Freddy turns TWO

Oh what to say about this boy.  He is the most lovey and cuddly that I can remember at this age.  He really is just dripping with sweetness.   My favorite mornings are the ones where he doesn't cry in his packnplay upstairs and wait for me to come and get him but he climbs out and comes down to me and rounds the corner with the hugest smile on his face.  I LOVE being woken up like that.  It melts my little morning-hating heart.  And we snuggle and smile and smile and snuggle.   One morning he laid there and gazed into my eyes and reached out and just stroked my cheek and face with his soft little hand.  I said "I love you Freddy" and he said "I love YOU mommy".  He tickled my face for a good 2 or 3 minutes I would say.  I want to hold on to these little favorite moments.

He reminds me a little of Lucy in his need to be independent.  He likes to do things himself...

A few more things about Freddy:

VERY unlike Luke - he loves to accessorize.  He likes glasses, hats and shoes.  He'd rather be wearing shoes than not wearing shoes.
He likes to organize and clean.  He lines up his cars and carefully organizes markers etc.
He loves piggyback rides from Lucy and really cracks up at Lucy's crazy antics.  She knows how to make him laugh.
He loves books and is easy to put to bed.  We like that.
Even though he's not very articulate and can speak a lot less than his siblings did - he seems very emotionally mature.  He's very aware of what is going on and how everyone is feeling.  

He still is crazy about kicking, throwing and catching balls.  So - we threw him a "ball party" in the gym with the cousins and Sister Long.  I made oreo balls and Malan came over and helped me make ball cupcakes. 

It was so fun to sit back and watch him thoroughly enjoy his party.  It was definitely his kind of party.

       watch out Freddy!  .....                                                          ......  Osky smash!

And here are a few clips to commemorate this day when Frederick the Great reached 2 years of age:

freddy2 from katiehale on Vimeo.


Also - I'm writing this long after his birthday - so I want to include this too even though it was about 2  months after his birthday. 

The Gabbo Story
One night in August - Freddy woke up crying really hard and screaming "gabbo!  gabbo!" through his tears.  We couldn't understand him - and thought maybe he was saying "diaper" - we checked it and nothing was wrong.  It took him a really, really long time to calm down and he finally was quietly laying on our couch.  We went back to our beds and about 10 minutes later he was screaming again.  Like not normal screaming - like something was terribly terribly wrong kind of screaming.  We ran and got him and searched his body to see what was happening to him.  It was terrifying because it really seemed like he was in terrible pain.  We took off his clothes and examined everywhere but we couldn't see anything.  I started crying because I wanted to help him but I just had no idea what to do.  He finally stopped - we turned on all the lights and Lucy had woken up and come in.  She started playing with him and he was laughing and fine.  And then he'd just sort of look past me and start screaming bloody murder again and tuck his legs up to his chest and climb up Joey like he was trying to get away from something.  We'd do our best to calm him down but it took forever for him to be somewhat calm.  But then after running around and being happy - he'd do it all over again.  I felt like I was in some horror movie but I couldn't see the monster just the person being terrified.  But it also seemed like there was pain in his legs.  So the next day he did it a few times but less intense and I decided to take him to the doctor.  Joey and I thought it might be restless legs because we read that when it happens to babies it can feel like a creepy crawly sensation and that sounded like him.  This happens when kids don't get enough iron.  But he didn't have low iron and at the doctor he checked out just fine.  She called it night terrors.   I didn't agree because it seemed to stick with him through the next day and when he was well awake.  So it went on.  A couple days later we got home from church and I sat with Freddy on my lap after he had gotten up from a nap and he held his legs out stiff and screamed - I mean just screamed.  It was the most disconcerting thing and the worst thing was watching the faces of my other children being terrified for him.  I looked over and all three of them were praying with all their little hearts.  He stopped and relaxed and then looked at Luke and said "Hi Luke!"  cheerfully.  Luke and girls just were so happy and thankful and thanked God for that miracle.  He had a few more tiny episodes but we tried to make "gabbo" a funny thing and make it light and I don't know - he's ok now.  We still aren't really sure what was happening but think it was a nightmare that just stuck with him.  I wonder what a "gabbo" looks like.  Must be hecka scary though.