My Little Handyman

We have had record cold weather down here, which is unusual for Southern Coastal NC.

Gabe was delighted to see that the water on his rollercoaster had turned into ice and he was more than happy to take care of that situation!



And thus began his quest for more ice....










And thus began my husband's errr...my quest for a new project to build a backyard ice skating rink. We'll see how that pans out! See below if you want to try!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Easy_and_Inexpensive_Ice_Rink/

Almost One and Almost Walking!

Zoe Marie will be one year old in a week!

It looks like we will be celebrating her birthday with a milestone- walking on her own!

Interestingly, Gabe also took his first steps a few days before his first birthday.

She already gets around pretty well by hanging onto things like the coffee table and her shopping cart. She is ready to hang with big brother, so seeing him running around certainly motivates her.

Check her out on video! (Ignore the part where I'm explaining to my mom how to use her camera).

My Little Hero in The Half Shell

Gabe loves the Ninja Turtles, so naturally he wanted to be a ninja turtle for Halloween this year. He watches the show because Charles found it for him online.

And this is not just any old Ninja Turtle Cartoon, mind you- he watches the original series from when Charles and I were little. Seeing it and hearing the song really takes us back.

It was hard to find a costume but we did- Ninja Turtles isn't exactly all the rage right now, but we found it at Halloween express, complete with shell and mask (which we can't convince him to wear just yet). He loves the outfit though, and asks to wear it.

It fits him pretty well, even though he's three and the costume is actually for age 4-6. Heck, at the price we paid for it, he can wear it again and be a Ninja Turtle for the next three years!

Happy Halloween!


Gabe all ready to go at Trick or Treat Under the Sea at the NC Aquarium


Zoe was a pumpkin this year. Original, I know....


Grandmommy getting Miss Zoe all ready for trick or treat


Ladies holding some cool reptiles at the front of the aquarium

Miss Go Go Zoe!

Zoe started crawling really well about a month ago (eight months). I got some footage of her crawling today. Check her out!

Update on Gabe

Mr. Gabe is moving right along with his preschool activities. He is not in preschool- I teach him at home. I am amazed at the amount of stuff he knows.

Here is a video of him telling time a few weeks ago.




He really likes working in his workbook. We usually do two or three pages at a time. I told him when he finishes the whole thing, he gets a special present. He told me he wanted dominoes, so dominoes it is! We've been working on it since April- it has about 300 pages, so I imagine it will be a while before we're done.

So far, he can count to thirty in English, about 16 in Spanish, and 10 in German and Chinese. He knows a lot of words in Chinese and Spanish. We haven't done much more with German other than counting, though. He is going with me to Spanish class this year and is my little helper! He has a computer game that he plays that uses Spanish a lot, too and he likes some cartoons in Spanish and Spongebob in Chinese. He can do basic adding and subtracting. I call it the "Takeaway Game" and we play it with items around the house. He thinks it's fun!

He is potty trained now, thank goodness! He wears underwear and does both #1 and #2 in the potty. He still wears a diaper at night, so hopefully that stage will come to an end, soon, but it's just so nice to do underwear during the day.

He can spell his name and Zoe's name. I bought him some learning puzzles that teach spelling basic 3 and 4 letter words, so we are working on that He likes cutting and making crafts and pasting. We do crafts several times a week and he does some with the babysitter, too. What else....?

He loves drawing and is good with the pencil.

His favorite sport right now is baseball. He likes hitting the ball with a bat. We put his basketball goal from Uncle Quincy outside and he enjoys trying to get the ball in it. We've been taking his swimming at the YMCA this summer and hope to continue that through the fall and winter, since the pools there are indoors. At the Y, they don't let them wear floaties- they have to wear this waist thing that's coast guard approved and teaches them to swim, so he has been making more effort on that end.



He takes excellent care of Zoe. He likes to feed her and watches her when she's on the floor. He will take anything away from her that he thinks is dangerous (whether it really is or not, like his planes). He will check on her while she's sleep and loves waking her up, too!

Overall, he's well behaved. He has an occasional temper tamtrum when he's sleepy, but they are few and far between. I like how we can reason with him now that he's older. It's nice. Sometimes talking to him almost feels like talking to a little adult. I need to do an entry on some of the funny things he's said. I should write them down because I forget when I'm actually typing.

