Funny Little Boy

Gabriel is really coming into his own nowadays and is such a funny little boy.  He is just full of all sorts of fun little quirks.  Here are some of his funnier activities in July caught on video or camera. 

 

He has a very determined crawl when he puts his mind to being somewhere.  It is quite hilarious to be the end destination of one of his crawls. 

 

https://vimeo.com/104077737

 

He has become quite a little monkey crawling on top of things.  His accomplishments in July included climbing on top of the rocking chair ottoman, the rocking chair itself, and climbing into the pack 'n play from the rocking chair or the bed.

He loves stuffed animals. He has 2 teddy bears that seem to be his favorite along with his duck blanket.  He just grabs on to them and hugs them so close and then bites down on them while crawling away into another room. He also loves to play with stuffed animals while being in his crib.  It is a favorite past-time of his to throw the stuffed animals from inside his crib outside on the floor.  He then stands up and looks down at said animals and says "Uh Oh".   So funny! 

https://vimeo.com/103979339

 

He loves to play with my phone.  The only time he throws any kind of tantrum is when I take the phone away from him to use it.  As I said before, kid and technology... I am screwed!

Gabriel Selfie

We recently put down some carpet padding under the carpet in our living room.  Since then Gabriel has loved to roll around on the carpet that much more.  He especially loves to roll around and play on the big fleece blanket we keep on the couches.  Babies and soft things, go figure.  

https://vimeo.com/103979340

We traded in his traditional dressers for some IKEA shelving units with fabric boxes to store clothing and linens.  He loves to pull out the bottom row of these boxes and play with what is in them.  I love to see the way his mind works as he is discovering all sorts of new toys to play with. 

Gabriel loves to go and play at Nana's. She has all sorts of fun "new" toys.

https://vimeo.com/103979338

 

And of course here is a video of Gabriel chuckling one day.  Eric said he sounded just like a minion from off of the movie "Despicable Me".  He was able to get it on video and I love it!

https://vimeo.com/103978970

 

This pretty much summarizes the majority of Gabriel's activities for the month of July.  He is growing so fast and I am just amazed at how fast time flies by.  Here he is already 14 months old and only continuing to get older and bigger.  Welcome to reality I suppose. 

Mikaela at 2 months

At Mikaela's 2 month check up she weighed: 12 lbs 13 oz = 90th percentile and she measured 24 inches = 95th percentile.

Her milestones as of July 25th were:

Started smiling:



Still has her hair

Here is a bunch of photos and some videos showing off our little Cara.  We sure think she is cute and just for that reason I am entitled to post all these pictures even though there are a lot...

Gotta love being a parent, hehehe. 

https://vimeo.com/104077736

https://vimeo.com/104077738

 

Fat Cats

It has been a while since I mentioned anything about our cats.  Probably because we actually have kids now and the cats have been put on the backburner while the babies get all the attention.  At least they are patient enough to wait to get some pets until nighttime after both kiddos are down, except around meal time, then they are very noisy and annoying.

We still love our kitties, Gabriel especially loves them.  He gets the biggest grin on his face and he squeals out: "KIDDEEEE".... (more of a high pitched "Itty" but we think it means "Kitty" because that is what we call them when we see them).  They have learned to take sanctuary in high up places where Gabriel cannot reach, such as: on top of the piano, on top of the armoire, on our bed, etc.  If they are too slow they will have a baby size fist full of fur missing and probably some whiskers pulled out too.  Raggio has become quite aware of where Gabriel is and takes great measures to avoid him.  Mido on the other hand.... well I think he is just lazy in general so he only walks a couple of feet away and Gabriel inevitably follows after him. It takes a couple of times moving around for Mido to finally give in and go to higher ground.  I am pretty certain this is because he is so stinkin fat that any extra effort to move that much or that high requires it to be his very last option for safety.  No joke, Mido is that lazy/fat. 

We actually took them to the vet mid-July and the weight difference was shocking.  Keep in mind we feed them the same amount, and even take away Raggio's bowl from Mido so Mido will not have both portions.  But that has not stopped Mido from putting on the pounds.  Probably because he scarfs down all of his food in 5 seconds while Raggio eats his throughout the day.

Anywho, their weights were:
Raggio: 12 lbs 15 oz
Mido: 19 lbs 15 oz

Seriously, really really ridiculous!  We have had to put Mido on a little bit of a diet to get him down a bit.  Thankfully he doesn't use his weight too much when the two of them are playing around.  Actually, because he is so fat he can't fit under the armoire.  So when the kitties are rough housing and things get too rough Raggio dives under the armoire and Mido is left to sit on the outside part only being able to paw at him... hahahahaha!! 

Even still, they have their moments of being completely adorable and just great pets.  Raggio has this fun habit of waiting for me on the other side of the fiber glass door every time I take a shower.  Within seconds of me drying off and stepping out he rubs up alongside my legs.  No joke, this happens every time I take a shower, so at least one time a day, if not more often.  It is almost as though he knows that I have washed "his" scent off of me and he feels the need to reapply to make certain that all cats in the outside world know that I belong to him.  Like I said, adorable.

