Merry Christmas

We had many wonderful Christmas gatherings with family this year. On Friday, Christmas Eve, we went over my parent's house. Traditional Christmas goose and yummy food, new warm wall-to-wall carpet to play on, piles of presents, and cheerful family relaxation made for a good time.
For the first time in my life, we didn't go anywhere on Christmas Day. Paul used his huge new pancake griddle to make breakfast and we opened our gifts to each other. It was a relaxing day.

On Sunday, we went up to Paul's grandparent's house near Placerville for the extended family gathering and group photo (still waiting for my copy of that event). Gabriel had a blast playing with all the little boys, running around the house and throwing snowballs (there were patches of snow around the yard). The boys ranged in age from almost 9 years down to Ephraim at 9 months. All of Paul's siblings were there and it was wonderful to see everyone. We stayed the night and exchanged presents with his immediate family on Monday morning.
Last night, we bundled up and went to see the lights and displays at Christmas in the Park in downtown San Jose. I remember taking Gabriel for his first Christmas there. It was fun to have both boys admiring the lights.
Ephraim's favorite position is standing and he still takes a few steps to go anywhere before he falls down or sits down. He loves to feed himself. We bought the easy to dissolve baby snacks, but he also likes bread, cheese, and freeze-dried fruit.

We introduced Gabriel to the game of 20 Questions on our long drive home on Monday. We usually stick to animals and don't keep track of how many questions. He caught on quickly and had a great time. He didn't quite understand what an animal was because he came up with "the hills" on one of his turns. On our way home from the San Jose lights, Gabriel requested we play again. He thought of one and daddy and I tried to guess. "4 legs?" "No" "2 legs?" "Sometimes." "Does it have eyes?" "Sometimes." "Does it fight badguys?" "Yes, it's a pirate!" (Yes, "sometimes" they have a wooden leg or a patch over an eye. Clever kid!) We had a great laugh about that.

2011 should be interesting: Paul is finishing writing up his Aspect book and will sell them at DunDraCon in February. In March Ephraim turns one. I'm looking forward to putting together the blog book of 2010 and publishing that. A few weddings to go to also. Happy New Year!

Walking?!

I need to record this: Ephraim has been impressing us today with his new-found ability to walk! He took about 5 steps from the rocking chair to the couch. Sometimes he'll stand by himself and take one step and kind of leap leaning forward to his destination. But as of today I think he has more confidence in his balance.

Average age for walking is about 12 months. Gabriel took his first steps from dad to mom at 10 1/2 months. Ephraim is 9 months and desperate to keep up with brother! Gabriel was playing with a gift bag we got today and he put it down on a chair. Ephraim was holding another chair close by, let go, judged the distance (I held out my hand in case he wanted to grab it), but he walked about 5 steps to get the bag all by himself. Video to come. Paul predicted that he'd walk before Christmas. I think I will declare him right!

And he's not afraid to tell us when he wants something, especially if brother has it. He has a nice loud yell, a prelude to "my turn!" I'm sure.

Stacking Blocks

We've been playing with the foam blocks I made for a long time. Both kids love knocking them down. Yesterday we played a game: dad stacks the blocks and one of the boys knocks them down and we all clap. Today I was playing with just Ephraim and I stacked the blocks expecting Ephraim to knock them down. He concentrated and grabbed a different block, moved it over another block and let go. He stacked a block himself!! He did it several more times, each time with me praising him and clapping.

Paul got this on video while I was putting Gabriel to bed. Paul says he could see how Ephraim was so proud of himself. Watch for the circus trick near the end of the video too.



And I forgot to mention: HAPPY belated 9 MONTHS, EPHRAIM!

Temple Lights

On Monday we went to the Oakland Temple to see all the lights and hear Christmas music. Gabriel had so much fun running up and down the lit hill to each water fountain (and trying to duck under the lights to play in the water in between them).
Ephraim enjoyed all the lights too! And the people. Here he is waving to the camera with dad.
Gabriel had a runny nose last weekend. This week Ephraim caught it, and mom and dad are fighting it off.
Yum, peas and goldfish crackers! (dad likes the pea on the chin the best)
Gabriel colors in a Christmas tree that mom drew for him. We are counting down the days until we get to see family. And praying that everyone is well when the time comes.

Winter Daze

I built a small tent behind the couch, as Gabriel requested. He was excited to get Ephraim to come inside too. The photo is a little blurry but it shows both kids smiling and having fun.
Gabriel loves tickling his brother. I think the feeling is mutual.

