The Finke Family

While we weren’t so ambitious as to cultivate an entire garden this summer, we did dabble a little. We bought two of those hanging things to plant tomatoes and strawberries in. We thought it would be low maintenance and require little effort or space (which is true, it hasn’t).

When we moved into our first house in New Prague after getting married, we were super motivated and excited, and went to a lot of trouble to till and plant a nice size garden with a variety of fruits (watermelon, strawberries, and blueberries) and vegetables (carrots, corn, and pumpkins). We spent hours toiling in that garden in the summer heat, weeding and watering it. In the end, we got two small watermelons, some very funky looking carrots, a couple tiny, deformed ears of corn, a handful of strawberries, and some pumpkins (the only thing that really turned out).

When Chris was tilling that time-sink under in the fall, he hit something hard, and we realized we had planted the majority of the garden on a buried cement slab. No wonder our corn only got knee high and our carrots splayed out in all directions. Since that summer, we have been very cautious about pouring ourselves into another such endeavor.

This summer, we only got around to planting the tomatoes because I kept thinking I was going to find strawberry plants cheaper, and then I never did. Oh well, I can look forward to that next summer. I actually found the tomato plants at a garage sale. An older lady was selling a bunch of different varieties. She said she had transplanted them so many times that should couldn’t remember which varieties were which. So, I just picked out two that looked like they had different leaves. Now that they actually have tomatoes on them, I can see that one plant is producing round tomatoes and the other is producing more bell shaped ones. We haven’t eaten any yet, so I’m not sure what the taste difference will be.

Gabriel with his “matos.”

I also planted a tiny little garden at work this year. They created little plots for us and we could choose one thing to plant in them. I chose cilantro because I love the smell and taste, and I thought it would be fun to do something a little different. We have used it in several meals – mostly chicken and rice, but we have also used it in hamburger.

This is my first little seedling.

An aerial view. You can see the scale by looking at my co-workers foot.

It really got big and bushy.

An example of one of the 4X4 garden plots

I found a few more of the hanging baskets on clearance this summer, so next summer, in addition to tomatoes and strawberries, we can also do peppers. Oh, and if anyone wants a tomato or strawberry planter, I got a few extras because they were only a dollar and I’d be happy to share.

A couple weeks ago, we went to Lake Ann (a couple miles down the road from us). They have a nice little swimming beach with a playground. The water temperature was great. I’m sorry to say that I think this is the first time we had taken Gabriel swimming in a lake. We went to a family reunion a little while after that where there was also a beach. Gabriel loved the water and was fearless walking into it. It took him a little while to realize that once he would get in up to his waist, it was really hard to keep his balance. He fell face first into the water several times, but he didn’t really get upset by it.

Looks like he's getting ready to jump.

Chris scooped him out of the water after one of his many falls.

Looking for fishies

There's one over there!

The last week or two Gabriel has not always been his normal happy self. We think it’s probably due to his molars coming in, but it might also be because his left ankle still hasn’t fully healed since he twisted it a couple weeks ago. Here’s a couple pictures of the “new” Gabriel:

And here’s a few more pleasant ones: (If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was bipolar)

Doesn't he look comfortable?

Squirting out some sunscreen

Last Saturday we went to Chris’s Aunt Mary’s wedding in New Germany. It was a beautiful day and it was great to spend time with family on Mary and Dennis’s special day.

The Happy Couple

Laura, Jon, Mary, David, Dennis, Josh, Kristen, Bennett, Mike, and Rachel

Dennis's three kids on the left, Mary's kids on the right

Gabriel getting sleepy

Deep in conversation

Trying to figure out this crazy technology

Gabriel and Holly

Gabriel and Bennett - They're really going to appreciate this one in a few years.

Gabriel and his horsey:

Gabriel turned sixteen months old on July 27th.

He has not made a ton of developmental changes this month, but he continues to learn new words and has gotten better at running around and climbing on and off things. He twisted his ankle the other day which has put something of a damper on his efforts.

He has learned how to make several animal sounds – meow, moo, woof, and quack. One time we asked him “And what does Gabriel say” and he said “ogie ogie ogie.” So I guess that’s what a Gabriel says. One other time, I asked him if he wanted to do something and then said, “so what do you say?” and he said “Me-ow”.

