Smithdahl Adventures » Development

No more “I rub you” (with apologies to Annie Lenox)

ian — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:30:06 +0000

Gabriel now very clearly says, “I love it!” and “I love you.” I have this weird bittersweet nostalgia about it. On the one hand, I’m happy his pronunciation is getting better. But on the other hand, there was something excellent about “I rub it!” I’ve felt this a lot in my life as an ESL teacher … Oh, well. I he still says that when I clean his feet it “kickles,” and his most recent thing is that you can’t give King Julian a bath because the toy is “lelectronic.” So, I’ll enjoy his toddler speaking ways while I can. But “I rub it” was really one of the best.

Gabe discovers the secret to the pancake

ian — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 17:18:04 +0000

Well, Stephanie and I made a good go of it, that’s for sure. For more than a year now, Gabe has absolutely adored pancakes. We have a family tradition of Sunday brunch, and the little guy’s eaten pancakes, eggs and sausage for as long as I can remember. But, and here’s the trick, Stephanie and I have been keeping the syrup away from him. He’s been eating those pancakes plain — which is good for both his nutrition and his hygiene.Sadly, it seems that those days are over.This week, his awareness of people around him got just that much bigger. Even though I’ve been eating pancakes with syrup this whole time, only this week, Gabe suddenly realized that Daddy’s pancakes looked different than his pancakes. He got a taste of mine, and didn’t go back. Now he’s eating breakfast with his cousin Cami, and pointing at her syrup and asking, “I have this, please?”

Nothing is cuter than a baby caring for a baby

ian — Mon, 26 May 2008 00:27:22 +0000

One of Gabe’s presents for his turning-two birthday this year was a Cabbage Patch Kid, and he’s taken to caring for “Baby EJ” with a vengeance. He feeds her, puts her to sleep, changes her diapers, and, just today, went upstairs to the actual bathtub and gave her a bath. On the way up, he held just one of her hands and helped her learn to walk up the stairs, in exactly the way that Mommy and Daddy help him. He even said, “Good, Baby EJ!” several times and she wobbled and stumbled but kept trying her best to get up the stairs. And then when we got to the top, Gabey and Baby EJ had a wonderful bath together.

My Monk-ish child

ian — Sat, 24 May 2008 02:53:00 +0000

One of Gabe’s favorite shows is Monk (mainly for the theme song), which I think is weirdly appropriate because he can be extremely meticulous. Today he was trying to line up all of his cars, which is a common hobby of his. But he was trying to do it on the couch, and was finding it very difficult. He himself so worked up that he was on the verge of a tantrum! Luckily I was able to get the little things lined up to his satisfaction before he totally flipped out. But it was a close call.

“Car eat? Glug glug glug”

ian — Fri, 23 May 2008 02:49:10 +0000

Yet again showing his burgeoning imagination, Gabriel has taken to “feeding” his toy cars at his toy car station. The cars have little faces (elmo, cookie, oscar), so perhaps it’s not such a leap. But as a proud Dad, I find it amazing that he’s able to create for himself the metaphor of a car being fueled for a person eating. He asks the Elmo car, “Car eat?” then plugs in the fuel pump and makes drinking noises “glug glug”

Cutie.

“All done, Pizza?”

ian — Thu, 22 May 2008 02:42:02 +0000

One of the interesting things about watching Gabe grow up is seeing how his mind is developing faster than his vocabulary (which I understand has a lot to do with the brain developing faster than the vocal cords). He does amazingly well at expressing new concepts with old words. A few days ago the whole family was enjoying a pizza. Gabe reached and picked up the last piece, then turned to Stephanie and said “All done, pizza?”. Steph said, “okay” and Gabe proceeded to eat. Without knowing the vocabulary, Gabe knew to ask politely whether he could eat the last slice, or whether his mom wanted some. Sweetie! Smarty!

Gabriel scolds his toys

ian — Tue, 20 May 2008 02:37:36 +0000

Ever since he was about eight months old, Gabe has had a real interest in turning the tables on Mommy and Daddy. He used to take his spoon and try to feed us. He often tells us very sternly, “sit down!” But now that he’s getting older and developing a more robust imagination, he’s got other options. We’ve both noticed that when he’s playing with his dolls he often takes on the role of the parent. He tells Elmo to go night-night. He stages fights between Cookie Monster and Captain America, and then tells them to stop and makes them kiss and make up. He feeds the doll he calls “girl” and gives her time outs. It’s all very cute, but also a bit disturbing because it makes me wonder if I’m not overly harsh with him. It certainly seems harsh when he’s doing it!

Gabriel’s new word

ian — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:07:56 +0000

“Dit.” Steph and Ian are hoping that he means “this.” It’s hard to tell based on text. He uses it when he’s pointing at things, but he also uses it when he drops something. He uses it mostly when he’s playing with himself and in his own little creative world, so it’s really hard to know what he means.

:: grimace ::

Gabriel cleans up

ian — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:52:01 +0000

Ian and Steph are so blessed: Gabriel just *loves* to clean up his toys. Yesterday, he got frustrated because not all of his toys would fit in the baskets where they go (thanks to all his loving family and their wonderful gifts!) — so he very dutifully looked for an empty cabinet and started putting his toys in there!

Gabe starts using Synonyms: or “The Lawyer Genes come through”

ian — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:29:45 +0000

Gabe and Ian are out and about, away from the fridge and the faucet. Gabe drains his bottle dry…
Gabe: Water?
Ian: No, sweetie.
Gabe: Bok? (meaning: Milk)
Ian: No, Gabriel. I’m sorry.
Gabe: Um… Juice?
Ian: Ha ha ha. No, Gabriel. We’ll get something to drink when we get home.
Gabe: Um… Water?

And so, the cycle continues…