5 Months

Gabriel turned 5 months old today!  Here are some pictures and random tidbits about the last month. . .

Such cute cheeks

It seems like in the last couple weeks Gabriel has started to do so many new things.  Even little things.  He clasps both of his hands together in front of him, pulls his legs up and grabs his feet, and sucks his thumb more efficiently and seems to want a pacifier less.  His major new trick is rolling off of his tummy and onto his back.  That being said, he has decided that tummy time is no more.  He stays on his stomach for a few seconds and then rolls on his back.  He's pretty happy to be able to end the tummy time torture at will now I think.

Still such a happy and smiling baby

He also went on his first major roadtrip.  We ventured to Baton Rouge to visit some friends (it was to great to see the Nasses! And we can't wait to meet their little boy once he makes his appearance several months from now). Gabriel did much better in the car than we thought he would.  We drove at night with the hopes of not messing up his sleep schedule too much.  On the way out he was a little fussy, but on the drive home he basically slept the entire way with stopping once to eat.  He woke up for good when we were about 30 minutes from home.  Taylor may have been really tired from driving, but at least Gabriel stayed on track and wasn't too worn out.

Checking out some fish

Baton Rouge has some yummy food.  I think he wanted a big bite for himself

Gabriel is really starting to be very aware of everything.  When things move or people walk into the room he gets very distracted.  He hasn't really cared about stuffed animals before, but last week he made a new friend that he likes to spend time with (mostly grabbing the long arms and sticking the hands in his mouth)

Not quite sure what to think of him during their first encounter

But he quickly decided that they could be friends

He's also gotten so much better with sleeping.  He goes to bed between 7-8pm and wakes up for the day around 8am.  He eats a little late night snack around 10-11pm.  He sometimes wakes up and makes some noise but many nights he sleeps until morning.  The last several times I've gotten home from work around 8am he's just in his crib sucking his thumb and making no noise.  I wonder if he wakes up a lot and just stays there silently.  I guess he's trying be polite and let us get a little extra rest before he wakes us up ;)

One of his favorite toys remains his plastic rings.  So simple and easy to "eat".  Speaking of toys, I think he's about to graduate to some much more interesting ones since he's moving around more and becoming more alert.  Speaking of eating, I think that soon we will be starting to try giving him a little cereal every day.  We'll see how that goes and I'll certainly be taking pictures.

He loves to be held in a standing position.  He even stays standing if you lean him against something.

Can you guess which parent picked out this outfit for him? 

He is almost sitting up by himself now too.  He just needs a little support.  He's getting so big and strong

Washcloth in the mouth. . .yummy

A whole new perspective on bath time

The weather has been so nice some days and it's great to get out into the fresh air.  We're starting to explore the outdoors.  Unfortunately our favorite people watching spot, the Caribou Coffee at the Forum, closed last week.  Gabriel and Taylor had some fun outside the other day though.  The manager of our apartment complex secretly took this shot and sent it to us.

Other than that nothing new!  Just enjoying watching him explore the world.  It's so much fun to watch him learn and grow :)

4 Months

Gabriel was 4 months old yesterday.  I can't really believe that.  He seems like he's always been a part of our lives, but at the same time it seems like just yesterday that he was born.  But, when I stop to really think about it, I was already pregnant a year ago so we really have known each other for over a year now.  We just hadn't had the chance to look each other in the eye yet ;)

Happy sitting up on the couch and playing with his favorite toy --
a black and white striped plastic ring with a larger plastic ball
that he can easily stick in his mouth

 We had an appointment at the pediatrician's office today.  He weighed in at 14 pounds, 5 ounces (40th percentile) with a height of 25.5 inches (40th percentile) and a head circumference of 16 5/8 inches (50th percentile).  He's just trucking right along!

Looking so sweet and happy before the evil shots.  After this was much crying and screaming.  I didn't want to be a jerk so I let the nursing student that was there give him the shots. . .I remember what it was like to need experience in such things. . .but she did them slowly and I kind of regret not asking for the nurse that was there that did it so quickly last time.  But she has to learn and I understand that.

After he wore himself out a little he fell asleep in the car.  Then when we got home he ate and we both decided that a cuddly little nap was in order:

So what types of things does Gabriel like to do these days?  Well he really loves anything that involves making faces, sitting up, being held in a standing position, grabbing at things, sticking things in his mouth, or chatting it up with Mom and Dad.

