Realization

It is amazing how a child can effortlessly be a mirror of all that is best and worst in you, and leave you better for it.

Gabe Helps Make Pizza

Gabe did a great job of helping us make a yummy pizza!

Halloween 2010

Gabe dressed up as Bob the Builder and did a great job of saying "Trick or Treat" and "Thank You" at each house we went too. Unfortunately this morning he woke up and his first words were "I want candy Mommy!" Up until Halloween night we haven't let him have any candy, so that bridge has finally been crossed. Hopefully we'll be able to keep it to a minimum moving forward. I'd like to keep fruit as the candy of choice for as long as we can.

Gabeisms

"Red means stop, green beans go."

"I eat the owl." Said in the direction of the window, after a discussion about listening for owls. He followed it up by holding his mouth open, as if waiting for an owl to fly in. I imitated him, and we laughed ourselves silly. Gabe was telling a joke.

"I can't reach the moon. Get the ladder."

"Squishy stars!" Only Gabe knows why the stars are squishy tonight.

"I'm afraid!" Said at the slightest sound of a motorcycle or train somewhere in the distance.

"I'm afraid of the owl!" Said when spotting a darkened window.

"The train is up in the sky!"

. . .

Today was Gabe's first day at a new daycare. Chris and I worried needlessly: the teacher said that Gabe seemed like an old pro. He got right down to business on the playground, ate his entire lunch, went peacefully down for a nap, and played nicely with the other children. The only discomfort he showed was after the second trip outdoors, when he didn't want to take off his coat. (So they let him wear it indoors, which was nice of them.) When I came to pick him up, he was engrossed with a toy truck, and had to be talked away. Then in the car, he told me excitedly all about the daycare's sandbox! What a great beginning.

WIP : Sibling

It is official. Gabe's sibling is in the works and currently three months along!

Gabe has a lot to say.

While falling asleep just now, he chanted "ding ding ding ding fireman!" a couple of times. Now he is singing. For dinner we had quesadilla and guacamole, and he can say both of those words like a champ. Earlier this week he surprised me by asking the complete sentence "where did Daddy go?"

Gabe asks for books by name. His favorites include "Places You Go" (Oh the Places You'll Go), "Green Ham" (Green Eggs and Ham), "Lorax", "Truck Book", "Snowman Book", "Tiger book", "No David", and, his favorite, "Humperdink" (Hooper Humperdink: Not Him! By Dr. Seuss.) All books except for No David are, according to Gabe, "by Dr. Seuss". We haven't made our first real pilgrimage to a library, except for one stop at the library in the neighboring town, which, shockingly, turns out to be closed on weekends.

And now, on having been sidetracked while looking up the proper spelling of Seuss, I have learned all about the awesome Theo Geisel on Wikipedia.

Overheard. . .

. . .as Gabe was falling asleep:

"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

Gabe Eat's Edamame from the Garden

I picked some of the soy beans just before lunch and decided to try making edamame for lunch. I figured Michelle and I would split some. Much to my surprise Gabe go into his chair and dove in.

It took him a couple attempts before he figured out how to get them open, but he learned quickly.

Nom Nom Nom goes Gabe.

Earlier this morning Gabe shelled a bunch of dried peas for me, so I'm wondering if that helped him out with the edamame. Though eventually he copied mom and dad and started popping the pods in his mouth to break them open.

Happy boy full of fresh organic edamame. If I ever doubted if all the time in the garden was worth it, watching Gabe happily eat GREEN things from the garden has dispelled that doubt.

A birthday toy

Gabe picked out his gift at the toystore.



He likes it almost as much as the balloons.



Thank you everyone for the fleet of toy construction vehicles, and the other lovely gifts! Gabe loves them all.

Overheard on the Baby Monitor. . .

"One diaper, two diaper. One diaper, two diaper. I did it!"

Gabe's Waterpark Adventure

You want me to climb up where?

I did it all by myself! I am totally the man!

Now I just adjust like so and get down on my butt...

Holy crap do you see how high this is?!?!?!

My public awaits so down I go.

Splashdown!

Here ya go little lady let me get that for you.

