dear gage

gage, I just got a picture of you and the family from Christmas Day and you are getting so big already. I've only been gone 8 weeks - what is going on?! why do you grow so fast? And why doesn't your mom update me with pictures?

So on a different note...I'm seeing some pretty funny things in the MTC and I've got some words of advice. When you play volleyball during gym, it's ok to have romance - but don't make it so obvious that it becomes the topic of gym conversation. However, I will give you props for being able to grab a sister who is years older than you. But be dignified for crying out loud.

Also, as soon as you learn to walk and run, can you drive your mom crazy for me? Since i am not there to do it!

You are so loved! I am so glad that you are my nephew and that you're the strength that your family needed. I love you little Gage and look forward to the day, 16 1/2 month from now, when I get to have a huge hug from you. I love you so much. Keep having fun - you won't be little forever.

Love, Auntie Steffie

Colds, Couches, and Crackers

(a glimpse of the snot we dealt with on a constant basis)

We were sick this weekend. And when I say we, I mean you got stuffy. Momma held you lots. Then Momma got stuffy. Daddy kissed momma lots. And what do you know. Daddy got stuffy.

After stuffy, came feeling miserable. Sunday afternoon we laid on the couch, I mean all of us, all day. Momma at one end, daddy on the other, and a big comfy blanket on top of us. We were prepared with tissues, a remote control, and crackers on the random occasion that we got appetites.

Oh little one, you were there too. You slept 90% of the day. On the occasions you were not sleeping you would crawl/climb back and forth from momma to daddy. Often we even got big slobbery kisses. Once you even mistook daddy’s nose for food, or at least that's what i choose to believe. You see you have a new fetish with nibbling on noses and ears.

By Monday you were waking up with snot crusted to your face so thick it created a seal on your nose. You couldn’t breathe, and yet you still managed to smile when I came to get you in the morning. Momma and daddy had to go back to work. You sweet auntie watched you lots. Now momma is just hoping you didn’t pass your bug to all of your cousins.

As the week went on your symptoms stayed the same, and yet nothing slowed you down. You managed to pull yourself up on the couch like you always have. Once you were standing up tall, you would wipe that nose right into my couch. Not only is your clothing and your face coated in snot, but just about everything in my living room.

I hate that your sick, but I love that you try to enjoy it. You have let me hold you more this week than you have in the last several months. You graciously let me tickle your tummy as we watch movies together. You love to put your sweet little arms around my neck and scream. And you can’t resist high-fiving my face with excitement. You have perfected open mouth kisses. I have got to be the luckiest momma in the world, and because I am so lucky, it doesn’t look like I am getting over this bug until you do.

Love, Momma.

Tis' the Season

(not loving it, deciding to give it a chance, enjoying it, and then refusing to come out)

Firsts:

• Meeting your baby cousin Sofi, and when I say meeting I mean mom and dad met her, you were too small, and didn’t seem to have interest

• Seeing the Zoo lights, and wearing all your warm winter get up.

• Road trip, all the way to St. George. It was much too long in your opinion

• Meeting Santa, a terrifying experience!
  

• Christmas, and you even celebrated it twice

• New Years, sadly you slept through it

Accomplishments this month:

• Crawling up stairs 63 secs flat

• Standing up in your crib, and even attempting pull-ups

• Pulling every single thing out of momma’s drawer in 34 seconds flat

• The best seeker I know in a game of hide and seek

• Coming in heavier than every baby a month older than you

• Discovering the Blu-Ray player opens

Favorites:

• Favorite toy: (other than the broom) The blue wire that hides under the coffee table, just out of your reach, oh and moms workout bands.

• Favorite food: Anything mom or dad is eating, You have also been diggin’ your squash these days

• Favorite time of the day: Bath time. Its gotten to the point that momma drains the tub just to get you out

• Favorite Christmas gift: Its a tie, between your own set of keys and your own cell phone....ok i confess those are moms favorite gifts for you, if only you thought they were as cool as mine.
  

It’s been an eventful Month to say the least. You are as boy as it gets. You love to wrestle. There is no challenge you won’t meet. If you could climb all day you would, this includes the obvious stairs and couches, and the less obvious mom and dad. I even caught you trying to get those teeny little hands in the toilet the other day. You are adventurous and active, to say the least. Everyone loves you, and you have a way of smiling that says “I love you too.”

What a cutie! Love momma