Lost innocence

I love this picture of Cade reading to Gabriel.

Gabriel is growing up so fast. I'm not sure when it happened that he is almost not a toddler anymore. I needed to buy him some bigger undies and didn't realize that toddler sizes stop at 4T. I wandered over to the big boy clothes and found some, and had to stop myself from tearing up a little. I am so pathetic. I waited such a long time to have these boys, and wasn't sure at times if I would get to have any kids. So every day of them being small and being here with me has been a gift.

But having an almost non-toddler brings on some new challenges. Gabriel just recently started noticing what other kids are wearing and let me know that he wants a matching backpack and lunchbox set just like his classmate Joseph has. In a way, this is good because it's easy to understand what he really wants. But I'm sure it could lead to conversations that I'm sure I had with my mother, "But HE has one, so how come you won't let me get one?" Sigh. Payback is heck.

On a more serious note, we know we need to start the conversation about stranger danger and keeping private parts private and all of that. I have occasionally tried but it hasn't gone well. I HATE being the one who has to destroy Gabriel's total innocence and utmost faith in the good of mankind. Because he has that right now. He waves to people at the grocery store and tells the guy at the drive-thru window that he has a baby brother named Joel. He tried to tell our waiter at Campo Verde tonight that the fire trucks were out at the fire station when we drove by. He has no reason to believe that there are people in the world who might try to hurt him. I never saw this coming, never realized how tough it would be. I've been stalling on figuring out how to talk to him. But I know times being what they are we must find a way to have the discussion for his own safety.

In the meantime, we have ourselves a little drummer boy. He has been practicing his drums at least four times a day, playing for 15 - 20 minutes each time. His stamina is improving with each day. So, sometimes we think we should find someone to give him lessons, as long as they are used to teaching kids that young and won't teach the fun out of it. And sometimes we think he's still too young for that much direction and seems to be having so much fun that we really shouldn't interfere. We're leaning towards trying it and if he likes it, we'll keep it up at least through the summer. If he doesn't, we'll quit and maybe try again in a year or so.

Easter

We had an egg hunt and lunch the day before Easter. This was the first outside egg hunt we had in the last 3 or 4 years. Thank you Easter Bunny, it's so much funner outside!

Joel didn't really understand what was going on and just wanted to play.

Counting the loot. (Gabriel caught eating the loot on camera)

This boy is growing up way too fast.

Bubbles!

Sunday we went to Mass then changed for Randol Mill Park. Another egg hunt (another disinterested Joel), and a picnic.

Thank you Tita for the homemade cupcake!

My sweeties.

Weird weather

I didn't take this picture, but I wish I had. It's beautiful!

We should be used to having spring thunderstorms around here. But this year they seem a little wackier.

The first thing that's strange is that in most previous years (that I can remember, at least), the thunderstorms seemed to hit around 4 - 7 pm, right around rush hour traffic. This year they keep hitting in the middle of the night. The second thing that's strange is the temperatures keep fluctuating much more than I can remember in previous years. Here it was the beginning of May this past weekend, and the highs were in the fifties. It got down to 39 last night at our house. I seem to recall a few Mayfests that were chilly, but not this cold. And the thunder itself seems different to me. Instead of a mixture of some loud BOOMS and some rolling, the sound seems to mostly be long, long rolls that start really far off, then finally make their way here with a slight BOOM then roll on by somewhere farther away again.

Sunday night we got three different sets of this thunder, along with tons of lightning and finally a downpour each time. And don't forget that cold, whipping wind. It seemed to me like Mother Nature was being very moody and couldn't make up her mind which season it was.

Just. Plain. Weird.

New shoes

We went to do some formal shoe shopping for the boys last night. All I have done up until now is use hand-me-downs, birthday and Christmas gifts, and an occasional purchase from a random shoe store for the boys' shoes. I knew that Joel has needed some that fit him better for about two months. But just didn't want to take the time to get to Stride Rite, the holy grail of shoe stores for kids, because it was kind of a long drive to The Parks mall in Arlington. And also because I knew it was gonna be expensive. Then about two weeks ago we noticed Joel had these weird blister looking things on almost all of his toes - yuck. It turns out he can't wear Crocs right now because he still turns his little toes in so much while walking, and all that rubbing causes the skin to flake. Double yuck. And since he only had those and his tiny tennis shoes, he was kind of up a creek.

