Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Dear Gabriel - 17 months

Oh man. I'm so behind with my updates on the boys. So I shall start with Gabriel first!

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Dear Gabriel!

You little cheeky-cute-LOUD-crazy-stubborn little bugger. You light up our lives! We love you to bits!

You have started shaking your head at us. Whenever we ask you for a kiss, you would either oblige or proceed to shake your head vigorously from side to side and play hard to get. It's really funny and kinna sweet in a way that makes us treasure your kisses even more, since you don't always lavish them on us!

You're understanding so much more these days. You've started responding to simple commands like "sit", "stand", "lift up your hands"or "stop". Whenever we pray at mealtimes or after reading the Bible, you would clasp your hands together.

Other than the words "Papa" and "Mama", which you say randomly with no particular reference to Daddy or I, you don't really enunciate anything understandable yet. But you seem to enjoy engaging us in a conversation ALL the time! With your own words. You would string together syllabuses that actually sounds like a proper language on its own.

Last month saw you having a real bad case of stomach flu. Your big brother apparently caught it from his preschool and passed it to you. But unlike your brother who got away with a mild case of diarrhea, you my baby, had the whole shebang (as what your Daddy would say).

You woke up one morning by puking. All over my bed, your clothes and my clothes. Mummy had to wash you, change you and change the bedsheets. And just when I was done, you puked all over again. And that cycle repeated itself at least 4 times in a span of 2 hours!

When the puking was over after one day, the diarrhea started. It was SO bad.

Daddy caught the bug a few days later and Mummy unfortunately too. But the good thing is that unlike in your case, which took you 4 days to recover, Daddy and Mummy recovered after 2 days.

You are so very cuddly and huggy. That's one thing we really love and cherish about you. While you don't take easily to strangers, for people whom you are familiar with, you would just walk up to them and give them the biggest, fattest, bear hugs of all!

Everybody's who's been on the receiving end of your bear hugs is so blown away by your affectionate nature!

You're still a Mummy's boy! For places that you're unfamiliar with, you would take Mummy's hand and pull me in the direction where you'd want to walk

This is such a cool thing for me because your big brother never did that! He would just run wherever he wanted whether or not Mummy was behind him. I'm so thankful that you would keep an eye out for Mummy! Yay! 

Your appetite continues to be great! The one amusing thing about your eating patterns is that you have a tendency to stuff huge chunks of food into your mouth. Instead of biting off smaller, more manageable chunks of food, you would rather use your hands to stuff food into your mouth!

You continue to co-sleep with Mummy and Daddy and usually sleep through the night. There are times when you wake up crying but you would usually be able to put yourself back to bed. We're still trying to figure out how and when we should transit you to share a room with your big brother since you wake up much later than your big brother does for his preschool.

You've adjusted well to not having your big brother home in the mornings. It was a bit sad the first few mornings when your constant playmate was gone. But now mornings are spent bonding just you and me.

Time with your brother is like a double-edged sword. On one hand, you absolutely adore your older brother and having a constant playmate as evidenced from how well you both play together. On the other side, you and your brother do get on each other's nerves, such that the house is a whole lot less peaceful once your brother comes back from preschool.

The good times more than overweigh the bad though. I still think that boys' fights are better than girls' fights - speaking from experience.

You would simply follow me around the house running errands. Usually we don't have much time to do anything special until we have to pick your brother up around noon, but we've managed to go to town, the gym and playgroups on Mondays whenever we get out of the house early enough. It's actually fun going to town with a kiddo who's still happy sitting in his stroller for long stretches of time.

We can't believe that we'll be bringing you on your maiden flight to Singapore in less than one month's time! Mummy can't wait to introduce you to my family in Singapore and everybody can't wait to see and carry you in real life!

Most of the time, when Mummy looks at you, I just feel like I'm looking at myself in the mirror. You're very much a carbon copy of Mummy, right down to my stubborn nature. We pray that the Lord will use your strong personality for His glory. You're one truly determined soul who knows who he wants. May you always be able to differentiate right from wrong and make wise decisions even at an early age.

We love you little one!
Mummy & Daddy

Maxing out the cute factor with your winter cap
The only photo I can capture of Gabriel in his snow suit

Loving the colors of autumn!
Best brothers forever. This pix essentially captures the essence of having both boys in my life

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