Big Things

Gabriel got a few big things for Christmas this year, as well as many other wonderful toys. Paul's dad and stepmom gave him a great book, which Gabriel wanted read twice in a row and again later in the day. We found a great deal on a small kitchen for him. He loves pouring water from the teapot and pressing all the buttons on the microwave. Here he is Christmas morning checking it out while dad puts all the pieces together.
Rachel's parents got him a great train set. Paul likes building with the track (to get Gabriel started for now) and Gabriel loves moving all the pieces around. There's a hill (slide for the trains) and a "heptopter" and yellow cones and a stop light. All the things a little boy could want.
And speaking of little boy! Gabriel insisted on wearing his cape while he played with his cool castle from Paul's mom and stepdad. He loves making the little action figures fight with their swords (and it gives mom a break from being the target). So many moving parts and fun pieces.
Friday, Christmas Day we opened presents at home and then went to Rachel's parent's house for Christmas dinner. Saturday, we had Paul's immediate family at our house for Christmas dinner. Sunday we went to church and then enjoyed Paul's extended family's Christmas dinner. Lots of presents and good food.

Sadly, the fun ended on Monday. Gabriel got a bad stomach flu. I was hoping it was food poisoning and would go away quickly. However, I spent all Monday night changing sheets and pjs and slept in his room. Tuesday he just wanted to cuddle and wouldn't eat or drink anything (I started to worry). Today, Wednesday, he seemed better at first (just me being hopeful). After a terrible morning, he perked up and finally ate and drank something. He was cheerful by naptime. *Update: Gabriel was cheerful after his nap too. He enthusiastically ate a plateful of chow mein for dinner and is running around the house with his helicopter now at 7:20pm. I think he's feeling better.* I'm hoping the rest of the week improves. Happy New Year. :-P

In baby news, Gabriel's younger brother is doing fine and seems most active at 10:30pm, kicking mommy as she tries to sleep. I can't believe I'm almost 30 weeks pregnant now. Ten more weeks to go and I'm happy and excited. Paul and I put up the crib yesterday and it eases my mind to have found a place for it in the office (the plan is that he'll sleep with us at first and nap in the office).

Lots of big things this week: toys, sickness, baby belly. Wishing 2010 is even better than 2009!!

Merry Christmas Eve!

We opened one present this Christmas Eve. Both Paul and Gabriel enjoyed the whirly wheel lights.

Lookitdis

Our favorite phrase right now is "lookitdis" as in "Dad, look at this." He says it all the time now.

Other common phrases:
"Det down, suppose do dat!" ("Get down, you're not suppose to do that!" mostly said scolding the cat on the table/window)
"Det down, fall abonk ahead" (the last word is drawn out "Get down or else you'll fall and bonk your head")

We've been talking about Christmas a lot lately, especially as presents get wrapped and shuffled under the tree. Gabriel knows he can't "opendis?" until Christmas. I keep telling him that Christmas is coming. Today he actually ran to the front door and looked out the window. "Where iszit?" No, Christmas isn't here yet. And it won't be coming in a car like daddy does. :)

Gabriel as Batman

Gabriel is old (tall) enough to wear the cape that Paul got from work last year. I found it yesterday and Gabriel enthusiastically ran around the house declaring himself Batman.

Sugar Cookies

A friend at playgroup let us cut out sugar cookies at her house. Gabriel loved it so much we did it again yesterday afternoon.
In baby news, I had my monthly doctor appointment today. I got to hear the baby's heartbeat again, and both the doctor and I were surprised by how loud and clear we heard it. Gabriel's heartbeat was always hard to hear. She also said I was measuring at 28 weeks pregnant instead of 27. I don't think that means too much at this point.

Building Blocks

Gabriel loves to play with blocks. We bought him a block table this weekend for his Duplo-sized blocks (new for $80 instead of $300, we couldn't resist). Here he is playing with his old bigger blocks before naptime. I was extremely impressed because he built this castle wall all by himself from scratch.
Growing belly picture taken last night (26.5 weeks).

Things That Made Me Smile Today

Things that made me smile today:
Gabriel ran all the way across the house to give me an imaginary piece of candy.
Gabriel counted to ten, peeking between his fingers, and said "ready not, here tome!" as he ran off to find his dad.
Gabriel says "dank you" often and appropriately!
All three of us hung lights and ornaments on the Christmas tree.

Snowman

Gabriel and Paul snuggle with the snowman, taking a break from decorating for Christmas.
Gabriel found the snowman that he was attached to last year in the Christmas decorations. He's barely put it down since then.

Today he found the flashlight pen from Paul's work. He took every one of his toys and "beeped it" like the scanners do at the stores.

