Play-Doh and Curls

One of the things Gabriel and I do when Ephraim takes a nap is play with Play-Doh. One day we found a toy that made dotted lines like on a road, so Gabriel asked me to make a car. It's been getting more complex each time we play now. We have a road with lines, cars (with racing fins), a Mack truck, and now cones!
Daddy is so awesome! He gives the boys roller coaster rides!
The boys got a cold Thursday. Gabriel built his "bunk bed" (the futon on top of the couch) and spent time relaxing and looking out the window at the rain.
Okay, I just want to record something weird. Before I had kids, my hair was super straight. I even got a perm after college to see what curly hair would be like. Now, after I had Ephraim (and a haircut), this is what my hair looks like naturally after a shower! Weird but fun!

One Years Old, Wow!!

I'm sadly behind on my blog journal. Without further excuses, let's get to the boys:
Ephraim turned ONE years old on March 16. On Saturday, we invited our immediate family over for a celebration. We missed Grandma and Grandpa Cook because they were snowed in and couldn't drive down (much less out of their driveway). But we had fun talking and watching the boys run around and do their thing.
Uncle Mike (and Grandpa, for that matter!) always find new and interesting things to do. Here he is stacking things on top of Gabriel who, for once, is lying very still.
(Keep scrolling down to the next post for the videos.)

Videos and More Videos!!

Ephraim tried to climb into the toybox this morning and we thought it was funny. (It's great to hear Gabriel's voice in the background too.)


Here is some video I took last weekend. Ephraim insisted that I hold him while he fought Gabriel. He's smart!


Grandma and Grandpa Gunn sent a wonderful package to us which arrived on Ephraim's birthday. He got this cute singing/talking stuffed dog and naturally Ephraim sings and dances right along! I've been trying to capture it well.


Paul caught the boys playing nicely together. I'm so glad he recorded part of it! (Gabriel can be the perfect big brother sometimes! So sweet!)

Cheeks and Cuddles

I love his cheeks! Yum!
Sweet brothers!
Haircuts at last. Naturally we didn't get a picture of Ephraim's haircut because it took all three of us to distract him and cut his hair. I'm excited because I could use the big attachment on the razor for Ephraim's hair and the back of Gabriel's.
Super Ephraim! (He asked for the cape to be put on him so he could be just like his big brother.) And Gabriel explains an excellent drawing (it's nice to see something besides doodles again).

Amazing Kids

I am sometimes bewildered at Gabriel's tastes, but I am SOOOOO thankful for them. He loves vegetables, and I hope I can keep it that way. Yesterday, he ate all the cucumbers at dinner (mom only got four half slices on her salad). Tonight he was sneaking broccoli whenever he could. We've had to bribe him with lettuce so he would eat his chicken. And I've said before how he risks his fingers as he grabs carrots off the cutting board while I'm chopping them (the sound of the carrot peeler will call him from the living room).

Ephraim has great perception sometimes. Today he pointed to the tiny animals on his sleeve and made animals noises as he pointed to each one. We didn't think he'd notice something so small and on his clothes.

Paul wants me to mention the superhero of the day: Bookman. Gabriel put on his alligator hat and previously-Batman cape and ran around pointing his palm to us saying "bookbookbook" which is the sound effect for shooting books at us. Let's not forget that he had a sidekick puppy-dog "Fire Pup" at his side.

Doing Things Together

Ephraim is growing up fast! He refuses his bottle in favor of eating food now. About two days ago we tried giving him a fork to eat with and he loved it! He served himself some applesauce with a spoon yesterday. The result was messy (applesauce on the walls) but it was fun.
This picture was taken a while ago but I like it. Gabriel loves his train set. He built this one all by himself. I think I posted about this before, but it's still cute. Upside down flat-sided pieces are the streets for cars so he mixes cars and trains in his town.
Both boys love books. This was an adorable scene I had to capture.
We've been so busy around here lately. Paul and his games did great at DunDraCon! It's thrilling to see how much excitement he draws to him. We will be taking his Aspect roleplaying game to the next level and distributing it nationwide through a company we found. We're learning. So while Paul is working on his Stone Tablet Games and looking for a full-time job, I had Jury Duty this week (thankfully I got excused after 3 days). I also have two book projects that are keeping me busy, not to mention our energetic boys.

11 Months

How can my baby be 11 months already, almost one?!
Ephraim is such a joy! He loves to walk everywhere, sometimes running. His favorite game is to be chased (sometimes into the bathroom where the cat water bowl is) and to come back to "get" you (fall open-mouthed into you). He loves to eat real food, especially if big brother is eating it. He has a mild runny nose right now and at least 4 molars coming in.

Paul is taking his roleplaying game book Aspect (as well as his boardgames) to a convention this weekend. We have been so busy preparing for that. Paul's aunt Cindy does t-shirts, so we got some with the Aspect logo on the front (and Stone Tablet Games on the back). Gabriel loves that he and his dad have matching shirts. Paul is thrilled that they're not iron-on (like I surprised him with the first year we went to the con). They look great.
A while back, I got out this water paint board for Gabriel to enjoy. He loved painted and repainting pictures. This one he said was "a cow going fishing."