Random Things

Random things about Gabe:

• He's finally saying "Mama" with m's instead of n's. He's also getting a lot quicker at using his signs to communicate.
• He so wants to be big. As I write this, he's trying to put on my shoes and walk around. It seems he wants to wear everyone's shoes except his own!
• Chet noted a couple of weeks ago that Gabe and I seem to have something in common... we both like to put one knee up when we're sitting in a chair (you know, knee bent with that foot on the chair).
• He loves to dance, and it is hilarious! Raising his left shoulder up and down is one of his favorite moves.
• He has started to do Grandma Rosemary's "Big Ole Crow" to himself!
• He loves to read books. He opens them, turns the pages, and makes all kinds of sounds as if he's reading aloud to us. When he wants to find his "Five Little Monkeys" book, he starts waving his index finger around like he's saying, "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

Random things about Ladan:

• Ladan and I cooked pizza for the first time yesterday. He hasn't shown much interest in doing any kind of cooking, but we had a great time making our pizza yesterday.







• His imagination keeps getting wilder and wilder. He doesn't have imaginary friends... he just imagines that he's playing with his real friends. He has conversations with them, eats with them, and shares his toys with them. We also have to rid our home of gorillas and alligators fairly regularly so that everyone's safe.
• Ladan was talking to Gigi (Chet's mom) the other day, and he said his snow boots were at her house. She said, "Well, you'll need to bring your snow boots to my house when you come. Do you have snow pants?" He said, "No. I have snow shorts." It's clear that he's likely to be on this shorts kick for a good long while. At least he leaves his pant legs fully extended now when he wears them!
• He's developing quite the vocabulary and now seems kind of into finding syllables for things (although he doesn't know that's what they're called). For example, at dinner last night, he asked Chet if his pizza was "good". Chet said it was. Then Ladan asked if it was "yummy". Chet said it was. Then Ladan asked if it was "tasty". Chet said it was. Then Ladan asked if it was "delicious". Chet gave him the affirmative and commented on his developing vocabulary. These, of course, are not the most difficult words he knows, but it is kind of funny to hear him trying to find so many words that say the same thing.
• He is getting lots better at hitting the ball when Chet pitches to him. He doesn't even use a fat bat, and he's really good at it.
• His new challenge to himself is to hop on one foot an increasing number of times without putting the other foot down. So far he's up to two hops, but he's working on it.

Well, that's all for now. In just a few hours, I get to have girls' night with the Murray ladies and Lindsey Mikeska! I know Claire has some big plan in the works, and it's going to be great! YIPPEE!!!!!

Merry Christmas to You!

After looking at this picture for a second, I realized that it looks like I'm choking on a whole hotdog. Ha! Actually, we were just taking some Christmas photos for some of our friends, and Chet was trying to test the lighting. I decided to act a fool, and this is how it turned out. My mom should be proud!

On our way home from the photos, I decided that it would be fun to yell, "Weeeeeeee!" every time we rounded a corner. Thankfully for Chet, I only thought up this crazy idea before the last four turns of the night. It made for a good laugh... at least for me, anyway.

This is what happens when you spend the first 4 days of a week getting all kinds of things done until 4 or 5 am. You feel pretty good about yourself, but your mind just isn't all there. Lord help anyone who comes into contact with me throughout the next few days. I'm pretty sure that Chet will have gone insane by tomorrow night. Girls night, anyone? Just not tomorrow, because we already have plans.... See, I'm CRAZY! Amber, where are you?

Ladan's Teachers and A Fun Christmas Story

At church, Ladan has regular teachers on Sunday morning for Sunday School and then on Wednesday night during our prayer service. On Sunday morning, his teachers are three women (Ms. Allen, Mrs. Barrett, and Mrs. Hill) and one man (Mr. Hill). He calls them "Mr. Hill and The Mommies". It's pretty funny.

On Wednesday night, Job Goshi is always one of the teachers in Ladan's class. Job is from Nigeria and has very dark skin. Ladan calls him "Mr. Jove" (which is kind of funny because he pronounces B's just fine, and normally kids use B's instead of V's, but whatever--I told you he's a little backwards sometimes). Anyway, last Wednesday we came home from church, and Ladan was telling us about his class. After a bit of chatting, he said, "Mr. Jove is black."

I replied, "Yes, that's a really cool thing about Mr. Job, isn't it?"

He said, "It's BEAUTIFUL!"

Mr. Job just graduated from seminary and may be moving soon. Ladan will be VERY sad when he leaves.

--------------

My mom got the boys an Advent calendar for this year... the paper kind that you open the window each day to see what's behind. One day, Ladan opened the window and found a man most people would recognize as Santa. However, Ladan has no idea who Santa is, so he yelled out with excitement, "It's Noah!"

Me: "Oh, and he's carrying a big bag."

Ladan: "And he's carrying a tree too. That's funny. Noah is silly."

Photo Catch-Up

Gabe's first haircut was on November 11. Aunt Katie gave Ladan his first haircut, so we wanted to be sure she did Gabe's too. Neither of them had much hair to start with, but they sure looked better afterward!

November 18 is the day Gabe learned to climb onto a kitchen chair and sit. These photos were taken the next day. He was much braver than even one day before and apparently felt like he had conquered the world!

Ladan can turn just about anything into a kicking tee for his football. We were watching some Monday night football, and this is what he did for most of the game. When he'd kick one really high, we'd all cheer, and Gabe would clap and yell "AAAAYYYYY!!" This, of course, would excite Ladan, and he ended up giving Gabe lots of hugs in return.

