He looks like he will roll over pretty soon.  He will not take a pacifier and still hasn't had a bottle (this is mommy's mistake - she needs to get on this before it's too late).  He chews his hands a lot for comfort and recently started sucking his thumb.  He takes short cat naps throughout the day and doesn't really eat on a regular schedule (which is very different from Gabby as a baby).  As far as sleeping through the night before we moved he was awesome - going to bed around 8 and waking up only once around 3 a.m.  Now (and partially because we've been cosleeping since the move - mostly out of pure laziness for not setting up his bed), he wakes up two to three times at night.  It'll be interesting trying to get him on some sort of a schedule. And unfortunately, just as many second children experience, we are not taking enough pictures of him.  My new years resolution (starting early) is to be better about this.

And Gabby continues to have "personality plus."  Gabby's second birthday party was fun.  It was Elmo themed and she wore a beautiful dress made by Grandma Gabi.  We served foods that had wheat in them (we are so loving that she can have wheat now).  We had a bounce house and kids painted and played in the water table.  On her actual birthday, she had a cupcake for breakfast, had her favorite meal of black beans and rice from Chipotle for lunch and went to her playgroup where they celebrated her birthday with many rounds of ring around the rosey and train table play.  Then daddy's friends Wesley and Christine came over with their baby boy Graydon.  She got more presents and all-in-all had a great day. 

As a 2-year-old, Gabby is a very strong-minded and independent little girl.  Very clear about what she wants and doesn't want.  She loves to dance and sing and her favorite show is Wow Wow Wubzy. 

So far, she likes school (it's only been two weeks).  She goes Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 9 to 3.  It's a long day, but it includes lunch and a nap (and she actually does nap there).  Her day is broken up into little increments of time and activity.  There's art, work projects (Montessori's way of saying basic life projects like sorting), circle time, songs, books/storytime, outside time, snack time, lunch time, potty breaks, hand washing time, etc.  We really think the structure and socialization is good for her.  She has her own little lunchbox that mommy packs every day.  We get daily updates from the teachers (Ms Celeste, Ms Blanca and Ms Layla).  Apparently she has a little boyfriend that they dance and sing together and have their own little language.  The first day she had no problems and no tears.  The second day we had some tears because she wanted to wear her crocs to school instead of her brand new tennis shoes (the school doesn't want the kids to wear crocs).  The third day she got a "boo boo" report because another kid scratched her during outside time (he didn't want her to come inside the playhouse and apparently has trouble expressing himself through words).  Gabby cried for a bit (but she's a very tough kid), the school called me and her and the boy are now friends again.  The second week, we had no problems.  She runs into school and she happily wears her non-crocs shoes. 

Meals are tough.  She can be pretty picky and sometimes we wonder how she can be so active with the small amounts of food she eats.  She loves soy nuggets, clementines, apples, rice, rice cheese, soynut butter, plantain chips (and chips in general actually), but getting protein and veggies in her diet is more and more challenging.  Sometimes things we think she'll like, she won't even try.  Sometimes meals she loved the previous week, she won't touch.  It takes patience by everyone to get through these challenging meals. 

Gabby's language continues to grow.  For a while, everything was "mmhmm" for yes.  Now it's "yap."  Some sentences are crystal clear while others are a jargon of Gabriella-ese.  She'll say "no way" when she's emphatic against something. 

She calls Cole "baby Cole" and is very concerned when he cries "he's crying. hurry."  She's a good big sister most of the time.  She has her moments of jealousy and clingyness.  One time she literally bit Cole on the head in front of Grandpa Mikey.  But mostly she likes to kiss and hug him.  She's starting doing little performances (dancing around him, waving a blanket, etc.) which makes Cole giggle.  Cole goes back and forth between being terrified and fascinated with her.  Sometimes Gabby shrieks so loud, she makes Cole cry.  It's a continuous work in progress trying to get her to understand what Cole likes and what he doesn't like.

Gabby loves bubble baths.  We just started using the whole bath tub (instead of the blow-up tub). She swims in it and sometimes it's difficult getting her out of it.

Naps are still a challenge for Gabby, but most nights bedtime is easier.  She's going to bed an hour earlier since the time change and she seems to like the predictibility of the bedtime routine (food at 5:30, bath at 6:00, brush teeth and get in pjs, read three books, get into the crib and turn out the light).

Unfortunately Halloween was a bit of a blur due to the move.  Originally we had big plans of doing themed family costumes - we were going to do Charlie Brown (Cole), Woodstock (daddy), Snoopy (mommy) and the Great Pumpkin (Gabby).  Gabby ended up as a super cute pumpkin, Cole wore a pumpkin hat and Halloween outfit and mommy and daddy wore lame costumes (wigs and cat ears).  Earlier in the day we went to Mr. Bones pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin (and daddy and Gabby ran into Jessica Alba and her daughter who Gabby apparently snubbed).  Then daddy and Gabby carved the pumpkin at home.  That night we all went trick or treating, but this time in our new neighborhood.  There were SO many people (and people were driving in to trick or treat there).  Gabby got such a kick out of saying "trick or treat" and "Halloween."  We only did it for about half an hour.  When we got home, Gabby was obsessed with pulling the candy out of her pumpkin and putting it back in.  She wasn't super interested in eating it though (thank goodness), but mommy and daddy took care of her loot and gave her Gabby-safe candy the next day.

Thanksgiving was short and sweet.  It was just the four of us.  Mommy cooked a Gabby safe meal - a turkey, green beans, mashed sweet potatoes, cranberries, bread, sweet potato pie and pumpkin pie morsel cookies for Gabby.  Gabby hardly touched anything - she did like the bread though.  This year, mommy didn't try anything too complex and everything turned out delicious.  Then on Saturday, we went to Uncle Eric and Aunt Diane's for their traditional Thanksgiving meal.  Gabby wore a dress from Grandma Judy and Papa Jim that they gave her a year ago (it just now fits).  And Gabby had so much fun playing with her cousins and Ella and Sadie.  The food there was even more delicious than our actual Thanksgiving meal.

We're looking forward to the Christmas holidays since we've never stayed in town during them.  We've got our stockings up on the mantle and are even getting a tree.  We won a living Christmas tree rental and on Sunday, they'll be delivering our 5-6' Leylandi Cypress (Leyla for short).  Such a cool idea!