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| Grandma's Boy |
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| Birthday Boy |
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| Birthdays are only complete with icing all over the face! |
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| Chase and Jaycee anxiously awaiting for everyone to sing "Happy Birthday" and dig into the cake. |
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| Gabe having a ball hanging with Dexter |
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| Chase opened his birthday gifts outside and tried on his new helmet. |
I realize this is only my second blog post of the year thanks to an extremely hectic end to winter and stressful beginning to spring. However, no matter how crazy life gets, I couldn’t miss this opportunity to wish my baby boy Gabriel a Happy 1st Birthday today and also wish Chase a Happy 4th Birthday for tomorrow. Tim and I spent today with our parents, my grandmother, sisters, four nieces, and one nephew celebrating our sons’ birthdays with a Spiderman themed birthday party here at our house. I must say it was nice being able to combine both boys’ birthday celebrations into one party even though some may frown upon this approach—but, hey, their birthdays are just one day apart and at this age they don’t mind. It sure made things easier on us. It was a little chilly outside, but the kids still had a ball running around. I think the biggest hit of the day was them playing in our boat in the driveway.
Our “baby” is rapidly evolving into a toddler—kind of a bittersweet moment for me to witness as I know this is the last baby Tim and I plan on having. Gabriel isn’t walking yet, but he’s so close! He can stand on his own for a few seconds at a time and he zips around the house with his walker. He has another bottom tooth that just popped in since the last blog posting and there appear to be several more teeth right about to break through the surface of that little smile. Our little guy is passionate about food (totally opposite from Chase) and is enjoying trying out different table foods—so far, the winner is cheese balls; not the healthiest choice by far, but he makes up for it with the various fruits and vegetables he eats. He’s also transitioning from formula to whole milk. I won’t have the latest measurements on him until later this week at his 1-year check-up, but I know he’s gotten longer and heavier. He’s already in 18-month clothing and size 4 diapers. Since the weather has warmed up, he enjoys swinging on our neighbor’s swing-set and going for strolls and wagon rides. His favorite thing to do is to take random toys or objects and scoot them across the floor—sounds simple, but it keeps him entertained for quite some time. So much for all of those baby toys! Overall, we have a very healthy and happy 1-year old.
Our other “baby” turns a whopping 4 years old tomorrow. He is quite the chatterbox these days. There is never a dull moment with him. He was punching numbers in the home phone the other day and I asked him what he was doing; his response: “Mom, I’m busy checking my email.” I’m either laughing at him or calling his name most of the time. Guess what one of Gabe’s first words is? “Chase!” Only, he pronounces it “Days!” Gabe has heard me call after his brother so many times that he often calls for him. Chase most definitely lives up to his name as he stays on the go all of the time. His two speeds are on and off—there’s hardly a medium. If he’s not running around outside, riding on his John Deere Gator, or trying to master riding the bike he got for Christmas, he’s inside banging on drums or wanting to bake sugar cookies. We stay busy, for sure! Chase and I were able to go to the circus this past Friday with his school. His favorite part of the show was watching a girl get shot from a canon. I love his laughter and excitement in doing just the daily routine in life; the circus was fun, but just being silly around the house is equally fun. It’s hard to believe he’s almost done with the K3 school year at FOEC. We’ve already enrolled him to continue at FOEC for the K4 school year and he’s also going to attend summer activities there in the months to come.
Working full time (and overtime every now and then) and raising our two little tornadoes doesn’t give us time to do much else, but Tim and I are beyond blessed to be parents to our two birthday boys. Thanks to our family for sharing another birthday with us. And, if you’re reading this, I thank you for taking the time to keep up with our adventures.
