Up

Gabriel's latest word: "up."
Pronounced "up-ppp."
Heard tonight as I asked him where he'd like to go.
He was pleased.
Other words in his vocab so far, in rough order of acquisition:
1) "dada"
2) "mama"
3) "uh-oh"
4) "no"
5) "book"
6) ask him what a monkey says, and he hoots like a monkey. For my money, this is almost better than a word.
A smart kid. Waiting for him to learn "yes."

The Next Jackson Pollock?

We now trust Gabriel with crayons.

This has worked out well so far, primarily because all he does with them is stand around naked and brood. Which is how a lot of the great artists start out, I think.

He seems interested in the different colors of the crayons, and likes to stockpile them in different places, but hasn't gotten into actually using them to draw yet.

A Stubborn Kid

At 18 months, Gabriel has learned the word "no."

Important to not quote him out of context, of course: the way he typically uses it is "nonononono."

Not at all clear where he picked this up, but he's getting pretty effective with it.

We're still not hearing a lot of actual words beyond this. "Book" every now and then, but that's about it. Lots of talk, but it's mostly gibberish to my ears.

What's on the Menu

Gabriel remains a healthy eater.

His favorites right now are tofu and edamame. Really. And these are pretty long-standing preferences.

These choices are redeemed by his very healthy attitude toward pizza-- I brought him a pie from Vace last week and he loved it.

Gabriel at the Museum

On a rainy Saturday in early December, we took Gabriel to the Museum of Natural History-- a place I haven't spent much time in since I was very young.

The animals all seemed smaller than I remember them being.

Gabriel wasn't especially impressed with the whale or the elephant at first sight, although he eventually took a shine to the elephant. The museum has a fair number of interactive exhibits for kids, and he obliged.