Gagey Lately

Awww. He's so cute. Just when I think he's reached his pinnacle of cuteness, more cuteness ensues. He really is such a blessing in our family. Very easy-going and sweet. Except for when he's tired or thirsty. Then watch out! Haha! When he cries, he does as our other kids have done - he cries in vowel sounds: "Ayyyyyyyyyyyyyy...... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah......ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh....."

He started walking within a week or so of getting home. Oh, how I love watching him toddle around. He kind of leans back, with his huge belly leading the way, and takes steps with his little toes turned out like a ballerina. I've seriously never seen such a huge belly on a kid, and I love it.

Gage's bedroom is pretty cold, so we keep a space heater on in there. Ben forgot to put on the heater one night when he put Gage down, and when I got him up the next morning, his poor little lips were BLUE:

I took that picture and sent it to Ben's e-mail to make him feel bad. But did Gage complain any? Nope.

Just today, he started pretending to talk on my cell phone. He'd put it up to his ear and say, "Aoh?" Adorable.

Gage loves to give smooches. He hasn't figured out how to kind of purse his lips to do it, so when he wants to give you a smooch, you get an open mouth slobber kiss. But it's so cute that you don't mind. After he kisses you, he says, "Dank you!" Every time.

He's started saying, "Uh-oh," too.

He loves throwing stuff. He especially likes to get into my tupperware lids and chuck them down the stairs. And he's learning to go up the stairs. He hasn't yet figured going down yet.

Luckily, he hasn't figured out how to open the toilet seat, but if it's left open, he throws things in there. Last week, when Ben and I were on our cruise, he threw in a couple of DVD's when my mom wasn't looking. :)

He really, really hates when I change his diaper. It takes away from his play time, and he's not okay with that. He kicks my boobs over and over, and it hurts.

He thinks Sadie is the bee's knees. They're good, good buddies. I love that. He knows to be wary of Micah. Micah just adores him, but through sheer evil compulsion, he often bullies Gage. I think he's jealous of Gage and is kind of fighting for his place in our family. So poor Gage sometimes gets shoved or pushed. It makes me SOOOO mad.

His gigantic lips are always chapped, poor thing. And he got a bloody lip yesterday when Micah shoved him. Micah is Satan. He has sucking blisters often, as well, because he sucks on his right pointer finger all the time.

Gage is very, very brave. When Ben swings him around and throws him up in the air, he laughs and laughs and squeals in delight. (Very different from Micah, who gets really scared when Ben does that stuff.) Another difference between the two is their appetites. Gage can really "put away the groceries," as my friend's husband says. He eats as much as Ben or I at mealtimes, which is amazing.

He hates apples and loves bananas. He loves bean burritos, like his dear old mom.

He still can't figure out the concept of tilting his sippy cup up to make liquid come out of it. All of my kids have had a weird time with that. I'm considering getting the straw kind of sippy cup, because I'm tired of helping him with it. His favorite drink is chocolate milk. When I give him water at naptime and bedtime, he looks at me like, "What IS this crap??"

He still is needing two naps a day, which is weird. I've been trying to wean him to one, and he just can't hack it. So I'm going with the two naps for now. I guess some kids need more sleep than others.

He adores sleeping in. Sometimes he'll sleep until 10 or 10:30 if I let him. (And when I'm particularly tired some mornings, yeah. I let him.)