Toys

Gabriel decided to take out all of his toys this afternoon. He spent quite some time pulling out each one and either tossing it aside or playing intently with it. I love his concentration here.

Teething Again

Gabriel has 4 teeth on the top and 2 teeth on the bottom, all have come in all the way. Now he is teething again with 2 more starting to appear on the top. Poor guy is putting his mouth on everything and chewing everything that comes his way. This morning at breakfast he refused to put down this teething toy in order to drink his water. Talented little thing (I love his smirk here).

Sunol

On Saturday we met Paul's mom and family at our favorite spot in Sunol for a hike. I just bought a jogging stroller for Gabriel, and John & Lynnessa brought a backpack for Everett. It was great because we could have the kids swap places if we needed (Gabriel started in the stroller and fell asleep on the hike back in the backpack, vice versa for Everett). Top two pictures are Gabriel and Paul on the Injun Joe Cave rocks. The last picture is me and Gabriel, seconds before he fell asleep.

Cutie Pie

Here are some pictures I just took. I've been taking a lot of video lately, so I needed to balance it out.

(Man, what a sweet face)

(Every once in a while he'll still do that cute look-down frown.)

(Oh, yeah, the remote.)

Almost Walking

Gabriel took his first solo steps this past weekend. While Paul and I were sitting on the couch, Gabriel stood and took a few steps between us by himself. He's not walking yet, but he can stand without holding on to anything and is anxious to get around without having to get down and crawl. He keeps trying to walk and is not bothered in the slightest that he falls down after a few quick leaning steps.

(I tried to post a cute video of Gabriel talking, but when it finally loaded, it didn't appear and neither did all my other posted videos. So I'm experimenting by deleting it for now.)

Hot Days

Yesterday was pretty hot, the rest of this week is suppose to be hotter. I set up a water play area for Gabriel in the tiled game room. He had fun splashing. Then last night Paul took us all to see "Iron Man" at the drive-in theater. We took out the back row in the van so Gabriel could play for a little bit before he fell asleep. It was great to be able to see a movie and sit outside in the cool night air.

10 Months

Happy 10 months, Gabriel (my cute little monkey)!

Happy Mother's Day!

I have the best husband! When Paul came home Friday evening, he surprised me with a dozen beautiful roses and a huge green dragon! The dragon is almost bigger than Gabriel. Gabriel was more interested in the roses than in playing with the dragon.

Here is a picture of my darling boys from this morning. After this picture was taken, we went out and got the other half of my Mother's Day gift: a minivan! We used the insurance money from the accident as a nice down payment on a used minivan. I'm sure we'll post pictures soon.

Kitchen Fun

Gabriel and I are still sick, poor guy. The sad part is that his nose runs a lot and he moans most of the day. He isn't a fan of having his nose wiped, but I can get him to laugh when I wipe my own nose. The best part is that he needs lots of hugs (I've got plenty of those for him) and snuggles up to me for comfort a lot too. Here he is playing in the kitchen today. He likes the handles on the oven and on the drawers. He really only crawls when there's nothing to hang on to. (Okay, I admit he also crawls to chase the cat or when playing the "I'm going to getcha/Come get me" game with me.)

Sunglasses

Okay, I'll post a video too. Gabriel discovered a pair of sunglasses from when we cleaned out the VW Bug. He enjoyed playing with them all that day (Friday).

Sick Days

It's been quite a day so far. Gabriel and I are fighting the cold that Paul is getting over. Yesterday Gabriel just moaned all day, today he seems to have more energy. He's getting into the tupperware cupboard here. We've gone through 3 outfits so far today. One this morning after his diaper exploded. Second outfit after he crawled into the second bathroom (where we keep the cat's litter boxes). He tipped over the cat's water bowl and played and sat in the water until he was soaked. So I gave him a bath (and let him splash in clean water) and he's napping in the third outfit. Whew! Did I mention that I had to do laundry while this was going on because Gabriel has outgrown his 6-9mo clothes? He only has two pairs of pants that sorta fit. The stock of 12mo clothes we have are too big for him. Time to go shopping today for some 9-12mo stuff. He is growing so fast!