Another milestone...

Why wait until you can reach the pedals to drive? Notice how scared Gabriel looks when they turn. So sad...and funny. ***I want to add that we were in our neighborhood and only driving around the corner. We had pumpkins and food so we had to drive. NO MAIN STREETS.***

Pumpkin carving

We headed off to one of our neighbors houses today, the Severa's, for the annual pumpking carving. When we first moved into the neighborhood (6/2006) there were 5 familes and 5 kids at our events. Now we are a group of a dozen families with a total of 19 kids when everyone shows up. It really is great. There are groups of kids at nearly every age group so they always have someone to play with. Even Gabriel already has a buddy...Evan. He is just over 3 months older than Gabriel but soon that won't even make a difference.

*love*

Gabriel has a new sleeping buddy ♥ His head looks a little funky in this picture. I took it tonight and while I was saving them to the computer I noticed the bump and had to run upstairs and check his head. Thankfully it was a weird angle and a patch of hair but being that I am nervous mom we will probably be at the Dr.'s office on Monday.

Distractions.

Keven has been out of town this past week and requests daily pictures of me and Gabriel. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a good picture, that you take yourself by sticking your arm out, of a 7 1/2 month old who is curious about everything around him?! Distractions every where. This afternoon our biggest distraction was a vine growing in our courtyard. The weather is so beautiful here now so when we got home we spent about an hour outside. I tried as hard as I could to time laughing with both of us facing forward..at least somewhat. Didn't quite happen but cute pictures none the less. "Do you think I can eat this before my mom sees me?" "yeah, yeah I am smiling but I WANT that bush!" "Oh crap, she is tickling me!"

"If I could just get that ghost..."

You know how funny it is when a dog chases it's own tail not realizing it is attached? Well, Gabriel's Halloween PJ's have ghosts on the feet and it seems as though he really wanted to play with them. He just couldn't seem to get them!

I am going to be WHAT for Halloween?

I had planned for Gabriel to be a cow for Halloween. With his love of "Old McDonald" I figured it was fitting. We went to Babies R' Us to get the costume and he had other plans. He clearly showed preference for Winnie the Pooh...so Pooh it is. I wanted my mom to get to see him in the costume so we did a little trial run. The pot belly makes it!

First tooth!

Okay well, right now it is just a little white nub but Gabriel has definitely gotten his first tooth. While in town my mom offered to keep Gabriel so Keven and I could have a much needed night out. I was shocked to get home and learn that he had been a little fussy and took longer to fall asleep. I went in to check on him and quickly learned why. Very early Sunday morning (10/17)Gabriel sprung a tooth. I have to say with all the drool that led up to it I was relieved that one was finally here! It will be a while before I can actually get a picture of it. Gabriel is keeping it a secret. He will barely let me feel it.

Tickle time!

While my mom was in town she got to observe one of our favorite family rituals...Tickling Gabriel! Nothing beats his laugh!

Showing Grandma what I can do!

That was Gabriel's goal during my mom's last visit. He certainly kept her on her toes. She couldn't believe how big he had gotten since she last saw him in July during his Georgia visit. He wanted to show her what a good eater he was and how much he loves carrots. Mealtime has gotten a bit messier now that Gabriel wants to hold the spoon. He is great at putting it in his mouth and taking the bite, just not quite sure when to pull it back out.

Quick laugh

Well on his way to being a ladies man Gabriel has already caught the eye of Aia. Aia is the daughter of our good friend's Ron and Maki and is linked to Gabriel forever...they share a birthday, only she is two years older. We went to the Wojo's for a BBQ and Aia made a bee line for G. He wasn't quite sure at first but his body language quickly changed...

7 months old, say it isn't so...

I love watching my baby grow and learn new things but have to admit that I am saddened by the fact that he is now closer to being "1" than he is my little baby. Although, I know I will love every age!

True to form Gabriel decided to try something new for his "7 month" birthday. He started popping up on all fours and is doing some scooting. Crawling is just around the corner. Better get the baby proofing underway!

6 month photo shoot

Whew, did I ever fall behind with my posts. I have a good excuse...I had a lingering cold and ear infection that took just over two weeks to kick. Apparently breastfeeding has wiped my immune system, which I don't mind too much because all of my antibodies are helping to build Gabriel's immune system. Oh, and apparently sleep is important as well...and is in short supply for me. Gabriel sleeps 12 hours each night but rather than go to bed when he does I get caught doing chores and catching up on trash TV, emails, magazines, etc. Even though I have been on hiatus my camera has not!

Here are some photos from Gabriel's 6 month photo shoot that we did back in September. The same photographer from my maternity shoot did them. Little did we know when we had my maternity session on 2/20/10 that Gabriel was about to make an early appearance only 18 days later. So, as you have all seen from my previous posts Gabriel is not afraid of the camera and smiles with little prompting. Well, the heat and attention must have gotten to him on this day. I like to think of these as his serious side. Enjoy some of my fav's from the day...

Flashback

My Blackberry has a video feature only I JUST figured out how to get the videos off of it! This one is from early July, Gabriel was not quite 4 months yet. It cracks me up everytime. He sure does work those eyebrows!

What do I do with this again?

Gabriel was playing in his room with one of his books only he couldn't quite decide if he wanted to "read" it or chew it. Either way he is doing a great job sitting up!

New PJ's

Gabriel is posing in some new PJ's he got as a gift. He loves hats...or maybe it is new outfits that he likes. Check out all the new peach fuzz! He fell asleep with his pacifer on his cheek, you can still see the imprint. Guess I am a bad mom.

My absolute favorite noise!

I have been trying for months to capture Gabriel's full on laugh. This still isn't quite it but it is close! If I could make it the sound of my alarm clock I would wake up happy every morning.

Booty up

Most nights I stand by Gabriel's crib and watch him sleeping for at least a couple minutes. It takes everything I have not to grab him and snuggle with him. Recently he has started sleeping with his butt in the air and his feet crossed. Sometimes I just can't leave his side, especially when he is also cooing in his sleep.

*Oh, I am not trying to make him crazy with patterns. I am washing his hair nightly with a medicated shampoo to cure his cradle cap so I have to lay down a fresh blanket for his head each night. This is the big smile he gives me every morning!