Gabe, this month I wanted to take notes on all those little things that you do and then I'd have a nifty little list when I sat down to write to you. But somehow those notes only ended up being mental ones, and we all know how that goes once you're over the age of about 25. Mostly because a lot of these "notes" are things that aren't necessarily significant enough that I will remember in 20 years (or 20 days). Things like you being able to walk forward down the stairs, instead of crawling or holding my hand. Which brings me to tidbit #1 (and the only one, sadly, that came from my mental list.)
1. You can walk down the stairs! Of course, you've been going up the stairs for awhile, and you are able to walk down holding someone's hand (although this can be precarious, since you have total faith that mom or dad or whoever won't let you fall.) You are finally tall enough to reach the railing of our stair case, though, and one day I simply said to you "hold the railing", you repeated it back to me in a singsong voice, and just like that, you were holding the railing and walking down by yourself! Of course, I stand right in front of you but the important thing is that you are learning to be responsible for yourself. You totally get that holding the railing is what is keeping you from falling, and we've seen less of the death defying jumps into our arms (which frankly, if you keep doing that, one of these days you're going to throw both of us down the stairs!)
2. Singing. You sing a lot. Many times its just the tune, but lately more and more words have creeped into songs you already know. You ask for songs by name..."SPIDER Mommy!" "Row the Boat Mommy" "Ants Marching Mommy!" I also, for unexplainable reasons, began singing a lame song called "Forever" from the show "Full House" the other day. And now, "For-ebber" is one of your favorite songs as well....
3. This month we celebrated Halloween....and you were a tiger. Not much to say about that except you were so freaking cute. We didn't do the trick or treat thing (see previous Wine Tour Weekend post) but you had a Halloween party at school and then I took you to our old library class in White Haven for a costume party with your friends, complete with "trick or treating" around the coffee shop where its held. I have to say you weren't thrilled with your costume...until you saw all the other kids dressed up too. You were, of course, the cutest one.
3. Last week, Jen and I took you and Maddie to a Children's Museum in Bloomsburg. We had so much fun with you guys there...it made me want to either become a kid again or come home and build you a new playroom. They had everything imaginable...play kitchen and work shop, a doctor section with dress-up coats and supplies and a life-size doll to operate on, an old time store, an old time school, a tunnel, a coal mine, a boat to "fish" from...I could go on and on here. You had fun with everything, but some favorites were the boat, the old time store (see below), and the gigundo table of blocks, where you built a bunch of cars crushed together for your "gravedigger" to jump over. Say whaaa...? Keep reading...
Measuring flour
4. I have noticed this month (another mental note!! Yesssss....) that you have suddenly either increased your level of "pretend play" or you're just verbalizing it more. For example, both you and Grandad and you and Daddy have watched shows on television where they line up a bunch of old beater cars and a giant monster truck drives over them (everybody stop here to ooo and ahh from excitement...) You have a pretend "monster truck" with the name "Gravedigger" on the side, so you call all monster trucks "Gravedigger". At the musuem, you spent a lot of time building a very intricate block ramp, and then taking a wooden car and "jumping" them. After stopping to listen to your rambling of "Digger JUMP the cars OH NO crash!" I realized what you were doing...and I was really impressed!! I have also found at home the Barbie car (yes you have a Barbie car) perched at a precarious angle on top of the school bus, which is perched precariously on top of the fire truck...no doubt your own little version of a monster truck show. You have also really shown your creativity with the game "Boat"...which consists of you using your high chair tray and drumsticks as a "boat" and "oars". You take off your shoes, talk about the water, sit on the tray and row, and sing the song. This game has occupied you for many hours over the last few days!!
5. Your vocabulary increases and improves daily. You can repeat almost anything I say, and you remember words and things that you don't see often. Food names, people names, animal names...you have a looonnngggg memory. You also make up your own words at times (buttball, for example, is football!!) and still add the "eee" sound to the end of lots of words (such as milky, grapie, drinkie.) I've noticed instead of just bellowing "DRINK" when you are thirsty, you now bellow "I wanna drink I wanna drink"...I don't know when or where the "I" started happening. You also say "OKAY!" in the cutest voice to just about anything you are pleased with. A sample conversation, "Mommy, go outside?" "You want to go outside Gabey?" "OKAY!" Sometimes you have a conversation like this with yourself, as if suggesting to me how it should go. Like, "Mommy watch TEEEVVVEEEE? OKAY!" You've started to say "Yeah!" a lot too, and the other day you said "No biggie!" I think its the astonishing jump in putting words together that amazes me. Instead of "COLOR" its "Mommy I draw allll the colors." This morning you pointed to a picture of our cat Sophie (who had been missing) and said very seriously, "Mommy Soapy back, inside, house."
6. And aside from talking constantly, you basically make noise constantly. Talking, gibberish, sound effects, screaming....everything you do has audio component. Climbing on the couch elicits loud grunting, running down the hall must be accompanied by a loud "ahhhhhhh"...you get the idea. Grandad, in particular, is astounded by how much noise you make. By the end of the day my head is usually buzzing like a chainsaw and it takes a glass of wine or two to make it go away:)
Overall Gabe, you just seem to be getting to be such a kid and not a baby. You play independently. I can go outside and do yardwork, including leaf blowing, and you amuse yourself for a long time--digging in the dirt, exploring, throwing the ball for Mickey or just running around like a crazy person. I give you a bit more freedom than I did a few months ago...of course, you are never out of eyesight unless I need to run inside to grab something, but I've found that by trusting you (within limits...obviously, I don't let you go play in the street while I'm in the backyard!!) you surprise me by being more well-behaved and listening better than if I try to force you to stay right next to me. It frustrates me at times when others criticize me on being lenient. But the fact of the matter is...you are not 1.5 years old...you are almost 2.5 years old. I want you to be independent, I want you to learn consequences of your actions, and although its my job to prevent grave danger, I think letting you fall now and then helps you learn and builds coping mechanisms. I can't put you in bubble wrap, nor do I want to.
I also think that not giving you every little whim and demand is good for you too. You beg for TEEVEEEE all. freaking. day. long. As much as I love the times when I say yes, and you dance with excitement, I almost always say no (and really wish everyone else would too!!) You are SO obsessed with television. You throw a tantrum when its over, you don't play and engage your mind when its on, and you generally behave badly when t.v. is involved. Oh, don't get me wrong, we watch it. But to me, TV should be something you do when there is nothing else to do, or a special occassion activity. If I gave in to your every demand you'd be sitting on the couch motionless, watching Dora and eating "cake and candy" all day long!!
And that's about it with the thoughts from this month. Very sporadic and I know I'm missing so much. Last night I was going through all the pictures from this year, getting them organized, and its amazing to see how much you've grown. How your hair looks different, wearing clothes that have long since been packed away, playing with toys that no longer interest you. Hard to believe another calander year has almost passed us by!! Happy 28 months little guy...
One final picture for the month...pumkin carving!
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