Ephraim loves using the walker.

Signs of the Times

Scene: We're trying to get everyone ready to head out the door. Gabriel is making a game of evading Mom.
Mom: Gabriel, please come over here so I can help you put your shoes on. How many times do I have to ask you?!
Gabriel: Four. (thinks about it) Maybe ten?
(Paul to me later: I thought this kind of sassy reply only came from teenagers.)

After watching Disney's "The Jungle Book" a few times, I find Gabriel stripped down to just his underwear.
Mom: What are you doing without any clothes on?
Gabriel: I'm being the Mancub.

Meanwhile, Ephraim is refusing the bottle in favor of anything he can get his hands on. Right now the favorite is bread and Cheerios, mostly because he doesn't chew well yet. This afternoon I fed him bites of persimmon and he LOVED it! He is also picking up some of the baby signs we're using. We're teaching him "more" and "all done" and "eat."

Ephraim Claps and Stands

Gabriel helped me untangle the Christmas lights. He is looking forward to Christmas this year and is finally old enough to get excited and anticipate family and presents.
Ephraim learned to clap his hands! (Plus Gabriel wanted some screen time too.)

Ephraim has been cruising for a while (standing up and walking while holding on to something). Lately his favorite thing has been to stand up and LET GO! He is quite proud of himself. Even while writing this blog post (it's taken two days), Ephraim is trying new things. He is standing alone and taking a STEP now. (slow down, my little baby!)

A few weeks ago we put Ephraim's crib in Gabriel's room so that Paul could use the computer any time to look for a job. Well, after several sleepless nights each week of the kids waking each other up, we decided to switch back. Ephraim has been taking naps even while Paul is typing and everyone is sleeping well again.

We bought Gabriel some firetruck pjs. He loved pretending to be a fireman before going to bed the last two nights. I enjoyed seeing him use his imagination with something that didn't involve lightsabers or "kooming things."

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gabriel can turn just about anything into a spaceship. Here he is with apples flying around.
We love Ephraim's beautiful hazel eyes (dark grey/blue and brown) and his funny faces.
It's hard to resist kissing our kids!
We had a great Thanksgiving. We went to my parent's house, first time in a long time. On Friday we had a nice Thanksgiving dinner at home with some friends. Now we're playing Christmas songs and putting up Christmas lights (Ephraim is fascinated by them and Gabriel remembers them well). We need to finish our Christmas gifts--we're making some and buying some. We were laughing that this will be our 10th Christmas together and Paul has only had a job for 2 of them! Somehow we always make it work.

Adventures at Home

Ephraim loves pulling hair. He makes this sharp "aaaaaah" noise as he goes to attack Gabriel's head. Today he discovered dad's hairy arm. He enjoyed pulling those hairs (and tried to grab some to put in his mouth). He said "aaaaaaw-ow" while he was doing it. We realized that since I say "owwwww" every time he pulls my hair, he must have learned that that is the word for hair.

Gabriel has been sick all week. It started with a running nose and flashed into a fever. It's been nice to have him at a lower energy level and we love the extra snuggles, but it's sad to see him so out of sorts. Today he put himself down for a nap (second day in a row).
After watching "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatball" (a great book turned into a great movie), we got hungry for burgers. Paul made a quick trip to In-n-Out for three burgers. Ironically I think Ephraim ate more of the third burger than Gabriel did! Gabriel was still recovering from his nap and Ephraim will eat anything he can get his fingers on. I was giving him little pieces of the bun and he couldn't get enough. He was never really into the pureed foods, perhaps we just need to skip ahead.

Thunder and lightning storm tonight. Gabriel really enjoyed watching out the window with all the lights off.

Conversations with a 3-Year-Old

(scene: Gabriel asking dad for something)
G: Please, please, please, please... (to the tune of "The Imperial March" from Star Wars)

(scene: Night, mom is emptying the garbage and Gabriel is told to stay inside.)
Dad: Gabriel, stay inside.
G: I want to go outside.
Dad: It's dangerous outside at night.
G: You mean there's badguys?
Dad: That and cars might not see you and hit you.
G: I'll fight them with my sword.
Dad: No, the cars would win.
G: (pause) Let's go outside, dad! (goes to grab his shoes, obviously eager for a swordfight)

(scene: Gabriel is pushing on the table that the TV sits on)
Dad: Stop doing that, it might break the TV.
G: Is that our TV?
Dad: Yes, don't break the TV.
G: It's our TV?
Dad: Yes, don't break the TV.
(repeated several times)

Reading

Not much is new with us. We love being spoiled with having dad home all the time. Paul gets to escape behind the closed door of the office for several hours a day during the week, but we've been eating meals as a family again and playing lots of games together. We're also trying to think of inexpensive day trips we can do to take advantage of our time.

