Noisy Boys!

So we figured after babyproofing in February, just in time for Gabe's 1st birthday and for him to start walking around, that we made our kitchen TOTALLY BORING! He can't get into anything....which can be viewed as both a pro or a con, depending on who's judging and what the cicrumstances are.
We've been told that every child needs at least one cabinet to "get into" that contains pots and pans to play with. So....I gave Gabe a pot and a wooden spoon to play with and he loved it. He banged and dragged that pot around everywhere and still has it! He thought all that racket he was able to make was a real hoot and now everytime the dishwasher is open and he sees a wooden spoon in it, he starts trying to grab it and pull it out.
If he put the pot on his head, he could pretend to be Johnny Appleseed!!

 

My Day at the Park

Today, we went to a local public park and played outdoors in the pretty Spring weather. It's finally starting to warm up enough here to be outside in the sun without a coat on.
At the park, Gabe didn't like the swings much but he liked the slide alot, especially crawling up it the wrong way and preventing other children from using it properly! He ate a decent amount of sand and wood chips and he thought that was pretty cool.
He made a few friends at the park too and he's a big flirt with the ladies. He says HI to pretty much anyone now and no one can believe how big he is for his age! I think this tire tunnel was the biggest hit with him and he knew just how to play hide n seek in it! He bobbed up and down looking through the tunnel and then over it so it was a challenge to snap this pic to share, but we got it!

The names Bond....James Bond!

 

Opening the Front Door

Gabe has a thing for doors. He likes to open them. He likes to close them. He likes to go on one side of a door and close you out, then open it up and taunt you from the inside. All in all, he is on his way towards becoming a doorman at a classy, upscale hotel by age two.

He is also ridiculously cute when doing so, as demonstrated in the video that can be seen here.

"Hey! Let me in!"

Rocks = Cookies!

Gabe is a smart kid. I promise. I can vouch for the fact that he said his first word at five months. He uses words in context. He plays with toys in a way that indicates he 'gets it'.

...And then he goes and eats rocks.

"Someday, I'll be class valedictorian"

Walking Man

Gabe has started walking. He took his first few steps right before his birthday, but now he is trucking along. He's still getting the hang of balance, so he drops into a crawl when speed is needed (you know, like if he is on the run from the cops...), but he is walking more and more every day. Pretty soon we are going to find out just how successfully we child-proofed our house. I'm betting we didn't do a good enough job yet....

Here are some videos of the little man trucking along:
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3

Walking is hard when you're 1