thoughts on Gabriel.

We're usually pretty good about sticking to bedtimes around our house (it's 8pm for the kids, in case you're wondering.) Yet somehow this summer, even though neither of them is in school, bedtimes have gone completely out the window. I think it's a combination of a slow, summery, come-what-may attitude and the fact that we are lazily enjoying Ben's first time on a glorious day shift where it matters little if he gets enough sleep or not. We Wii... we clean up the house while blasting Pandora.com from the living room... and then we look at the clock at 9-something and ask each other, "Why is Gabriel still awake?"

Gabriel is our vibrant, joyful boy. He's reached that really-fun-for-parents stage where he knows exactly where the toy department is in every applicable store and when we get there- he is ON A MISSION. "Toooooooooooooys!" he'll scream ecstatically while taking off through the crowds, completely (or seemingly) oblivious to our frantic orders that he stay RIGHT HERE. Toys, people- they deserve our full, vocal appreciation.

He is emotional and dramatic. Just now he stubbed his toe on the carpet and came to show me the (invisible to the naked eye) damage. He hoisted his little foot onto the couch and smooshed it against my own leg. "Mommy, hurt. HURT. Hurt my foot. ....Cars band-aid?" Unfortunately, his joy and emotions can be awfully distracting sometimes: Gabriel is infamous for running -rather frequently- into walls.

I sometimes watch him with curiosity, wondering at how this boy who drives me insane (I caught him giving his little brother a spanking today for who knows what reason; he has taken to clapping at Ben and I when he wants our attention -like we're his servants!; he STILL won't #2 on the toilet)... How will this boy continue growing, continue making us laugh, and eventually become the leader of a pack of brothers? He's a handful, our oldest, but he'll always be the apple of our eye- our first precious little boy we'll recall hiccuping through the first few hours of his life even as he discusses college choices with us over dessert.