Gabriel is growing up so fast. He surprises us with how manic and moody he is though. He's happy one minute, crying the next second, and fake laughing loudly the next. I hope it's just a 3 thing. He rarely has an accident now and goes to bed without a diaper (which has worked so far...putting on a diaper every night was confusing him and he was dry almost every morning anyway). Also, Gabriel can say the prayer over the meal without any assistance now.

Ephraim is growing up too fast! He loves chasing his brother and tries to do what he does. Tonight, Ephraim walked by himself using the walking toy. He still has trouble getting his feet firmly planted flat but his preferred position is standing. Gabriel walked at 10 1/2 months, I hope Ephraim doesn't walk sooner than that! Also, Paul was reading a baby book to Ephraim. When they got to the page with a bib (a word we use often), Paul said Ephraim turned away from the book, crawled over to the couch, and grabbed one of the clean bibs off of it. He made the connection, so smart! We agree we need to start being more aggressive in teaching him sign language now.

Halloween 2010

Paul worked for hours on Friday making this awesome Jango Fett costume for Gabriel. Paul had a great time getting creative with cardboard and colored duct tape and Gabriel has been having fun blasting around the room.
We went to the church's Trunk-or-Treat. This year they had carnival games for the first time. There was bean bag toss, a balance beam, penny drop, gourd bowling (yes!), and a hay ride! We went inside for a quick dinner and then back outside when it got dark for trick-or-treating to everyone's car trunks. Gabriel was enthusiastic and so cute. We left early since it was already after bedtime and both kids (okay, and parents too) were getting worn out.
Yay, photo booth. Gabriel dressed as Jango Fett. Paul wore the R2D2 hat I had started for him years ago. Ephraim was my sun (pun intended) and I was the sunset (since he was in the front pack the whole time).
I found matching shirts the other day and the boys wore them to church. I tried taking lots of pictures to get a good shot but Gabriel was having trouble smiling and Ephraim couldn't stop smiling and playing peek-a-boo with me. By the way, that is Ephraim's favorite game. He was raising his arms to hide his eyes from people as I walked around last night, trying to get them to play with him.
I forgot to mention that both boys are in the same room now. I think this is the 4th night or so. I start putting Gabriel to bed around 7pm. Then Ephraim falls asleep sometime between 8pm and 9:30pm, and I creep in there and put him in his crib. This works out great because now the office is free for Paul to work (search for a job!!) at any time and he doesn't have to leave when Ephraim naps or goes to bed.

Ephraim discovered his reflection (reminds us of Gabriel's reflection in our old kitchen door window).
A friend of mine gave Gabriel a pumpkin and a Paint the Pumpkin set. Here he is practicing on the paper before painting the pumpkin. (Mommy wants to carve the pumpkin still.)
Paul is making an awesome costume for Gabriel. I hope to get pictures of it when it is finished.

Gabriel's Alphabet

Gabriel loves singing. He'll sing the opening song from the Wall-E movie, Twinkle-twinkle, and almost any song he's heard a few times when prompted. Here is a song he learned from a website we visit called Starfall.com (linked to video if you want to compare). It helped him learn his alphabet phonics. He used to just sing A through H, so when he sang the whole thing for me this afternoon with the hand signs, I had to grab the camera and ask him to do it again.

Preoccupied

Things have been busy around here lately. Not only is Paul home a LOT more than usual, it is his birthday celebration week. Last Saturday we invited many of Paul's friends over and had a party all day to play video games and boardgames and boffer outside. The weather was perfect. Gabriel got his fill of all of the above. Paul's friend from Arizona is staying in the area for the week so there's something exciting every day.

Gabriel continues to do well with potty training. He's had a few accidents, but nothing often or unusual. I feel comfortable taking him to the store or park with me now. Ephraim continues to try to catch up to his brother. He crawls anywhere he wants (chase the cat, chase the mom) and loves to pull himself up to stand. His 2 bottom teeth have grown quite a bit and his 4 upper teeth have finally poked through. I'm being more aggressive in feeding him baby food solids. He's been eating pears and green beans this week. Look at those bottom teeth:
Cute story: Gabriel loves jumping on his bed. I have allowed and encouraged it since he was young because the mattress is directly on the floor so it is safe and he badly needs a way to get out all that energy. Tonight was a particularly energetic evening, so there was lots of jumping. Ephraim kept crawling over to Gabriel's bed and crying when I pulled him away so he wouldn't get hurt. Finally, I understood. He wanted to jump WITH Gabriel. So as I held up Ephraim on the bed (who jumps in our laps all the time) and faced him toward Gabriel, the most beautiful sound occurred. Both boys squealed with delight and heartily laughed as they jumped together on the bed! A glimpse of days to come, I'm sure.

