Happy

We finally have a nickname for Gabe that I think will stick and I love it! Over Christmas as I was singing "We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year," Gabe started to sing "Happy... Happy... Happy!" Since then, that is by far his favorite word and he walks around saying it all the time... And, since MOST OF THE TIME he is such, we decided this was a perfect name for him!

Lately I have been noticing MANY changes in baby Gabe... First of all, he is trying to no longer be baby Gabe, but trying to be just like his big brother! Gabe seems to be growing up so much faster than Jayce did and I know so much of that comes from watching his big brother... Here is what he is into lately...

Still loves to wrestle with Jayce and anyone who is close enough to him...He actually gets this feisty (spelling???) expression where he bites his lower lip when he is about to tackle someone... he's a tough little fella!

Climbing... I thought Jayce was a climber but Gabe has shown me I had it easy with Jayce... so far Gabe has climbed out of the tub and up the ladder on the swing set ( was still helping Jayce do this when we moved in when he was two)! He has also moved the stool to the stove and grabbed a cookie off cookie sheet on the stove top, and moved the stool to the desk and climbed on it to get on the computer...The boy is really a little monkey!

SINGING...He sings constantly... and it is truly amazing how well he carries a tune... You can always tell what he's trying to sing by the tune... maybe there is hope for someone in the family to be on American Idol! I keep telling Jay I want to audition and he told me I would be one of those poor people who go it alone, without any family there to support them... how sad is that! But I can't say I blame him... wish I could sing, but maybe Gabe!

He loves to call for Jayce and daddy when he wakes up in the morning!

He is doing pretty well with identifying his head, nose, ears and mouth...every now and then he will mix them up though...

Loves to try to put on his shoes!

He has added a few new words to his vocabulary such as: ball, mimi, now he says mommY instead of mama, "ma' am" for yes ma'am(with a little prompting of course)!

Picky eater... Again, I thought Jayce was picky, but Gabe is truly the pickiest child I have ever seen... It is almost as if he is scared to even taste things that he is not familiar with... He will start making a spitting noise when I hold something to his mouth and will close his mouth so I can't even get it in if he does not want it... His staples are: oatmeal, yogurt, applesauce, bananas, really any fruit, sweet potatoes, granola bars, peanut butter on wheat crackers and if I'm lucky, sometimes on bread... and as always he still loves his smoothies... we are severely lacking in healthy non starchy veggies and protein..This week he did eat some green beans and I was SO excited about that... I have not been able to get any meat or cheese in him... so I try to keep peanut butter in him for protein... I am hoping things will get better soon with the eating... he ate EVERYTHING as a baby... now I cannot even pry his mouth open to get a bite in...

Lastly, Gabe thinks he has turned two although he is more than 6 months away! Gabe has already decided it's time to arch his back while screaming every time I try to buckle him in his car seat! He likes to throw himself down on the ground and roll around when he is mad about not getting something he wants... The good thing is that it passes quickly, if I just ignore it and walk away... it took me a while to learn this with Jayce... The other good thing is that I know from the first time around it is a phase and the good times are far outweighing the difficult at this point, so I am overall very proud of my baby Gabe (he is still this, no matter how he tries to act)!