Happy 19 Months, G3...

Dear Gabe:

Tomorrow, you will be 19 months old! Another month has flown by and in the blink of an eye you've surpassed that milestone age of 18 months. And pretty much from now on I'm going to sound silly when people ask, "How old is he?" and I respond in months. So it's probably time to start referring to you as "1 and 1/2", or as your dad says, "He's 2!" (Um, still a FEW months to go before that!!)

If I could sum up your behavior this month into 1 word, I would use "busy". See below for a more visual description!

"They float Mama!"

Nightly dismantling of the tupperware drawer...

You are a big fan of taking things "out" and putting things "in". Besides the above referenced examples, you love to empty out drawers in my bathroom, pull folded clothes out of the laundry basket, and dump toys out of their containers. Daddy likes to leave clothes he "might" wear a 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) time hanging on his dresser, and you are a big fan of pulling them down and taking them to the laundry basket. You are a big fan of throwing trash away, including your own diapers, which is helpful. Any time you find a scrap of lint floating about, you grab it and run to the trashcan in the kitchen. If I give you a snack in the living room that comes out of a wrapper of some sort, you are very likely to go throw it away when you are finished. You also like to throw trash in the cat's litterbox, particularly used dryer sheets. You've obviously picked up on all the times I've pointed out that the cat box is "Yucky. Yucky!" Oh well, at least you are putting things IN there and not taking them OUT.

On the animal front, you are always very curious about Mickey's food bowls. I've made a conscious effort to teach you that you are not to put stuff in the water bowl, but its quite often that I find something floating in there. I decided the other night that you might be old enough to help me feed Mickey. I began by demonstrating the commands to give Mickey (first to "sit", then "stay") and then I had you help fill the cup of food and pour it. Finally, we released Mickey with "okay" and I gave you a little verbal lesson on why we leave Mickey alone when he eats. The next night, you ran to the laundry room when I said it was time to feed Mickey. I reminded you that you needed to tell Mickey to "sit"...and your response was to sit down yourself, Indian-style, right next to your buddy. Too cute.


You have been very affectionate this month. You love to give hugs and kisses, even though your kisses are more of head-butts at times. You are espeically affectionate before bedtime. For awhile there, after you learned the word "bye" (better late than never) you replaced hugging and kissing with waving at us and saying "Bye!" over and over as you made your way to the living room door.


And on the subject of language, yours has exploded this month. Each day it seems you learn new words. A few weeks ago, Kellie and I made a list of your words and I was surprised to see that you had a nice vocabulary of 30 or so words. In just a few weeks I bet that has almost doubled. The other day you just randomly picked up "button", and just yesterday when I asked if you needed your diaper changed, you responded with "diaper!" Every now and then I hear you singing "A B C D blah blah blah" or going "Onnnneee....twoooooo..." But by far, the biggest milestone for you this month (language or otherwise) is that you FINALLY began to say "Mama"! I went into your room one morning and I thought you said it, but figured it was random. Then at that day's playdate, you began yelling over the din, "MAMA MAMA". Now you say it all the time, and it really is the sweetest sound...especially after waiting for it for so long!


I am sure the next month will bring so many changes for you. Winter is ending (it better be anyhow) so we'll be able to go outside more. And Kellie, aka Aunt CeeCee, will be moving in with us for a month. She is doing a rotation in Wilkes-Barre and will be taking up residence in our basement as the house doctor-slash-nanny. We are all excited for this. I think it will be a wonderful experience for you to be with Aunt CeeCee on a daily basis, and I'm worried about you being sad when she leaves. But, I suppose that bridge can be crossed when we get to it.

One final picture: this is you, your best buddy Madison, and your future babysitter Jessica reading a story together at my friend Jenn's house. I wish you could stay this little forever.