It's Beginning

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. I bought Christmas lights recently and Gabriel and I tested them out. In the store he kept calling them candies, so when we got home I had to show him that they were even better. Now the day after Thanksgiving (when we can decorate) can't come soon enough for him.
I am so excited to share Christmas with him this year, he understands so much! Gabriel's vocabulary continues to amaze us. He shares ideas and his point of view often. He sings songs all the time (the words to "Yellow Submarine" tonight at dinner, for example). His imagination is always increasing. We played with scraps of paper today and they were bridges, roads, houses, arrows, and cars and airplanes. He's not afraid to let me know when I'm wrong either--it's not a building, mom, it's a bridge.

In baby news, I feel huge and uncomfortable. But the best part is that Paul finally felt the baby roll and kick last night when he put his hand on my belly while we relaxed on the couch. We're both so much more excited now.

Those Eyes...

We attempted to take family portraits at my parent's house yesterday (thank you, dad!!). I love this shot of Gabriel. We tried different locations and lighting. I think we'll find one we like for our Christmas cards.

More Gabriel Smiles

Gabriel and sock monkey took turns riding the truck this afternoon. First the monkey rode while Gabriel pulled the truck. Having the monkey pull the truck while Gabriel rode didn't work out so well, so here they are sharing.
I'm still working part-time from home. One book project is almost done and one more to go which will be done almost two months before the baby is due. Here is Gabriel helping me meet my deadlines.
I forgot I had taken video during Gabriel's "photoshoot." I wish I had taken more video now. He is standing on an end table (which is what makes this all exciting) and posing without prompting.

Bedtime Songs

Bedtime songs are so much fun with Gabriel. For "The Wheels on the Bus," tonight the baby on the bus goes honk-honk-honk. Well, he does if he has a cold. :) We are just about over our colds here. This was a tough one.

I started singing "She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain" for Gabriel lately. He cracks me up. For the verse "Oh we'll all have chicken and dumplings when she comes" Gabriel adds "and broccoli."

Smiles for Mom

You can't PLAN a photoshoot like this! Gabriel was in such a mood this morning, laughing and grinning with side-eyes, that I had to grab the camera!

Happy Halloween

A friend gave us a pirate costume for Gabriel. He played with the sword first, then the flag was a big hit. I love his expression here.
He actually let me dress him up in the pirate shirt for the church's Trunk-or-Treat party Friday night.
Here's Gabriel trick-or-treating for the first time as he goes car to car. By the 4th car, he quickly learned that if he said "trick-or-treat" people would give him candy. He was amazing and so well-behaved as I was stationed at the kid's activity table.

Smiles

He's too cute, I need to get pictures of Gabriel back up here.
"Cheese"
Hey, there's a red light on the camera.

Gabriel-isms

Gabriel continues to enjoy fighting with the inflatable swords. His new phrases include "1, 2, 3, Fight" (I think he's been watching Paul play Street Fighter too much and he spreads his legs in a stance before attacking now). Gabriel also just started saying "Oh oh, I see that now" or something similar. It cracks me up. If we're looking for something and I point it out, he says that. He also has an adorable habit of saying a nursery rhyme when he falls down. Just now he tripped and fell and said "cock-a-doodle-doo, my dame has lost her shoe." After trying to figure out what he said, I couldn't help but chuckle. When Paul came home from work the other day, Gabriel got super excited (like he normally does) and started rattling off the nursery rhyme "A was an apple pie, B bit it, C cut it...." He got all the way to N nodded at it.

Oh, and he's been saying "dank cue" all the time, whenever I give him something or help him. It's adorable!

And we confirmed our suspicion that when Gabriel says "Hap tum?" he is saying "how come?" a child's famous WHY?

20 Weeks Belly Picture

It seems only fair to take belly pictures of the second baby too. Not the best picture of me, but oh well. In Gabriel news, we found a "baby brother" baby doll (after looking in two more stores) and he doesn't seem allergic to it. Ironically, he doesn't have much interest in this one.

Baby Doll

Since Gabriel is going to be an older brother a few other moms suggested getting him a doll that he can play with. It's a good way to introduce the idea of a new baby coming into the family and a good way for him to have his own baby to care for later.



I was surprised by how immediately he became attached to this doll! He pretended to feed the doll, talked to it, and shared his toys. He even asked the doll if it wanted milk or goldfish to eat. The best part was when he was teaching the doll the baby sign language for fish (taking the doll by one hand and showing the sign with his other hand)!! The sad part is that he is VERY allergic to this particular doll. It is heavily scented (something I didn't notice at the store) and he broke out in a rash the last two days. This doll is now in quarantine and we're off to buy another. It's sad because Gabriel keeps asking where his baby doll is.

It's a ...

... BOY !!
Gabriel is getting a little brother! The ultrasound appointment today was great. Both our mothers were there to "see" our baby for the first time. He squirmed around and let us see those necessary parts. Everything is healthy and normal.
Gabriel's room is painted light green for his jungle theme and the two boys will eventually share a room. So I wanted to think of a different theme for the new baby but something that could potentially match. Between the creative mothers and Paul and me, we came up with a pond theme. I loved the little frog and turtle clothes Gabriel got once, so I'm very excited. Not sure what I want to do yet, but I feel inspired and excited to be creative in my welcome of this new little boy.

