I've been busy. I won't bore you with the all of the details of what I've been busy with, but I will tell you that recently most of my spare time has been spent creating things for Gabe's THIRD! birthday party.
Three. Practically a grown man. Well, not really...but I have officially moved away from counting his age in months, which means he isn't a baby anymore. Three years. It's fun to think back on the last three years and how different he is from the day we brought him home. Casey was thinking aloud this evening and said, "Three years. Gabe, where did the time go?" It was of course a rhetorical question but Gabe doesn't understand rhetoric so he replied, "In my belly."
Yep. I can agree with that. Haha! In reality he was just hungry and didn't actually comprehend the question, but still it's kinda funny.
Some major milestones from the last year include:
-increased vocabulary
-complete sentence structuring
-potty training (still wearing pullups during sleep)
-GROWING (wearing a 4T in pants and a 5T or XS in shirts)
-drinking from a big boy cup (although he still prefers the sippy cup, he will use a big boy cup if made to)
-learned he was going to be a big brother to a little brother
-increased likeness for bathtime and water in general
There were a million more milestones over the last year, but these are the biggies that came to mind.
When I think about describing Gabe in general one word comes to mind.
Goofy.
Good gravy is the child silly. He knows it too. And, I like it. There's a wonderful joy inside my little guy and I hope he will always have that.
He's very imaginative and loves to pretend play. Right now his big thing is rescuing creatures and people from being stuck. I credit this play to the hours of Diego he's watched over the last couple of months (a kid cartoon in which the main character, Diego, plays the role of an animal rescuer).
Most of the time he's very outgoing, not really afraid of strangers as long as mommy or daddy greet first and show him it's okay. This year I have managed the hospitality room for our varsity basketball games so Gabe has spent a lot of hours in January and February meeting strangers. Our Bruin coaches and families have become quite familiar to him now and he gets very excited to go to the games.
On the flip side of goofy he's also very loving. Kisses, hugs, I love yous....he's a generous giver of all. I love to see him get all giddy to see me or Casey after a day of work. He's still small enough that he runs for a full embrace. I know it won't always be like this so I'm soaking up each one as it happens.
Before you go thinking it's all fresh daisies and warm milk around here let me share some other things we're dealing with as Gabe ages.
Speaking unkindly. Being impatient. Whining. Oh, goodness the whining! Headbutting (honestly? where does this come from?).
These are issues we're still working through and probably will work through for some time to come. Except for the head butting. That seems like it's something that should be nipped in the bud pretty quickly. The incidents are few, but still happen.
The bottom line is there's a whole lot more GOOD in everything about Gabe than there is bad. I would not trade having him for anything in this world. Anything. I really cherish every day. Even when he's annoying me I remind myself it won't be like this for long. Soon he will grow up, move out, and begin life on his own and I'll miss these days.
I read this blog post recently about a young mother of four being bothered by older women telling her how lucky she was and to cherish every moment and how they wished they could have it all over again. Her main point was that mothering was hard work and we can't just carpe diem every day, like the older women were encouraging her to do. The post has become pretty popular, but something about it has always bothered me. Why can't we carpe diem every day? Even on the days your kids are a wreck and all you want is some quiet time alone with chocolate, why can't you carpe diem through it? In the post she wasn't saying she doesn't ever appreciate the life she's been blessed to receive, just that it's unrealistic to cherish every moment.
Maybe I'm an old soul or something, but I disagree. Even on the days where Gabe is driving me crazy and I can't wait to put him to bed so we can't start fresh the next day, I cherish them. As a matter of fact, as soon as he's finally gone to bed and the house is quiet again I miss him already. It's only been three short years with Gabe, but it's a love like no other and I cherish, I "carpe diem" EVERY day.
Well, that was an unexpected rant....
So, Gabe's three now. I couldn't be more in love with him or more proud of him. This photo of him is so perfectly telling of his sweet, loveable, but goofy nature. It was taken at the end of the day on his birthday after swimming at the hotel here in town where his Aunt Amy and Uncle Jerad were staying.
Happy 3rd birthday, Gabe!
Coming up this week....pictures from the big day and pictures of what I've been dedicating a lot of my spare time to lately.
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