Helicopter Fun

My awesome brother gave Paul and Gabriel a set of helicopter toys for Christmas. It's far above Gabriel's age, but we were surprised that he actually learned to control the helicopter himself this evening. The first picture says it all!
There was so much laughter and excitement! Paul took lots of good videos, I couldn't decide which one to post.

A Love of Nursery Rhymes

In case you forgot the original nursery rhyme:
Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,
Upstairs, downstairs, in his nightgown,
Rapping at the windows, crying through the lock,
'Are all the children in their beds?
It's past eight o-clock.'

My Three Boys

Gabriel:
Gabriel turned 2 1/2 today! He surprises us every day with the things he does and says. He can talk in full sentences and several sentences at once. He uses his imagination often and teases and jokes with us. He can play happily by himself. He can feed himself, drink from a real cup, and eat almost anything we can (and tells us "spicy" or "so tasty"). He talks to himself and today I caught him using a deeper voice while roleplaying. He loves to copy us and boss the cat.

The other day he "played" Nursery (the church's class for kids his age). He held up a poster I had made for church with pictures of different families on it and said, "Everybody come'ere. Everybody, look pittures." And he pointed and talked, just like a nursery leader would. He said something like "Jesus story parents" and I definitely heard a "Heavenly Fader" in there somewhere. Then he walked around the room and kept saying "Everybody come'ere." He even literally chased down the cat and tried to get him to come'ere for the lesson! I was laughing so hard while he ran after the cat with the poster in his two hands yelling come'ere!

We've had at least two talks with Gabriel about his upcoming little brother. I think it finally hit home today. On the way to my doctor's appointment Gabriel said, "Mommy big tummy." And I said, "Yes, remember that mommy has a baby in her tummy?" And he laughed. Then I said, "Gabriel is going to be a big brother soon. We're going to have a baby." And he laughed and enthusiastically said, "oh boy!" He also played with his baby doll this evening in a very loving manner.
Baby #2 (at 31 weeks):
Everything went well at the doctor's appointment. Because the baby was very quiet this weekend, I was a little worried and the doctor monitored his heartbeat for 30 minutes today. Gabriel was an angel the whole time. The baby is fine, heartbeat is still strong, and he even got the hiccups while monitored. She also measured my fluids (normal too) and I got to glimpse him on the ultrasound for a few seconds. We are so excited to meet our new baby boy. (We have a name picked out but will wait to meet him to make sure it fits.)

Paul:
Paul has been working hard on his latest personal project: a revision of ADnD. In the past, he's always come up with extra material for this classic tabletop roleplaying game, but now he's building his own rules and characters from the ground up. He spent his whole week's vacation from Christmas to New Year's finishing up an alpha version to self-publish on www.lulu.com. The books came today and we're proud and happy! Now to playtest!

Little Star

Gabriel sang this for me and was good enough to sing it again when I got the camera.

Prettier Yard

Today, Paul put together one of his Christmas gifts from me: a weed whacker and edger. I know it's work, but he seemed to enjoy it and appreciated seeing more of our sidewalk again. A few Saturdays ago, Paul planted some berries and trees in our backyard too. He planted our dwarf spruce Christmas tree in the back right corner. In this picture you can see our orange tree and lemon tree in the ground. I love seeing our yard so much improved. A veggie garden is next on the list.

Adventure in the New Year!

Gabriel said he needed this mustache (borrowed from Mr. Potato Head) to go on his "adventure" up this "ladder" (futon on his bed). Love his imagination!! Doesn't everyone need a mustache when they go on an adventure?!

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!!