Have you met my son, the preemie?

During the days leading up to Gabriel's birth Keven and I met with several specialists informing of us of all to expect and what could go wrong with since he was 6 weeks early. I remember Keven buying me a gaurdian angel and pinning it to my hospital gown. It kept Gabriel and I safe. I was upset that the angel was lost during delivery. I have recently realized that it wasn't lost...it came home with us.



My son, you know the preemie, who is 8 1/2 months old spent the evening talking up a storm, eating some avocado, drinking from a cup (by himself a couple times), crawling all over the place and finally standing up in his crib. God is great!









I bought Gabriel this "Learn and Crawl" ball. It moves when you touch it and talks. He wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first but quickly caught on. He is in his "boxers" since he spilled a little bit of water on himself at dinner ;-)







I put Gabriel and his crib and went to my room to change clothes. I came back to tuck him in a got quite a surprise. He was standing in his crib! He was very proud of himself. I was too but nervous as well since his crib is not yet at the lowest level. Looks like I will be piling every pillow I have around his crib tonight!

A helping hand...

...covered in baby food.

Gabriel has decided that he no longer just wants to be a bystander in his meals. He wants to participate! I appreciate his take charge attitude, we just need to work on his aim and getting the food off the spoon before he takes it out and shakes it!







He got a little carried away with shaking the spoon...and also demonstrating why I no longer leave him unattended in his Bumbo!

Roadtrip

Grandpa Bob and Grandma Diane were in Sedona this week. We had planned to all head up for some family time but Keven had to attend a show in Orlando. Jenacca, G and I decided to head up on our own for the day. Sedona is the perfect distance for a nap in the car between meals. Gabriel was in a great mood and ready to put on a show for his audience. I took his exersaucer to make sure that he had a place to stretch his legs while we were in the condo. He danced for us all and gave Grandpa and Grandma plenty of big smiles!



What is funny about this picture is that Bob thought that Gabriel was going to fall so he is arching his back so much that it looks like he has a pot belly.




I am not sure what was so funny, I was in the other room pumping. Jenacca took this one. Sure is cute.

"Hey"

Gabriel came over to say hi to me while I was in his room. Good thing we dropped his matress a few weeks sgo.

Thanksgiving yogurt!

That is what everyone has for Thanksgiving, right? Since Gabriel had a milk protein allergy when he was younger we have held off on giving him any dairy. We got the go ahead from the doctor so yesterday morning Gabriel had some "Yo Baby" organic vanilla yogurt. He seemed to love it and so far no side effects. If all goes well cheese is next.

We spent Thanksgiving with the Wojo's. It was a nice relaxed afternoon. Gabriel even took a nice long nap when it was time to sit down to dinner so Keven and I got to eat without a baby on our laps.





Gabriel got a bit handsy with Aia ;) We will have to teach him how to talk to the ladies.

Here I come!

I was hanging out with Gabriel in his playroom today...down on his level of course. Anyone who sits in the floor with him quickly becomes his own personal jungle gym. When I sat down with him and pulled out the camera he quickly rushed over to see what the shiny toy was.





These pictures need a little explanation. I was laying on the floor and Gabriel was at my feet. He pulled himself up on my legs and "walked" his way to my shoulders! I am so proud of him!! I grabbed the camera as quick as I knew what he was doing but I missed the start.
Oh, and no his PJ's are not too big, when he crawls he pulls his feet out of the foot part so sometimes they need to be fixed.

My little hobo

Gabriel was sitting in his chair next to me in the office today and I looked down as he was working his way under the bar and reaching into the trash to get the straw that caught his eye. Even though he doesn't realize he has to suck he loves putting straws in his mouth.

a quick round of footsie...

Phone camera coming in handy

As I have mentioned a couple times before Gabriel and I spend quite a bit of time in his room and often the only camera I have is my phone so some of these are not the best picture quality but they were definitely quality moments!


Here is Gabriel chatting with Pooh. This has become a daily event.


Gabriel wrestling with Rahja...and winning!




And of course my favorite, Gabriel and his new favorite toy...the Pampers box. He pushed it around the room, beat on it and finally crawled in it.






Here is a video of him "playing" the box. I love how about half way through he notices his thumb and just for second thinks about stopping to suck it but then goes right back to beating on the box.

Oh the places he will go...

Everyday continues to be an adventure for Gabriel now that he is mobile. Today he decided to explore the bottom of his exersaucer. He got himslef into the middle and laughed and squealed for a few minutes and then realized that getting out was for some reason tougher than getting in. I of course came to the rescue like any good mom would ;-) Within 5 minutes he headed back for round 2.



Round 2.

Tired little guy

Now that Gabriel's day involve non-stop movement he is pretty tuckered out at the end of the day. Once he gets a little warm milk he is OUT. He feel asleep on my shoulder 3 times today. I could stay this way for hours.

Veteran's Day...Gabriel's 1st Parade!

Today we all headed to downtown Mesa for the Veteran's Day parade. Gabriel was even dressed in his personalized camo (a shower gift from someone who knows Keven very well). Gabriel did great, didn't flinch at the sirens, bands, motorcycles, none of it. Oh wait, the initial clapping did startle him but mainly because he had fallen asleep in my arms while we waited for the parade to start. Of course Gabriel's favorite veteran is his daddy ♥ Gabriel and his big sister, Jenacca.

8 months!...my chatterbox is off to the races!

I can hardly believe that Gabriel is 8 months old!! Two-thirds of the way to being one. At times it feels like we just came home from the hospital. Gabriel is definitely developing his own little personality. He laughs out loud and does that wonderful baby squeal now. He is getting better and better at eating solid foods, sweet potatoes are still his favorite. He loves to share whatever is in my cup...which is always water. His push-ups turned into crawling. In fact, on his 8 month birthday he took his first "crawl." The funny thing is, crawling doesn't seem to be enough. Now that he has that figured out he is pulling up every chance he gets.

Gabriel also uttered his first word recently and as much as I hate to admit it, his first word was "Dada." That's okay, I will let Keven have that one since he is totally a mama's boy ;)

On Gabriel's first crawling adventure in his room he discovered the doorstop...which kept him mesmerized for about 20 minutes. I called Keven into the room so he could watch the cuteness! Gabriel kept turning as if he wanted to go hang out with Keven but he just couldn't give up the doorstop!



The next two videos are more of Gabriel's day one crawling adventures. He has improved 150% and is a bit more graceful now ;-)



Notice he goes right back to the doorstop.

The Great Pumpkin.

Many times we envision things much different than they actually turn out. Well, this fall season I REALLY wanted to find a pumpkin big enough to put Gabriel in it. I mean hey, I have to torture him while I can right? That didn't quite happen. This weekend I wanted to take some fall photos with our surviving Halloween pumpkin. Gabriel was far more interested in Rahja, who kept running circles around us (you can tell by the direction Gabriel's head turns). He was interested in the grass, the mud, the rocks. He was NOT interested in me fussing with his outfit (Thanks Grandma!) or making him pose. Here are some shots from our afternoon. Enjoy! Standing was fun until the pumpkin rolled! "you want me to do what?" "Mommy!" He was talking to me here. I think trying to convince me to put down the camera.