 The many faces of Mr. Gabriel:

Contemplative

Shocked

Mellow

He now has a little jumperoo.  He can be in it for a few minutes at a time and seems to enjoy it

He's very good at helping with the laundry.  But I can't seem to find him in this picture.  Where did he go?

He's still not a fan of "tummy time" but he seems to dislike it less than he used to.  I feel that he may not roll over for quite a while as a result.  He just gets so mad after a few short minutes.  He likes it more if one of us is on our back with him on our shins "flying" in the air.  Still though, it's a relatively short time before he's had enough

I went back to work about a month ago.  It was, without a doubt, very difficult.  Once I get to work I'm fine, but some days it's just so hard to leave him (and I also hate being more tired than I already was.  I want to be alert and enjoy my time with him.  That's what caffeine is for though). I know that he's in good hands with Dad, and I'm glad that they get some quality time together, but it's just difficult.  One thing that going to work did help with though was getting him on more of a loose schedule.  Since I get home in the morning around 8 am we started trying to get him to eat for the first time of the day around then, which has led to him waking up most days around then, which has led to a more consistent start to the rest of his day.  While he's not on a strict schedule, it at least has laid the foundation for the general times of his naps and feedings (and he's therefore a little more predictable).

Hanging out with Dad at Caribou when the weather was nice and Mom was at work

 As far as his sleeping is concerned, he never returned to being the amazing sleeper that he was before his last growth spurt.  He goes to bed between and 7 and 8 pm and wakes up for the day around 8 am.  If he wakes up before around 3 am and wants to eat we try to get him back to sleep without him eating.  If it's after around 3 or 4 am we feed him if he's seeming hungry.  Every night is different though.  Some nights he sleeps until 6 am without a peep.  Other nights he just seems to wake up every couple hours.

Looking like a little stud about to leave for church in the super soft and fabulous shirt that his Aunt Stephanie bought him

This last week he seemed to be having the signs of teething.  He didn't want to eat very much, was drooling like crazy, chewing on his hands, and biting (as opposed to sucking) on things.  He was really warm and fussy.  Maybe he has some teeth in his near future.

He laughed for the first time 2 weeks ago.  It was the cutest thing I've ever heard.  He's such a happy and playful  little guy.

Happy 4 Month Birthday Sweet Gabriel!

3 Months

Gabriel is 3 months old today!  He still doesn't like having his picture taken.  He'll be smiling and cooing like crazy, but the minute you put a camera in front of him he becomes so serious.  We've managed to get a few smiles caught on camera though. . .

Stop pointing that camera at me!

One of his favorite things is sitting propped up and being able to look around.
A whole new perspective on the world!

As far as sleep goes, he's been going to bed between 7 and 8 pm and then getting up for the day sometime between 7 and 8 am (with some feedings in between.  We always get him up and feed him before we go to bed between 10 and 11 pm). While I bragged for a while that Gabriel was such a good sleeper, something changed in him after his little growth spurt a few weeks ago.  In other words, he decided that sleeping until 5 or 6 in the morning is just no fun.  Waking up around 1-2 or again around 4-5 is just too exciting to pass up.  Last night he only woke up a little after 3, but that was the first night in a while that he did that.  Hopefully that was the start of a new phase of better sleeping again.  He's also so much better about going down for naps (although he sometimes still wants to be swaddled up for those).

So peaceful

In other news, I went back to work this week.  I'm working nights for the time being.  While it was a rough week for me and very hard to leave, Gabriel got to spend some fun evening time with Dad (and poor Taylor had to start feeding him at night for the 3 nights that I'm gone).  He actually did much better with taking a bottle in the middle of the night than I thought he would. 

Gabriel was kind enough to help me fold laundry by keeping track
of the socks until I found the second one in the pair

He thought that tasting a few of them would be fun too

And then he realized that his friend the thumb was way more interesting.  His favorite
hobbies now include putting his hands and fingers in his mouth and staring at people.
So easy to please :)

Again spending time with his friend, the hand

There was no pediatrician visit this month (and thankfully he hasn't been sick), but we know that he's busy growing, growing, growing.  He's wearing 3 month clothes and size 2 diapers.  I can't believe how big he's getting.  Happy 3 Month Birthday Gabriel!