And Mido, well he loves all attention, it doesn't really matter from whom.  But he is just so hilarious in his mannerisms.  I love how he just lies on the carpet and rolls on to his back with all 4 of his paws up in the air.  And he will lay there for hours, especially if you start to pet him, he just loves it.  He really is so social.  It is fun watching him interact with anyone that walks in our front door.

I do believe though that for them their all time favorite spot in the house would be on our bed.  They each have their own designated location to lie down: Mido at the foot of the bed on my side and Raggio on my side just below my pillow.  Who can blame them, with a comfy pillow top mattress that has an extra memory foam padding on top, I would lay there all day too!  Poor Raggio gets kicked off every time I come in the room because he literally is lying in my spot, so he has to go to the foot of the bed.  Good thing he doesn't take it personally... within seconds of me standing up he will just go right back to "his" spot.  Funny kitties. 

They are great members of our family and keep Eric and I company all the times, especially while we fold laundry or watch a show.  They are our little guard cats protecting us from flies, moths and our unwelcome creepy crawling visitors (aka: scorpions...ugh!!).  And as much as they get on our nerves for tearing up the carpet, they find a way to worm their way back in our good graces just by being cute.  We love our kitties and hope that they will be around for many years to come.   

https://vimeo.com/104077735

 

PoPo Raid

Even though we currently live in a semi ghettoish part of Mesa, Eric and I have felt pretty secure and safe in our particular townhome neighborhood.  This is especially true because we live in the farther back corner of the townhomes and are pretty secluded.  It is almost like our own little sanctuary at times and we have never had any issues that would cause us to question our safety.  I mean, there have been a number of time where I have come home to see a police helicopter doing circles of our neighborhood with a large microphone yelling out instructions to those of us on the ground. 

But there has nothing that has been nothing really scary that has happened to us or our little neighborhood.

 

Well, one day Mid July I came home from getting groceries and my neighbor asked me if I had passed by the U.S. Marshalls in our complex.  I did not see anything of the sort and didn't worry too much about it.  Patti (my neighbor) and I talked for a while longer speculating what could possibly be going on.  After a half hour or so I went inside to put Gabriel down for his nap and to get Mikaela fed. 

 

About an hour or so later I hear these two loud BANGS that caused our windows to shake and everything to quake a little bit.  It almost sounded like some kind of bomb or gun fire.  Come to find out it was actually 2 flash bombs.  I peaked out my blinds into our little backyard area and I saw a bunch of U.S. Marshalls and Police men surrounding the house that is just behind our townhome.  These guys were totally decked out with all sorts of firearms and meant serious business.

As I peeked out my bedroom and living room windows I snapped a bunch of photos. 

 

They had this house surrounded.  By standing on a chair I could look over the wall and see that there are also police cars on the neighborhood roads blocking it surrounding this one particular house. 

 Looking over the wall I could count another 5-8 officers looking into this neighbor's yard. I actually felt a bit bad for these guys because this particular day was recorded as the hottest day of the summer thus yet with temperatures getting up to about 115-116 degrees and these guys were standing out in that hot afternoon heat. 

I even contemplated going outside and giving these guys some lemonade or water or something.  It probably wouldn't have been the smartest idea so I didn't. 

 

After about 2 or so hours I heard them yelling some stuff over a megaphone, and about 30 minutes after that I saw some of the guys hopping over the fence and looking into the house.  I guess they didn't find what/who they were looking for because they left shortly thereafter.

 

In searching on the internet and watching the news nothing was ever reported.  I never did find out what happened and why they had that house surrounded. Oh well... at least it made that day just a little more exciting than the rest.  

Tech Savy Baby

It is so crazy to me to see how tech savy Gabriel is.  It's really just ridiculous what this kid can do and what he understands about technology, especially at only 14 months old.  Here is what he has figured out:

- The remote control to the TV will change it if he presses any of the buttons

- Pointing the remote at the fan and pushing a button will turn it on.

https://vimeo.com/103978968

- You put headphones into your ears and you can hear sounds/TV/music

https://vimeo.com/103978969

- If you slide your finger across my smartphone screen it will change it to the other page.

- By pinching his fingers together on the smartphone screen it will cause multiple windows to pop up of the main screens.

- You type on the laptop keyboard and it makes characters appear on the screen.

https://vimeo.com/103978967

- He knows when he is being filmed/photographed on either the camera or on my smart phone and so he puts on his biggest cheesiest grin all the time.

It is seriously ridiculous how smart he is.  He is just so attentive and aware of everything going on around him.  And when it comes to using technology he is right on the ball.  I am so curious to see what kind of things will be normal devices during his childhood and as he grows.  Thinking back to what we had around when I was a kid and how much has changed to where we are today is just mind baffling.  The future is sure going to be exciting.  Now, if only I will be able to keep up with it as my kids surpass me.... eek! I am totally screwed! 

