Attack of the giggle monster

Gabe and Gavin are always making each other laugh. We are truly blessed to have such happy children. I might need to be reminded I made this statement in 10-12 years when they are rebellious teens, but for now, enjoy a tiny snapshot of these happy boys.

Winter, Shminter

Gabe just loves the wagon he got for Christmas. He wants to go for rides in it all the time. Never mind that the weather's been in the teens and 20's outside lately. He just gets so thrilled to be in that wagon. He doesn't even mind me layering him and bundling him up to go outdoors. He happily dons his hat, mittens, scarf, socks and shoes until only his little pink face is poking out of his wintry attire. Then off he goes on his ride until he can't stand the cold anymore.

Sitting Pretty

Gavin has just started sitting up unsupported. He does pretty well and can sit in a tripod position supporting his weight with one arm down or while playing with a toy with both hands. I just have to make sure Gabe doesn't come by and push him over! Gavin wants to do everything Gabe does so he's trying to stand and crawl and move around as much as possible. He adores his big brother and Gabe does his best to keep Gavin entertained.

Doctor Visit

Gavin went to see the pediatrician this week for his 6 month wellness check up. He's growing so much and is now 27.5 inches long and weighs 16lbs, 9ozs. He's in good health (besides getting his first cold in December and having thrush).

Can't believe he's already 6 months old. Time sure is flying by!

Hang on Tight

Gabe is always trying to be helpful with Gavin. He really loves his baby brother and demonstrates it through his willingness to be helpful to us and the baby.

Gavin likes his bouncy seat and Gabe likes to bounce him in it. Gabe also will retrieve a bottle or pacifier for Gavin if he's crying. He runs to the bassinet to check on him and peers over the side to see what is the matter with the baby.

The latest thing I have to be careful of is Gabe attempting to lift Gavin off the floor, by his shirt no less, and he's surprisingly strong enough to do it. And he wants to "hold" the baby in his lap. I never really thought he'd express such interest and they are really cute when they're posed with Gavin sitting in his big brother's lap (as you can see).

Gabe is so proud and Gavin is surely trying to get away!

Eating "Toe-st"

Gavin always seems to have this left leg straight up in the air when he's eating in the highchair. It's pretty funny. He has his zwieback toast in one hand and his big toe in the other. Or other times, he's just hanging out watching Gabe eat and that leg is sticking right up into the air.

From Blog Photos

Da Boyz

Sorry no photo is posted with this but just a quick note to say what these 2 boyz are up to.
Gabe has been into coloring with crayons lately and now he likes water color paints. It's really cute. He just points to where I keep his art supplies and says "haint!". I have just figured out that he says the /h/ sound for the letter "P" at the beginning of some words like pants and paint.....so they become "hants" and "haint". He also asks for "hape" which translates to paper. He loves his brother and is starting to play with Gavin alot more. He likes for Gavin to try to reach for him. He is enjoying books alot more and will actually sit in your lap for the reading of the story he selects. When we do read a book together, he likes to turn the "hage" (ie, page).

Gabe keeps us busy running and he's into everything. Yesterday he pulled a whole stick of softened butter right off of the counter and squeezed it into both hands and dropped it on the kitchen floor before I could get to him. Then said "mess"....no kidding! He also keeps us in stitches, doing adorable things and talking more and more all the time. Today he realized it was really chilly outside and he said "cold" and pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his head. Smart boy!

Gavin is trying so hard to crawl and talk. He'll be 6 months old Saturday (time is flying by)! He scoots all over the floor on his belly and does a pseudo army crawl. I'll put him on a blanket on the floor for tummy time and walk away and when I return he's 4-5 feet from where I left him. He's even ended up in the kitchen on the wood floor! He mostly goes backwards when he pushes off. He pulls his knees under himself, but can't seem to manage to get the arms up at the same time to take off. He gets so frustrated with this whole process. He grunts and hums and coos and makes lots of sweet noises but no first words have been uttered yet. He's also cutting teeth and drooling alot....but no pearly whites have been spotted to date. Stay tuned...I'm sure it will all happen at right about the same time!