One last thing- he can put his shoes on now! Sandals and sneakers! Socks are still a little trouble, but he's getting there. He can take off his clothes no problem and I've caught him putting on a shirt a few times, sometimes backwards. He also tries to do his underwear and pants and can do it most of the time. It is really nice to have him doing more things for himself.

OK- if you have made it through this entry, I congratulate you! I know it's long, but it's kind of my way of documenting these things for myself years from now because time has a way of making me forget. It will be fun to compare with Zoe.

Zoe Enjoying Herself at the Beach

Miss Zoe is growing right up!

Last post I commented on how she doesn't have any signs of teeth. Well, lo and behold, less than two weeks later she now has four teeth coming in!

One is at the bottom and is almost out. One right beside it is following and the other two are coming in slowly up top.

Interestingly, she has been much more interested in food now that she has teeth coming. I guess those two events coincide. Gabe had teeth early and ate much earlier, too. Zoe has gotten her teeth later and ate later.

Here is a video of her eating for the first time (well sort of) back in June. She has come a long way since then!




Her favorite food is Stage One Tender Golden Sweet Potatoes. She also tolerates bananas and applesauce.

She is crawling now, too. She's not completely on her knees but she kind of scoots. She is FAST! I will try to get a video of that.

Here is a cute video of her enjoying herself at the beach. Listen closely to hear her say "Dada" at the end. She's been saying that for a while....

Happy Birthday Gabe!

G-Man sneaking some icing off of his birthday cake!

Saturday, August 22 Gabe turned three years old. How did the time go so quickly?


Gabe at the hospital, August 2006.


Gabe, six weeks old


Gabe's Baptism- 3 months old


Gabe at 7 months old


Gabe, 9 months old


Gabe, Christmas 2007, 1 and a half years old


Gabe at the beach, Sept. 2008, 2 years old


Loving his sister, August 2009, 3 years old


Gabe and Zoe playing, August 2009, 3 years old


Making a model plane with Daddy, 3 years old


He had a birthday party on Sunday at Chuck E. Cheese. It was a great party for him, since Chuck E. Cheese is one of his favorite places. His grandparents, cousins, a couple of buddies and his aunts and uncles were there and he had a blast!


Playing the water gun game, one of his favorites


The air hockey champ! We almost couldn't get him away from this game!


Getting ready for pizza with buddy, Channing


Posing with his cousins. Time to go home!


He had a cake with an airplane on it and although he loves blowing candles out at home, I guess he was too excited to do so at his party. I had to blow them out for him. Funny, he wanted NOTHING to do with Chuck E Cheese when Chuck E came out to wish him happy birthday. Gabe literally ran off going, "No, No, No!"


Uncle Vitas putting on the birthday crown, since Gabe wouldn't let Chuck E. Cheese (the big mouse) do it

Miss Zoe Marie enjoyed looking at all the games and lights as well.

Zoe at the party with big cousin Raven and Aunt Rebecca

The past month has been a fun one. We went to Oxford again for Uncle Quincy's going off to grad school party (Quincy has been accepted into NC State's Veterinary Medicine School, a very tough feat, so we're proud of him). Gabe and Zoe got to watch their uncles compete and win in a tennis tournament.


With Uncle Vitas and Aunt Charmaine at the tennis court


With Uncle Quincy in Oxford

Gabe also won a photo contest at the local library! The contest was titled, "Get Caught Reading." I submitted a photo of Gabe that I took one night when he fell asleep with a book on his chest. I entered and he won! We went to a little awards party at the library, got a prize, and his photo was displayed on the wall and is on the New Hanover County Library's blog.


The winning photo

Zoe is almost crawling- she does a Marine scoot! It's really cute. She still has no teeth. I am convinced that she will need dentures, as there is no sign at all that teeth are on their way. She is still a very sweet, happy baby, though! I will attempt to post a video of her at the beach enjoying herself.


Sitting pretty with Daddy.... Hanging out in her jumper


Posing with her bows and strawberries


All is well here; we're preparing for fall, hoping for some cooler weather and getting ready for Spanish class. Gabe will be coming along with me to class this fall, hopefully being my little helper. I will update again soon!


Gabe with his fruit salad- we read a book about fruit that had a fruit salad at the end of it. He insisted on making one. So, a grocery trip and $15 worth of fruit later, along with an hour of cutting fresh pineapple, bananas, oranges, apples, strawberries, watermelon and grapes.....ta-dah! We have a fruit salad!