Off to AZ

We have been wanting to go to Arizona for a long time. My grandparents who live there have not yet had the opportunity of meeting Gabe and we felt that that was a shame. So we starting making plans for going, and when my parents heard we were thinking of going, they said they wanted to go too. So here we are in the car, all five of us, headed South. Gabe by far has the most luggage. We got a not so little pack and play for him to sleep in and play in while we are down there. We have set it up before just to see how it works but have never used it yet. We are now getting down into the St. George area and seeing all the red rock around us. We have been on the road for a little under 5 hours including a few breaks, and Gabe has done well so far, but we can tell he is getting fed up with being in his car seat. He doesn't seem to take very good naps in his seat and so he is getting kinda tired too. He has been growing so much lately it seems. Rochelle mentioned in his 10 month blog that he started to do an army crawl. He is still doing an army crawl, but he is getting much better at it, and now does it all the time. He will bat at a ball, crawl after it, and bat it again until it comes close to some other toy that distracts him. He likes books now, and has learned to turn the pages of a board book (with a little help). It's hard to tell for sure, but it really seems like he knows a few words now, and tries to say a couple. He says 'dada' fequently but also sometimes when I walk into the room he will look at me and say 'dada'. He also seems to know the word 'kiss' which he says more like 'diss'. He will give just about anyone a kiss with a little prompting. He doesn't seem to be afraid of strangers too much. As long as he is fully awake, and generally happy, he will go to anyone, which is nice because that makes it much easier for us to take him over to a baby sitter. He loves noses. He can point out your nose or mouth on your face if you ask him to. He also might decide to try and pull off your nose if you are not careful. He's full of personality, and loves to be entertained. If you play with him, and give him your full attention, he will be your best friend. He loves to be taken by his hands and walked around. While he doesn't really have much balance, he sure wants to learn how to walk. We recently bought a little toy that he can hold onto to help him keep his balance, but he will still need some help for a while. We get lots of complements on how beautiful he is, and especially his eyes. Rochelle's aunts couldn't believe how blue his eyes are. He likes to make growling noises, and will do so whenever he is happy. If you growl with him, he will growl back and forth with you for a long time. He is lots of fun to be around, and seems to charm people who meet him. Anyways, it will be good to take this little boy down to Arizona and introduce him to his great-grandparents. I'm sure he will love them, and they will love him. I'm also sure that he will love the pool. :-D