Gabe the Babe

I've decided to feature the random hi-jinks of our schemer and leader of the pack- Gabriel. Here are some of my favorite Gabeisms from the recent past.

Some of Gabes new phrases are:
"What's you deal?" and "What you talkin' bout?"

A few weeks ago, Marc taught the boys to say their full names. As a result, we got to hear this circular argument between Gabe and Elijah:
E: What's you name?
G: Gabriel Marc Ricks
E: You Daddy.
G: I not Daddy!
E: What's you name?
G: Gabriel Marc Ricks
E: You Daddy.

You get the idea- they were at this for literally 15 minutes one day. Finally, at breakfast one morning Gabe came up with this comeback:
G: Oh yeah, I eat you oatmeal and I drink you milk.
He then made biting motions towards Elijah's oatmeal and milk which sent Elijah into a screaming panic. Food is very important to him.

One day, after some pretty crafty naughtiness, I told Gabe:
"You are wily." He responded, "No! I not Walley. I Gabe!"

Every Monday, we watch a 2-year-old boy named Luke for a couple of hours. One morning I had gone upstairs to brush my teeth and came back down to find Gabe at the bottom of the stairs. He told me Luke had thrown a truck down the basement stairs and led me into the kitchen so I could see. I spotted the truck and retrieved it, then realized I hadn't seen Luke in the living room or the kitchen. "Where's Luke?" I asked. Gabe replied, "I put him in time out. He throw truck." Sure enough, Luke was sitting in the corner of the boys' bedroom looking very forlorn. I rescued him from his time out and reminded Gabe that it is not his job to punish others.

On Friday, the boys and I were all playing with blocks. David John fell over and started wailing. Gabe jumped up and dug deep in his shorts pocket, produced a binky and put it in David John's mouth. He then dusted his hands off, looked at me with satisfaction and said, "I keep a binky in my pocket." I now know where to look when binkies go missing.

Gabe has also been very interested in people's emotions lately. He often asks me when I am upset with something he has done, "Mommy, you sad? you tired? you grumpy?" One day, I really was sad (I can't even remember what it was about) and so I replied, "Yes, Mommy is very sad." Gabe asked, "You need a hug?" I said yes, and he crawled up into my lap to hug me. The very sweet moment was cut short when a muffled voice said, "That's enough hug, Mommy."

He is certainly getting bigger and very precocious. He can read all of the children's names at our little preschool and loves to "read" books from memory. He often gives me a run for my money but I certainly wouldn't trade anything for my "Gabe the Babe".

Long Time, No Blog

Yes, faithful readers I am back after over a month. I apologize for this extended break. In late June, "This is Kirtland!" picked up the pace with rehearsals almost every day and then we had 3-4 performances a week. At the same time, I started doing a twice-a-week summer preschool with my friends and I am responsible for planning the activities. SO, I know any excuse is a lame excuse but there you have it. Anyway, doing "This is Kirtland!" was a great experience. I definitely faced my fears and I appreciate all of our friends and family who came to the show. For those of you who did not get to see me in my hotel-upholstery dress and incredibly attractive hairstyle, here is a picture:
In order to get those fabulous locks, I had to put my hair in curlers every afternoon before a performance. My boys were fascinated by the process and liked to stand around in the bathroom and "help" me. One day, they begged for curlers of their own. I gave them each one which they wore around proudly for about an hour or so before they fell out.
Finally, in this random blog post I'd like to mention that Elijah is continuing to make progress on his fear of balloons and is even requesting balloons to play with. We rediscovered Marc's balloon pump and as a result our boys can frequently be seen walking balloon doggies or dueling with pirate swords. Marc is working on mastering some new balloon shapes. We'll keep you posted.