My Baby is Four Today

Gabriel turns four today, wow...when did my baby become a little boy? Looking through some of these old pictures brings tears to my eyes. Man I am such a sap but I cannot help it. My life forever changed the day that he was born, I went from just being a woman into being a mom. No more was it all about me. It has been all about him and now Elizabeth from the moment they were born. It is funny, I remember going shopping all the time with my mom before I was a mom and she was a grandma...We always looked for clothes for ourself, stuff for the houses, etc. But now, all we do is look for stuff for them-clothes, toys, books, you name it. We have to almost make ourselves look in our department, so funny!

Gabriel is quite the little man these days. He goes to school 3 days per week and enjoys it once I can get him up and there, he is not a morning person at all and would prefer to sleep in and then cuddle with me for 1/2 hour or so before getting up. Not that I mind cuddling with him one bit (I love it too)--but on days when I am working, it is a little tough. He is a creature of habit for sure and eats the same breakfast EVERY DAY...a brown sugar cinnamon poptart, a few Cheese Nips, and his 2 gummy vitamins--he used to call these "hitamins" but now can say it correctly which makes me a little sad... He loves to play outside-riding a bike (which he can now do a little without training wheels thanks to Grandma Dot who taught him!), playing in his fort at Papaw's, jumping on the trampoline, playing cowboys/Indians with Jackson, riding his four wheeler, climbing trees, and the list goes on and on...He has a wonderul imagination that I hope will stay with him as he gets older. When he takes his baths, he pretends to be a scuba diver and I am a mermaid...He dives under water and then pretends to bring me back gifts. He begs me to "wrestle" with him on our bed each night and most night we do. He is Spiderman, Wolverine, or some other hero and I am the Green Goblin, Venom, etc. I hope he never stops asking me to do this with him. He loves to have me rub his back while he falls asleep. I would have to say that he is a momma's boy, but that is alright with me.

His favorite toys right now are Imagin#xt stuff, pirates, and super heros. He loves to dress up in costumes, I finally had to get a big container for all his outfits-Spiderman, Batman, pirate, knight, cowboy, space astronaut...He likes watching the Backyardigans, Berenstein Bears, Diego, super hero stuff, and his favorite Christmas movies this year were Elf and Home Alone. He likes to play games such as Candy Land, Go Fish, and his Goofy Letter Game. He loves to spend the night at Grammy/Papaw's and with Aunt Janie. When he leaves to go there, he says "Dream about me Mommy".

Gabriel is "deep"..and when I say that, I mean he really thinks a lot about everything. He asks me questions about heaven, creation, dying, God, science, electricity, etc and I do my best to answer him. I told him the other day I think that he needs to go and have a chat with our preacher because he is asking questions that are hard for me to answer, such as "Where is heaven". When he asks detailed scientific questions, I say "Go ask daddy". He prays each night and at church this past Sunday, when he finished praying his eyes were wet. No clue what he was thinking about during the prayer. He really pays attention to what our pastor says. He can recite the Lord's Prayer. I really would not be suprised if he ended up a minister to tell you the truth.

Oh how I love this boy of mine. I just want to make time slow down so I can savor every moment with him. I just want to be able to remember all the adorable faces he makes, funny things he says, the way he looks, etc. This year he was talking about an octupus having tentacles and he called them "testicles"...both Cedric and I were trying not to crack up and explained to him the difference. Yes, some times he makes me want to pull my hair out. He can be stubborn-wonder where he gets that from? But man, I wouldn't trade one moment of my time with him for the whole world.

Happy 4th Birthday Gabriel Ryan Moore, your mommy loves you more than you will ever know.