18 months (and 3 days) old!

Can you believe that our little monkey is a year and a half old? This time last year he was army crawling around the living room. Now he's running and talking (using adjectives!), has quite the sense of humor, is very opinionated, is a picky eater, sleeps through the night, and gives great hugs & kisses. Time flies!

My parents came to visit for their fall break and Gabe got to spend a couple of days home with them. In the time they were here, Gabe perfected "grandma" and is pretty close to "grandpa" (though it's closer to "papa" right now). I know he had a good time because he asks to call them almost every night :) We got to spend some great family time together, have a couple of dinners with family and friends, and even make our first-ever trip to the NC State fair. We didn't find the kiddie rides until it was too late, but did have a good time walking around, eating fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches, and seeing the animals.

We celebrated Halloween with Team B, who hosted an amazing party. Gabe dressed up as Mario (he even wore the hat for most of the evening. Yoshi kept getting left behind, though) and had a good time chasing Stella and the other kids as well as playing with Ben's parents who were in town visiting.

Gabe also got to spend an afternoon this weekend with Susan and Mike (plus Team B) who were in town visiting. Bonus: we got to celebrate Mike's birthday and Stella's birthday at the same time. I can't get enough of this family time - it is so great being able to see family on a weekly basis :)

Last weekend Gabe also had his first commercial haircut (my Aunt Jan cut his hair this summer in Indiana). It was getting kind of unruly, hanging down into his eyes and ears, so it was time for a change. He was a complete trooper - playing nicely for the hour we had to wait and then sitting still for the actual haircut. Here is a before & after.

In the weeks since our last post, there have been a lot of birthdays to celebrate: Meg, Alaina, Alysia, Matt L, Rick, Bubbie, Jason K, Stella, and Mike M. Happy birthday everyone! Also, a big congrats to Dr. Jacob who defended his PhD thesis on Friday! Finally, congrats to Steph and Stephen, who recently welcomed the arrival of baby Natalie.