Grato Animo

“What are little boys made of?

What are little boys made of?

Frogs and snails

And puppy-dogs' tails,

That's what little boys are made of.”

Gabriel turned 9 months on Sunday. I feel like each month flies by quicker than I want (except the sleepless nights). I hold him tight as if that will keep him a baby longer. His laughs and smiles fill our home. We all enjoy making him laugh, but I think Charis may be able to get him to laugh harder than anyone. Their relationship is precious. His eyes light up if he hears her voice or sees her. And she asks for him at times when she is sad. He loves people. People marvel at his smiles and friendliness.

Our little boy is full of energy and always on the go. He goes full force so that by nap or bed time his entire body and soul are begging for sleep. His adventurous spirit is the only thing that will cause him to slow down to inspect something which usually means putting it in his mouth. If he is not stopping to chew on something, he is crawling, pulling up, cruising, climbing or using his new little walking toys (my life savers right now). Gabriel celebrated turning nine months by letting go while standing. The next day he had numerous big falls as he attempted to get from one object to the next . Bathing him is like a work out for me to make sure he stays safe. He wiggles out of my hands so quick, pulls up on the sides of the bath tub or just dives face forward!

(caught eating a snail)

I recently went back and read what I blogged about Charis at this age, and I was struck with how unique God makes each child. Charis was just getting active and curious, but Gabriel has been an energizer bunny since 4 1/2 months. Charis said more words and sounds and did a lot of "tricks". Gabriel says only "dada" and "mama". He tries to say banana but only mouths it which probably won't change because he loves me laughing about it. His only "trick" is his piggy face. But the thing that made me laugh is that they both discovered at the same age somebody’s left over ice cream AND loved it!

Finding Sister's ice cream

(look close to see those top four teeth)