Milestones Aplenty

After watching Carmine grab for food off our plates for the past two weeks, we finally decided it was time to give him a try at eating, and mixed up a bowl of rice cereal for him last night. He got SO excited just seeing me put the bowl in front of him, and grabbed for the spoon and shoved it right in his mouth. 

Of course, most of the cereal just dribbled right back out of his mouth again (much to the delight of Gabe and Dante, who giggled and said 'eeeewwww!' the entire time Carmine was eating), and he really only swallowed a few very small spoonfuls, but he really enjoyed the entire process, and I think with a little more practice, he'll be chowing down next to us at mealtimes. I forgot how messy it is feeding a baby - my hands, the table, and every inch of his arms were all coated in rice cereal. 

And as if that wasn't a big enough milestone, today our big boy was sitting up all by himself! He seemed pretty pleased with himself, too. And when we were playing after dinner, I was holding him up at the coffee table and letting him play with some of Gabe and Dante's toys, and he was having such a blast playing with his big brothers. It was pretty amazing to watch.

Our 4th of July weekend was great - had a cookout with Scott's brother's family on Saturday afternoon, before the heat wave began. And Sunday and Monday we spent both days at the beach, and it was hot enough that I went in the water. Hot enough that I spent quite a bit of time in the water, actually, which the boys were happy about. They floated around on their boogie boards and splashed and had a fabulous time. We also found a little hermit crab that Gabe was fascinated with - he named it "Hermie," and was very sad when we had to return Hermie to the ocean. 

We contemplated bringing them to the fireworks in town Sunday night, but Dante was just way too tired, and we opted to skip it. I think it was the right decision, since Monday was another long day - all day at the beach, and then the first Youth Track Meet of the summer - something we all look forward to! It was hot, but the high school track where they hold the meets is very close to the ocean, so there was a nice breeze, and a good portion of the track is shaded, so it wasn't too awful. 

The boys did great. Dante ran the 50m and 100m, and did the javelin throw, and Gabe did the 100m, 200m and javelin throw. We skipped the long jump, and skipped the 400m for Gabe, since it was getting really late and we were all tired. 

They both did awesome, but Gabe is definitely a little more into it than Dante. Gabe actually came in 1st or 2nd in both of his races (from where I was standing, it was tough to tell if he was 1st or 2nd), and I was proud of him for that, but more proud just to see that he was not only really enjoying himself, but he was focused and working hard at what he was doing. 

I don't want him to be overly concerned with winning, but I think a little competitiveness is healthy, and maybe this is just wishful thinking on my part, but I really get the sense that running could be his thing. I saw a focus in him while he was running that I've never seen when he plays soccer.

I daydream about him and I running a 5K together someday, and I'd love for that to happen, but I'll never push him into it. I might gently encourage, sure, but I won't force him. But it would be pretty awesome if it was something he naturally had a love for. Only time will tell.....   And in the meantime, it'll be awesome watching both he and Dante (and next year, Carmine!) run their little hearts out for five Monday nights every summer. 

When we were driving home, I was telling them both that they did a great job, and that they were running so fast, and Gabe said "Yeah, I think it was the Skechers."  Scott thinks that maybe he's looking for an endorsement. 

Dante is usually the one saying all the stuff that cracks me up, but Gabe's had a few good ones lately - if he's really hungry, instead of saying he's starving, he says he's 'startled.' I haven't corrected him yet - it's too cute and funny. 

This past Friday, we had to go shopping for stuff for our cookout on Saturday, and Gabe asked what we were going to buy, and I told him hamburgers and hotdogs and potato chips. So he asked "Are we having a party?" And I told him no, and he said "Well, you said we're buying hamburgers and hotdogs, and that feels like a party."  

One day last week we discovered that our refrigerator was leaking, and since it's nearly 15 years old, we opted to just get a new one, rather than try to figure out what was wrong and have it fixed. So the boys and I went to the store, and when we walked in, the salesman came over and asked if we needed help, and before I could even say anything, Gabe piped up "We need a refrigerator!" 

Another day he had gotten in trouble for something, and I told him he had to go to his room for some quiet time, and after he had been up there a while, I went up to talk to him, and when I walked in, he looked at me with his mean face and yelled "I'm madder than ANYONE!" 

His most clever contribution, though, was this weekend, when Scott was sorting bills in the kitchen, which prompted a discussion about why we pay bills, and who we give our money to. After talking about it for a few minutes, Gabe came up with the solution - "Daddy, you should just throw the bills in the garbage and not pay them, and then we would be rich." 

Now why didn't I think of that?

Comments

[Wes]

From what I understand (from anonymous reports of you dining out), Carmine is a chip off the old block... as is Gabe and Dante in running. HAHAHAHA! I killz me :-)