My sleepy singer

You should know that Gabriel was completely asleep here. I thought for sure that maybe he was awake and just on his way back to sleep. Since he kept moving his body I thought maybe he was wet so I went to check on him. He had a big pile of drool by his mouth from all the singing. This went on for a couple hours. I wonder what on earth he was dreaming about? Must have been fun whatever it was!

The Gabriel channel - continued programming.

I did mention he likes my shoes right? ;-)


This was actually a couple weeks ago. Gabriel has gotten really good at climbing the stairs, holding the railing of course. I am really close to him here...on guard in case he slipped so I couldn't really get a full body shot. We always count as we go up the stairs. I don't think he was counting with me here, more working on a new song? Most of the time when we get to the top of the stairs he runs into the theatre. We have to play a quick round of "get em" before he will take a bath.

The train park!

In Scottsdale there is a great train park complete with a mini steam engine, a carousel and lots of room to run and play. This was our first visit with Gabriel and we realized we could have packed a lunch and spent all day rather than just an hour or so. Next time. Gabriel wasn't sure about riding the train at first but he definitely got the hang of it.







he has his curious eyebrow raised.


Pause for a quick snack in the wagon, which has become one of Gabriel's favorite modes of transportation.


And then back in line for the train again. Gabriel had just as much fun in line as he did on the train.






My little thumb sucker.


Waiting for the train to depart...always time for a tickle.






and a kiss. Gabriel loves giving out kisses.


round two.


After the train we tried out the carousel. What an adventure that was. We tried with Keven riding behind him and I was taking pics. Then keven was on a horse next to us taking pics. Our horses were on alternating cycles so some of the pics are blurry but you can definitely see how much Gabriel enjoyed himself!



There was a rambunctious little boy next to us...with no parents that was a bit too hyper. Gabriel was checking him out.








I think it was stopping at this point and Gabriel didn't want to get off.


It was a fun day! We will definitely return to the train park...with a full picnic basket!

Have I mentioned...

...that Gabriel is very into shoes? My shoes, his shoes, Keven's shoes. He wears mine mostly because they are easier to manage than Keven's and easier to get into than his. I find my shoes all over the house. On days when he is feeling helpful he will gather them and put them back where he thinks they go. For example, tonight on our way up to bed two pairs of his shoes were in the hallway downstairs. He picked them up and put them on the chair in the hallway. He has seen me do this when I am cleaning so I guess he figures that is where they go.

Christmas morning!

I learned some very important lessons this Christmas...it is much more important to enjoy Gabriel's reaction to everything and have fun tearing into gifts than it is worrying about the perfect breakfast. However, the sausage balls were enjoyed by all. I made Keven and Gabriel wait upstairs until I had them in the oven so that I could enjoy his reaction to Santa's gifts from close up instead of behind the sink. In efforts to keep gabriel occupied Keven got him dressed...which was nice and helpful but Gabriel is the only one not in PJ's on Christmas morning.

We kept the presents hidden until Christmas morning. He did great with the decorations and the tree but I think presents under the tree would have been too tempting. Here is his first look at the tree with all the presents and Santa's gifts!!



His feet don't quite reach both pedals but that didn't stop him from staying on it all day...and still to this day. He sits on it and walks it around and pushes all the buttons.




he had to get off of it an admire it for a minute.


As far as Gabriel was concerned that is the only gift he needed. It wasn't hard to convince him to open a few more.


Thanking his big sister for his gift.


He seemed to get an awful lot of Hot Wheels items...not sure who wanted those...Keven ;-)


I think it is safe to say Keven is having a 2nd childhood.




tuckered out from opening gifts...watching the Disney parade.


Taking another crack at the bike!

Gabriel and the tree!

Like many other things about the holidays this year gabriel was much more aware. I was really impressed with how well he behaved with the tree. We had unbreakable ornaments ("ball") so he really couldn't hurt much but we still wanted him to keep his curious hands to himslef. He would stand really close to it but most days wouldn't touch it. The lights were on a remote control and he did enjoy turning them off and on and off and on and off...

Here he is admiring it wearing one of my shoes.


Here is Gabriel telling us about the decorations on the tree.

December fun!

Yes, yes it has been forever since I updated the. I apologize to all of Gabriel's fans. Let me see if I can pick up where we last left off. Last year Gabriel was only 9 months old and pretty stayed where I put him for the most part. This year he was pretty much my shadow, which is perfectly fine but made holiday decorating interesting. I had a display on our foyer table with a mini tree that needed to be plugged in. I of course told Gabriel NOT to touch the plug so he played around it for 15 minutes getting as close as he could without getting in trouble. Testing his boundaries already!

Stage 1.


"she probably won't notice me if I lay down."


Just a little closer.


"oh forget it. I'll just make some noise with this thing on the end of the table."


Luckily Rahja came along and further distracted him from the plug.




And now time to play with the Santa hat.


He put it on me and then snatched it back. I guess he thought it looked better on him. He does LOVE his hats.


But of course daddy gets to wear it...for a minute anyway.