So we finally loaded them up and made a fun afternoon out of it. We decided to check Gabriel's size too, because I thought his tennis shoes were looking kind of small. (Not very scientific, but at least it entered my brain). It turns out both boys need wide widths. Gabriel was only one size too small. Joel was two. Ouch. Hopefully I haven't ruined his feet for the rest of his life. We walked out with new tennies and water shoes for both boys, but since they were having a good sale it didn't his us that hard in the pocketbook. Joel wouldn't stop looking at his feet walking around the mall afterwards. He probably couldn't figure out why his little toes weren't all smushed together, and marveled that he could actually move them around.

Up until now I think I must admit one big parenting FAIL when it comes to shoes, but I have seen the light! I will now be making the pilgrimage to Stride Rite once a year to check their sizes and make a yearly purchase. I believe in the power of freer, wiggly toes!

The crazy never really stops, does it?

When we first had Gabriel, we were too overwhelmed with exhaustion and the stress of being new parents to really stop and think about how much faster and busier our lives got. Then after Joel, same thing. You're sleep deprived and you just go through the motions of what you have to do in that fog, although it was easier in the sense that we knew what it was like to have a baby the second time around.

For many years now, it seems we are so nonstop busy that we don't get to stop to catch our breaths. It also seems like life gets more stressful than I can handle sometimes. Up to about six months ago (right around when Joel turned one), I would always say, "All of this will get easier and we'll have more time to do nothing." Well, now I am starting to realize that the busy never really goes away when you have children. And the really stressful times come so often that I think it's dawning on me that this is just my life now. I need to get a grip on the fact that a) we have lots of family here, so always will be busy with them, b) having older pets is going to be hard and expensive, and maybe even sad sometimes c) the kids are going to continue to get sick alot when they are little and d) we live in an old house that will constantly have things breaking down and needing to be fixed.

In other words, maybe the problem is me, and that I'm just not dealing with the stress very well.

Take, for example, the past week. Last Thursday and Friday I cleaned house like a mad woman because I had not done so in a very long time. My side of the family came for our annual Easter Egg Hunt and lunch on Saturday. It was great fun, but we were wiped out afterwards. Sunday we had Mass at 9 am and then changed clothes for a picnic and afternoon at Randol Mill Park with Jav's family. Once again, loads of fun, but completely exhausted afterwards.

Tuesday night I realized that Zoe had not eaten or drank anything since the night before and was not coming out from underneath the bed. Jav was supposed to fly out of town for one night Wednesday morning, and dropped her off at the vet on the way to the airport. The vet is pretty sure she had a bladder infection. This meant that Wednesday night, along with getting the boys fed, bathed and put to bed by myself (really not a problem anymore), I was trying to make sure Zoe ate her food with the antibiotic stirred in and was trying to keep track of whether or not she drank any water and used the litter box.

Thursday afternoon Gabriel got hit with a stomach virus, but luckily it passed through him really quickly and he seemed over that part by bedtime. But now he's coming down with a cold. Jav and I were supposed to go see a movie and go out to eat for our anniversary tomorrow, but we've cancelled with the grandma babysitters and will try again either Sunday or who knows when since Mother's Day is right around the corner. Oh, and did I mention that I'm hosting my book club here on Wednesday night? After working that day?

It still sounds awfully crazy to me. But I now realize that there are millions of families with kids and lots of family and pets who are going through the same types of weeks, maybe even busier with baseball practices and games, and homework, and whatever else that we haven't even started yet. I know how lucky we are to have these boys, to have our family close and to have so many good friends that we are busy all the time. Sometimes I just wish we could say "NO" to a few more things so that we could stop and take a breath, chill out, lay in the hammock, read a book, putter in the yard, browse in a bookstore, watch an entire movie, lollygag and loll about. Sleep.

I know you're thinking, "You need a vacation!" So true, but sadly probably not an option for us this year. Or maybe you're thinking, "Just chill out and get a grip. And quit whining!" Which is probably what I would think if I read this and somebody else wrote it.

Another crazy zoo trip

We had my niece, Macy, over to spend the night last weekend. We decided to take her to the zoo, partly because they were having a new dinosaur exhibit and partly because it was absolutely beautiful outside that day. Every time we've been to the zoo lately, we've seen some really neat things. This time did not disappoint, and was just made even more fun since Macy was with us. This was the first dinosaur we walked up on. Gabriel is not convinced at this point that it's not real. They all moved and made noise, and were just so cool!

