Sometimes as a mom, you just have to ask yourself who is this person in front of me??? I definitely feel that way about Gabriel lately. It's as if he's having a new word explosion! In the last three days, he has said so many new words that I absolutely cannot keep up. In the past, we would be excited about a new word every few days. Now it's by the hour - sometimes by the minute!!! Here are a few of my favorites: read (with the sign), sing, flag, burp, nut, rock, please (with the sign), bright, swing, pop, back, frog, boat, and at dinner tonight he said bean for the first time! What a smartie!!!
We've had a fun week so far, and it's only Tuesday!!! Yesterday after Stroller Strides, we took a tour of the downtown firestation. It's close to the park, so we all pushed our strollers the few blocks over to the station and got to check things out. Gabriel looooooved all the trucks. He would have done anything to play with all the buttons and levers, but he had to settle with getting all greasy playing with the wheels (yuck). The real excitement came when they had a call and we watched the ambulance take off, and a few minutes later one 
of the big firetrucks came back to the station after another call. The firemen were all great, and our tour guide was a daddy himself, so he was great with the kiddoes. Some of the young single guys didn't know what to do with all the tots running around asking silly questions! Overall, it was a very fun little outing. We picked up Jake afterward, and found a hidden gem... there is a Ben & Jerry's here in Frederick!!! We've been here all this time and never knew it! How great is that?! Yea!
Today we took a day off. Jake still had to go to work, but Gabriel and I decided to stay home and chill out. We colored on a big cardboard box until we were colored out, played with trucks and cars, snacked on every fruit we could find in the fridge, and played with every ball in the toybox. When we ran out of things to do, we just spun in circles and giggled! Then snacktime came about, and we decided to try something new: popcorn! I got out the popper and we just had a blast watching the kernels pop and jump. That's when he said pop for the first time. I didn't think he'd like it much, but I was wrong. We nibbled on popcorn while we played for the next hour. He liked it so much that he said "ummm" with almost every bite! It totally felt like our own little party day :).
Although we have been busy, we've had lots of fun little outings. We get tired of running (or Jake's old sports injuries flare up), so we'll strap on the rollerblades and take Gabriel out in the stroller. 
He absolutely loves it, and spends the whole trip singing, waving at passersby, and yelling out random words or sounds! It's really fun for all three of us. We've also taken a few weekend hikes on local trails. We first tried Catoctin National 
Park, near Thurmont, and had a nice little trip. Recently we wandered around the Monocacy Battlefield National 
Park trails and had a nice time and a lovely little picnic. Gabriel had fun, but got so tired he took a nap right in the carrier! It didn't look very comfy to me, but he was out like a light (but still holding his train, of course).
Since it's been so long since I left a post, I've included a few older pictures. The ones in the water are from Wimberley, Texas, and the motorcycle is from our little trip to Amarillo for Jake's sister's high school graduation. Enjoy!
