The Finke Family

A couple weeks ago I got Gabriel a slide at a garage sale for $5. He loves it and says “wheee!” when he’s going down it. He also recently figured out how to climb up it and go down all by himself. Getting both his legs up there is pretty tricky though. It’s so fun to see him starting to do things independently.

You can thank daddy for this lovely fashion statement.

He spends a lot of time trying to climb back up the slide this way. One of these days I think he is actually going to succeed.

Gabriel turned fourteen months old on Thursday May 27th. His biggest development this month is that he is walking almost all the time. If he really wants to get somewhere quickly, he will still crawl though. One positive thing I have seen come from this is that he is not constantly demanding “up, up.” I think standing upright must be enough for him. He also loves to climb on and off everything. He recently was able to climb up onto the couch. We have a big Papasan chair that he also figured out how to climb onto in order to flip the “ite” switch.

He’s also doing great with climbing down stairs. He says “daaa-ooo” which means downstairs. He knows how to turn around and go down backwards. We recently got him a little plastic slide at a garage sale which he loves. I was surprised at how quickly he got the hang of climbing up it and going down all by himself. It’s especially cute when he says “Wheee!” as he’s going down.

He has recently shown an interest in wanting to use utensils when eating. He’s been mildly successful with potatoes and yogurt, although he always turns the spoon upside-down right before putting it in his mouth (hence the reason that he has only had success with very sticky, dense foods).

There are several things he seems to notice most in life and always points them out: balls, lights, water, and fans. For some reason he always says “eaww” when he sees a fan. I can’t figure out why. Maybe he just hasn’t quite gotten down the “aaa” sound yet. This past week, Chris installed a ceiling fan in his room that also has a light on it. I think he’s still trying to grasp the fact that it is a light AND a fan.

Another thing I’ve noticed this past month is that Gabriel will make it very obvious when he is frustrated. He throws his head back and flings away whatever he’s holding in his hands. He’s starting to want to do more things on his own and can get very upset when he can’t make it work. It’s not quite a tantrum yet, but it’s not pretty. Some things he gets frustrated with are not being able to stack his blocks correctly, not being able to get the cover on something right, not being able to get the cover off something, not being able to lift something, not being able to climb onto something, not being able to have something he really wants, etc. (I think you get the picture.)

Some of the newest additions to his vocabulary include “bear” (what he calls the lovey he sleeps with), “berry” (which sounds a lot like bear), “toast” (tote), “cracker”, “banana” (dubbadubdub), “shoe” (toot), “yogurt” (gurt), “church”, and “puff”.

He has been calling both Chris and I “daddy” (I’m trying not to take it personally). I can occasionally get him to say mommy, but he almost always says daddy. Maybe he just sees us as one person.

He has tried some new fruits recently (watermelon, blackberries, grapes, and blueberries) and so far has liked them all. He is also back to liking strawberries and cheese. One thing I have learned is that if he rejects a food one day, I just have to keep trying because it might be his favorite thing in a day or two. We introduced him to toast this past month (I don’t know why I never thought to give that to him earlier) and it’s been a big hit. His favorite is still bananas. I’ve been adding some fruit to his yogurt which he likes. When he gets bored with eating, he likes feeding things to me. He especially likes it when I eat it directly from his hand (even more so if I accompany that by a loud eating noise). I’ve been trying to find a way to get him to stop dropping things from his high chair. If I don’t take him out immediately after he says “all done”, he’ll start throwing overboard whatever is left on his tray. Consequently, we’ve been having an ant problem. I’m not sure whether I should just ignore it or tell him “no”. I don’t always want to take him out right away, because I want to start teaching him that he needs to stay in his chair until everyone is “all done”.

• He still has eight teeth
• He wears size three diapers and 12-18 month clothes
• He usually takes two 1.5-2 hour naps a day. Sometimes he will just take one really long 3-4 hour nap.
• He’s still going to sleep between 7 and 8 and waking up between 6 and 7 the next morning.

Here are a few pictures from his fourteenth month:

Gabriel has developed an intense fascination with balls – basketballs, baseballs, kickballs, etc. From the moment he discovered them, they are 90% of what he talks about and wants to play with. It’s often the first thing he says when he wakes up. He especially likes the big basketball we keep out in the garage. The other day he went by the garage door, said “bye bye”, then “ball”, and pointed outside. He wanted to go outside and play with the big basketball. He likes throwing it and watching it roll down the driveway and into the street. I’m glad he’s still pretty slow at walking, so I can stop him from getting to to the street. Here are a couple clips of him playing with balls.

Gabriel started doing this thing when we ask him if he’s hungry or if he wants to eat. It’s hard to explain, but it’s funny to watch:

I had a great 2nd Mother’s Day this year. “Gabriel” got me a gift certificate for a massage and also a very lovely card.

The “dubadubadub” is how he attempts to say “banana.”

My parents, brother Andy, sister Laura, and brother-in-law Chris, came with us to church, and then we went out to eat at Red Lobster. At one point the waitress came around and asked if we wanted her to refill the biscuits or if we’d “like to save room for our entrees.” We all looked at eachother and laughed. What a silly question! Entrees can be boxed and taken home; it’s imperative to eat as many of those wonderful cheddary biscuits as possible while they’re available.

It was a beautiful, relaxing day.

Gabriel with his bear. He likes to bite on the nose. I’m not sure how long that nose is going to hold out. He also recently learned how to say “bear.”

Three Generations

I'm wiping Gabriel's nose with my shirt in this picture. My mom said 'I never thought I'd see the day that you'd do that!'

Update: Here’s a picture of Chris sneaking a cupcake (taken in 1985). My source wishes to remain anonymous. :-) Oh wait, I guess the comments give it away.