I Wanna Stand

Ephraim has only really been crawling a short time and already he's more interested in pulling himself up and trying to stand. The proud grin on his face as he tries to be like his older brother is priceless. He loves exploring the whole house now and follows me around.
In other news, Paul is able to spend some extra time with us. On Thursday he got laid off. :( It is sorta expected in this industry, but we were hoping this company would be better. We can easily be angry at the timing (a day or two before his 2 year mark there, a week before his birthday, right before the holidays and an expected nice Christmas bonus, etc.), but we are choosing to revel in all the special extra time as a family. Paul gets to play with Gabriel every day (as you can see) and watch Ephraim's face as he crawls at top speed to pull himself up on Paul's knee.
In other exciting news, Gabriel is starting his second week in big boy underpants. Yes! He's potty trained. He saw a bag of M&Ms that Paul had bought (which have been bribes in past attempts at motivation and reward) and all on his own he wanted to use the potty. We haven't looked back and have been very successful in general. We even went to the park this morning and grocery shopping this afternoon without any accidents.

Without prompting, Ephraim started playing this game with me tonight. I've been saying "peek-a-boo" to him for weeks, which always gets a smile, but he started raising his hands and hiding behind his blanket. And the game began.

Laundry Basket Fun

I love this video of Gabriel. We sometimes swing Gabriel around while he's in the laundry basket. Now that he's so much bigger, we don't last as long, so we encouraged Gabriel to give his stuffed animals a turn himself. I'm so glad he had just as much fun. "Coming in for a landing. kaboom!" It doesn't last too long, he wants his turn again at the end of the video.

Happy Weekend

Ephraim is officially crawling! However, he is more interested in practicing crawling a tiny bit to reach a toy and then backing up with toy in hand so that he is sitting again. He is quite proud of himself! Here he is happily surrounded by all his toys (thanks to Gabriel, I'd guess).
Gabriel loves Star Wars right now. He goes around the house making accurate light-saber noises and slashing at imaginary Darth Vader. Here he is flying his spaceship (a sideways chair) and shooting the badguys spaceships.
A happy Sunday afternoon...all three boys are on the couch playing Lego Star Wars. I love Ephraim's expression. He's playing with a Wii controller that doesn't work anymore, but that doesn't bother him a bit.
Oh, and we lowered Ephraim's crib mattress (pediatrian's recommendation at this age). Just in time too. Besides crawling and going from crawl to sitting, he is trying to pull himself up on things. He can't quite get to his feet yet, but we want to make sure he doesn't pull himself out of his crib.

My Happy Thoughts

As I said before, I didn't like my experience with the "professionals," but here are 4 of the 5 I bought. Looking at my sweet boys' pictures always makes me happy!

Coconuts

Gabriel has a new word he uses all the time! At first it made me do double-takes and question what he was saying. Nope, it is what he's saying. Coconuts! As adjectives: "What is that coconut thing?" As a silly answer: "Do you want to go to the park?" "Coconuts" We had several rounds of "You're a coconut!" in the car the other day, making each other laugh. No idea where this came from but it makes me laugh every time (which makes him say it more often, I'm sure). Is this our first inside joke?!

While I was typing this up, I had put Ephraim in the living room with some of his toys. He made a beeline to Gabriel's cars that were left out. You can see the baby toys on the left and the more desirable toys on the right. Fast little guy when he wants something! Not crawling but he can move.
Happy kids!

Doctor's Appointment

Ephraim had his 6 month check-up today.
Weight: 18 lbs 15 oz (75%)
Height: 28.5 inches (>95%)

Gabriel was 15 lbs and 25 inches at this age.

As a side note: This means Ephraim will outgrow his infant car seat before Christmas. Gabriel is not big enough for just a booster yet, so we can't pass his carseat down as we had hoped. Time to get a new one.

