Happy 33 Months Gabey!

Ohhhh happy 33 months Gabey!! 33 months is three months away from being a three year old. THREE YEAR OLD!! How did I get to the point of having a THREE YEAR OLD?? I'm not even sure that's considered a toddler anymore...

The past month has been full of reaping in the benefits of an early spring. Oh, sure, we had a snowstorm, but the weather has been really spectacular--yes, I know its truly global warming and thus a bad, bad thing when its 90 degrees in April in Pennsylvania...but in the moment, in our life, its all okay. Sunblock, towels, and shorts are all being dug out. Patio furniture is being outfitted with cushions and giant clay pots are being filled with dirt. Daffodils, forsythia, and the lovely cherry tree are blooming, and you, my little monster, are clearly as in love with spring as I am!

This past month has been filled with a lot of time outside. Unlike last year, I am able to get a bit more work done while you entertain yourself. You play with your toys, follow me around, "help" by digging or filling up a bucket with leaves, or sweeping up the leaves. Quite often I notice you just trucking through the yard, not doing anything in particular, just looking about. You have a fondness for the rock steps below the cherry tree--quite often you will sit on the top one and just...do nothing. Are you thinking? Staring out over the view? Bored?? I am unsure, but the rock you favor is the one that I encountered two (harmless) snakes upon last year!! In my head I imagine a den of garter snakes slithering around under the rock, but when you are perched on it, twirling a twig in your hand, its hard to imagine anything sinister is nearby!!

This month you have shown your...boyish...side. I do not know where you picked this up, but you now point just about any object at me, Daddy, or your friends and say "I shoot you!" I hate this. I imagine it must be part of your XY dna, because god knows we have no guns here and I can't think of any TV shows that you watch that involve guns! I do my best to discourage/ignore this behavior, at the same time hiding my amused expression at your intensity. Boys will be boys?? Many of the things you do are with force, intensity, and permanence. Monster trucks are slammed on the table, crayons are violently weilded, hell--even popcicles are eaten with ferocity!!

You amaze me every day though. You pick out letters out of context now, and pretty much any word I point to you can "spell" by naming the letters. You remember things from weeks past. I get a HUGE kick out of the literal sense of your mind--for example: the other morning you woke up and the first words out of your mouth were hoarse. I said, without much though, "Gabey, you have a frog in your throat!" and you replied "No Mommy! Its on my shoulder!" You put your hands on your throat and then concluded, "No froggy in my throat!"

We have been doing more stuff with your friends, and although there are sometimes altercations, with the right mix of kids its pure bliss. You totally pick up on the behavior of the kids you are with--bad/aggressive kids bring out the "hitter" in you, your BFF Maddie can incite fights but more often incites belly laughs and hugs, and for the most part you genuinely enjoy the company of your friends. After my workout class on Thursday evenings, we usually hang out with Maddie and Jen--a recent night, we had the two of you imitating animals. Jen, her teenage neice, and I were in hysterics--tears--over you and Maddie's impressions of the animals. I think that it is one of those moments that I will look back on and rememer for the rest of your life. Something so simple and spontaneous, but so precious--all of your animals roaring and growling; all of Maddie's complete with a girly dance. Yesterday, we went to Salena's house to do a photo shoot of her girls, and the three of you had a ball playing at the lake by her house. I doubt as you grow up you will remember these moments, but I will.

Overall, you just keep growing and getting bigger, and growing up. STOP NOW PLEASE!!! I find it hard to comprehend that the "baby years" are over. There may be more babies in my future, but there will be no more "baby Gabey" - you are a little kid now for sure. I take a lot of pride in the fact that I won't look back on these years and think "I should have appreciated it more." I do appreciate it. I love it. I love being able to be home with you. I am sad for all the people who love you (your dad, your three grandparents, your aunts) who don't get the hours and days that I get with you. I consciously embrace it. Someday you will be a preteen, a teenager, a young adult who has better things to do than hang out with his MOM. But I hope you will ALWAYS know how very much I love you, love hanging out with you, and how proud I am of the little person you are becoming. It doesn't hurt that you are so damn cute, either.