Gabriel tends to say “stuck” whenever he wants something that he can’t reach, in addition to when something (or himself) is really stuck. (Like when he can’t get off his horsey or when he can’t get the dishwasher door open.) So this month I taught him to say “help” and “please” instead.

Speaking of dishwashers, he has actually started to become helpful. He loves to hand me the clean dishes out of the dishwasher so I can put them away. This could be the start of something great…

And speaking of dishes, Gabriel now recognizes my coffee mugs that I take to work with me. The other day he picked out a mug from the dishwasher and said “coffee” (which sounds like “ofva”) and “bye bye?”.

We discovered bubbles for the first time this month. Grandma Tewes brought over a big bubble wand and bubbles, and Gabriel enjoyed trying to pop them. All we heard for the next two days was “bubbo? bubbo? bubbo?” For some reason, almost all the words he says sound like questions.

Most of the time, he loves the potty. I think he just finds it fun to sit on. He has peed in there quite a few times, but we think it’s probably just the right place at the right time. Chris usually puts him on the potty while he takes a shower in the morning, and he will just sit there and read his book. He also learned how to flush this month, which of course he loves and wants to do over. and over. and over. and over.

We brought up this toy lawnmower that he got for his birthday and he has been enjoying pushing that around. You can put bubbles in it too, but we haven’t done that yet. He also likes playing in his sand and water table that we keep on the patio under the deck. He mostly just likes the sand part though.

Some of his favorite new words include star, goggles (“gogoo”), book, story, meow, fishy, computer (“butar”), monitor (“monner”), pocket, bucket, and in there (“inere”).

He also made a rhyme – “horsey dorsey.” Obviously, he doesn’t know what rhyming is, but it was funny to hear. He also said “potty wotty.” We’ve never said these things to him, so I think it’s interesting that he came up with it himself.

He’s really into learning people’s names lately and he’s gotten pretty good at remembering them too.

He “learned” to “jump” – he just squats down slowly and then stands up slowly. He doesn’t get any hangtime.

His favorite foods right now are bananas, watermelon, berries (any kind), oatmeal, bites of my cereal, sandwiches, bread, sometimes noodles, pickles, and corn on the cob (tried it for the first time last week)

• He has nine teeth (one of his molars came in this month and we can feel the other three ready to break through his gums)
• He wears size three diapers, size 6-7 shoes, and 12-18 month clothes
• It’s about 50/50 whether he will take one nap or two. If he takes two naps, they are usually 2 hours each. If he takes just one, it usually lasts 3-4 hours.
• The last week or so he hasn’t been going to sleep until around 9 and then sleeping until about 8 the next morning. I like the sleeping in part, but I don’t like the loss of a productive hour in the evening.

Sitting on the potty

Here are some pictures of Gabriel in his latest favorite toy – goggles!

“Goggoo”?!?

Chanhassen has a 4th of July carnival each year which includes a parade and fireworks. This year, we decided to check it out for the first time. It was great having Gabriel at the parade because people gave him candy. (Which of course we didn’t let him eat; but somebody had to eat it. So, you do the math).

There was one of those giant slides that Chris went down with Gabriel. I wasn’t sure if he would be scared, but he had a smile on his face the whole way down. I should clarify: Gabriel had the smile, Chris was a little scared.

My camera was set on some weird setting, so think of these photos as “artistic”:

They are at the top of the slide on the right.

And here are some pics of Gabriel in his shades. He loves putting on glasses. He has a pair of safety glasses that came with his toy workbench. He calls them his “goggles”.

And here’s a picture of my dad and Gabriel in front of a tractor (of course) in the parade:

On a completely unrelated note, Gabriel is finally getting his molars. One has broken through and I can feel the other three under his gums. So tonight has been fun… They only seem to bother him when he is trying to get to sleep.

A few days ago, I posted about how smart Gabriel was because he could access my iPhone’s apps. Today, we had to give him an unplanned bath because, after his nap, he pulled off his diaper, pooped in his crib, and played with his own excrement for at least half an hour before letting us know he was awake.

I bet Einstein’s parents didn’t have to deal with stuff like this…