Buddies

4th of July weekend

Saturday morning: Waiting to head to the neighborhood parade.

Waiting to see if we would actually see the parade. They almost decided to not have it because of the weather.

The main reason we go every year.

Saturday night: Ranger Game! The rain held off for Joel's first game and the only one we'll probably make this year.

If you leave the third level just after the last strands of Cotton-Eyed Joe, you will run into Captain on the first level concourse. It's happened twice now. Just make sure you wipe off your humidity-filled camera lens so it won't look like your child is shaking hands with Captain in a fire.

Sunday afternoon: Gabriel watching Toy Story 3. He did great, but I was a blubbering sniveling mess.

Monday: Lunch at Philip and April's for a belated Father's Day and April's belated birthday celebration. Gabriel was determined to spend time with Uncle Dave, which we thought was so sweet. First he tried to get him to come play with him, but Uncle Dave didn't seem to want to. So he settled for a book reading on the couch.

All of the cousins!

Comparing boys

The boys at around 7-1/2 months. Lots of differences, but somehow the same.

Joel has his own baby language he's perfecting. Lots of grrrrs and bwas and a very sweet "ha" that might be Hi. When he gets excited he yells, "Heh". Lately when he starts to get upset he does a constant motorboat, so it's hard to take him seriously. His big ole chunky legs just kick and kick and kick some more. It doesn't matter if he's playing or excited or angry. He's starting to sit up for longer chunks of time. but still can't get his crawl to work. It's almost painful to watch him trying sometimes.

He is such a good little guy and hardly ever fusses unless he's just really tired. I would read a book and sing to Gabriel at bedtime every night (and still do). With Joel I watch the DVR'd Jeopardy while I feed him. The second kid sure does get short shrift. He gets so sleepy afterwards that he just wants his bed. If I try to sing to him he gets mad. Gabriel didn't want me to put him down. Joel wakes up alot at night. It varies from twice to four times a night, and I think it's mostly because of his tummy being upset due to something I've eaten.

Joel loves to be messy. Gabriel is a bit of a neat freak. Gabriel was a huggy baby, but Joel is even worse. He loves to be kissed, squeezed, tickled, almost to smothering. His absolute favorite thing to do is play peek-a-boo with his clothes (that I'm either about to put on him or I've just taken off of him). We couldn't believe it when we realized that's what he was doing. He covers his face up and his little hands just shake with anticipation, and then he waits for me to say, "Where's Joel?" Then he pulls it down and I shout, "There he is!" And he smiles and smiles.

The sweetest time we have together is during Gabriel's naptime. I bring him into our bed and feed him and sometimes we sleep. It's the most relaxed I have ever been in my entire life. I can see now why it's so hard to stop breast feeding. I was going to stop after six months, then it turned into a year. Now I think I might keep trying to do that nap time feeding and maybe the before bed one for awhile longer after he turns a year old. It's going to break my heart when I have to stop.

Last weekend

Gabriel with the white tigers behind him.

Joel saddled up at Lenah's party (on a saw horse).

Gabriel riding the zip line.

At the newly renovated Museum of Science and History with Bennett.

We had quite a weekend last weekend. Friday I took both boys to the zoo for the first time when Jav's Mom got sick and couldn't keep Joel. It was cooler and rainy and we got there when it opened. All the animals were out and active. It was so much fun! Even when we got rained on I just told Gabriel to pretend we were in the actual rain forest and he loved it. We rode the zoo train for the first time, too, but now I realize it's not the same train as the one that goes around Trinity Park (and the one Jav and I grew up riding). This one just goes from one end of the zoo to the other.

Saturday afternoon we went to the birthday party of Gabriel's oldest friend, Lenah. She is three months older than him. They met when Gabriel was two months old. I have never written about her in this blog because every time they get together Tia Sandra takes Gabriel to meet them, since Lenah is the daughter of his Tia's good friend and former roommate, Jacqueline. They have had lots of play dates, and went to see Elmo Live together. We decided it was high time that we joined him on one of the get togethers, which was her 4th birthday party. She had it in a gymnastics gym, with a couple of staff members on hand to take the kiddoes around to the different equipment. For a long time Gabriel didn't really participate, but then he saw the zip line and decided it was time to have fun. Then he went back to enjoy the long, skinny trampoline. It was a really fun party and nice to meet the rest of Lenah's family. It was weird because even her grandparents knew Gabriel.

Then Sunday morning Gabriel and I went to the FW Museum of Science and History to meet another couple and their little boy, Bennett, from our neighborhood Mom's group. This group is kind of a joke. There are about 10 moms on the group site but only two of them and me participate. The funny thing is that one of the reasons our neighborhood won Fort Worth Neighborhood of the Year was because of the Mom's Group. Our newsletter editor makes it sound like about 30 moms participate every time we have something planned, but in reality it was just two moms. I was out of commission for about a year being pregnant and then having Joel. But I decided it was time to reconnect with this group, which is in danger of disbanding due to the disinterest. We had a good time, and only really saw the Children's Museum area the whole time we were there. I want to go back and explore to see if the ticket prices ($14 for adults, $10 for kids) are as ridiculous as I'm thinking or if it's worth the money. I remember when it was free to get into this museum. Sad.

We're right in the middle of another crazy busy but fun weekend. More later!

Birds

I didn't pay much attention to birds before I lived in the rent house. Before that they were just creatures who made too much noise some mornings and woke me up. My appreciation for them started growing when I realized just how many different types lived around me. I hung up a feeder in the front yard and would catch myself staring at it for long periods of time. Then my walks with the dogs around the neighborhood heightened my interest, because I started listening to their calls. By the end of my time at the rent house, I could distinguish cardinals, blue jays, woodpeckers, grackles, crows, and hawks. I loved hearing the sound of the whippoorwill during the night, and would occasionally get to hear an owl. The screech owls had a really neat call, sounding like little horses.

I now find them all fascinating. So much so that I could even find myself as a true birdwatcher, binoculars in hand and field journal in backpack. I constantly listen when I'm out in the yard and would love to learn more calls. There is a bird that migrates here every summer that has such a crazy call. It's really loud and seems to silence other birds, like when hawks cry out, but it's not like any hawk call I've ever heard. I know he's big, but he always flies over really high and likes to sit in the tops of trees so I haven't been able to get a really good look at him. He's really good at staying camouflaged. I heard him for the first time this morning, and smiled to know that he is back again this year. I'm determined to figure out what kind of bird he is.

My grandfather always had bird books so that they could look them up if they saw a new one, or if one just happened to come up in conversation. My parents continued the tradition and have a really big National Geographic bird book on their shelf. One day Gabriel was rummaging around for something to do, and tried to pull that heavy book off the shelf my himself. We helped him get it down, thinking he would want to give it right back once he saw that it was just a bunch of bird pictures. He sat on the floor and looked through the whole thing, asking questions all along. This impressed my mother so much that she gave him a smaller version of the book to take home.

He looks through it often, and has his favorite pages. He loves the page with the condor and vultures for some reason. He loves seeing anything with bright colors, and has always loved cardinals. But the neatest thing about it is that he will run to it to look one up if we see a new one in the yard. I told Jav during dinner one night that I saw a ruby-throated hummingbird drinking from our feeder, and Gabriel forgot he was eating dinner and hopped up to run and get his book. I love this, that he is such a curious child and wants to know more. I guess it just runs in the family.