We're all a bit under the weather this week with a winter cold, but hanging in there and on the mend.

Like Father, like Son

As I think everyone is aware, I have been known to play video games from time to time. Over the weekend, I was partaking in this particular hobby and left the controller sitting on the bed. Gabe got lifted onto the bed and then proceeded to play with the controller. He even tried to put on the Xbox headset.

He has a bright future as a gamer...

From Blog Photos

"You just got fragged by B4byG4b3"

Getting lazy in his old age

Gabe used to never sit down. He stood doing everything. Stood while playing, stood while watching Barney, stood when doing nothing much at all.

But he recenty discovered the joy of sitting. And laying down.

Now he asks for 'under'. Which is shorthand for 'Please lift me onto the nearest soft surface, lay me down with pillows under my head, and cover me with a blanket. Please.'

Well, just see for yourself.

From Blog Photos

Monkey Joe's

Jules found this place called Monkey Joe's a few weeks ago. It is basically a big empty room with about ten of those giant, inflatable 'moon walk' things in it. Except they are more than just a 'moon walk'. The 'inflatable bouncy playpen' market must be very competitive, because they sure have evolved since the last time I got in one. Now, instead of just being a big enclosed trampoline, they come in all sorts of configurations: slides, knobs, obstructions, jungle gyms, etc. Really very impressive.

From Blog Photos

This way to Monkey Joe's!

Once we get inside and take off our shoes, Gabe is off like a hound chasing a rabbit. He goes a hundred miles an hour from bouncy thing to bouncy thing, never slowing for a minute. I was sweating like mad trying to keep up with him. Run, bounce, clinb, slide, sheesh.

From Blog Photos

Daddy and Gabe tackle the slide

They even have smaller areas where the real little ones can play, or at least sit, without getting trampled by the bigger kids. All in all, it was quite a bit of fun, and I'm certain that we will be making many visits.

From Blog Photos

Mommy and Gavin get in on the action

Stand and be counted

Gavin doesn't really sleep well. He doesn't seem to want to waste a moment that he could use otherwise growing up. He sees Gabe running around and wants to do it so badly that sitting or laying down actually seems to pain him. All he wants to do is stand, either when supported or on his own.

No doubt he'll be crawling soon enough.

From Blog Photos

Hide and Seek

Gabe recently learned how to play hide-and-seek. He's not very good at hiding (he always hides in the same place), but he really likes seeking. He will try to cover his eyes, even though he isn't very good at it (as seen in the picture), and count loudly to ten. Then he goes running out looking for you. He checks each spot that he found you before, and then starts looking in new places. Once he sees you, he throws his hands into the air and yells, 'Found!', runs up and hugs you.

He then immediately goes back into the hallway and starts counting again...

From Blog Photos

To demonstrate, I present a video.

Future IT worker

Like father, Like son(s). I have a strong feeling, I'm going to really be in the minority around here, not only as the sole female, but also in my computer tech-y knowledge!

Gabe sees us on the computer alot (Daddy working and me checking e-mail or posting to this blog) so he's really interested in it. As of late, he's been playing toddler games on our laptop that help him learn alot about cause/effect relationships, shapes, numbers, letters, colors, and more. Well, needless to say, he is great at it and he gets really excited about it. He'll even ask for the computer.

There is one game he loves where animals are hiding in the dark and you press any key to shine a flashlight on them and hear their animal name and sound. The one he's playing here gives 3-5 shapes at the bottom of the screen and you can drag the mouse and drop them or press any key to move them to the figure at the top to create a picture and then hear music once you've successfully completed the puzzle.

Because of some of his books, puzzles, educational television programs, the computer, and well, I'd like to think, because of his ex-teacher, stay-at-home-Mommy as well, he knows all of his uppercase letters, his numbers 0 to 12 and then he says "teen" a few times and yells 20--we're working on that! He knows a few colors and likes to use crayons, he knows his shapes (oval, circle, diamond, square, rect/triangle, heart and star. He knows a bunch of animal sounds, too and likes to show them off. He's just a little sponge and picks up new things almost everyday.

From Blog Photos

Who says quantum physics is hard?