Rain!

First real rain of the season, I think. Anyway, it's been raining hard all day and it's 4 in the afternoon now. Gabriel begged to go outside in the rain, so I bundled him up the best I could and we took the "U for Umbrella" out with us before naptime.
The first thing he did was run around and trip and fall in the puddles, twice. After getting mostly wet, it was all about playing with the umbrella. He was running and laughing the whole time.

Swords and Beach

Here is another picture from Paul's DnD Boffer Adventure on Saturday. We met at John's apartment, so Gabriel got to play fight with his cousin before the adventure really began.
On Monday we went to a beach in Santa Cruz. Here are my guys smiling for the camera. Both of them are so cute!!!

Paul's Birthday Weekend

Paul wanted to do another DnD Boffer Adventure for his birthday party. (We had the party one week before his actual birthday.) A huge group of people gathered at his friend's apartment complex. Rachel ran the game while Paul led the badguys.
Gabriel really got into it!! He charged the players enthusiastically, swinging his sword and smiling.

Drumming (Rock Band Style)

We got out the ice chests for Paul's party on Saturday. They instantly turned into drums. His vacuum toy has been a guitar for weeks.



Then dad gets drumming and they have a rock band!

More Pictures

Gabriel caught a mild cold this week. So we discovered the kid's tv show "Blue's Clues" through NetFlix as a distraction. It's his new favorite show!! Here he is hugging Wall-E and watching Blue's Clues with a big grin.
Animal cookies in a box, need I say more?!
I made fudge for the first time. I found a super simple recipe while flipping through a cookbook to find a recipe for dinner (heehee). It was delicious but a little on the caramel side for texture.

Tricks on Mom

Just want to record some cute things Gabriel has done recently.

Yesterday while I was putting him down for a nap, I was kissing him good-night. I'd say, "I kiss your...hand good-night" then "I kiss your... knee good-night" etc. He usually would make suggestions by naming his own part, "head" or "hair" or "nose." Yesterday, after every kiss, he said "yuck" and wiped the kiss off. It made me laugh and he did it with a smile.

Then later, he played a game with me. He looked out the window and said "Oooo! A fire truck!" I went over there and said "Where is the fire truck? I don't see it." And he said, "oh, it's hiding." He did that about three times, with lots of enthusiasm. He did the same thing when he went camping. He said he saw a "snowman" but when we asked where it was, he'd look around and say, "oh, it's hiding." I don't get it, but it cracked me up.

Camera & Cat

Gabriel is growing up so fast, I feel compelled to take as much video as I can even if it's just every day stuff. This video makes me laugh for several reasons. When he was tiny, I "clinked" my cup to his cup in a mini-toast. Now, whenever we have the same of anything, he "clinks" it with mine. Snakes are his favorite animal, at least when talking about them. It's the first answer to what's on Old McDonald's Farm. He has trouble looking through his camera to see the slideshow animals, but he thinks he sees a snake anyway. :)

Camping!

Yay, my parents organized one more camping trip for the season at South Lake Tahoe's Meeks Bay. It was fantastic. The weather was great--80s during the day and a bit cold in the 40s at night. But it wasn't crowded, we ate good food, got to play in the water and relax, and we all had a lot of fun!

Naturally, there were two activities of choice for Gabriel: climbing on the rocks and throwing rocks in the water. Here is Gabriel on a rock he can climb by himself.
Climbing up a steep hill to get to rocks.
I wonder where he inherited the urge to climb?Our last morning was cold, but Gabriel dragged his bunny out for the walk and made this "snowman" out of rocks by the lake.

Cute Smiles and Little People

I realized I stopped keeping track of when Gabriel turns another month older, and thus stopped taking a close up picture around that day. I took this yesterday. Gabriel is 2 years, 2 months old now. This is after his nap and he's watching his favorite movie "Cars."
This made me laugh so hard. I found his megablocks people lined up like this on his table. He has named these characters: mom (I guess I'm more blonde that I realize), dad (cool hair), and uncle John (because of the blue hat). He calls them by name when he plays with them.
Gabriel's favorite activity lately with these people has been a Boffer War. Gabriel sees dad fighting with padded swords with his friends, so Gabriel has been "fighting" with "swords" with these characters. "Whop, whop, whop" as one knocks down the rest. (sigh) I'm trying to teach him that they can play nicely too, race or chase.

Running Through the Sprinklers

Time for the sprinklers again!

Beds

Gabriel woke up crying in the middle of his nap on Friday. Since I was still tired too, we slept together for a bit. This was too cute not to take a picture, kitty and toddler.
My parents came over Saturday morning and helped Paul build this awesome bookcase/headboard for our room.
Paul plugged in our alarm clocks and such, reaching under the lid and through the drilled holes for cords.
The kitty tried it out and I took a nap. It works!