As of late, Gabriel has really been keeping us on our toes. Here are just a couple of the “situations” we have found him in:

Getting into the toilet paper in the bathroom.

Getting into the garbage in the kitchen (we have since put a child safety lock on that door)

Spilling his cheerios everywhere (and apparently retreating to a corner to do it).

Gabriel figured out how to take the heat vent covers off, and this is what I found one day (he stuffed a diaper down there. FYI, it was an unused diaper).

And when I took out that diaper, I kept digging and found these other things... (another diaper and a block)

Helping himself to the contents of the fridge.

The first weekend in May, we went to Wisconsin for my cousin Josh’s wedding to his fiancee, Rachel. The wedding was just outside of Milwaukee, so it worked out perfectly for us to be able to also visit Chris’s sister, Kay, her husband Keith, and their two kids, Stryker (age 3) and Peytra (age 1) who live in West Bend. We made the 6 hour drive on Friday, went to the wedding on Saturday, and drove home on Sunday. We had a great time catching up with so many family members!

Peytra and Gabriel attempting to circumvent the gate.

Peytra holding her baby.

Gabriel enjoyed trying to open the doors at Kay and Keith's. (Our knobs are all round at home)

Peytra

Gabriel had a blast playing with the beach ball.

Peytra

Peytra appearing to 'pet' Gabriel.

We took a walk to the park on Saturday morning. Gabriel was a little hesitant to crawl through the tunnel, but he went for it eventually.

Gabriel played with his rock 'ball'.

Mom and me

Dad and mom.

Josh and Rachel cutting their cake.

Gabriel entertained himself by trying to lift and carry my purse around.

Gabriel giving a kiss to his great-aunt Becky (my mom's sister)

Mom and dad.

My cousin Amanda (Josh's sister and a bridesmaid in the wedding) and Gabriel

Some of the cousins (Josh, Jim, Jeff, Justin, Amanda, Laura, myself, and Gabriel).

My Uncle Gary and Aunt Joan

Laura holding a sleepy Gabriel. We put him in his pajamas right before we left so we wouldn't have to wake him up when we transferred him from the car to his bed.

Mom, dad, and I at the reception.

Kay and Gabriel playing the piano.

This post is coming a little (lot) late and I’ve decided that we’re no longer going to take monkey pictures every month. There’s not as much variation in his size from month to month, so we’ve decided we’ll take the monkey pictures every three months. But I’m still going to document a monthly update:

Gabriel still has eight teeth. He continues to gnaw on his hands quite frequently and sometimes seems to be in pain, but he hasn’t been drooling as much, so we’re really not sure if it’s teething related.

In the last month he has started to become more comfortable walking. He is definitely taking things slowly and cautiously. Each week he becomes a little more brave and will take more steps at a time. He now will move to a standing position without needing to put his hand on anything for support. He walks about 50% of the time. He’ll usually start out walking until he falls on his butt and then crawls the rest of the way.

Since it has gotten warmer out, he loves to go outside. He even figured out how to ring the bell that the dog and cats use to let us know they want to go outside. (Although I’m pretty sure he’s just ringing it because he likes the way it sounds, but who knows…)

He likes pushing his car around and always makes the engine noise as he putters along.

His newest fascination is balls. Everywhere we go, he is looking for balls. We think it started when we brought a basketball to the park one day. Chris was dribbling it and Gabriel was watching. Chris told Gabriel it was a ball and let him hold it. Then, like two days later, out of the blue, Gabriel starts saying “ball”. We weren’t sure if we were hearing him right, because he had never said it before, so Chris went to the garage and brought the basketball in. He’s been in love ever since. Anything remotely round, Gabriel calls a ball. The rocks outside are balls which he likes to bring in the house and throw around. There is a huge exercise ball in the basement that he quite comically attempts to pick up and carry.

His vocabulary increases every day. “Daddy” is his new favorite word. He could say it before, but recently he has gotten really good at it and likes to say it all the time. Prior to daddy his favorite word was “hot”. It seemed like he was calling everything “hot”. If we tell him not to do something he says “hot”. He also learned “more”, “car”, “truck”, “clock”, “ball”, “poop”, he’s working on “cup”, “dropped it” (he says this immediately after “uh, oh”, which is preceded by him flinging something to the floor), “eat” (Chris taught him to make two thumbs up and shake his hands up and down while saying this which is super cute).

I have been trying to teach him body parts (specifically facial features). He can point to my nose and my mouth. He also understands what we mean when we tell him to pick something up.

I think we are finally done with bottles. I’m excited to pack all those little parts and pieces away and get some cupboard space back. We have just been giving Gabriel milk out of his sippy cup during the day and he hasn’t complained. I am still nursing him in the morning when he wakes up and before bed at night. It seems like that’s the only time he will let me cuddle him so I’m going to enjoy it as long as I can.

His favorite foods haven’t changed too much. He still likes bananas best. He has been rejecting cheese and strawberries lately. He likes vegetables, crackers, yogurt, and pizza.

He still wears size three diapers and 12-18 month clothes.

He is taking two naps a day (usually 1.5 – 2.5 hours long). Chris has noticed that during the day, sometimes Gabriel will come over to him and do the sign for “all done”. We think he means that he is done being awake and is ready for a nap. He goes to sleep for the night between seven and eight and usually wakes up at six. Sometimes he will go right back to sleep until eight, other times he is up for the day at 6 and will go down for his first nap around 8. He hasn’t woken up during the night in quite awhile.

He likes to “brush” his hair. He uses lots of things to do this. One of his most recent choices was the nail clippers. He also likes to “talk” on the “phone”. He considers many things to be a phone as well. He holds his chosen object way on the back of his head and then starts babbling.

Here are some pictures from his thirteenth month:

Attempting to shove an entire piece of bread into his mouth.