6 Weeks and Counting

I have to admit that I haven't really wrapped my mind around going from having one child to two children, but I am ready to be done being pregnant! Done I tell you! I am so grateful that this pregnancy has been easier physically than my first, with less nausea after the first trimester, and a little more energy. Also, I haven't had to deal with so much swelling, high blood pressure, and some of the other complications I had last time. A huge blessing since Gabe likes to keep me running. I was worried that I would have to be on bedrest or just feel sick all the time and not be able to give Gabe the attention he needs- but things have been good that way. Not so great have been the emotional ups and downs I've had with this pregnancy. I wasn't expecting that. Fortunately, I have an understanding husband and a sweet son, and that keeps me plodding along. But did I mention that I would like to be un-pregnant sometime soon (as is safely possible for the baby, of course)?

We have been sick (again) with the whole cold/ cough/ ear infection thing. BJ hasn't gotten it so far, and I'm hoping that he continues to be able to fight it off, because Gabe and I have sure been miserable with it. Gabe is a lot better today than he was, but today is probably my worst day yet. So it can only go up from here, I hope. Blech.

As I mentioned, Gabe has been very sweet- tempered (for the most part) lately, even while being sick. It warms my heart that he is so affectionate- giving and wanting in return kisses if he gets an "owie", or if he gets in trouble- he knows how to work the system, because it melts our hearts, and it is hard to be upset at something naughty (how naughty can a 1 1/2 year old be, anyway?) when you are getting baby kisses. Gabe frequently grabs our hands, just to hold, or he puts them on his back or his head for a little back scratch or head rub. Also, when I ask him where the baby is, he signs "baby" and pats or points to my belly. When I say "That's right, we love the baby, don't we?" He kisses my belly. Cute. He has recently learned how to blow kisses too, which I think is adorable.

I think Gabe is a pretty typical 20- month old boy; his favorite things are cars and trains (both real and toys), balls, dogs, and other animals. He likes to make the sounds for each thing. We have been trying to teach him to say please when he wants something, and sometimes I will ask him "What do you say?" and he will usually sign "please". Earlier this week though, he wanted a cracker, and I said "What do you say?" and he said "Mooooooo!" Lots of laughing. He has become a lot more communicative, responding yes or no to our questions, signing the things he wants, and sometimes saying the word, or a combination of those. For example, yesterday he wanted me to reach a toy that was too high, so he said "mom-my!", signed "help", and guided my hand to where the toy was that he wanted.

 We love Gabe so much, and although it is hard to imagine loving another child as much as we love Gabe, I believe we will find that our hearts will expand to contain all the love we have for both our sons.  It should be an interesting and fun adventure!  I'm ready to hurry up and get on with it!

Every day Gabriel

Gabe is developing quite a personality. He does things and says things that surprise us almost on a daily bases. For a brief example of this, I'll relate a couple of stories that had Rochelle and I laughing.

In the morning, as I get ready, Gabe often takes interest in what I'm doing. As I get dressed, he's usually watching, as I brush my teeth, if he has anything in his hands he often puts it in his mouth and mimics my actions, but the thing that really got us was how interested doing hair he was. I use pomade for my hair, it comes in a little round container with a screw-off lid, and the substance is kind of a oily waxy substance that you need very little of. So in the morning as I do my hair, Gabe often stands about a foot or two away from me and just stares at what I'm doing. So occasionally, I'll take a tiny dab of it and spruce his hair up too. Usually after doing this, he gets a big smile and he walks as tall as he can to go show mom his hair as he runs his fingers through it repetitively. One day, Gabe had a cold, and Rochelle and I had been using vicks to help him breath a little better, but we had accidentally left the jar open and in his reach. Rochelle was in the office, and suddenly Gabe comes in with a huge smile, and smelling very strongly of vicks. Evidently, he saw the jar, and took a not so little dab out of the middle of it, and rubbed it into his own hair. He didn't mind one bit the smell, but oh it was hard for Rochelle to hold Gabe at all until he got a bath.

Aside from learning to imitate us, Gabe has also learned to love animals, especially dogs. He has a stuffed dog that he just loves. It's currently one of several animals that he can make the sounds for and one of the only ones that he says the actual word for (although the word sounds so much like many other words he says, it can be hard to distinguish). One night, Gabe wasn't particularly excited to go to bed. He was whining and crying a little as I put him in his crib. He didn't go down with any difficulty, but he was letting me know he wasn't happy about it. But to try to console him, I decided to leave him his stuffed dog in his crib, and so I grabbed it and put it down in front of him. As I put it in the crib, as soon as he saw it, he said "wuff", and was silent from that moment on as I left and closed the door behind me. I guess sometimes all he needs is a little puppy love. ;-)