Boys will be Boys

Crash! That is always the best part of playing cars.

Plant a Seed of Guilt and Watch it Grow!

Okay, when you have a child, a little seed of guilt is planted in your heart. Every time your child is harmed in any way that seed sprouts and roots and your guilt gets worse and worse. Well, as you probably saw on our family blog, Gabe had minor surgery last week. And though he is all better, I am not. He really was back to normal within a couple hours, but those hours that he was groggy and mad and sleepy and hurting were horrible for Hector and I too. Needless to say, I now have a whole bushel of guilt. So, the day after surgery we went to Toys-R-US. Maybe I can buy back good feelings? This is what Gabe got. HE LOVES IT. I highly recommend it. We play hide and seek for hours in it. And I am slowly trimming my hedges.

I call this his "Blue Steel". It is his mean look. And can be done on command.

Okay.... that's one way of getting in...

My Boy

Isn't he just adorable? Couldn't you just squeeze him forever?

A Girraffe is on the loose!

Ahhh, Halloween. We had to decide between a Giraffe or an Elephant. He can make and Elephant noise... but a Giraffe is so much more fitting right? We thought so. He loved his over stuffed tummy and bum! The frog next to him has also escaped the zoo...

DO you not see the candy in my hand Mom? Well.... what are you waiting for???

Gabe is obviously struggling to grasp the concept of waiting to eat the candy until you get home. He thinks that if he does not eat it right now, that it will magically disappear.

Isn't Mom the cutest Safari Guide you have ever seen? ;) Right. But it was fun!

Gabe and Dallas, coming back from a quick trip to the neighbors for a refill on candy.

Gabe and Cousin Brinley. I am not sure why but Brinley takes extra interest in whatever Gabe is doing. He certainly doesn't mind and I think Brinley feels a nice sense of control when she is around him. (don't know where she inherited that from)

Who needs toys? I have tupperwear!

Don't waste your money parents! Toys are fun for a few minutes, but they always end up back in your cabinets. He loves any boxes or bubble wrap, tupperwear or pans.

Happy 1st Birthday Gabe!

Present time! I am not sure you have any idea what your goal is here, or what the box is that you just took the paper off of, but you LOVE to rip the wrapping paper! Forget the toys! Bring on the paper!

With a little help from cousin Adam, the paper is coming off.

Thanks for the books Grandma and Grandpa Harris!

Aunt Laura, showing Gabe how the basket ball hoop works. Your a natural, dude!

Here is Gabe with all his birthay gifts, the dump truck is definatly his favorite. Gabe never left it alone whole night, and still, a few days later, it is his favorite toy.

You've had a Birthday Shout Hooray!

We had a sports themed party for Gabe's big Numero Uno! I made him a 2 layer chocolate cake with a baseball on the top. Friends and family came over and we played and sang happy birthday. Then Gabe got to eat his birthday cake all by himself. At this point, he is just testing the water, you know, see if I jump for a wipee the moment his fingers touch the frosting?

It's okay, really.

I am not sure how much actually made it in his mouth, but he is enjoying it regardless. It was all fun until Uncle Steve put a scoop of ice cream on his tray, he didn't like the cold sliding down his tummy very much.

Yuuummmm!!! This is awesome!

My Crib

It is amazing to me how badly Gabe does not want to go to sleep. If someone put me in a bed and told me to go to sleep I would be SO excited. Oh, you'll miss these days of rest Gabe, trust me!

He's so cute, isn't he?

I am a little worried....

Okay, the other night I came home from the store and set my purse down in the hallway on the floor. A few minutes later, Hector got my attention and said to look at my purse. There was Gabe, quietly pulling my wallet out, then all my credit cards and crawling away with them! I said "Hey! What are you doing?" And he looked at me, laughed and crawled even faster!! This behavior has to stop!! ;0)

My darling child, taking my money.

Very very sneeky

A Walk in the Park

I have taken Gabe to the park in our development many times before, but that one doesn't have swings! I decided to take him to Discovery Park in PG and he had a blast! The swings were his favorite thing to do, though he doesn't quite get that you have to sit still and his little skinny body had alot of room to move around in the swing!

Sup?

"Oh the places you'll go!...."

It boggles me that you can get into some of the situations that you do! I don't see how you could have fit above or below the bars under the chair, but you did! Sneaky! Very very sneaky!

"I'm gonna get you!"

All Gabe needs to hear are these words and he can hardley contain himself!

And he is off!

Mom is following close behind!

He might be loosing her with a quick right around the chair!



Oh! She found me! Let's do it again!

It's my bed time and I'll cry if I want to!

Every Mother knows it. That look in your child's eyes when he has had enough. We see it about 8:30, when he no longer wants to play with Hector, when the only thing he does want to do is lay on Mommy. It is time for snuggles and a bottle, but I don't mind! After all, this is the only time he sit's still enough for me to hug and kiss him all I want!

My new bouncy seat!

He loves it! His favorite part is the piano on one side, it plays songs and he bounces and bounces and tries to dance to them. (He may have gotten Dad's talent for dancing...)

We miss the days of rolling and crawling. They were so relaxing compared to this stage! Gabe is pulling himself up on furniture now, well, I guess anything he can reach. he is getting better at balancing but sometimes he forgets that he can't walk, let's go of the furniture and try's to walk forward. He never gets more than one step in before he crashes to the floor. And, just like a boy, he usually smiles a big smile and crawls away.

We take alot of pictures at our house, most for no real reason at all. Doesn't the look on his face say it all?

The Aftermath of Speghetti

I've seen worse!