Dog Food Boy

This was the conversation coming from the bathroom the other night:

Tim: Gabriel, that is a no-no!!! BOYS do not eat dogfood!
Gabriel: (unfazed) crunch crunch crunch

That boy!! He does not really seem to understand why one cannot partake of the delights of such a readily-available, nutritious snack. Bleccch!! He is learning, albeit slowly.

We are having a good catch-up week from our trip. Gabriel has settled (thankfully) right back into his normal naptime schedule. He is really saying a lot of words now, or will repeat the word you tell him for an object. Yesterday he FINALLY got on a "Mama-mama-mama" kick that continued today - this is the first that I have really heard him make many "Ma" sounds. So it's nice to finally hear myself included in his conversational chatter. He seems to be making up for lost time!

He loves to walk outside, and it is just ADORABLE to walk behind him and watch those chubby little legs a'flyin! He is also into giving kisses recently. The other thing he has learned to do is blow dandelion seeds. I'm sure all of our neighbors think that is SO wonderful. :)

Oh, by the way, Gabriel says a belated "Happy Birthday!!!!" to his Grandpa Norm. :)

The Long Ride Home...and Back

Well, it's been a busy three weeks or so since I've posted. The first week and a half I was madly catching up on my hours at work while Tim had his Reading Week. This past Thursday, Gabriel and I went on an adventure all by ourselves to Virginia, since Tim had too much schoolwork to come along. Gabriel actually did pretty well traveling. Both parties involved for very grateful for the DVD player Nana Carol had given Gabriel for his birthday. He just vegged away for a few hours like a proper 2006 child. Until he got bored and ripped apart a few books. :) I'm growin' my child up RIGHT, can't you tell?

He had a great time seeing his Grandma and Granddaddy, and eating some great Easter meals and moo-ing about 768 times during our stay there. Lots of cows to see. He also took some rides in the golf cart and walked up and down the brick steps in front of the house about 34 monotonously boring times in a row (can you tell I was the hand-holder on that one?). He's at that stage where he loves steps, but will straighten up to his full teetering height right on the the very edge, swaying back and forth. One must almost go take a nerve pill. Or hold his hand. Tim missed him, but I kind of got the feeling that Gabriel was simply too busy to really miss anyone, and if his mommy had headed off for a few days, I don't really think he would have noticed that either. :) What between toy cars and cows and Granddaddy.

Grandma gave him his first Easter basket with some of those kid Graduate snacks and a bunny and some OJ - and a BUCKET. Wowsers.

So we're finally home. Phew. 10 pounds heavier and really tired of driving. :)

A Fortuitous Discovery

Hi, this is Tim. The other day I went for a jog with Gabe in the jogging stroller that Charles and Edith brought the last time they came from the Shenendoah Valley. That thing sure is handy. I ran over and saw our Matt and Kathy Ernst's little preemie (Silas) for the first time. Man was he tiny. Then on the way back I detoured and lo and behold what did we find? We found a playground! So Gabe and I enjoyed ourselves for a while and then brought mommy back later. Gabe loves the slides. The leaving was the hardest part.

A Little Walk

Yesterday I took Gabriel outside because it was so nice (upper 60's, low 70's) and he trotted up the sidewalk with me tagging along. When he reached the end of the sidewalk, he wanted to turn right, and since that is a busier road, he had to hold Mommy's hand, which was fine, and he just toddled away. We walked all the way around the block, which is a long way for him to walk, and he had a GREAT time. We talked mainly of "cars" and "Daddy", with the occasional "ball" thrown in. He just chattered away as we walked - it was just adorable. He had to stop and squat down to look at some dandelions by the road, and we talked about that. When we were a couple of houses away from home, it started to rain, so I picked him up and hurried home, to many tears of disappointment - he would have LOVED to stay outside, rain or no. He did such a good job holding my hand. What a sweet pumpkin.

One of his newfound abilities in recent days is being able to climb onto our bed, all by himself, where he hurls himself around with unsurpassed glee. It's like a giant trampoline to him, with what he sees as an ensured soft landing. We have mini-heart attacks, on the other hand, as he flings himself down too close to the window or the footboard for our comfort. Today he was in mid-climb on top of our dresser when Tim exerted his baby-redirection skills. The pea-brain dog thinks that somehow, if mom and baby are on the bed, she would be safe if only she could get under the blankets. She's not too smart, because the child is merciless in his pursuit of the dog. Blanket + dog = an even softer and delightfully wiggly landing.

Sometimes I have regretted teaching Gabriel to go to bed awake so that he can fall asleep without us having to be there, because I miss being able to hold him to sleep - he can't hardly sleep unless he is in bed, or in a moving car. This afternoon before his nap, I got his blankets and offered to rock him, and he trotted right over and climbed into my lap, where he fell fast asleep as I was singing to him. What a nice feeling.