Gabriel-15 months

Gabriel,
Wow. You have changed and developed so much these last three months since you turned one. I remember my friend saying on her blog, that one word that best described her young toddler daughter, was PEST. Well, I completely relate to that. You certainly are one! I think this picture more adequately depicts what my days are like with you:

That morning, you reached up onto the table and dumped the Cheerios out and then promptly started eating them. I was already feeling stressed that day, so you can only imagine how frustrated I felt, since you had already dumped out a huge box of Noah's Legos (only about a thousand pieces to pick up!) Well, I tried to take my sister Amy's advice and I got out the camera, knowing someday it would be funny, just not today. And I think it helped, a little. You are climbing on everything; well, thankfully not everything, you haven't climbed out of your crib yet, thank goodness. But everything else is free game. If I open the dishwasher, you are right there, climbing onto the dishwasher, taking whatever you can get your hands on, out. You love to climb and sit on the dining room table and throw everything off- especially crayons, you go crazy over those! You love to climb up on chairs that are left in the kitchen by Amalie and eat whatever is on the counter and throw off the rest- like dishes and utensils. Taking all the ornaments off the lower third of the Christmas tree is also a special delight.

Thank goodness you give us smiles like these that melt my heart:

You love to make us laugh by making this adorable face! Despite all the messes you make and the extra hours worth of cleaning you give me each day, I still adore you and can't help but give you hundreds of kisses each day. (Don't be jealous, Brad)

Even though your older brother and sister still love and adore you, you are becoming less of a baby now and more of a brother (as my Mom so aptly put it). You destroy their time consuming lego creations in mere seconds and then they lose it. A few days ago, this happened with Noah and he reacted poorly by yelling at you and then hitting you. Daddy was especially upset and disciplined Noah. You came downstairs and told me what happened in a desperate urgent voice, saying "Heh!" over and over and then throwing your arms up and smacking yourself on the head in an effort to show us what Noah had done to you. I couldn't help loving you even more at that moment. It was adorable!

You are starting to interact more with other people again, and you love to give them your funny smile, as picture above. We just love and adore you. You LOVE being outside to play and walk around.

I have to admit that in some ways, you are a perfect boy. For instance, sleeping, you go right down for naps and bedtime without complaint, grabbing your blanket and rubbing it against your nose, two fingers in your mouth. You also are a perfect angel when I run errands as long as I have you in the stroller the entire time. And when I put you in your crib when I am helping the kids clean your room, you are sweet as long as I give you a toy to play with. So, really, I feel rather blessed that you are so chill and happy.

I think happy describes you rather well as you greet me with a beautiful toothy smile frequently. You are content and happy and you can play for hours by yourself.

I love and adore you and love to see your personality unfolding. You are a gem.

Love,

Mama

P.S. Today I heard you crunching away and I looked to see you with a big smile on your face. You had taken Amalie's necklace building beads and thought they were candy. Boy, were you mad when I took them out of your mouth!