Helicopter Office Day

Being in the aviation work world Eric gets to participate and do lots of stuff that most people wouldn't dream of when it comes to planes.  But one day during July Eric got a special treat.  The Army National Guard was doing a bunch of exercises with their helicopters and they happened to use the Scottsdale Airport to land.  He got see more than 15+ helicopters doing drills.  Among them were 2 Chinooks and about 15 Apache helicopters.  Not something you get to see everyday, well... unless you work in the aviation world and work with these types of machines.  I imagine that once Eric starts his formal pilot training he will get so many different experiences with all sorts of planes and helicopters.  For now though, this was a very special treat. Here are some videos and pictures that Eric was able to get.

https://vimeo.com/103978971

https://vimeo.com/103979337

Papi Birthday Tucson Trip

Mid July we went down to Tucson to celebrate my dad's birthday. While we were down there we got to spend some time with my sister-in-law Angela (Ryan's wife) and their family - they have 4 kids: Jocelyn, Caleb, Ashely and Savannah.  They were in town for a number of weeks doing their annual summer visit.  Since they live in Kansas (Ryan is an Army dentist so they move around a lot) they only get to come to Tucson to visit both sets of grandparents once a year.  It was really great getting to see them and spend some time together. When we move for Eric to do his UPT in Oklahoma they will be the closest family to us, only being a short 4 hours away.  You can plan on us getting together fairly often hehehe.

L to R: Caleb, Ashley, Gabriel, Savannah, Jocelynn

Being at my parent's home was great.  It is just like my in-laws place where there are more than enough toys and activities to keep grandkids entertained for hours on end. 

There is never a dull moment at Merma and Papi's home.  My mom has a corner of her living room dedicated for the grandkids, she calls it "Merma's Corner"... very fitting. 

Merma's Corner at the height of activity

 

 

She also has tons of arts and crafts activities for the kids to do any time they are interested. 

 I heard from my dad that they went swimming at the YMCA a number of times together.  The grandkids had swimming lessons there for a number of weeks, so my parents would go and meet them at the pool and play with them before and after the lessons.  Reminds me of when I was a kid and how we would spend almost every single day of the summer swimming at that exact same pool.  Such good memories. 

 

Along with going swimming my parents did lots of other fun activities with the grandkids - going out on hikes in the mountains, my dad especially likes to take the younger grandkids (the babies) on walkabouts around our house looking at all the nature and wild animals everywhere.  They also went out into the desert to find the perfect yucca plants from which to make homemade walking sticks with beads, owl feathers and having their names engraved.  The kids also had lots of fun playing in our large dirt mound in the backyard or just dancing in the rain.  And of course the house was never lacking in delicious food to be consumed, especially fresh made s'mores, roasted in my parents firepit in the side yard (one of my own personal favorites). 

 

If I were a grandkid, I would have tons of great memories of going to Merma and Papi's home.  Our children are really luck to be born into this family.  There is so much love here, from both of our families.  What lucky ducks!

 

It was a lot of fun to have our kids play with their cousins.  Granted, only Gabriel was really old enough to play or connect with the cousins, and even he is still a little too young to really comprehend anything. 

 He still had a ball just doing his own thing.

One thing he definitely isn't lacking in is size.  It was really funny, Angela's youngest: Savannah just barely turned 2 beginning of July.  But when she saw Gabriel sitting on the ground, she points to him and says "Baby!".   The only thing is that when Gabriel stood up, they were almost exactly the same size!  So funny!  She might be almost a year older, but Gabriel is right up there with her in height and weight. 

Savannah and Gabriel watching the rain

 

My big "baby" boy hahahaha. 

 Savannah still got a big kick out of Mikaela and spending as much time with her as possible. 

Savannah, Mikaela and Angela

Papi, Mikaela and Savannah

 

This little girl sure loves babies!

 There is just something about little girls and babies... just that innate nurturing females have.  The other kids thought Mikaela was cute, but I think they had a better time just playing with all the toys the Merma has for them. 

 I believe that one of their highlights this weekend was being able to horse around with Uncle Joe Joe being made into human burritos.

Ellie, Caleb, and Ashley tickling Jocelyn

Uncle Joe Joe showing the kids the best way to tickle Jocelyn

 I don't think my mom's house has been quite this well lived in for many months. 

 On Sunday, the 13th of July, we did a birthday cake and presents for my dad (his birthday was the 30th June).  He got a couple of special presentations to honor him by some of the grandkids:

 

https://vimeo.com/103980061

 

https://vimeo.com/103980062

 

Papi needed help opening his presents, which some of the grand kids were only too happy to oblige.   

 My mom made him one of his favorites: Texas Sheet Cake.  There were so many candles on there that it practically changed the top of the cake to a wax covered rainbow. 

 He did need a little help blowing out all those candles.

The kids thought that the candles were awesome, and even asked for some pieces of cake with "candle flavor"... yeah, not my particular cup of tea personally but hey, some kids even eat dirt so I guess that candle wax can't be that bad. 

 

 

All in all, I think that Papi probably had a pretty good birthday weekend.  He got to spend a lot of time with his grandchildren, made lots of fun memories and even got some pretty awesome birthday gifts.  I am glad that we were around and able to spend this last birthday with him.  Before we realize it we are going to be far away and unable to attend these fun things on a last minute basis.  We've got to get them in while we can, and I am sure glad we did.  Happy Birthday Papi!