Happy Birthday Mommy.

March 18: Today was mom's birthday, and it started with a great rendition of the song by Gabe, and also a really nice birthday picture! Later, Uncle Seth and Aunt Linnea came over for a nice visit. Seth came early to get a refresher course in picking Gabe up from Daycare, which was really fun. Gabe showed him all the trucks and cars on the way home. And when we got home, they did some coloring together. Seth also brought over his cool new computer, and Gabe got to use it. He's hooked (Gabe, that is... we all knew Seth was).

Happy Birthday Gianluca!

March 15: Today we went to Gymboree for the first time ever to celebrate Gianluca Putek's first birthday. We all had a great time. We loved the basketball hoop (boy are we ready for March Madness), the bubbles, and especially the birthday cake!

Walking Feet

Gabe is no longer really walking; he really prefers to run. This is often really cute, and leads many people to say "wow, he's fast." His teachers at daycare always are telling him to "use your walking feet." And it's a great way to tire him out on a cold but sunny afternoon like the one pictured here. It's not so cute, however, when you are trying to pay at the grocery store and he picks that very moment to "go outside." It's OK... I caught him. But he IS fast.

Happy to be Home

March 9: It was a great vacation, but we were happy to be home!

Suzki and Pops in the Hiz-ouse!

Feb. 28 - Mar. 4: This (LOOONG) weekend mom and dad decided to head out of town (out of the Country, actually) and Suzki and Pops came to stay with Gabe. A fantastic time was had by all. Gabe got to go to the NYC Transit Museum and drive the bus, and also to the Prospect Park Zoo where he saw that sea lions and kangaroos (which he is STILL talking about). And mom and dad got to relax in the sun in Mexico. Suzki and Pops were a little cold, having left their warmer home for the chill of NYC, but otherwise it was pretty much perfect. There are lots more pictures on Gabe's smugmug page.
Oh, and the way we know Gabe had such a good time other than his constant chatter about the weekend is that any time we do anything he doesn't like, he picks up the phone and yells "Pops? Suzki? hi!" We think he's trying to get them back up here as soon as possible!

Baby Walrus!!

Mon., Feb. 18: Today mom and dad both had the day off from work, and so the NYC Shanoffs headed to the NYC Aquarium, which is on the water in Coney Island, Brooklyn. It was our first time there, and it was a total hit! The big draw was the new baby walrus, which turns out to be one of the first born in captivity in a really long time. We found a nice warm place to stand and watch the baby play with the mommy walrus through some glass, and Gabe totally loved it. He also loved seeing all the fish, the penguins (who he saw eating their lunch!), and the sharks (who have really big teeth when you get close up). All in all a great day!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Feb. 16: Today is Daddy's birthday and we've had a really nice quiet day. This afternoon we headed out to the Promenade in Brooklyn Heights to get some fresh air, but boy was it cold! It didn't take long for us to head home and just lounge some more on our new couch!

New Couch

Feb. 15: After a really really good run with our old comfy maroon couch, we decided to try something new. Those of you who loved the old fluffy one will have to get used to this new firmer model, but so far so good. Gabe sure likes it (and so does "Mr. Head").

Happy Valentine's Day!

Feb. 14: Today is Valentine's Day, and Gabe got lots of great treats. One of his favorites is his bath crayons from Grammy. He also loves his new alligator place mat from Suzki and Pops! Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

On the Bus

Feb 9: Today we decided to brave the cold and rain and take a little adventure in Brooklyn. Gabe is into all things on wheels, and so we figured what could be better than a ride on the bus? Well, the waiting was tough, but once we got on it was great. We went to Park Slope to a great restaurant called Perch. We had never been there but now we're sure to go back! Plus we ran into our cousin Marisa there, which was a total treat.

Sports A to Z

Feb. 5: OK, this post easily could have been called "shameless Gabe-promotion," which we haven't done in (sort of) a while. This is a video (which we also haven't done in a while) of Gabe reading his current favorite book. His friend Dave gave it to him, and at the time Gabe didn't really seem all that into it, but boy have times changed. He LOVES this book, and we read it a lot. Really. A LOT. The upside of that, though, is that now Gabe can *read* it! OK, we know that he's not really reading, but we think this is pretty cute. Enjoy!

Block Tower

Feb. 2: One of Gabe's favorite things to do these days is to build a tower out of these blocks . . . and then knock it down. See that look on his face? He's wondering how long he should wait before knocking them over so that he'll "surprise" us!

