Since this blog has been my primary means of tracking Gabe's life, and I haven't focused on him in a while, I thought I should post. About the last month, he has entered into a much easier phase - meaning his demands for my attention and time has lessened, slightly. He'll play for small moments of time alone, he'll stay with babysitters without crying, and he'll stray from my side in large group/family activities. He even willingly goes to preschool now!
His language skills have just exploded. He repeats everything and he's totally getting the 2 languages. He'll ask me for an apple, and then tell Mario he wants a manzana. Or he'll point out a plane to me, and then show Mario where the "avion" is. It's amazing to me not just that he gets it, but that he differentiates which parent speaks which language, even though we're not super consistent with the mom=english and dad=spanish at home - we just kind of mix it all up.
He loves to draw and play with plah-doh, although I don't love him to play with play-doh because it's SO MESSY. When he draws he still just scribbles, but then tells me what it is, like he's really drawing. He's also started with imaginary play, like he'll pretend that his animals are eating, or pretend he's something else. I love watching his development.
(our stake youth put on a Hi-5 show and Gabe LOVED it.)
This week he has also started counting to 10, in spanish, and always skipping the nubmer 7. Guess he's not into the number 7. But he really counts, and it's adorable. With his colors he's stronger in English, but still mixes them a bit.
He's also gotten much more cuddly, which I love. He lays down on the couch and tells me "mama, hay down aca (here)" and then he likes to give me eskimo and butterfly kisses. I made the mistake of pointing out when we were reading a book that Bambie gives kisses to his mom by licking her so sometimes he likes to do that as well, which isn't my favorite. But I have this fear that when the baby comes I won't have time to cuddle him anymore. I know it's not totally logical, but when you're used to dedicating ALL of your time to one child, it's hard to imagine how you are going to split it. And I have this kind of sadness like I'm going to lose this special time of adoring him and only him, mixed a bit with this recognition that my first baby won't be my baby anymore, and fear that I haven't appreciated it enough. Thus we spend as much time now cuddling and loving as I can, even with this enormous belly in between us.
