My big boy

Ok, so remember how just yesterday I was talking about how crazy it is about how big this kid is getting? I seriously cannot even believe it. Today we went out for our usual hour -hour and a half walk/ adventure/treasure hunt. While we were at the usual spot- the huge catholic church parking lot across the street from our house, Gabe was chasing birds and looking in water spouts-you know, the usual. When all the sudden he heard a bunch of rowdy boys across the field of grass yelling and sounding like they were having a bunch of fun. So naturally he decided to go play some good ol' American football with them. Yeah that is right. My 22 month old got in on a sweet game of football with 5 ten year old boys. I was so amazed at how comfortable he was with these "strangers" to him they were his best buddies! They were so cute with him- Gabe talked their ears off, and was so expressive in all he had to say to them. He called the huddles, he passed the ball off- but darn it- he never got a good tackle in....

He ran and played with these sweet boys for about 35 minutes, then he got tired and started to toddle on home. The boys, I bet were glad to be able to play a little more rough once we left- but seriously they were so cute with him and sure made G feel like the coolest kid on the block.

Earlier today we did a practice Easter egg hunt, Last night the cute young women in my ward Easter "egged" our house and gave us a bunch a goodies in the eggs, but Gabe had JUST gone to sleep. I wanted to make sure he would know what to do on Saturday- So I set the eggs around the yard again, and boy did he know what was up....

he was so excited to go next door and show Grandpa his loot... Grandpa sure is one of his very favorite people. So we went next door and showed Gramps the treasures- and He even got to snack on some of the goodies inside- you would have thought it was Christmas- this kid was so happy to have a whole starburst in his mouth... the kid could hardly contain himself.

Ok, so judge me if you want to, I don't care. This next story I was a little hesitant to share- in fear I would receive the ultimate Mother of the Year Award.  But oh well- here goes.
So in our backyard we have a beautiful creek running through it, and ever since we moved here, we have been discussing short/cheap fencing options- so that we could still enjoy the stream without having a heart attack any time the little one went runnin off. ( believe me when I tell you- he has gotten to be a fast little devil). Well, they turned on the water yesterday- so the water was complete runoff from the mountains- cold I tell ya. I wanted to take Gabe back there and have a good "talking to" with him... Cuz everyone knows- a 22 month old always adheres well to a good talking to. So we discussed the dangers of the wa wa- and I explained that only rocks can go into it- Not Gabeys, Not toys, Not balls etc... This went over really well I promise. Well, after pulling him back hundreds of times and in a stern voice saying, "no! naughty!" and seeing what good that was doing I finally tossed the idea around of letting him just see what it was like. So as he was throwing rocks in, I decided to let go of his shirt tails and he took a flying leap into the water. Boy was it different than what he was expecting... He was so surprised and screamed with horror that I had actually let him do what he wanted to do! Through my laughter I again began giving him the "I told you that's why we don't go in the stream" talk and he just looked at me like- " what are you doing just standing there woman??!get me the heck out of this freezing sludgy water!"  So I pulled him out and gave him the talk all the way home, he was so mad. All he wanted to do was be held and get warm- but I made him walk the whole hundred yards into the house and to the bathtub. Tough love baby. Well, the true test came later after nap time- we went back outside for our usual adventures- and found ourselves by the creek.... again. Only this time, he ran up to the creek, took a good look at it and took a few steps back shaking his head at it. Moral of the story- sometimes ya just gotta let them take that step off the edge into the icy arctic flow to keep em from doing it anymore :)
This is the only picture I got of the whole event, I was a little too preoccupied with taking care of a hysterical little man