Yellow Means SLOW DOWN!

Gabe has learned the meaning of the traffic light colors. I was hoping to instill them early on so they could be used in behavior modification when we're in public places. The idea would be to call out the colors to control his behavior. "Red light!" to mean stop in your tracks, "Yellow light!" means slow the heck on down, and "Green light!" means to carry on.

So, as we drive, he calls out the traffic colors from the back seat. He says things like, "Red light STOP mommy!" He gets very excited about "green light go." He once admitted to me, after shouting it, that he very much liked "green light go." :-)

As we're on our way somewhere not too long ago, I approached a green traffic light that I knew was a particularly long red light. It turned yellow as I approached and I hear my son confidently state his knowledge from the back seat, "Yellow means slow down."

I really didn't want to sit through that long red light, so I punched it. From the back, Gabe starts yelling, "Yellow means slow down! Yellow means SLOW DOWN, Mommy!" I think I disappointed him...

My son, the two-year-old backseat driver.

First Joke

So, a few days ago, Gabe told his first joke. At least, that I recognized. We're sitting at a local restaurant, at a window table....watching the people outside go by and making comments....

I say, "Look Gabe! That lady has a doggy!" The lady in question is holding (I think) a Sheltie - one of those dogs that look like a Collie - you know, like Lassie - but is smaller and fluffier. It's a well-groomed dog and seems at home tucked under her arm.

Gabe says, "Yeah! A kitty-dog!" Then, laughs. I swear that's a joke. I mean, Don and I laughed!

My son is wierd

So, I went to the Stanford Spring Faire this weekend and had fun shopping. I dragged Gabe along, and he kind of had fun. I think his favorite part was the french fries... I got him a fantastic tie dye shirt, some toys to float in his fish tank, and herbal bug repellent.

Go on - take a stab at what his favorite thing was out of those three.

Yeah, the bug repellent. Go figure.

He keeps talking about it, about the picture of a "bosquito" on the front, about how it comes out of a spray bottle, about how good it smells, about how he want to put some on NOW, about how he'd like even more NOW, and about how cold it feels.

Freak. Lovable freak. Cute, adorable, huggable freak. That's my boy!

I'm an Auntie!!

As of April 3rd, 2007, I have a new niece!! She was born 9 pounds (!!!) at 2:30 that afternoon to my little sister. No pictures yet, but there will be many soon. I go up to help out the new parents in a couple days and I'm dragging along my camera - you can bet on it. :-)

Her name is Emeline.

Yay!

UPDATE: Pix just in! Take a look --




Awwwwww......

A Milestone is Reached

Don just reported to me that our son put on his own sandles for the first time today! He was very proud of himself, I understand. No matter that he got them on the wrong feet....

That boy is growing in leaps and bounds. Another thing I've started noticing about him lately is that he's trying very hard to hold actual conversations with anyone and everyone, from his 2-year-old best friend to his Aunty Cathy.

Just because this is a short post and I have to get offline soon, I'm going to close with a recent picture of the cutest little boy in the universe! Happy trails!

Big Boy Bed

Whoops! Several people pointed out to me lately that I haven't been updating my blog. My bad! Sorry folks. My attempt at an excuse is that I don't own a computer. I do this during my lunch hour at work, or after work. Strangely, sometimes I'd rather have a lunch break or go home on time. :-D

The big news at our place is that Gabe has moved into his big boy bed! No pictures yet - I'm not real happy about the room arrangement at the moment. Don and I had been keeping our eyes open for months, looking for the perfect Gabey bed and came across it at Ikea about a month or so ago. Ikea has "showrooms" where you can see their furniture set up into little, actual rooms. You can go in and play with it. So we did.

Gabe LOVED it. Every time we visited Ikea from that point forward, he was very excited about going to see "his" bed! Well, a couple weekends ago, we got it. He moved into it on a Sunday night and hasn't looked back. He's learning that once the lights go out and he's alone in his bed, it's not OK to get up and play. At night, he plays lullabies on his Baby Tad and snuggles his elephant until he falls asleep. I am led to understand that, with another kid in the room during the week, that naps have been much more challenging than night time bed time.

At the same time, we got a tall stool for the bathroom so he can wash his own hands and stand on his own two feet to brush his teeth. He's thrilled to be more of a big boy every day.

Battlefive Galactistar

I would just like to say that the remake of Battlestar Galactica running on the SciFi channel TOTALLY ROCKS. Here's more information at the SciFi website:

http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/

It has a large story line, compelling characters (some of whom ACTUALLY DIE), dramatic themes (religion, morality, political ethics, species survival), superb actors, excellent directing and editing. All in all, an epic-class series. Reminds me and my boyfriend of Babylon 5 (hence the title of this post). Here's more information about this older, also epic, science fiction TV series:

http://www2.warnerbros.com/babylon5/home.html

Motomom says, "Check it out."

New Worry

My co-worker just shared a worrisome new piece of news with me -- lock bumping. Here, check this out:



I personally am (a) not in a neighborhood that is conducive to breaking and entering and (b) don't have a home visage that would appeal to a potential robber. HOWEVER, I may go up in the world or at least live in a better place in the future.

You CAN prevent it by purchasing a better class of lock, one that isn't vulnerable to lock bumping. Or get a good watchdog.

Please share this with your friends!