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.