Creativity

We've always known that Gabe was creative, but he's just gotten to the point where it really expresses itself in a way that we understand. On Tuesday, I took Gabe to story time at Barnes & Noble. After the story, he decided to play in the little corner of the kids' section where the toys are; the area has different flooring, a couple of pillars, and a roof. He explained to me that he was riding the elevator (his favorite thing in the world right now). He showed me that the doors were between the pillars, and that he had to push the button to go "down, down, down." 

Next, it was my turn to ride. Gabe got very frustrated when I wasn't properly pushing the buttons (I thought it was just an arbitrary spot on the wall). As he later demonstrated, the elevator's functions were controlled by a set of paints that he'd found in a display on the wall. The red paint was for down. I'm not sure what the others did :)

Later that evening, Gabe and Mike were playing with Gabe's favorite toy: my old little people camping set. He'd put the daddy laying down in the back of the jeep, with the mommy standing outside. (Side note: before swimming lessons, we change Gabe into his swim diaper/swim trunks while he stands in the cargo area of Mike's SUV. It's a lot easier than dealing with the locker room, and it's become a part of his summer routine.) He explained to Mike that mommy was changing daddy's diaper. He then moved the people to the front seat, so that they could drive to work. Once at work, Mike found a little person to be the boss, and when I came downstairs, Gabe was pretending that the boss was talking to mommy and daddy. What does the boss say? "Blah, blah, blah, blah, get to work!"

Last night, I tried to explain to Gabe that I needed to go downstairs and work on my slides for the guest lecture I was giving in Developmental Biology. Later, Gabe explained to Mike, "Mommy has to go to work and ride the slide." Great, now he thinks that I work at a magical playground. To make matters worse, this morning in the car, Gabe asked for a special treat (which, among other things, means the tin of mints in my car). The mint tin was empty, but I have a stash at work, so I told him I'd bring him a special treat when I picked him up in the afternoon. "Mommy will go to work and have special treats." He must think I'm a horrible parent, dropping him off every day so that I can go have fun for hours without him! :)

Happy April birthdays to Ann H, Megan, Colton, and Quinn. Happy May birthdays to Ted, Eli (1 year old!), Uncle Cliff, Maddox, Deb, Phil, and Josh. Also, we have two more babies to welcome: congrats to Kurt and Geneva on baby Charlotte and to Danny, Sarah, and Mia on baby Jack!