This guy was the biggest one. A little while after this was taken, we ended up at Gabriel's favorite spot - the birds of prey. (Which just happens to be mine too.) We always see something pretty amazing from these beautiful (and big) birds. And this time was no different. One of the Bataleur Eagles was sitting on a nest, and looked quite content to be there no matter how many visitors were staring at her. Then, we realized that one of the Harpy Eagles had landed just over the walkway and was causing quite a stir. He was literally two feet above our heads, but we were coming at him from behind. When I started winding around to try to take his picture from the front I overheard other zoo patrons saying something about being sorry for the mouse. I thought, uh-oh. And sure enough, he was clutching a little mouse between his gigantic talons. I tried to tell Macy and Gabriel to just walk on by and not look too close. But what does a little kid do when you tell him/her not to look at something. They gawked. And were so excited to see the mouse. Luckily, just after we all had cleared him and were looking for the Andean Condor, we heard the crowd go, "eeeeeeewwwwwwwww!!!!!" So I guess we just barely missed seeing him eat his dinner, which would have been a little too much nature, even for me.

This looks like a triceratops, but is something called a torosaurus.

I just love it when Gabriel can spend time with his cousins. These two aren't very far apart in age, but when Cade and Macy are both at our house they have a tendency to play with each other and sort of forget about Gabriel (which I totally understand!). But that's why I decided to start having them over one at a time, alternate months. Gabriel and Macy had a GREAT time together and really bonded this time.

My very cute chubby-cheeked men.

She is such a cutie! We had so much fun with her, and laughed so much our sides hurt during dinner. I love she and Cade SO MUCH and am so glad they are close enough to be able to see them so often. Next we'll get Cade in May. Yay!

Dyo Dyo

Taking a time out from his cars to do a little kicking.

I love this picture of Joel and Poppy.

...which is the way Joel says his name. We all call him Jo Jo except Gabriel, who still prefers Joel (and corrects us if we try to call him Gabe). I caught Joel in the hall playing with matchbox cars one afternoon, just mumbling to himself, "mama, dyo dyo, mama, dyo dyo." So cute. Everything he does right now is SO STINKIN' CUTE!

He likes to say a long string of Joel words while he's got one arm up in the air and his thumb and forefinger pressed together. The only thing I've determined is that maybe he thinks he is King Joel addressing his minions. Jav thinks that he is trying to tell us something very important.

He's trying to run, and those pudgy rolls of leg are going to be slimming down soon, I fear.

He LOVES to play Gabriel's drums. And gleefully speeds through the house if he happens to get ahold of the drumsticks. I've noticed that instead of constant movement through the house, he is now sitting and playing with toys for ten minutes at a time. After telling people that I didn't think he would ever get into books like Gabriel seems to be, he is contradicting me by picking out books and happily looking through them all through the day.

He started blowing kisses to people last week. And adds a, "mmmmmmm wa"

He stretches his arms to the ceiling on command ("Stretchy, stretchy, stretchy, etc...) then drops them really slowly while audibly exhaling and saying, "ahhhhhhhhhhhhh". Something he learned from watching Mommy stretch. And speaking of Mommy, he comes to find me to give me a squeeze and a kiss behind the knees around every 15 minutes. I relish each and every one. The kid needs to teach at a school for hugging.

Food is a challenge right now, at least healthy food. He is a cheese, bread and fruit man. The only meat I can get down him is turkey sausage or bologna (at least it's turkey, right?). He likes peanut butter and jelly and scrambled eggs, so at least I have a few protein options. Vegetables are a complete and utter failure. I've tried every kind and not only will he not eat them, he doesn't even want them on the high chair tray. I felt like I was making a little progress last week when he actually picked up and tried cucumber one night and sweet potatoes the next. They both ended up back out of his mouth, but at least he tried them. Sigh.

He wants to be outside ALL the time. Which I would love if it weren't for his terrible allergies. They were so bad that he developed an ear infection. So his doctor put him on a nasal spray even though he usually waits until the child turns two.

Language is present, but only in Joel-form. He says "mama", "dada", "baba" (Gabriel), "Tita", "door" (we have no idea why) and can moo like a cow. We know he is understanding many more, but doesn't seem to want to repeat them when we tell them to him. It's a little frustrating, but he just gives me this look like, "All in good time, mama". All in good time.

From Disappointment to Bursting with Parental Pride

The grandmothers anxiously awaiting a performance that never came.

Jav and sister Sandra, who really should win the Tia of the Year award, every year.

