Fun In February

Okay--in an effort to get caught up, I'm going to try to get February and March squished into just a couple of posts.

Get ready for some blogitty overload, peeps.

Apparently my sister has a magic touch. Everything she buys for Gabriel ends up being his favorite "thing" in that "thing category" (my vocabulary seems to be lacking tonight...don't judge me!). Remember the blanket from a couple of posts ago? Yeah. Like that. His favorite, most requested book is "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" by Eric Carle. He. LOVES. That book. He loves the colors and the animals and the fact that it's a giant board book. The version of the book that my sister got him has a little slider window on each page that you can slide over and see a smaller preview of what is next--he LOVES that. And guess who bought it for him? Yup--Titi.

Gabriel continues to chug along with the sign language. I love love LOVE that he picks them up so quickly and starts using them every day. Here, I caught a video of him saying "More please", asking for more food. Smarty pants...

I can be crafty from time to time. SHOCKER! I know. I really like Gabe's monkey winter hat and I think it's really super cute. But it's brown and sometimes an outfit calls for something.....not brown. So I decided Gabriel needed another hat. I looked and looked and nothing fit right, so I decided to make it a little project! I found a simple pattern and crocheted it one evening while watching a movie. First hat ever. I think it turned out cute! And it works for all those outfits that need something other than brown...

What do you think?! Not bad, eh? Especially for my first hat/beanie!!

The way life has happened over the last couple of years has put a gap in a lot of my relationships with close friends. I hate that. When I moved back from Hawaii, I promised to do my best to get back in touch with them. I've done well...with a couple....and okay with some.....and not-so-great with others. Still working on it! One friend that I'm pretty positive I'll never completely lose touch with is Jackson. (Jack) We made a lunch date and actually kept it! No change of plans or postponing. It was awesome! He got to meet Gabe and turned out to be a huge hit with the little stinker! They got along really well and I hope we'll have lots more fun play dates with Uncle Jack! (Jack, if you're reading this, let me insert a *hint hint*nudge nudge*wink*...seriously)

Have I failed to mention that my son is a strange, silly little man? If I have never mentioned it before, let me make it known now: the kid is WEIRD. But I really like it. Gabe has a handful of those "touch and feel" books. You know--the ones with different textures that help with sensory development? I kept seeing him wander off with one of the books. He would open it up and lay his head on it. I thought he was trying to tell me he was sleepy, so I would put him down for a nap. Then I realized that he was doing it ALL THE TIME. What the...? So I finally paid closer attention to what page he was doing this with....

Yeah--if you can't tell, that's a furry lion. He likes the feel of the soft fur and he wants to feel it on his face....so he opens the book up to that page, lays it on the ground, and then lays his head/cheek on the book. Sometime for just a couple of seconds. Other times....five to ten minutes or so....HA! Silly boy. Check him out in the first picture--he's sucking his fingers and settled in for a good cuddle with that lion!

So Gabriel is really learning how to pull the strings and push the right buttons. When I scold him, he gets all sad and walks over to me and gives me the kiss face--the kid knows I'm a sucker for kisses. Tricky, tricky, Gabe!! He also knows I'm always down for a snuggle. I started noticing that he would cling to me and get all snuggly when we would leave a place and go to put him in his car seat. What a punk!! He doesn't want to get in the car (because who knows how long he'll be stuck in his (albeit awesome) car seat?) so he wraps his arms around me, lays his head on my chest and gets the most adorable look on his face. Man, he is goooood.... (and mom's a SUCKER!!)

If Gabriel got anything from me, it was definitely a love of sleep and relaxation. After an outing at the mall one day, we decided to stop by Cold Stone and get some ice cream. We grabbed a table and sat down to enjoy our treats and Gabe went right into chill mode! He propped his feet up on the stroller, laid back, and begged for waffle cone scraps. Way to go, kiddo!! That's my boy!! Hahaha! (You can see the begging in the first picture where he's signing "please"...)

And finally, to round off February--pictures of Gabe swinging at the park!! We were in Spanish Fork (my old stompin' grounds!!) so we decided to stop off at Barry's (CLASSIC--Yum!!) and then headed across the street to play at the SF city park. Gabriel loves the swings. As far as going to the park is concerned--he only cares about that and running around. Doesn't give a second thought to the slide or the jungle gym or anything else (except for when Mama makes him take the slide at least once...)

Even Dad joined in on the fun!! I don't think he made a wise swing choice though...

So that was February, folks!! Did I wear you out? Sorry about that....but it HAD to be done!! Next up: MARCH! And I'm taking the same approach. But at least when that's out of the way I'll be able to show you all the fun and cute stuff that has been happening over the past few days and weeks!! (Seriously, the OCD in me will not let me post out of chronological order....)