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.