Someone is Getting Too Big

One reason why I wish that I made time to write on here more is because Gabriel is always saying the funniest or cutest things.  I don't want to forget any of it and the fact that I will makes me a little sad.  It seems like every day he learns something new and finds some goofy way to express it.  He amazingly has started to say "yes" sometimes (thought he only knew "NO") and when you ask him something he isn't sure about he says in a very goofy voice "I don't know."  He's also a big fan of saying "I can do it myself!"  He talks constantly.

Favorite things to watch right now include Mickey Mouse, anything Pixar (especially finding Nemo or the Incredibles), Planet Earth, and most recently Star Wars.  He learns a lot from those Planet Earth DVDs.  We watched one a while ago where you see fungus growing at a sped up rate.  He was so fascinated.  At first he said "fungus is gross!"  Then I explained that I like fungus on salad so he decided it was ok.  We ate a salad the next night with mushrooms on it and he woke up the next day proclaiming "I ate a lot of fungus!!"

Gabriel is a constant bunch of energy.  Never stopping unless there is a show that he likes to watch.  He likes going to the mall (he thinks that wandering around Dick's Sporting Goods is really exciting because, in his words, "it's cool").  He also likes getting soft pretzels.  Yum.  He loves Chick-fil-a and playing in their Play Place.  It has been a long time goal of his to be able to climb to the top of the Play Place and go down the slide.  A couple weeks back he accomplished this task.  He was so proud of himself.  And it made his mommy want to cry.  He's getting too big and independent. 

All of the climbing is a lot of work. Someone had to stop and take a break

A few weeks ago Gabriel was crying in the middle of the night and it seems that he was having a bad dream (which happens sometimes).  I went in and picked him up.  He kept crying but when he finally woke up his eyes popped open, he looked straight at me and proclaimed "I want butter on my biscuits!"  I don't know why I found that to be so funny but I did.

Another serious fascination for Gabriel has become his music.  We bought him two new CDs (because his other music was getting a little old).  A compilation of Pixar songs and a Piano Guys album.  He loves both, but the Piano Guys certainly wins out.  He wants to listen to "Cello Wars" over and over and over again (which led to his interest in Star Wars, being Darth Vader, and trying to make sounds like a Wookie) as well as "Code Name Vivaldi" and "Beethoven's 5 Secrets".  He also loves to sing hymns with "Amazing Grace" being a bedtime favorite.  I was singing that to him before his nap today and when we got to his favorite verse we sang "The Lord has promised good to me. . ." and he interrupted and shouted "Oh! Like apples!  Apples are good!"

Nap time has changed over the last month.  While it still happens every day (so thankful for that!) he doesn't just drift off quietly.  He usually sit in his bed reading himself books for a while.  Sometimes I have to go in there and remind him that he needs to to go sleep, but ultimately him learning to have some quiet time each day is a great thing in my book. 

Other activities he enjoys are playing at the children's museum, storytime at the library, going to the park, and his weekly Romp and Roll class (I think that he's more fascinated by his teacher than playing there sometimes.  He adores "Miss Jessica"), 

And now for a few more random pictures:

VT baseball game

He said he was "sitting like Daddy"

Reading in the car.  Something I realize I need to
discourage because he has a tendency to get car sick.  Yuck

Playing with Play-Doh with his new "Mousekatool" Play-Doh toys.  He saw these at a store one day so I bought them for Easter.  He kept reminding me that I had bought them and that he wanted to play with them.  He remembered for a month.  I'm surprised at the things that he remembers sometimes.

Reading in the nursery at church

Not able to hold still for a picture on Easter