Gabriel looks tense already, doesn't he? I was concerned at this point. Look at Joel hamming it up with his fake smile face. How do you know how to do a fake smile face when you're not even two?

We attended Gabriel's school fundraising event Thursday night, along with both grandmothers and one Tia. You see, he was supposed to get on stage and sing. But he didn't. He had a mini freak-out and started saying he wanted to go home as soon as the first group started getting off the stage. I had my hands full of a very cranky and Mommy-centric Joel, so Jav carried him up to the stage and hoped to talk him into joining his classmates. But no, he just wouldn't do it. So what to do as a parent? You can't take him kicking and screaming and make him stand up there. I wish I had just tuned out Joel and taken Gabriel myself, but that probably wouldn't have worked either. I had forgotten that last year the same thing almost happened, but we got lucky when one of his teachers passed our table on the way up to the stage and whisked Gabriel up there with her before he had a chance to protest.

I don't want Gabriel to have fear dictate to him what does and doesn't do as he grows up. I was that way for the better part of my life and have some regrets about it. I realize that he's still very young to be thinking about this. I guess I'm wondering, at what age do we sort of nudge him to do something that he really doesn't want to do, when we know that he will have fun doing it. I had a talk with him the next morning, and told him that after all that practicing that he sort of let down his classmates, his teachers, and most of all himself by not making himself get on stage and sing. He missed out on having some fun, and sharing his wonderful voice with all of us. He just kept saying, "But it's okay Mommy."

Then, later that same day, we visited the school where my dad is principal, Jo Kelly. We had not been for several years and his two secretaries really wanted to see Gabriel and meet Joel. My mom came too, since dad is about to retire and she may not get another chance to visit him there. Jo Kelly is the only Fort Worth public school where severely mentally and physically challenged kids can attend. I didn't realize that my dad wanted to take us around to classrooms, so I didn't have time to prepare Gabriel for anything. The kids are almost all in wheelchairs, and range from barely moving to having severe spasms, and from remaining totally quiet to verbal and sometimes shouting. The first classroom was quite a shock to the little guy, but my dad saw his face and leaned down to tell him that most of the kids here are disabled, but they are still kids just like him.

Gabriel proceeded to amaze me. He brightened right up, seemed to accept everyone just the way they were, started waving "Hi" to most of the kids, and even went up to talk to a few of the higher functioning kids when prompted by a teacher. He was downright charming with the teachers. I have never been so proud of him as I was walking through that school. And I told him so when we got back to the car. I really hope that he remembers the visit, and can continue to be accepting of people, especially kids, who are different.

Friend

Gabriel has a new friend. He is imaginary. He doesn't have a name; Gabriel just calls him "my kid". He has elaborate conversations with his kid. He provides a voice for him. He apparently sleeps under Gabriel's bed. They like to read books together.

Oh, and did I mention, the kid is twenty?

Hope he doesn't get Gabriel into any trouble!

OK, so when I originally posted this, I forgot to include the funniest part. When I tried to play along with this, and offered to kiss "his kid" goodnight too, Gabriel got really quiet and then said, "Mommy, I'm just pretending!" with a very distinct "duh" tone to his voice.

Not enough hours....

Technology is a blessing and a curse. There. That's my profound thought for the day.

I would love to post something in this blog every day. I constantly am thinking about quirky things I want to write about. Every day there's something about one of the boys I would love to post about to remember. Sometimes the thoughts leave me before I have a chance to get them recorded. It's been really hard to find the time to post things since I went back to work.

Facebook is something I've grown to really love. The best thing about it is that I get to keep up with friends and family who live out of town. But I also love keeping up with people from high school, especially the ones who were just acquaintances back then but I now realize they would have been really fun to know better. I've also started "liking" many places in the Metroplex so that we can keep up with what's going on. But all of this takes time. If I don't check it at all during the day, I will breeze through a whole day just before bed. It usually takes me about twenty minutes.

But the thing is, it's already 11 by the time I get into bed with the laptop and try to unwind. I don't have an extra 20 minutes to check Facebook. Or an extra half hour to blog. I need to start reading or going to sleep at that time, not hunch over the computer until I find myself dozing off. (Which, by the way, I'm doing right now).

I'm also in the habit now of checking my IPhone last thing before I go to bed and first thing when I wake up. I tell myself it's because it's an easy way to wake up a little more. But I'm starting to wonder if I'm addicted to the thing. I caught myself telling Gabriel to put his play cell phone down during meal times, just after I had been checking Facebook with mine at the table. FAIL at fair parenting.