Now that we have that out of the way,
what would you say to a trip to the water slide together?

Ya I totally come here all the time. I practically own this place.

Free-stylin!

Holy Cow. I hope she can't see my face from up there this is scary!

What are you doin' man. You're like totally backwards.

Wedgy city huh dude? I told you backwards was a bad idea.

All the babes love free-stylin!

Boy in a Bucket

The Home Depot was having a special on toddlers, so we decided to pick one up! We've been having a heat wave up here, so when given a bucket of water to play in Gabe decided he'd climb right in.

It is like the Ocean in Galveston, only smaller...

Exploring

Happy Earth Day!

Many Words

Last week one morning, from the moment he woke up, I wrote down each unique word that Gabe said. He was up to 40 words by the time we dropped him at daycare. Days later, he started pairing words together: "big ball", "more milk". Today he said "two airplane" and "my turn". The latter is particularly exciting, because those are two particularly abstract words, and he put them together himself.

Gabe added another mondo-mashup word to his vocabulary as well: ah-bah-dee-doh. It took us a week to unravel this particular mystery. It's Gabe-speak for "I'm gonna get you." I.e. it's what Chris says while chasing a giggling Gabe around the house with wiggly tickle fingers.

Gabe loves to tell us "get down" when he climbs on to things. He now moves a pillow in order to use it as a stepping-stool onto the couch. In the bathroom, he puts his stepping stool precisely in front of the sink for hand-washing. The stool has to be moved about because it blocks the door. Gabe usually gets angry at it when it blocks his door-closing fun, but today, after pondering the matter, he picked it up and moved it out of the door's way.

Speaking of stool, we had no intention of starting potty training so early, but since Gabe has been pooping by the clock, I tried plunking him on the potty first thing in the morning, and met with unexpected success two days in a row. In the evenings, bath time has three steps: get naked, make pee pee in the potty, and shower. Gabe calls the first step, with much glee, "nay nay!" and he has to be watched around the little toy potty, because he is apt to wear it like a hat.

Chew Your Food Song

I came up with this as we were trying to teach Gabe to always chew his food. It is to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Chew your, Chew your, Chew your Food
If you don't its very Rude!
Chew until its nice and small,
That way you won't choke at all!

Chew your, Chew your, Chew your Food
If you don't its very Rude!

Pee Pee in the Potty

We've been acclimating Gabe to his potty by letting him sit on it prior to getting into the tub or shower and tonight he finally went pee pee in it. We're not pressuring him or anything, it was more a happy accident, but we're hoping that gentle positive reinforcement will click in over time.

Fearless Explorer

Wall vs Gabe - Wall Wins

Gabe was spinning around and around. Then, dizzy, he fell into the corner of the wall and clonked his head good.

He's still feeling well enough to ham it up for the camera though, so I'm not too worried. Still, he's going to have an impressive bruise to show off at day-care tomorrow.

Recent Videos of Gabe's Activities

Gabe's been learning new stuff all the time.

Important stuff like how to climb ladders

How to play the cymbals

How to ask for more water when he's thirsty

How to order up diaper time comic relief

How to answer the phone and hang up

Fun with Words

Gabe's vocabulary is continuing to expand! He's doing a good job of trying words and using signs at the same time where applicable. Still many are pretty mangled, though adorable.

Hi Lao Loo - "I love you"
Nae Nae - "Night Night"
Dow - "Down"
Oh No!
Woah!
Hi
Hello
Bye
Buh Bye
Mo Ma - "More" He uses this while using the sign for more
Doa - "Door"
Dat - "That"
Emma (Name of friend at daycare)
Hurray - Said while raising arms up
Hah tch - "Hot" Said while reaching towards something and then pulling hand away

New Signs:
Thirsty - Running finger down throat
Itsy Bitsy Spider - He puts his hands together at face level and raises them up while singing "aye ya aye ye"

Okay, now he's walking IN the snow.

. . .in shallow snow, at least.

Salad Dressing Selection. . .

Presents!

And some more romping outdoors. . . notice we're not IN the snow yet. . .

Gabe's First Snow

Gabe doesn't like snow yet. I think he puts it in the same category as bubble-bath.