First Bike!

Gabriel's birthday present from us was his first big kid bike.

This video is from the first day he got it. He had taken a small tumble earlier, thus the bandages on his knees. Luckily, they didn't deter him much at all.  Every time he rides he shows more control and less fear. :) He does donuts in the living room. (Let's not talk about that.)

Football Practice

Gabriel and his dad practiced throwing and catching the football earlier this week.

At one point the lesson took a turn downhill due to semantics. (He's my kid. I take responsibility for this.)

J: Keep your eye on the ball. 

G: It's called a football. Did you even know that?

Here's a (very) short video of a successful catch.

 

Man Gave Name to all the Animals

I grew up with my dad singing the song Man Gave Names to all the Animals. We loved that song and loved shouting out the names of the animals at the end of the verses.

Dad gave a book to Gabriel last year that illustrates each verse, and it included a CD with a recording of the song. It was then that I learned that Bob Dylan (and not my father) wrote the song. Your pedestal just got a little shorter, dad. Sorry about that.

Here's Gabriel reading the book:
(Please excuse the "something, something, something" lyrics in the middle...I don't have it memorized and couldn't see the page from where I was filming.)

4 Year Old Birthday Party

Gabriel wanted a Paw Patrol theme for his birthday this year, so Aunt Jordan made an awesome cake with the pups' badges on the top. Everyone raved about how good the cake was. Because as we all know, Jordan's cakes are the best. Thank you, again, Jordan!!!

Some of Gabriel's friends gathered for a picture with the elephant that visited the party at Safari Champ. Some were already finding seats at the table so they could get cake. You can't blame them too much for not wanting to leave the general vicinity of the cake...

I got a so-so video of blowing out the candles.

I guess when we sang Happy Birthday, it was too loud for Conrad. I think Conrad has covered his ears during the song at every birthday party we've seen him at. :)

Thank you to everyone who came to play. Gabriel had a grrrreat birthday party!

The Return of Grumpy Clown

I started something at Gabriel's 1st birthday party, and I'm trying to continue it. I'll do it for as long he'll play along. It's fine if he rolls his eyes.

1st Birthday
The birth of grumpy clown.

2nd Birthday
Was taking it off before we could snap the picture.

3rd Birthday
Didn't actually get it on his head.

So, varying levels of success in years 1–3.

This year I decided not to try it at his birthday party, figuring that the attention would likely discourage his participation. Instead, on his actual birthday (6-17), he got a birthday Nutella sandwich for dinner and blew out the candles. I was surprised that he willingly put on the clown wig and let me take pictures. :)

I asked for a smile.

I asked him how he really felt.

I'm pretty sure this was his actual attitude.

Pledge of Allegiance

Gabriel has been learning about the American flag and the Pledge of Allegiance. When we're driving around, every time he sees a flag flying in front of a business, he says, "That's the flag I'm learning about!" He's so excited to see them everywhere. Then one day he started saying the pledge, which I had no idea that he had learned. There are some creative pronunciations, but he's just about got it.

(Please excuse how dark this video is.)

These are My Ninja Skills

These are Gabriel's ninja skills. He's not a particularly quiet ninja...and he has some sort of shooting apparatus...and he's kinda, mostly falling down a lot...but it's pretty darn funny.

Boots and Cats

We had fun dancing after dinner tonight. :)

Do you know the Boots and Cats song? If not, you should check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlL7urX56g8

The Jed Bartlet of the Preschool Set

If you're familiar with the character of Jed Bartlet from The West Wing, you might also have seen actor Martin Sheen put his jacket on in a unique way. Check it out about 2/3 of the way through this clip:

Gabriel is either preparing for life as an accomplished actor or to run for president. (He already has a Hispanic name, so perhaps we should start thinking of stage names for him...)

He's a Dancin' Fool!

Gabriel was getting his groove on last night during the credits of Shrek Forever After.

Forks are Just Accessories

Walking Practice

Gabriel has been practicing walking behind a push cart for a while. He just recently took interest in doing it for more than 3 or 4 steps at a time.


This has sound, but it's just the background television noise. There is nothing important to hear.

Clapping!

Please oh please ignore my voice. We don't realize how silly we sound when talking to children.

Yoga, Spoons, Laughing, and Surgery

We've been trying out bathtub yoga.

We've also been trying to hold the spoon.

And we've been laughing a lot.

And tomorrow we're having surgery to put tubes in the ears. Hopefully we'll have many fewer ear infections after that!

Crawling!

He did it!

Crawling, Day 1

Crawling, Day 2

Crawling, Day 3

It's a whole new world. For baby. For mom and dad. For the cats.