Days with the Dawsons: Stand, Stand, Stand

It has been a while since I wrote a Gabe update & the title says it all. Gabe is super busy constantly trying to stand anywhere he can hold on to, from the couch to the kitchen cabinets. He can't stand yet without holding onto anything, but David said they are working on it daily. :) Pretty sure David wants Gabe to walk more than anyone else. He may regret that soon!!! He is a little clumsy at times & we wonder how many times a day he can bump his head, but he seems to be willing to go for whatever he wants. A little pain is not an issue I guess.

Christmas & New Years were spent celebrating with family. We got to open presents Christmas morning with David's mom, sister, brother & nephew. Later that day we opened gifts with all of my sisters, my parents, my brother-in-law, my nieces & my nephew. It was just nice to be able to visit, play games & catch up with everyone. The next weekend, Gabe & I traveled back to my parents house to see all of my family again including my brother & his family from Okinawa, my grandparents from Iowa & my extended family on the Timm side. There were a lot of people in one house, but it is always fun to be in that big family setting. I was very glad that everyone got to see Gabe & that I could take a break while everyone got to hold him. Even better were the couple of additional days I took off work so that I could spend some time with the "Oki Timms." We got to meet my niece Elora for the first time & they all got to meet Gabe. I really had a lot of fun getting to know my nephews again & the next family get together without them will be strange.

After spending two weekends away from home, there has been a lot of work to be done around here. Gabe has also been making many changes. He now has three teeth, has switched to real crawling all the time & spends his days crawling & standing. He really is a smart little boy who does an excellent job of entertaining himself quite a bit. He especially loves balls, blocks & remotes. He has figured out how to open cabinets & how to press the buttons on the side of the big screen TV. (David was not thrilled about that one.) He can reach the cup holders built into the side of our couch & constantly tries to pull out any glasses. I have watched him pull out a cup, bring it down so he can look into & only then dump it into his lap. Or he simply dips his hand into the cup to splash a little bit!

Gabe continues to be a true delight for both David & I. He is a happy boy overall & smiles all day long! He is always doing something or making some face that makes us laugh. TOO CUTE!!! He chatters quite a bit & is making new sounds all the time. Today, he said a very clear "yeah" in response to one of my questions. Pretty sure if he didn't mean it but both David & I looked at each other like "what?"