Baby Gabe

There’s something about Baby Gabe

dad — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:27:48 +0000

One of the best things about Baby Gabe is his ability to put a smile on people’s faces — even people we wouldn’t think would be susceptible to the charms of a cute baby. We’ve seen police officers, day laborers, street vendors, and even high school kids smile and wave to Baby Gabe. Then again, it’s difficult to ignore a baby smiling and waving at you. Even when he’s not waving, he’s usually drawing attention to himself by running around laughing. We see some people try to fight it, but they eventually succumb and smile.

Baby Gabe the Composer

dad — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 03:55:36 +0000

Dora

dad — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 00:48:11 +0000

There’s just something about Dora the Explorer. Baby Gabe doesn’t watch any other cartoon. We bought a DVD of Dora and keep the box up on our entertainment center. So now he just walks up and grabs the box whenever he wants to watch it. Sometimes, if he dropped it somewhere and we didn’t put it back yet, he points at the DVD remote and says “DO, DO.” The funniest part of all this is that he’s learned all the songs. In every episode, Dora and Boots have to stop Swiper the Fox from stealing something. Whenever they see him, the yell out, “Swiper, no swiping! Swiper, no swiping! Swiper, no swiping!” Swiper responds by snapping his fingers and saying, “Oh, man…” Baby Gabe picked up on that. You can hear it in the opening song. Whenever Dora and Boots finish saying “Swiper, no swiping,” Baby Gabe chimes in, “Oh, meh.”

Rascal

dad — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:55:47 +0000

We’ve already talked about Baby Gabe’s penchant for mischief, but he took it to another level on our trip to Minneapolis for Jeff’s wedding. We stayed at Jeff and Sarah’s place where they have a nice fenced in yard. They have 3 gates with latches for entry/exit. Every time we left the yard with Baby Gabe in tow, we unhooked the latch. What we didn’t know was that he was watching us the whole time. So on our last day there, we had a picnic outside with family, including several of his toddler cousins. Suddenly, he ran straight for the gate, unlatched it, and ran out. He didn’t fiddle with it at all. He knew exactly what to do. Other kids almost made it out, too, but we got to them in time.

On another occassion, Baby Gabe and his dad were at Borders. Gabriel had this fascination with the water fountain next to the restroom. After a few minutes, Baby Gabe’s dad picked him up and carried him into the middle of the store. Baby Gabe immediately turned and walked right back to the fountain. Next, Baby Gabe’s dad took him all they way back to the children’s section at the opposite end of the store. Because of the store’s layout, this wasn’t a straight shot; some navigation was required. Upon being dropped down, Baby Gabe headed right back to the fountain, weaving through aisles and even under a table. They only thing that thwarted him was the double glass door exit. Once he saw that, he turned in that direction and walked right out.

We now believe we could have an entire acre of fenced-in yard for Baby Gabe to run around, and the first thing he would do is run straight for the fence to get out.

Doppelganger

dad — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:24:28 +0000

Choices, choices

dad — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:07:12 +0000

We sometimes long for the days when Baby Gabe would just open his mouth and happily ingest anything we put in front of him. Feeding him now is a much more interactive adventure, particularly early in the dining process. He makes his preferences known, as you can see, and eats up his favorites first. The “favorites” change depending on the day. He loved the tomato basil tart the day before.

Playful

dad — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 03:05:08 +0000

This is just after his dinner. He’s actually pretty subdued here. There are other times when he runs from room to room to the front door and back.

Now he’s really mobile

dad — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:17:44 +0000

We’re discovering there is no adequate means of babyproofing for Baby Gabe. We have lever handles that he can now reach. He has a little scooter, but instead of sitting on it and scooting around with his legs, he finds it more enjoyable to stand on it like a skateboard. He tries to climb onto anything chest high or lower. And if there’s nothing to climb, he’s been known to stack his books and climb those. He literally walks on his tiptoes so he can scan what’s on tables, nightstands, and in drawers. He once wanted something shiny on our dresser, but it was way out of his reach. So he opened the bottom drawer, climbed in, and stood up on a pile of clothes. Now his eyes were above the dresser. He pulled open the middle drawer. Before he could climb into that one, we grabbed him.

Cruising w/ Baby Gabe

dad — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 23:05:59 +0000

He’s like a sporting dog

dad — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 00:44:11 +0000

Dog owners know that different breeds require different levels of exercise. Sporting dogs like retrievers need to have a lot of time to run around to get rid of all their energy. Toy dogs, like the kinds everyone in LA seems to tote around while running errands, are just fine being carried. Baby Gabe is a sporting dog. He can calm down enough to sit quietly flipping through books for about 5 minutes. Then he’s off running to do something else. He’s a bundle of energy, and we sometimes struggle to keep up with him. It’s no wonder we haven’t been to the gym since he was born, and we’re maintaining our weight. He gives us all the exercise we need.