Nine Months Out

Although my blog focus has been on the garden lately, Gabe has given us no shortage of things to be proud and amazed of. As of Monday he is nine months old, which means he’s been out now for longer than he was in. Last week tooth number three came through, with a good bit of drool. Gabe has taken some experimental chomps of my nipples that have caused me to yelp (while at the daycare, no less). This, alongside a greater appreciation for banana, avocado, bread, Cheery-o, carrot, potato, and rice, is becoming a demonstration of how Gabe is readying himself to leave the boobs and bottles behind.

Which reminds me: I need to get a photo of Gabe when he has painted himself with avocado. He can’t get enough of the stuff. We only let him feed it to himself on bath nights, because he has to be hosed down afterwards. Just the act of carrying him to the tub results in the necessity for me to change my shirt.

By far the most exciting news, however, is Gabe’s expanded hand vocabulary. He already has two hand-sings, of sorts; the flap – like he is trying to fly – indicates that he is excited and wants something. “Gimmie”. We are trying to teach him the sign for “more” but in the mean time, when he wants more of something, he flaps. And the “bwabwabwa”: back of hand dragged over his mouth while saying “aaaah”. He does this to tell the world that he is happy. I think. Or perhaps it is more as a way of calming himself down. I say this because he makes the gesture-sound as a way of self-soothing when chatting by himself in his crib, and also after vigorous play, when he is exploding with enthusiasm.

Added to these now is the clap! No, not Chlamydia, you sick puppy. He claps his hands! And he gets so very excited when you notice his clapping, and you applaud his efforts. If you start clapping he will beam and clap along. So not only does he do the gesture, but he recognizes that it means “fabulous, terrific, wonderful!”

Just days after he started clapping, I did a double-take: Gabe was looking intently at his own hand, and waving to himself, in that adorable little-kid bend-at-the-knuckles manner. And when he saw that I recognized what he was doing, wow was he excited. Instantly we had a game of waving and clapping, clapping and waving. Chris and Gabe and I have been rolling in the fun of this new game for days. “Bye bye Gabe! Oh, you waved back! Clap clap clap! Bye bye!”

Ah, over the monitor I just heard Gabe make a super cute coo in his sleep. Which reminds me, I need to get to bed. But first, about that gardening I mentioned: Gabe’s Garden is coming along nicely. Here is the view of it from the front window. It now needs mulch, more plants, and toys. I’m thinking if the weather is nice, and if Gabe is sufficiently mobile, we may have his first birthday party out there.