Ready for some pictures?

Sometimes I use my camera a lot.  And sometimes not so much.  This weekend was one of those "sometimes a lot" type weekends.  On average, I take around 600-800 pictures of Gabriel each month, give or take.  I know that sounds ridiculous, but I look back to when he was a newborn, and I wish there was more.  However, that was during my sleep deprived-emotional Mommy phase, so I don't beat myself up.  Plus, he didn't do too much then...you can only take some many pictures of a sleeping baby.  But now, he's into everything!  Of course, it's harder trying to photograph him and make sure he doesn't injure himself at the same time.  But I was pretty successful this weekend.

First, here's some pictures of him before we went out for sushi.  Restaurants are challenging.  He constantly wants out of his highchair to explore.  I asked my sister-in-law the other day how to deal with that and she said make sure to NEVER let him out of the high chair/shopping cart/stroller when they want it.  Once you do, they'll want out every time.  She was right.  Once I started sticking to my guns, things went much smoother.  Another Mommy tool I stole from her....emergency toy kit.  When we go to restaurants, I have a metal Sponge Bob lunch box stocked with all types of dollar isle toys he usually doesn't play with.  This keeps him pretty engaged and distracted.  He was great at restaurants...but then he started walking.

 

In the tree at Uncle Al's

I usually try and beat the crowd at the grocery store, so we're almost always at Publix by 8:00 on Saturday, sometimes sooner.  But before we left I snapped a picture of Gabriel modeling his new  pjs.  And one of Steeler, cause he's neglected.

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We met Melissa and the boys at the park Saturday afternoon.  It's scary because its only April and it was HOT.  We ended up swimming at Mom's house (this time I didn't have my camera, but I'm sure Melissa will send pictures...she had hers).  With the heat in mind, we met Melissa again on Sunday, only this time we choose the mall for meeting grounds.  I never realized how kid friendly the mall is.  They can play on the breakfast playground (kids literally climb and bounce on fried eggs, bacon, and waffles), they can ride the train, there are motorized trucks, and they have a big bouncy trampoline.  We all enjoyed ourselves in the nice cool air conditioning.

And lastly, after a nap, Sunday evening Gabriel and I headed down to the beach.  It seemed he didn't remember all of the other times he'd been there because he was so excited!  And it was the first time he really walked in the soft sand, which was quite comical.  I must admit though, I'm was a little nervous with him around the water because he was completely fearless.  He wanted to walk right out into the waves.  It's scary because he could be swept away, just like that.  I think we might wait for Daddy to join us on our next visit.  Obviously, we missed him this weekend.  He is working hard.

Here's a video...playing in the sand.

And here he is walking in the sand.