A Random Update

While my parents were in town, we took Gabe to the Firehouse Museum in downtown Beaumont. Gabe had a good time "driving" one of the trucks.

Grandma bought Gabe some painting supplies! Thanks to Tamara, a good friend in Michigan, he already had a smock. And thanks to a little dumpster diving with GiGi, we had an easel. The boy's all set for any artistic endeavor he may have has a toddler.

Happy about the Superbowl results.

The outfit Gabe picked out all by himself the other day. Pretty impressive if you as me.

Grandparent Time

Sewing with Grandma

Hiking with Grandpa

Painting Parrot

Brian's out of town for the week - so this picture is for him. My apologies to everyone else.
Gabe has become a bit of a parrot. He picks out the easiest or most dominant word in anything I say and repeats it back to me as a question. It's quite cute, especially when it's a word or phrase like "I love you" (which is more like aaathooo). Still cute.

We had painting time today.



Painting time quickly turned into make-up artist time. He even used the mirror on his new toy from Aunt Tiff to be extra meticulous. I had to stop him when he started trying to paint the inside of his ear. He actually got a lot painted before intervened.

Like much of the country, we had a cold spell here in TX. It got down to the 20's!! That's said with a little bit of sarcasm - but I won't pretend I didn't feel terribly cold in our uninsulated, raised house. Gabe must have too, because one day when we were headed out he insisted on sporting the fashions of not one, not two, but three jackets.

Not about Christmas

I love Christmas. But, I guess I'm not very sentimental - or I just can't keep track of anything when we go to NOLA, including my camera. I don't really have any pictures of Christmas or New Years, although we had a wonderful time.

Elijah and Gabe started this game all on their own. Elijah was great with Gabe.

For some reason, Gabe thinks it's fun to rub food in his hair. This was banana pudding right before we headed out for Christmas vacation.

It makes great hair gel.

Gabe is going through a phase where he likes putting socks on his hands. He'll walk around for quite some time, doing the best he can with sock hands.

Hair Cuts: Before and After

Gabe's new favorite place is the bathroom cupboard. He backs into it, stands up, then shuts the door, is quiet for a moment or two, opens the door, then shut sthe door, and the pattern continues for a very long time.

I thought about practicing opening presents with Gabe, but had not gotten to it just yet. It turns out there is no need- it's innate for him. I found Gabe this morning under the tree, admiring one of the gifts for his Great Grandmother, wrapping paper aside.

We received Grandma Egli's Christmas package today, with her famous Peanut Brittle, yummy cookies, and beautifully wrapped presents. Gabe enjoyed the box. He climbed in with his fire truck blanket and "read" Silent Night. I guess he was in the Christmas mood.

Painting

With cold and wet/snowy weather yesterday, we had to be creative with our afternoon indoors. Painting windows was the activity of choice. Here's Gabe in action.

I've never actually asked Gabe to smile at the camera before, but I thought I would give it a try. This is the result. For those of you who are familiar with my camera smile, this may look familiar.

Upon repeated requests, his smile turned into this...
I think his goal was to let people see every last tooth in his mouth.

After awhile, Gabe wasn't too excited about the paint on his hands. He kept trying to shake it off.