Who needs a spoon?

Look at this boy.

He needs to learn to use a spoon I think. The problem is that the baby spoons we have are too hard for him and he realizes he can get food into his mouth faster if he uses his hands. And that's how we get the above picture.

Sticks

Our boy loves sticks. I mean LOVES them. He will not walk past a stick without picking it up. When his hands are full with a stick in both hands, he holds one up for you to hang on to for him, then proceeds to pick up a new stick. It continues like this. Fortunately, he doesn't notice as I throw each stick back where it came from.

Today, he found a really big stick. His face is so cute in this picture. It's like he's thinking "This is the biggest stick EVER! Mom, look!"

Boxes

Everyone knows the best toy for a kid is a box, right? No matter what size, they are always a big hit. Gabriel seems to like the tiny boxes that he can fit onto his hand. For the last week he's been walking around like this.

Trip to Las Vegas

We just got back from a week long trip to Las Vegas with Rick and Janice (aka Grandpa and Gram Gram). They have a time share in Florida and were able to change locations. Since we were living in California at the time we made our plans, we thought Vegas was a great location. Is was just a short drive which would be great for Gabriel. Well, since we moved to Virginia in the interim, we ended up having to fly all the way there with a 3 hour time change. Tough to do with a baby, but he actually managed it quite well!

Here are some pictures we snapped while visiting.

I think the things that caught Gabriel's attention the most, were all the aquariums.

We thought he might enjoy a picture with some of the show girls, but right when I handed him over, he just cried! At least we got a funny picture :)

Here he is with Gram Gram at one of the fountains inside the Bellagio.

And this is me relaxing at the pool. I managed to slip away a few times for this.

One night, Grandpa and Gram Gram watched Gabriel while Richard and I went to dinner at a fancy restaurant in the Venetian and saw Blue Man Group. It was a fun date! Here we are with one of the blue men after the show.

Afterward, we shot this picture of Richard in front of the Eiffel Tower. Now we have seen the real Eiffel Tower and the Vegas one!

The family posing in the botanical garden at the Bellagio.

We also went to the Hoover Dam, Red Rock Canyon and a Natural History Museum. Here are Grandpa and Gabriel and the Hoover Dam.

Our last night there, we enjoyed the fountain show in from of the Bellagio. Gabriel loved watching the fountains, until he got a little too wet at the end and started crying.

Good thing we got a good picture before the show started. This was a good end to our trip.

I don't have a picture of Cirque Du Soleil, but Janice and I really enjoyed their "KA" show. It had a great story line, which included war, romance and humor. There are lots of flying people and just an overall great performance. I highly recommend it!

Gabriel's New Words

I plan to catch all his words on video soon, but for now I want to share how Gabriel is doing and what he is saying.

We recently went to Gabriel's 15 month check-up. He is healthy and strong. His weight is average, but his height is around the 80th percentile. Not surprising, since he has tall parents. Although, when I look at him, I don't think he looks tall. In fact, I've seen many other babies bigger and younger than him. So in my mind, he is still an average height.

The doctor did a finger prick on Gabriel to test his blood for anemia. We haven't heard the results. She did this because I told her our previous doctor said to put him on whole milk instead of formula at 10.5 months (after my milk dried up). Our previous doctor also told us there was enough iron in our baby cereal to meet his daily needs, but our current doctor says it's not enough. Sheesh! Can't they all just agree on things? Anyway, I haven't heard back from the blood work, so I plan to call tomorrow.

Gabriel is speaking a few words. He says mama, dada, and cracker which sounds like "cacka". Those are the words he really has down and uses often. He will sometimes try to say other words that he hears, but it's usually a whisper and hard to catch. He has started to say Tabor, which sounds like "Babo". He surprised me with this one, because I wasn't even trying to get him to say it. I was showing him a video of Tabor, and he said "Babo!"

In other news, Gabriel has also been very clingy. I suspect it may be related to our recent move to Virginia. I'm sure he feels a little out of sorts. It makes it hard to get ready in the morning and to cook dinner, but outside of that I don't mind. I have taught him to say "mama" when he wants my attention, instead of just whining. He caught on quickly, but now he says "mama" when he wants Richard to pick him up too! Richard will correct him, but Gabriel keeps making the same mistake each time. Oh well, we can all respond to "mama" for now. :)

Moving Pictures

Just thought I would share these pics I took during our move.

"Ready to go, Mom!"

"Wait, what happened to the couch?"

King of the hill.

Helping Daddy vacuum.

Chillin' with Tim, aka Tio Tim, in our temporary home.

And giggling with Marlene, aka Tia Leeny.

A short nap on Daddy during the flight.

Followed by many many walks up and down the isles.

Gabriel did really well during such a long flight, which made it much more enjoyable. TYJ.