Happy Blue Means Happy Gabe

Jan. 27: Today Gabe got a big treat in the mail from his Suzki -- HAPPY BLUE! Gabe calls Cookie Monster "happy blue" (long story... happy to tell you in person if you really want to hear it) and really loves happy blue, but it turns out he's awfully hard to find! They have pretty much pulled all his segments from Sesame Street (except a very brief letter of the day situation with Prairie Dawn), and it's almost impossible to find a stuffed Cookie Monster toy that doesn't shake or talk anywhere in NYC (OK, we decided to avoid the Toys R Us in Times Square - totally reasonable). The only explanation we've been given for this is a concern about childhood obesity; Cookie Monster has some impulse control problems! We think this is ridiculous, and are awfully glad the good people stocking the shelves at the Target in Gainesville agree. YAY Suzki! We love cookies happy blue!

Happy Birthday GG!

Jan. 23: This weekend we hopped in the car and headed to Maryland for GG's 89th birthday celebration. We weren't about to miss this par-tay. Gabe loved seeing his GG, Grammy, Aunt Annie, and his cousins (especially Julia and "baby Willa").



Plus, he LOVED his chocolate ice cream. DUH.








After the party we had lots of time to hang out with GG and spend some quality time together. Plus Gabe had to do a few more rounds of Ring Around the Rosie with Grammy.

To Fold or Not To Fold...

Jan 19: With all the excitement this weekend, Gabe thought it would be a great idea to show his visitors his clothes. ALL of his clothes. Once they were all out though, he realized it's not as much fun to but them away as it is to pull them out. Ahhh. Life lessons.

and Grandpa!

Jan. 19: Our other visitor was Grandpa! We had a great time with him too, with lots of reading and even a horsey ride!

Aunt Emily!

Sat., Jan. 19: This weekend we had lots of visitors, and first to arrive was AUNT EMILY! It was so fun to see her. We had a great time playing at our house in the morning, and then later we went out and met her and her friend Jenny at a bar (just like the old days when Gabe was a little baby!!) on Smith Street. It was great. As always, a great visit!

Book Break

January 16: The only thing Gabe likes more than his shoes are his books. He was more than thrilled to take a book break before putting his shoes on to go to school today.

Stack 'Em Up

January 12: We also did a little stacking today. Well, Gabe did it. HIMSELF. We think he did a pretty good job, but there were definitely some frustrating moments!

Back to the Playground

January 12: We haven't been to the playground in a while because it's been cold, but today we headed over. We can't get over how much bigger Gabe looks in the swings than he did the last time we were there.



Plus, he's really into sliding by himself now. Luckily he only likes the small slides!

New Table

January 8: This weekend we went on an adventure to Ikea! Everyone had a great time, especially Gabe, who LOVED all the airplanes we got to see from the car. Mom was pretty excited too, since she loves Ikea! One of our amazing finds was a new play table for Gabe, where he can color and do his puzzles. It's a perfect Gabe size, and he loves to sit at it, especially now that Dad got him some cool new crayons. Depending on the day, he even lets us sit in the second chair, though you can imagine that it's not a great fit for us.

Scoop UP

Dec. 20-27, 2007: NYC was getting a little cold for us, so we headed down to Florida for a fun visit with Suzki and Pops. We spent the whole time in St. Augustine, and boy was it fun. Gabe loved paying on the beach with his sand toys (he now knows it's important to scoop UP when you are trying to shovel the sand into a bucket, and he reminds of this often), eating strawberries and playing play-doh, and looking to see the moon!

We also got to see Gabe's cousin Charlie, which was great! We think they are going to have a lot of fun playing together as they get older.

Big Shoes to Fill

One of Gabe's favorite new things to do is to wear other people's shoes. In particular, he loves to tell you whose shoes he is wearing, and then put them on and walk around. Needless to say, this does not always work out very well. But dada's shoes are his favorite.

New Camera

We know you were all worried that we weren't getting enough good pictures of Gabe, so we decided to get a new camera. Here's one of the first pictures we took with it. It's pretty fancy, and we still have a lot to learn (luckily Uncle Seth is usually around to help out... when he's not jetting off across the world!), but we really love it!

Hard at Work

Dec. 7, 2007: Today was a HUGE kids party at mom's work. Gabe seemed most interested in getting a little work done before the festivities stared, though he also loved the chipwich (but really... who doesn't?).

Plus, what a treat to have Grammy here with us all weekend! We had a great time!

