Yummy fingers!

Gabriel may be in the beginning of teething. He seems to be desiring to eat whatever he can chew on - be it a shoulder, pacifier, fingers, blanket, boob, etc. He also has had a slight fever lately, which has added fuel to the teething idea. Who knows if this is what is really happening, but it is as good as guess as any. Below is an excellent example of Gabe chomping on his fingers. 

On a side note, we recently looked at our photos of Charlie at this age and noticed that this is when he found his thumb. We are certainly wondering if in addition to the pacifier Gabriel will become a thumb sucker. He hasn't quite found the thumb yet, but maybe it is coming.

Time is flying by fast!!!

Well, my maternity leave is almost at an end. What a joy it has been to be home with these two amazing boys. That isn't to say that the adjustment to two children hasn't been a challenge, because it has. Or that Charlie is in an easy phase. Instead, he has entered a new phase of being naughty often and time is often filled with us needing to set boundaries for him and lots of time outs. No, it hasn't been all wine and roses. But, I have loved this time anyway and will truly miss being a stay-at-home mother. But, alas, next Thursday I'm expected back at Highline. So, I plan to soak in the next week with these two boys and relish our time together. 

 Gabriel is smiling all the time these days. He is also grunting, almost yelling and laughing in response to our interactions with him. He has also taken to "playing" with a few baby toys. I wouldn't say he is grabbing them yet, but he certainly loves it when I hold them up for him to look at. The above picture is an example of his beautiful smile.

 This picture makes me laugh. Plus, he looks so big in this shot! Charlie is hoping he will like the guitar as much as he does. So, the clothing was purchased to inspire Gabriel.

 Last Wednesday, Tom took the morning off. He has been putting in lots of night and weekend hours, so this was extra special to have him home. As it was a sunny day, we were able to go on a family walk. On the way home, we stopped in this church parking lot for some play time. These two chased each other all over the lot, laughing the whole time. Gabriel slept through the whole thing. I know there will be a day soon where he is joining in with his older brother and dad. I can't wait!

Later that same day, I took the two young boys down to the Des Moines beach and marina. This is a place I used to take Charlie all the time when he was little. This time he not only wanted to walk on the beach, but as you can see, toss large rocks and sticks into the water. Charlie went straight into the bath when we returned home. He was soaked!

Favorites from our week together...

This has been a great week with the boys. We have had some fun adventures out - the mall to do some gift exchanging, the toy store, the marina, story time at the library and Grand Central Bakery. We have also enjoyed some quiet moments at home together. We especially loved having dad come home early on Monday. Extra time with all four of us is deeply loved by all. I've taken a few photos this week. Here are some of my favorites:

Maternal Grandparents come to visit

We had a busy weekend with the maternal grandparents all coming to visit. Nonnie and Boppa arrived in time to join all Wagners, minus dad, at the Pacific Science Center. This was Charlie's first introduction to the museum. It turned out to be a little frightening, but he rolled with it. There are some rather large pretend bugs and dinosaurs, which can be frightening if you don't know they are not real. Here are a few shots from the Science Center. 

Riding with Nonnie on the caterpillar. 

 In a space capsule, about to take off with Boppa. 

 We have been learning about bee keeping this past week. So, we were pretty excited, and needed to pose with the bee keeper here. They also have a living hive at the Science Center, which is awesome!

After the Science Museum, they took us to lunch at the Space Needle. Charlie had huge eyes the entire lunch. A pretty awesome place to eat for a fascinated boy. There was even a bunch of fire fighters dressed in gear eating as well. They showed Charlie their gear and talked with him for a while with Nonnie. Good times! If you ask, Charlie will gladly repeat the story of the Science Center and Space Needle for you. 

 Gabe didn't quite sleep through the entire outing. He woke up for a short while at lunch. Of course, it was just shortly before the food was set before us. But, he behaved well for a two month old and let mommy and Nonnie eat.

Not only did we get to enjoy Nonnie and Boppa this weekend, but we also had the pleasure of Grandpa Bud and Grandma Patsy stay with us at our home. Every time we see Grandpa Bud, Charlie asks him something about his tractors. This time Charlie wondered if Grandpa Bud brought his tractor with him. It was dang cute to watch him ask and see his interaction with Grandpa Bud. I wish I had my camera out for that conversation. I didn't. However, I did get my camera out for the conversation above. Gabriel and Grandpa Bud were chatting up a storm. Who knows what they were talking about, but Gabe was real chatty. 

We asked Charlie who he would like to have him read stories before bed. He voted for both grandfathers. I'm pretty sure he is in heaven in this picture.

The Boys

I love this picture of these three amazing boys/men. They are all three enjoying spending time together, which is beautiful to me, their wife and mother. 

 We have been going to story time at the Burien library most Monday mornings. I finally brought out my camera last week. Although Charlie mostly enjoys story time on my lap, he loves the activity time and is very active during these 15 minutes. This particular day was focused on penguins. He loved making a paper penguin and using the glue stick. As you can see from his smile below, he was happy.

 This picture shows off the similarities of Gabe and Tom's  mouths. They have a similar upper lip.

Two months and two years nine months...

Gabe is enjoying his bouncy chair quite a bit these days. Here is an example. 

I took the boys out to the mall as this picture attests, we survived. Charlie stayed in his stroller the whole time, so we ended the outing with a steamer and treat. I'm not amazing at self portraits, but you can see a little bit of Gabe in this photo.

 Here is a whole body shot. This kid was a huge flirt with me that day. He was smiling, chatting and continually raising his eye brows. I figure that is about as good as it gets for talking these days.

 Gabriel was finally able to meet his GG this past week. We really enjoyed spending time at Don and Wendy's house visiting all, but especially Grammy. This isn't a great photograph of Gabriel, who was sleeping at the time, but captures smiles on the older two.

 All the way to the Swanson house, Charlie talked about playing piano and guitar with GG. So, he was quite a happy guy that she obliged his wishes and spent a bit of time on the piano with him.