Hi there, Baby!

In this video Gabriel is looking at himself on the camera's screen. I am (obviously) not very well focused on him because I can't see exactly what the camera is focused on. As he looks at himself, he calls himself "Baby."

Climbing the Slide

Gabriel has learned to climb the steps on the slide and go down by himself. What a big kid he is! Mommy is practicing taking self portraits --- silly Mom and Gabe!

Grampy Reading

Gabriel's favorite book today is David Goes to School. He brought Mommy the book in the morning and insisted that it be read to him 4 times. Then throughout the day, he would bring it to Mommy to read . . .again . . .and again . . . and again. When Grampy came to dinner tonight, we decided that it was Grampy's turn to read the book to him. That thrilled Gabriel!

Tears on Carousel

We went to the Greentree Mall Saturday. As we left JC Penney's, Gabriel was so excited to see the minicarousel. We told him that when we came back he could ride it. He was so excited to be put on the carousel . . . until we pushed the Start button. Then tears started! To get him through the ride, Mommy walked around with him holding his hand.

Play Ball

We got the exercise ball out tonight for Cousin Wayne to borrow for Candi (Come on, Baby Tomlin!) As soon as Gabriel saw it, he got so excited and said, "Ba-wl, Ba-wl!"
He played with it for a bit and was so cute because it's bigger than he is.

Mommy is Jealous

Gabriel caught some cuddle time with Daddy this evening after dinner. It is so rare for this little boy to slow down long enough to cuddle. Daddy certainly enjoyed it!

Pictures of Baby Grace

We went to Floyd Memorial Hospital Friday evening to do a 4D ultrasound. These are the best of the pictures that we got of her face. She was pretty active during the ultrasound. Her hands were up by her face for most of the ultrasound. A couple of times she was playing with her toes too. We think that we see a resemblance between Grace's ultrasound pictures and pictures of Gabriel as an infant --- particularly the flat little nose. We can't wait to see her in person!

Elmo Car

We went to Babies R Us tonight to pick up a few more things before Grace comes. While in the check out lane, Gabriel spotted the Elmo car. He pointed and said, "Elmo, Elmo!" We put him in the car, and he laughed hysterically.

Daddy's Hat

Gabriel has gotten to an age where I cannot get a good picture of him because he is always moving! Tonight he was playing with his Daddy's hat. It was too cute at he took the hat on and off and said, "hat, hat." I couldn't get a good picture of him with the hat on though.

Joys of Parenthood

There are many joys of parenthood: baby's first words, laughter, hugs, kisses, cuddles, etc. Well . . . last night Dan and I (and Grandma and Papa) experienced one of the not so joyous moments of parenting (and grandparenting). . . public vomiting. Yes, vomiting --- in public. We went out to dinner where Gabriel chowed down on Grandma's jambalaya. Then we went and had some ice cream for dessert. As we were all finishing our ice cream, the kiddo just starts to vomit A LOT. Everything he had eaten for lunch, snack, and dinner came up. It was so gross! You know, at the time, I had no opportunity to be grossed out by it. I was WAY too busy cleaning him up to think about how disgusting the mess was.

Anyhow, we experienced some joys of parenthood yesterday . . . and a very disgusting not-so-joyous time too. And just so you know . . .Gabriel is fine. He felt much better as soon as it was all over.

Reading and Rocking

We spent the day today at Grandma and Papa's house. Gabriel climbed up in his rocker with one of his favorite books to read.

Eating Machine

Gabriel has been an eating machine this weekend. Last night he begged for crackers all evening. Tonight at dinner, he ate all of his chicken (amazing because it was not breaded or in the shape of a nugget), had two helpings of pasta, and finished his carrots. We actually ran out of food that was prepared. He was still saying, "More, more" when I took him out of the high chair and sent him on his way with a second cup of milk. Notice that he laid his fork down because he could get the food in much faster with hands.

Stacking Cups

These stacking cups have been some of Gabriel's favorite toys since he was about 6 months old. Now that the developmental therapist works with him on stacking, he loves to sit down and build towers out of his cups. When they fall, he says, "Oh!"

Gabe in a Box

We went to Grandma and Papa's house tonight for a few minutes. Gabriel wanted to get into his toy box that Papa built. He played in there for most of our visit and played with his toys. Hey, less mess to clean up!