Say Cheese!

Gabe is learning to take pictures with "his" camera. He is very clear about the fact that the camera is "his" and that it says "click" when the picture is taken. The whole point and shoot part of the process is still a little lost on him.

First Snow

Dec. 2, 2007: It was the first snow of the year, and luckily for us it coincided with a trip to NJ to celebrate Great Great Uncle Milton's 90th birthday. It was a fun party, and Gabe loved that there were so many yummy desserts!

Hanukkah Party!

Saturday, Dec. 1: With lots of the Miller family in town, we decided to fry up some latkes and have a little party, even though it was not quite Hanukkah yet. First mom made the latke batter, and Gabe tried his first raw potato. OK, he thought it was an apple, and we thought it would be funny to see his reaction.

Then Suzki and Pops came by! Gabe loved showing Suzki how much he loves the new menorah she bought him, and we were all happy Pops headed to the kitchen to make us some latkes!


Plus, we LOVED getting to see our cousins from California (and from midtown)!

Uncle Ben and Aunt Rachel

Friday, Nov. 30: This weekend Uncle Ben and Aunt Rachel came to New York to visit! They spent most of the day on Friday with Gabe while Mom and Dad did some work. What a fun day! It's almost Hanukkah too, so of course we had to bust out Gabe's new menorah. Plus, Uncle Ben gave Gabe some great tips for making latkes.

Thanksgiving '07

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Originally uploaded by Gabe Shanoff.

This year we spent a great weekend in Bethsda and D.C. with Grandpa, Grammy, Uncle Mark and Aunt Alexis, and Aunt Emily, along with other cousins and friends. We had such a great time. It was nice weather the whole weekend and we loved getting to hang out with family and friends. Plus, even though Gabe didn't really like the turkey (maybe it's because he really loves his book about a turkey?) he sure loved all the yummy desserts. For more Thanksgiving pictures, check out Gabe's Flickr page.

EIGHTEEN MONTHS!

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Originally uploaded by Gabe Shanoff.

Nov. 16, 2007: Today Gabe turned 18 months old. That's one-and-a-half for those of you who aren't great at math. We just can't believe it's here already. And he can already read!

Just kidding. He can't read by himself, but he loves to be read to ("more books" has become his favorite thing to say). He also ask us to read him his favorite books using names he's made up for them, like "Moon" for Goodnight Moon. It's awfully fun to see, though reading Goodnight Moon six or seven times a night can be, well, repetitive.

At his 18 month checkup this week he got a fabulous report. He's up to 33.5 inches tall and weighs 28 lbs. And, as usual, he recovered from his shots in about 5 seconds. Of course, it didn't hurt that the bandaid had Garfield on it, so he was happy to tell the doctor what the cat says!

All in all, we think he's pretty amazing. He's talking and walking and running and laughing and even throwing a tantrum here and there. Pretty much right on for an eighteen-month-old!

Again?

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Originally uploaded by Gabe Shanoff.

Nov. 11: Yes, we're posting another bath picture. As far as we're concerned there can't be too many bath posts! Don't you agree?

So High!

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Originally uploaded by Gabe Shanoff.

OK, so this maybe wasn't mom's favorite activity, but they looked pretty cute, and dad was holding on tight, so we figured we might as well catch it for posterity.

Petting Zoo

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Originally uploaded by Gabe Shanoff.

Nov. 11, 2007: Today we went with our friends to the Yankee Fair in Brooklyn Heights. There was a great petting zoo and a puppet show! Gabe loved it. He especially loved when Sadie's dad picked up the Bunny, he wasn't as brave as Sadie, who fed the bunny, but he did almost pet it. But Gabe is sort of a bunny expert - our neighbors have one and so he gets to visit Boo Boo all the time!

A Manny?

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Originally uploaded by Gabe Shanoff.

Nov. 7, 2007: Tonight Mom and Dad had a big party to go to for Mom's work, and so Uncle Seth came to hang with Gabe. They had a total blast, and the whole next day Gabe was looking for Seth around the apartment. Did they play hide and seek or was it just a really great time? These boys aren't talking, but that's ok. Uncle Seth just has to say the word and it's Manny time!

Digging

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Originally uploaded by Gabe Shanoff.

Nov. 4, 2007: At the actual party, everyone else was watching the runners from the outside deck, but not our Gabe. He did some cheering, but mostly he wanted to play with the buckets, shovels and dirt. Luckily his friend Brendan was happy to share all his stuff.