I could take time away from the boys to try to do some of it, but that's really messed up. "Sorry, sweetie, Mommy is really busy writing down what just happened for a bunch of somewhat strangers and can't play with you right now." Or, "I know you just said a new word, Joel, but I'm still busy trying to tell everyone about the last word you learned. Could you slow it down a little?"

So I have a choice. I can 1) cut into Mommy and me time, or (2) decide to cut out some of the technology and therefore miss opportunities to record our life and keep up with every one else's, or (3) I could get less than 6 hours of sleep every night. Which is what I've been doing.

Yawn.

Kitchen drums, then and now

Spring break week

Spaghetti!

We had a GREAT spring break week. Monday our fun activity was a visit to the library, which is always a favorite place that Gabriel likes to go. We took our neighbor, Helen, which made it even more festive. I was just proud of myself for remembering to ask her to come along, finally.

Tuesday one of Gabriel's classmates had invited the entire class and then some over for a play date, just so the kids could get together during spring break. They lived in Colleyville in a beautiful house that backed up to a park, exclusive to the neighborhood, of course. Only about 6 kids and moms showed up from his class, but altogether there were about 12 kids around Gabriel's age. Of course, my son was the Pied Piper who led them up to the playroom when everyone thought it was too chilly to play outside. We've since had a little talk about ASKING first to go certain places in someone else's house when you are a guest. Of course, I forgot the camera so have no pictures from this or other outings we had.

Wednesday we headed over to Mike and Susan's for a fun morning. Gabriel loved seeing the parakeets and especially riding the zip line, which he is still talking about over a week later. Joel had fun rolling chalk from one side of the driveway to the other. Thursday was St. Patrick's day, and we got our green on (as you can see in the above picture). We also walked Molly down to the duck pond, and created a new thing called Furniture Slam Dancing. For the first time in months, Gabriel actually wanted to take a nap. Then we visited Mamaw and Poppy in the afternoon.

Zoe and Bones peacefully coexisting, a very rare occurrence indeed.

Joel and Molly peacefully coexisting, something that happens quite often, until Molly barks at something. Then Joel bursts into tears and runs to find me.

Friday we went for a last minute play date to his school friend Luke's house. Luke's little brother, Will, was born a week after Joel. Everybody had a wonderful time, especially the Mommies!

Saturday we had promised Gabriel we'd go to the Fort Worth Auto Show. It was fun, and Jav and I enjoyed doing some looking. Even though we hope that a new car purchase doesn't hit us anytime soon, we want to have an idea of what we'll want. We loved the Prius and Honda's new hybrid, The Insight. Of course, back home in the garage Jav's car was plotting revenge on us for seriously looking and decided not to start Monday morning.

Joel in suspended animation.

When I looked at this picture just after taking it, I got really emotional. Look at my baby! How much he has grown and changed. God they grow up fast.

Sunday we had a neighborhood Mom's Group play date at a nearby park. The kids had a great time playing, then we all walked around the lake and attempted to feed the ducks. There were around 50 of them, but no takers for our bread pieces.

Gabriel, Bennett and Harper are getting to be pretty good friends. Bennett is a year younger and Harper is a year-and-a-half younger.

I really love this picture! So, so sweet.

So Spring Break 2011 was a resounding success, especially for Gabriel. Three play dates in one week AND the creation of his now-favorite past time Furniture Slam Dancing. Go Mommy!

I have a dream....a food dream, that is.

Since my last wordy post was about food, I thought I would continue the theme.

I currently do most of my grocery shopping at Wal Mart, something I am not very proud of. I hate how they put so many Mom and Pop stores out of business, and changed the face of small town Main Streets all across the country. But it is a convenient and affordable place to shop. They have also been adding organic products, and things like environmentally responsible cleaning supplies, which are also less expensive than other stores'. My dream used to be being able to shop at either Whole Foods or Central Market for everything, but those just aren't feasible options. Way too expensive.

So I have developed a new dream. Here's a working rough draft:

1. Purchase all produce and herbs from Farmer's Markets, where the food is preferably organic, and definitely seasonal. I would also love to one day purchase eggs, cheese and meat from a Farmer's Market.

