Stand Up

Okay so this may seem like nothing but you should know that Keven's hands are there just for support while standing. Gabriel does all the pushing on his own. This is his favorite thing to do these days, although sometimes he forgets to bend his knees and just wants to levitate up. Pretty cute. *sorry about it being sideways, I didn't realize I couldn't rotate it afterwards.

Dinner bell!

Gabriel gets so excited sometimes when he sees his milk and knows he is about to eat. He waves his arms and kicks his legs, you would never know that this is the baby who had to spend 2 weeks in the hospital because he didn't have the energy to eat! All things come in time. A little after dinner play and chew session...

Here we go again

I let the bad memories of squash fade and tried again with sweet potatoes. By the end of it he was actually grabbing the spoon and pulling it towards his mouth. He still has no idea what to do with it once it is in his mouth but he definitely liked the flavor a bit more. "ARE YOU SURE WE HAVE TO DO THIS AGAIN?!" "OH WAIT, THIS IS KIND OF GOOD!" "I AM EXHAUSTED!"

Any given Sunday...

We had a great family Sunday as usual. Gabriel took a morning nap with mommy, practiced rolling over, sitting and standing, got a bath and spent time in his favorite chair...smiling up a storm...except of course for when his gums were bothering him. Looks like teething season has officially begun. Uh oh, the teething drops have started to wear off..

It's a family thing.

Genetics sure are funny...skin tone, hair style, eye color and apparently sleeping pattern. Gabriel has found a new sleeping position. It is exactly how Keven sleeps. When I went into his room this morning I had to go get Keven to show him before I woke him up. All he needs is a little pillow under his knee like his dad.

First Hug

I hold Gabriel all day, pick him several times everyday. He of course holds on and sometimes looks around to catch a glimpse of the scenery but today for the first time I picked him to head upstairs for an afternoon nap and he put both hands around my neck and laid his head on my shoulder like he knew exactly what he was doing...ah, I just melted. Nothing better than feeling that little hug.

Come here often?

I talk all the time about what a flirt Gabriel is, well he looks like he is practing pick up lines here. I am pretty sure he is saying "how you doin'?"

Just because they are funny...

Squash, eww!

Today was another big day for Gabriel. We tortured him with his first vegetable...but rewarded him with a new toy! Aren't we great parents ;-) Gabriel appetite has gotten bigger and bigger and he sits up quite well in his Bumbo so with the approval of our pediatrician we embarked on the solid food journey. It wasn't quite as messy as I thought but it definitely showed me what lies ahead. He definitely needs to work on mastering the tongue thrust. I am not sure if it was the taste that made him reject his squash or just not knowing what to do with it. He made some pretty funny faces either way. BEFORE THE FUN BEGAN... THE FIRST BITE "THAT'S NOT MILK!" "ENOUGH!" After a nap and recovering from the squash trauma we decided to see if he was big enough for his Baby Einstein chair (thanks Poux and Sheryl)...and he is!He loved it from the moment we put him in it. His legs are just barely long enough from him to stand a little, which he loves! So far his favorite toy is what I call the baby slot machine. He wore himself out in it! Looks like I found a new babysitter ;-)

Love Hate

So Gabriel went from HATING tummy time to all of sudden loving it! He could just stay there and chat with me all day. I have been working with him to show him how to get to his tummy from his back...we'll see. Don't hold you breath on that video ;-)

5 months old!

Gabriel is 5 months old today. Hard to believe it has already been 5 months since I met my little angel who smelled of frosting. I have cherished every moment. He has grown and learned so much. Some days it is almost as if he wakes up and thinks "I am going to do something new today." He has definitely found his voice and experiments with new sounds daily. He has discovered his feet and loves to hold on to them. He is more stable on his legs and his grasp gets stronger and stronger! He is such a happy boy, which makes me a happy mommy! I love him so much! (I think he weighs around 13 1/2 pounds but no official weigh in until next month). Oh, he is also drooling like crazy! Here come the teeth! He has also rolled over a couple times in the last few days but I can't tell if it is by accident or on purpose. BEFORE: AFTER: he looks like it may have been a surprise! Of course once I had the video ready he was done.

I missed my daddy!

When we got home Keven and Gabriel were very happy to see each other, although Gabriel was upset that Keven didn't notice the weight he had worked so hard to gain while on vacation. No time to rest when we got home because it was off to a Diamondbacks game! Gabriel is finally big enough to fit into some of his official team gear! He was cheering for the team and then quickly settled into his favorite nap place...on mommy :)

More family fun

Gabriel also got to meet Aunt Velvet and his cousins Jordan and Tiffany. As expected he turned on the charm for the ladies. He sure is a flirt...he better cut that out before he becomes a teenager! We had a great week in Georgia. I think I wore Gabriel out! Good thing he learned how to put himself to bed while we were there. It is the cutest thing I have seen yet. When he is ready to go to sleep he just pulls the blanket up over his face. It is almost like he is turning the lights out.

Georgia meet and greet...

While spending time in Georgia Gabriel was quite popular. He had alot of people waiting to meet him. He woke up ready to meet his public ;-) First it was off to meet the Lowe's (David, Wendy, Nathaniel and Joshua). Then it was Aunt Carren's turn. Carren met Gabriel when he was 7 weeks old so she couldn't believe how much he had grown. Next it was off to Aunt Juanita's house. Gabriel was anxious to show off his ability to stand (assisted of course). After a couple days of running around town Gabriel said "look, I need a nap before I meet anyone else."