Gunnar at Two-and-a-Half

Here is our darling little man who loves to growl like a monster, play in the sand, throw balls, read books, eat "Honey Bunches of Goats," and give great hugs and kisses.

Gunnar has no fear of heights. When he knows what he wants, he will happily scale cabinets, pantry shelves, bunkbeds, or any other obstacle to get to it. I came down the hallway into the kitchen one day to find him atop the counter eating a banana (a very ripe one I was saving for some baking, darn it!).

A few nights ago we found Gunnar fast asleep with two of his great loves: a ball and a book all about airplanes. The next night he took a plastic shovel and a small baseball to bed with him. He also usually has his airplane-and-helicopter-covered "bean-bean" (blanket).

In preparation for the new baby's arrival, the crib has been set up in Gunnar's room for about two weeks. While he's learned to not get in the crib during the day, behind closed doors at bedtime it's another story. The crib has become a new climbing apparatus that allows Gunnar to open his window blinds. So, we'll go in after he's been put in bed to find his light on, the blinds open, and previously-cleaned-up toys scattered across the room. Once I went in when he was making a big fuss and he confessed: "I made diss mess." The next night: "I keened up deh cars all by myseff." (That was after pulling all the cars out in the first place!) I'm just a little bit anxious about the baby sharing a room with Gunnar, what with all of his clandestine nocturnal activities. I'm hoping that an actual living thing in the crib will help Gunnar realize that he can't be climbing in there and turning on the lights. We'll see....

The crib also spawned another fun pastime with all the kids. It's the zoo. Here's Gunnar, the giraffe, in his cage. The zookeepers (Adah or Maggie) will block him in and then bring him food.

Gunnar loves tools, being outside, and helping his dad. Damon has been working on a new front porch, which involved excavating for concrete piers. After seeing his dad work with a post-hole digger, Gunnar tried his hand with a similar tool: lopping shears. Of course he couldn't really pull up any dirt with it, but the scissor action was the same for Gunnar, and that was all that mattered. (Gunnar also spent some time filling up the holes that had already been dug! sigh.)

Gunnar can make some big messes and cause some worry when he temporarily disappears out the backdoor, but we're so glad to have his happy smile and funny personality in our family.