2. Purchase bread, tortillas, etc.. from a bakery where they are made fresh daily.

3. Purchase fresh fish from a market.

4. Purchase spices, condiments, canned or jarred foods that aren't in season, snacks, and pantry items like olives and peanut butter from an organic grocery store.

5. Using all of these ingredients, SIMPLIFY SIMPLIFY SIMPLIFY meals.

All of this sounds good in theory. But in order to execute my dream I have several large obstacles to combat. I'll take each number one at a time:

1. The Farmer's Markets in our area are still quite expensive if you want seasonal, organic food from local farms. The one market we used to shop at regularly was affordable, but I found out that they have most of their inventory shipped in from other parts of the country and world just like most grocery store produce departments. FAIL on the seasonal. The Arlington Farmer's Market has a woman selling eggs, and I need to find out her prices. They also have one family farm selling beef, but it's really expensive also. I don't know of any local Farmer's Markets that have cheeses available. We're not really in dairy country!

2. We don't really have any bakeries in our area, other than the grocery store bakeries and a few Latino bakeries a little further away.

3. There is really no place to buy really good, safe fresh fish close by. Albertson's used to be ok, but has recently given in to area consumer demand and dropped almost all seafood except farmed salmon (mercury-filled) and catfish. Love catfish, but need some other healthier options. I want to try out the nicer Kroger that is up the highway, and therefore not as convenient.

4. Obviously, if 1 through 3 can't work, I can't afford 4 either.

5. Having two picky appetites in the house to feed would make this one challenging, to say the least, if not downright impossible.

Of course, I have an alternate dream of growing my own vegetables, planting some fruit trees, and have even read up a little on backyard chicken raising. My obstacles there are Lack of Time, Lack of Energy, City Laws and Not Being Able To Kill A Chicken if One Happens To Get Sick. That last one is a doozy.

Sigh. It's nice to at least have dreams. They give you something to work towards.

Love this picture

I have so much I want to write about, but just no energy or time with the busy days we've been having. So I'll just post this picture that was taken just before Christmas. We had just been to the zoo and then look who we ran into. What an exciting day!

A beautiful late winter day

Sense of security

Last year sometime, my mom had told me about an article in Parade magazine linking food memories and smells with kids' sense of self. The article basically said that kids who grow up in a home where there are home-cooked meals and good smells of food being prepared can relate those things later in life to where they came from. It said that even if you make your kids a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, toast the bread a little to get those olfactory senses going.

I've written on this blog several times about how powerful my food memories are, and how even just thinking of certain foods can take me back to a time and place of long ago. And make my mouth water.

I figured out some time after we moved into this house that I love the smells from the kitchen wafting through the house. So much so that I have pretty much stopped burning scented candles of any kind. Because no matter how good they smell, they still don't smell half as good as a pot of soup cooking on the stove. Or a pork tenderloin, smothered in a honey mustard glaze, braising away in the slow cooker. Or yesterday's homemade spaghetti sauce slowly simmering for half of the day. The smell still lingered this morning. I hope I'm providing that feeling of security for my kids, even if they won't realize it for years to come.

I have a large bag of candles I need to give away, if anyone wants them.

Math part two

Sometime the universe lines up in crazy ways.

Just after I concocted my post about math last week, we got a package in the mail for Gabriel and family. At the time I assumed it was from my mom but it was actually from my late friend Cobra's husband, Mark. After seeing him at Cobra's memorial service, I had a few emails back and forth to him regarding Joel's birth, but then it seemed awkward to continue to have much contact with him. Even though he came to our wedding, he and Cobra had dinner with Jav and I a couple of times, and was sometimes around when I visited Cobra at their home, I didn't have all that much interaction with him and it just seemed strange to try and stay in touch with him. But we sent him a Christmas card, and I guess that motivated him to send a gift to Gabriel.

The amazing thing was that it was a book called, "You Can Count on Monsters". Each page has a number (from 1 to 100) on the left side, and a "monster" on the right that is some type of geometric shape. Every prime number gets its own monster. Non primes show the factors that make up that number and their monsters. Sometime they are distorted, or drawn in strange ways, but you can always tell which on is which. For example, the image above shows "7", one of my favorite monsters, a hexagon wearing glasses. This is the picture for fourteen, in which the hexagon is eating the "2" monster, which is made up of circles. It really is an awesome book, not just because the monster pictures keep Gabriel interested, but because it teaches math using pictures of something besides numbers. He loves the book and is now really good at counting to 100.

I sent Mark a long thank you note asking him to let me know how he's doing.