Gaberade

Dear Gabe,
You are getting so big, little guy!  I catch myself watching you as you explore and I can't help but wonder what happened to my baby!  You are such a fun kid to have around.  You are an incredibly quick crawler.  I can't keep up with you.  You have several different methods for crawling, my favorite one being the one where you sit up and scoot yourself forward.  It's hilarious.  I hope you don't abandon it completely when you become a more confident walker.  You might.  And I will get over it.  I guess.  You took you first steps on September 8th, 2013 at the ripe old age of 14 months.  We were in the living room and you walked from Daddy to me (but you were really after a balloon that was right beside me!).  You didn't do much walking at all the rest of the week, and then you walked again the next Sunday at church during the 5:30 worship service.  I think you strung about 7 or so steps together at a time, and I loved watching you learn in a place that is so dear to my heart.  When you weren't walking, you were pushing your little matchbox car around on the concrete floor.  I hope you will still zoom cars around when you are on your feet all the time and not your knees!  You took off at McDonald's last Friday night, September 28th, and I am pretty sure you are starting now to prefer walking to crawling.  It is so fun to watch you go.  It's a complicated thing to learn, and you are rocking it!

You have 4 awesome teeth and are working on 4 more.  You love to play cars and to send marbles down the marble track.  You shake your hands with excitement as you watch the balls roll! You also love to throw the ball to the dog.  These are many of Isaac's first joys, and it is fun to watch y'all love these things together.  One of my favorite things right now is seeing you light up when we pick Isaac up from school.  You freak out with excitement.  It is so wonderful Isaac's teacher even wrote me a note about it!  You like to wave a lot.  As big kids at school walk by in the afternoon, you love to wave to them as they pass.  You also love hot dogs and shredded cheese and dried apples.  You are finally starting to sleep at night and it is amazing!  Keep up the good work.  Geez, it has been a long time coming!  You crawl up and even down (though we don't ever let you on purpose) the stairs with a lot of ease, and you love to sit in my sink when I get ready in the morning and play with any available toothbrushes.  You are our first toddler to pull books off the shelves, tupperware out of drawers, chemicals from cabinets--you are our 3rd and yet 1st reason to baby proof.  You say "Mama" a lot now, and you also know what the squirrels and the dogs say.  You try to say Nala and Stella and you do a pretty good job of both!  I am hoping that you and I can read some books while the big kids are in school--the kind of books that teach you words.  So far, our attempts have been interesting.  You'd rather be on the go than sitting still in my lap (which is funny because you are also my best cuddler).

I love you, Gabe.  You just couldn't be cuter.
Going to bed.  Please let me sleep all night!
Mama