6 Months!

Gabriel found his pirate costume from last year and I helped him put it on. Forget Captain Hook, he declared himself "Captain Cone."
I finally went and got professional photos done of both kids. I wasn't happy with JCPenny's photographer, but we got a few good shots that will come next week. Until then, I went home and took lots of pictures of the kids while they were still in their matching outfits. I wish I had their good lighting but I like the smiles I got much better:


Ephraim turned 6 months old on Friday!! We will get his stats at his doctor's appointment on Tuesday, but I already know he'll be high on the chart for height. He has a tooth coming in on the bottom that is bothering him. He can sit by himself (see video below). He loves to babble, especially with a toy or fingers in his mouth. He can move across the floor quickly with rolls and scoots. Today he showed off for dad by rocking back and forth on his hands and knees, so crawling with his belly off the floor is right around the corner!

Confirmed!

We have a confirmed hit, sir! Ephraim has his first tooth poking through on the bottom. This explains what we've suspected all along from his unusual grumpiness and inability to sleep through the night again.

Gabriel has been singing more lately. Today he found a play sheet of music and was pointing to it and singing a song. When I smiled at him, he got embarrassed and ran away to sing to himself in a corner (when did he get so self-conscious?!). Later he was playing with his new Jedi action figures under the dining room table and was singing to them, "That's how you know..." (the song from the movie "Enchanted").

Sitting Up

Gabriel decided to draw the other day. We were very impressed with the result (since he usually just scribbles). He said this was a drawing of dad. He's done smiley faces for a while, with eyes, nose, ears, mouth and hair. This time I see arms and legs too. He's getting older, wow!
Ephraim is sitting up on his own now! He likes this view much better.

My Boys

This picture made Paul laugh out loud--crash landing in the crib. I just love seeing them sleep, especially the cute positions.
Gabriel loves these tiny figures from Paul's "Jedi Duels" boardgame. He constantly asks to play with them. And when we were having a bad day I took these out and he was instantly happy. (We're working on substitute action figures that don't belong to a game.)
My boys. Ephraim loves being able to play with his brother (sorta).
Love this picture of Ephraim, reminds me of Gabriel because they're in the same outfit. Compare it with when Gabriel was 9 months. (And he's propped up, not sitting on his own yet.)

Veggies

Gabriel-isms
I was on my hands and knees interacting with Ephraim, when Gabriel climbed onto my back. He pinched my shoulder and said "Penny" (which is the only name of a coin he knows) expecting the horsie to begin the ride.

mom: "Careful of Ephraim, we don't want to break him."
Gabriel: "He's made of glass, mom?" and after some thought, "I can't break, I'm full of sand."

I decided to subscribe to an organic`farm (since my garden isn't started yet and the Farmers' Markets seem to be far or on Sunday). Our first box of fresh fruits and veggies arrived this morning. We got pears, celery, onion, huge head of broccoli, sweet green grapes, tomatoes and flaming heirloom tomatoes. Add to that the bag from my dad's garden with zucchini, green beans, onions, and carrots (my favorite!). I am so happy. Tonight I made penne with black beans, green beans with tomatoes added at the last minute to steam. I drizzled a little dressing over it. Gabriel loved it. And it will make a great cold pasta salad tomorrow.

Family and More Family

Paul's family reunion was in Sacramento area this past weekend. Paul took Friday off work and we made a fun trip of it.

We left Friday and stopped at Pleasanton to play at the park that has a very awesome water fountain. We got to stretch our legs, feed the baby, and play. Then we drove to the hotel and had dinner with my aunt Denise and uncle Dave. (As a side note, it was hilarious having them say that Ephraim looks like my dad and Paul's family later say how much Ephraim looks like Paul! Some of both, I'm sure.) Gabriel had a hard time falling asleep at the hotel that night, but I enjoyed snuggling with him all night once he calmed down.

Saturday was surprisingly cold and windy. Since I packed for 100 degree Sacramento weather, we took a walk in the local mall and found a sweater for Gabriel. It eventually warmed up once we got to Paul's aunt and uncle's house. Gabriel even got to go swimming to show his dad how much he learned at his lessons.
Their water slide was his favorite part. No fear! He probably went 20 times in a row.


Boffering was a must.
Gabriel's dramatic fall.
Pretending to take a nap with his cousin. Notice both of them have a hand on that car.
By Sunday afternoon, both kids were thoroughly wiped out. We left at 3pm and both Gabriel and Ephraim were asleep within 10 minutes.

However, when we hit traffic, they both woke up. Paul found this great toy for Ephraim.

We stopped at my parent's house for a much-needed break in the long drive and had a wonderful dinner.