Today we went to play outside, and I took some impromptu photos of the boys doing what they do...

These little boys are our neighbors, and Ladan loves to play with them! Sadly (for us), they're moving across town next week sometime. It's great for them, because they'll have much more space, but Ladan will sure miss his friends.

Gabe's Communication Style

It seems as though I've made a new discovery/insight with regard to Gabe's attempts at communicating. I cannot seem to get him to tell me that he wants something to eat or drink, needs a diaper change, or is experiencing some sort of pain. Or so I thought. I've discovered that he DOES in fact tell me these things. Or at least that one of these things is wrong so I can go through my process of elimination.

You'd think he'd come to me and start to cry or fuss about something. But no. When he needs something, he starts tearing the house apart. He opens cabinets he's not supposed to open. He pulls stuff off shelves. He pulls leaves off my plant and chews on them. He gets up on the couch and tries to pull at the lamps. And when I go to redirect him, he redirects himself and tears up the thing that's across the room! When he sees me rounding the corner to find him out, he just looks at me, smiles, and continues with his naughty behavior! Pretty bold, I'd say! When I catch up to him (he's quick, mind you) and thwart his efforts, he loses it. It's at this point that he throws his body on the floor in a full temper tantrum... for a second anyway until he realizes it's not working.

I have found over the course of the last week that, inevitably, one of three things is wrong with him at this point. He needs nourishment, a clean bottom, or some pain relief. On occasion (but not often), he does it when he's tired, which would be more common and entirely predictable amongst other children his age. But I guess no kid is predictable, and Gabe's here to prove it.

Basically, I've learned that when he's acting his worst and doing all the things he knows he's not supposed to do, it's my job to promptly correct him and then check to see what he's really trying to communicate to me. I'm still trying to teach him more appropriate (and less messy) ways to tell me what he needs... in time, I guess. It just occurred to me that he's likely NOT trying to communicate these things at all. He's probably trying to fake me out and distract me so he doesn't have to go through the process of remedying any of his problems.... Not so fast, sly boy! I'm on to you!

When I notice him doing something he knows he's not supposed to do, especially with that "you can't catch me" look in his eye, I try to get on it as soon as possible. He has to undergo the "torture" of a diaper check/change... then confinement in the high chair (which he's usually okay with as soon as there's food in front of him)... and if neither of those things worked, he tends to get a finger stuck in his mouth to find out if he has teeth coming through... or worst yet, a temperature check to find out if he's running a fever.

He is getting better at saying some words. He still doesn't say "Mama" often, and when he does, it comes out as "Nana". He's learned:

• Dada (his current favorite word)
• Ladan (Sounds like "Naynan"... but how does he have this and not Mama?)
• Hello (Sounds like "Huwow" with a long "o" sound)
• Later (as in "see you later")
• Uh-oh (comes out as "uh-uh")
• This? ("Dis?"... when he wants to know what something is)
• Yeah! (sounds like "AAAAYYYY!")
• And today he was trying to learn "tiger" but didn't quite get it. At least he knows what the tiger is in time for the MU-OU game on Saturday night!

While this is all great progress, I'd say it's going to be a while before he comes to me and says, "Mommy," [that'll take long enough on it's own] "I think I need something to eat." or "Mommy, I think I need some teething tablets or Ibuprofen for my teeth." or "Mommy, would you please change my diaper? Better yet, how about if I take a break from my toys so I can just go directly on the potty?" In the meantime, my ears and eyes are on super-sensory mode to catch my little con artist!

Girl Time

What a great end to my night! Chet went off to work like normal. Shortly before he left, my friend, Jessica, came over to hang out and work on some photo stuff. She got here at about 9:30 or 10ish and stayed until 2:15... or probably closer to 2:30 if we're looking at the clock from the perspective of her husband! We completed our task of creating a Christmas photo that they can send out... and we talked. We talked about boys (you know, the ones we're married to... and the ones we've hatched), fertility and our status with regard to it, friends, family, fun, sins we struggle with sometimes, and how we've seen the Lord's grace in our lives. Granted, we can talk about these things in little bits here and there on a normal basis, but having a whole 4 hours at a time to dig deeper and go into greater detail is a rare treat! Thanks, Jess! :)

Death Defying Toddler

So, it seems apparent that Gabe is going to be the next Evel Knievel. The kid just learned to walk a few weeks ago. He started climbing on to the couch last week. And two days ago he figured out how to climb onto the kitchen chairs. If we hadn't stopped him last night, he would have climbed onto the table as well. Chet had to catch him once when he thought it would be great to just walk off the edge of the chair. This kid throws all caution to the wind. As I'm writing this, he's sitting on the floor staring at me while he opens a cabinet that he knows he's not supposed to open. (I just took a break to help him obey.)

Anyway, back to the story... Last night, I was talking to a friend on the phone, and Ladan came in to tell me Gabe was eating a leaf. I'm thinking, "What? He's in his pack-n-play. What kind of leaf can he be eating?" I went in to find that he was munching on an African Violet leaf and had two others waiting in his hand. Don't worry. I promptly removed the remaining leaf chunk from his mouth and did not let him have the rest. My child has no sense of what is going to kill him, and he apparently has no respect for natural boundaries of protection!

Thankfully, I have Ladan, who is so careful that he not only doesn't try any of these things, but he is sure to let me know right away so he can protect his little brother from harm (I think Ladan is past the stage where he tackles his brother to remedy the situation on his own). As I finish up this paragraph, Gabe is running across the couch cushions trying to get to Ladan's cereal on the end table. Gotta' go!