My, how things change in a year

Last year at this time Gabriel had just learned to smile. His first real commuication, and how sweet it was...

This year, we can get the kid to stop talking! He talks so much now we can hardly keep up with the new words that he is learning. So far he says: Mama, Dada, Emma (a dog), Genie (our dog), Hot (FYI- anything with fire, smoke, steam, or anything that you blow on is "hot"), Grampa/Papa, Banana, Ba-ba (which we are trying to get rid of), No, and most recently Book. Which he loves, by the way.

When he doesn't feel like using his words, he signs to us to let us know what he wants- i.e. More, No, and here is is below asking for something to Eat....