Gabe

I think it was Uncle Jay that coined Gabe as Gabe-tron, and unfortunately, it has stuck a little bit.  He is still Gabey to many.

Gabe is still rough and tough and leave little doubt in how he feels about something.   He is quick with a cry, smile or punch.   Gabe likes to put together puzzles and he still loves to read books. Overall, Gabe is our best eater, still chomping away when the other two (three?) have resorted to throwing their food on the floor and ripping their bibs off. Gabe loves to be outside, loves to swing and go up and down the slide to the point of exhaustion.

Gabe was the first to move to a big boy bed, which he did in mid February.   He tested his freedom for a bit,  leaving the bedroom at night and heading down the hall, but within about 5 days he was trained and more or less stayed in bed, with Cayden sleeping in a crib beside him.   However, 6 weeks later he found a running mate when Cayden was freed from his shackles.   They have really tested us for the last 6 weeks.   We have tried many different things, but it takes a good hour for those two to settle down and drift off to sleep.   That hour includes 4-5 attempts to open the door and leave the room as Courtney or I stand guard outside the room holding the door shut (all to tearful howls as they are not set free to roam).  

Still the wanderer, Gabe is quick to head in the opposite direction of everyone else.   Whatever is going on here, there must be something much better over there.  If we are playing in the back yard, he wants to be in the front yard.  We went to the zoo last week, and he was first to jump into the goat area, and within minutes we found ourselves separated by 40 yards, Gabe all my himself, surrounded by a half dozen goats.  He was in heaven.

Gabe (and Rye) both stopped using their pacifiers a few weeks ago, fortunately, without great difficulty.    Prior to that, his pacficier, was a best friend, at least at night.  

Gabe gave us one of our biggest scares to date, when during vacation, he went tumbling down a set of 20 wooden stairs at our rental home.   In Gabe-like fashion, he shook it off within a few seconds and didn't miss a beat. 

Gabe is a big time grandpa's boy.   You put mom, dad and either grandpa in a row, and Courtney and I are fighting for second place.   "Poppo, Poppo" he loves to say.  

As I said before, Gabe does not pull any punches, you always know where you stand, for better or worse.   When he sprints to greet me when I come in the door at night, or first grab him out of bed in the morning, his bear hug, and greeting of "dada" makes everything in the world right.   Love ya Gabers, Happy Birthday.