Gabriel-17 months

Dear Gabriel,
You are finally in Nursery! A few weeks back, I finally decided to take you to Nursery. I had hardly been to Relief Society in the last month, since you can't make it through the 3rd hour of church, you get so cranky and tired, I end up taking you home to nap. I was feeling so isolated, I figured taking you to Nursery and staying with you was better than going home. I thought the toys and snacks would distract you from your fatigue and I was right! You loved it! You played with cars the entire time. I shouldn't have been surprised, since "car" was your first word.

The next week you stayed all by yourself and were happy as can be. I can't tell you what a blessing of a third child you are- you are just amazing and easy going. It is so wonderful, as you will see when you have children of your own someday. The third week I took you, you went right to the blanket and sat down. I was thrilled you already had the routine down.

You are at such a fun age, where almost everything you do is adorable. The other day, you helped me take the laundry out of the dryer and put it in the laundry basket. Then you helped me load the dryer with wet clothes from the washer. My heart was full to bursting, as I thanked my Father in Heaven for you. Then later you came down and helped me unload the dishwasher. It's so cute how you hand me things, one by one. Then you went back upstairs. You came down with a little girls' headband on, and climbed onto the door of the dishwasher and helped me load the dishwasher. Oh, how you gave me a good laugh.
You are such a happy boy- you often grin at me, and find such delight in life. It is a pleasure to be around. One of my favorite things that you do is this. Each night at bedtime, I put you in your crib, you never fuss! Instead, you sit right down with your monkey and blankie. Then you stand up and point to the books and say, "Mo." I hand you a bunch of books, you plop down and start "reading" your books. Oh man, I am so blessed.

Of course you do have your hard moments. You have been super cranky as of late at some meal times. You have gone so far as to throw a huge fit at breakfast. I still can't figure out what was wrong. You did this several times in a matter of days. ? But then later you are happy. You complain and fake cry a lot more than you used to. You throw your little baby fits at times, but being a third child, I just laugh it off and say, "Faker!"Sometimes, you hit your brother or sister or Mommy. And I ask you to say "Sorry" and you lean your little head down for a snuggle. (That's your version of a hug!) It's so cute. If you continue to hit, then I put you in time out for a minute or less and then I take you out and ask you to say sorry. You will also give kisses and hugs to me on demand. I love it! Your kisses are hilarious as you open your mouth and lean forward. You run into my arms for hugs.

You love to play by yourself. You will go into the kids room and shut the door. You love to shut doors! Yesterday, I opened the door for you, just in case you wanted to come out and you immediately slammed the door. I cracked up, laughing. It was as if you were standing there, just waiting for someone to try that trick.

You are into everything and make huge messes. But I can usually get you to help me clean up. You enjoy putting toys away. Thank goodness! I always know when you are ready for a nap, because you start to be a big pill, hitting other people or making huge messes. So I put you down and you play for a little while in your crib and then go to sleep.

You have just learned that if you say, "Mama!", you can get my attention. It's super cute, to hear you say Mama in a loud, insistent voice. You also learned the word, "ball". I can't wait to hear your vocabulary expand. When we ask you to say words, you just stare at us. You seem to understand so much, but you won't try to say words. Well, we will just keep trying and someday . . . you will be talking up a storm.

I am so in love with you and ever grateful to be,
Your Mama