Hockotch!

Goodness...

I have so much catching up to do, it HURTS!! I'm waaayyyy behind. It's really kind of sad, because Gabriel is growing and changing at such an alarming rate--I'm afraid I'll miss or forget things and that would be so sad!!

The bigger and older my sweet little boy gets, the more fun and crazy life becomes.

I am loving being his mommy, though, and I wouldn't trade it for anything ever.

He is just so fun and sweet and full of light and life. Watching him learn and grow and develop has been absolutely astounding. He is just so smart! He picks up on things so quickly--seriously, this kid is sharp as a tack--he doesn't miss a THING!

Right now, Gabe is in this parrot phase where he will repeat just about anything he hears. This is super awesome and incredibly bad--we really have to watch what we say. You never  realize how horrible some of the things you say sound until you hear it come out of a two year old's mouth. Words like "shut up" and "crap" become 'swears' because you don't want to hear that coming out of your sweet little baby's mouth!!

It can be pretty entertaining though. Calling for my husband from downstairs and then hearing a little toddler echo of "Muh-KAY!!" is HI-larious for reasons I just can't articulate. Even more so, the battle that happened the other day:

Me: "McKay, get up--we have tons of stuff to get done." [he was dozing off on the couch]
McKay: "Nooo....I'm so tired. Let me sleep for like ten minutes."
Me: "How is it that you're tired? You haven't done anything all day. Get up."
*Gabriel climbs on the couch and sits on Daddy*
Gabe: "Daddy! Git UP!"
McKay: [grumble]
Me: "You heard the child. Get up."
Gabe: "Yeah!"
McKay: "Nooo...I'm tired...from homework...and stuff."
Me: "No excuses. Get up!"
Gabe: "Daddy!! No essusses!!"
[Laughter erupts. He is awake now. Mission accomplished.]

Gabriel will hear things and remember them hours and days and weeks later, after everyone else has forgotten. He has a favorite video that has a couple of Curious George episodes on it. One of the episodes shows George and some friends playing hopscotch. Gabriel has seen this episode dozens of times and has never exhibited any interest in hopscotch or even an inkling that he understands what the game is or how it's played.

Last night....

[Gabriel is playing pretend and we have no idea what he's doing, which is not uncommon.]
Gabe: "Daddy! [which actually sounds more like 'da-yee' a lot of the time] Move! Ow-wo way! ...peesh ['please']..."
McKay: "Oh. I'm sorry. What are you doing?"
Gabe: "Hockotch!! One tew fee fo fy sits seden..." [he is now hoping around on the kitchen tiles, counting, but not staying in count with the actual hops. These hops are sporadic and not in any specific pattern or direction. All he knows is that you hop and count. We are totally caught off-guard.]
Gabe: "Daddy! Yo tohn! Go! Hockotch!" [Like a good daddy, McKay plays along, even tossing the pretend stone. This continues back and forth for at least ten minutes. I'm still trying to figure out how on earth he go the idea to play hopscotch in his head....then it hits me....George...but he hasn't seen that in at least a few weeks. This kid's got the memory of an elephant.]

I. About. Died. It was SO cute! Not to mention, hilarious!! I only wish I had captured video of it--oh, that would have been PRICELESS to have gotten McKay and Gabe playing 'hockotch' on the kitchen tiles!! And the way Gabe jumps is just too adorable for words. He really gets into the motion. You just have to see it.


So, as you can see, I have a lot to share and catch up on!! Every time I think I've got a handle on things, something explodes and I have to drop the blog for a bit to keep our lives running.... I'll get it together soon - I promise! I keep thinking "Well, when this happens it'll make things a lot easier." or "That life event will give me a lot more free time." Nope. Doesn't work that way. And, sure, I do have free time here and there and, yeah, I totally fill it with useless crap sometimes. But...but....[insert excuse here]

As Gabe [now often, and with just as much gusto as the original speech] would say:

NO ESSUSSES!!

Gotcha, kiddo.