Happy 22 Months, Baby Gabe

Well, another month has slipped by the bittersweet slide towards you turning TWO years old Gabe!! It is hard to believe its been nearly two years since I was heavily pregnant and excitingly (if naively) about to plunge into motherhood.

This has been a really, really big month for you little guy! Mostly in terms of your talking abilities. A few weeks ago you really started to mimic what we were saying. It became very simple to teach you a new word (or two or ten) each day. Equally as fun was teaching you funny phrases like "Daddy's coooooool!" and the less-charming answer to the question "What does Mommy say?" ("Blah, blah, blah!") You know all of your animal sounds and it isn't hard to teach you new ones.

Over our NC vacation you REALLY started talking...sentences, learning the names of everything, and singing verses to some of your favorite songs. This is a really cool stage, I must admit, watching you say things like turtle, otter, and shark at the aquarium. Listening to you ask for people by name...Kellie (yes, KELLIE has finally replaced CeeCee...as if you knew her name all along) Shawn, Sue, Maddie, Jorja, Grandy (your name for all three of your grandparents!!) One morning at the beach you randomly started saying triangle and circle and drawing the shapes in the air with your finger.

At the beach you learned dino, beach, sand, water, swim, rainbow, plane and so many more. You amazed me by remembering things and asking for them...such as pointing to the sky and saying, "Where plane?" Or pointing up to our road when a car goes by and asking "Where the truck? Where truck?" I thought Grandad's eyes were going to bug out when we returned home from the beach and you excitedly told him, "Kellie...and Shawn...in the water!" (Clearly, telling him that you went swimming with Kellie and Shawn!)


By far the cutest of all is the singing, at least to me. You have such a tiny little voice when you sing (as opposed to your normal speaking voice, which is pretty much shouting!) Your current favorite is "The Wheels on the Bus" and you spend a lot of time singing "Up and down!" and "Move on back!" "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" and "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" are other favorites.

Let's see. You are becoming a more proficient climber, and will routinely move things to climb on to get to where you need to be. Your block-building skills improve each day. You LOVE being outside, in the dirt, playing with water, throwing balls, and "helping" us with the gardening. Inside, your plastic animals are still a big favorite, and you continue to show a big interest in books. It is not uncommon for you to spend a half hour by yourself in a corner looking at all your books, one by one, naming the things you know. Your favorite books (and DVDs, though we try to save those for special occassions) are definitly the Thomas the Train series. You also adore Elmo and anything to do with "horsies!" You learned the names to Grammy and Grandad's three horses this month, and love to go out to fence and call them. Grammy has taught you how to pick grass and throw it in for them, and you love to do so, shouting out "TINKER!!! ANDY!! (Annie) TEX!!!!"

Today we went to a birthday party for one of your little friends, Theresa. Like each of your friends in your playgroup, she is developing such a unique and endearing little personality, and I am blessed to know her. We joke about what each of you kids will be like as teenagers and adults...you all have such different and definining attitudes, likes, dislikes and preferences. But the great thing is that you are all...well, great kids. Nice kids.

Today, Gabe, you played so well with your little friends. You listened, not just to me, but to all the adults. You spent a great deal of time picking dandylions and handing them to each person. You definitly had your moments--when you began to get tired and feel the effects of your sugar-crash, or when another little kid was trying to take things away from you. But overall...you are a nice kid, and it makes me genuinely happy to see that others see that, experience your sweet nature, and appreciate your comedic side. It makes me very proud of you and I feel like I must be doing something right!


Tomorrow is Mother's Day, my second (or third if you count the year of pregnancy.) It is a day for moms to be celebrated, to get a little bit of special treatment for all that we do, and maybe even a little break (and trust me, I want all that!!) But mostly, I think I will be reflecting on how lucky I am to be your mother. I could not ask for a better son, and I love you more than I know what to do with. I try to convey this with words...but somehow the magnitude of what I feel cannot be expressed verbally....


Anyhow, happy 22 months kiddo.