a few things

about gabe at two years:

:: weighs 31 pounds and is 34.5 inches tall (which puts him in about the 90th percentile overall). he is wearing a size 8 shoe and size 2t clothes.

:: is beginning to put sentences together. some of my current favorites: "i wash a hands", "i shoo a bakee-ball! (basketball)", "pease a cookie? pinkles (sprinkles, he says this every week to the publix bakery lady)". there are so many more, but i can never seem to remember them when i want to.

:: plays basketball all day. for his birthday, he got an inside hoop and an outside hoop, and there are very few moments in our home when he is not using one or the other. he is more than a little obsessed.

:: is, for the most part, learning to obey. there are, of course, days when i would like to rip my hair out, but they are definitely outnumbered by the days in which i am proud to be the mother of such a helpful and fun-loving boy.

:: has learned to open the fridge. this is not my favorite of his skills. although, it is pretty funny when i go to make lunch and find a fridge full of toys.

:: can sing a-g of the alphabet song (and a few others scattered in the middle) and can count to ten. he can even recognize a few of the letters (thanks to steve).

:: remembers words i have used only once (and thus i find it necessary to be more careful with the words i choose). he surprises me everyday with how quickly his vocabulary is expanding. so often, i find myself stopping in the middle of a busy day to wonder when he learned a word he just used.

:: has regressed in his potty training and has more accidents these days than he was having a few weeks ago. but, my understanding is that this is pretty normal, and so for now, we have gone back to carrying around several clean outfits and diligently rewarding dry underwear. hopefully we will be back to consistent dryness soon enough.

:: loves caring for his little brother. when ezra is upset, gabe tells me "mama, baby cies (cries)!" i also often catch him cooing at ezra and trying to make him smile.

:: needs kisses for every little bump. we usually indulge him.

:: is obsessed with owls. we went back to see the baby owl at fort matanzas and ever since, he has been talking about "baby owl baby".

:: is such a creative and thoughtful boy. steve and i often marvel at what a blessing it is to be gabe's parents and how much we love this little guy!