It's hard to resist kissing those cheeks

Growth Spurt

It's been a while since I posted anything on here, so I thought I'd mostly just share some pictures.  

Hanging out at Aunt Stephanie's house (ignore the blurry hand)

 Gabriel is doing great. . .just growing, growing, growing.  Taylor and I both thought that he seemed bigger all of the sudden, and he's certainly in the middle of a growth spurt of some kind.  Prior to this week, we've been putting him to bed between 7 and 8 pm and he's been sleeping until around 5 or 6 am without waking up (I'd feed him once before I went to bed between 10 and 11 pm).  Starting Saturday night he decided to start waking up to eat 2 additional times each night.  He'll just eat like crazy and then fall back asleep.  He's doing the same thing during the day.  Hopefully this will only last a couple more nights because I am TIRED.  At least he's napping much better now during the day.  A really long one in the morning about 2 hours after he wakes up and a couple more tiny ones in the afternoon.

He really likes sitting up on the couch so he can see everything that's going on

Still not a big fan of "tummy time", but he's liking it a little bit more since he can  look around and see things better than he used to.  And as I look at the onesie in this picture it also reminds me --  all of the newborn clothes are now in a box in the closet and the size 1 diapers are getting too small.  How is he growing so fast?

Sporting some super cool shades as we take a walk (maybe a little big, but they were "2 for 1" where we bought them and he'll grow into them)

Quite the stud

He loves talking to Taylor.  His face lights up when he comes into the room :)

Such a sweet boy

Nothing else really to report.  I wish that I had more pictures of him smiling, but whenever I get out the camera he likes to put on his serious face.  I need to remember to have it ready in the morning.  For some reason he's the most chatty first thing in the morning on the changing table.  I guess we haven't talked all night and he just has a lot to share!

2 Month Appointment

I can't believe that Gabriel turned 2 months old today!

We went to the pediatrician for another check-up and everything is looking great!  He is now 11 pounds, 4 ounces (40th percentile), 22 3/4 inches (50th percentile), with a head circumference of 15 3/4 inches (50th percentile).  Way to grow!

This appointment also meant getting his first round of immunizations.  I have to say he handled it better than I thought he would.  He of course cried when he got them and then sounded really pitiful for a couple minutes afterward, but after we got home he seemed fine.  Tired, but fine (he's currently sleeping).  I almost cried though.  Poor little guy.  Hopefully he won't feel bad this evening.

Spending more time talking to his bird friends

So what else has been going on the last couple of weeks?  Well, as his weight gain shows, he is now wearing size 1 diapers and not fitting into most of the newborn clothes that he's been wearing since birth.  I've had to put a bunch of them in a box in the closet.  He's also smiling a lot more and has even more to say.  Last weekend he took a little trip to the mountains for a few days and got to wear his bear outfit (it's the first thing that I bought for him once we found out that we were having a boy.  Taylor isn't a fan of him being dressed like an animal, but there's no denying that it's CUTE). . .

So warm and happy

Family shot at the cabin

He has also discovered his thumb.  He doesn't put it in his mouth too much, mostly because he's too busy trying to fit his entire hand in there, not just his thumb. . .

And as much as he still hates tummy time, some days he finds it more tolerable than others.  This was a couple days ago when he was really on a roll.  He kept his head up long enough for me to take all of these pictures.  Other days he just keeps his face down in the blanket and whines.  His head is much stronger though.  When you hold him on your chest he keeps his head up pretty well looking over your shoulder.

In other news, his sleep is still all over the place.  While we were previously letting him stay up late (11 pm) in hopes that he'd sleep more through the middle of the night, he now seems "done" for the day somewhere around 9 pm.  I'm thankful that he sleeps so well at night in his crib.  Give him bath, some food, a story, and his ocean sound machine and he drifts off fairly quickly.  While he sometimes wakes up 2-3 times after that over the course of the night, at least he still always falls back asleep fairly easily after he eats.  Sometimes he wakes up at 1 and then again at 4 and then again at 7.  Other times he skips the 2 am session (and wow is that nice).  He is usually "up" for the day between 6:30 and 7:30.  We're working on getting him to take naps a little more easily during the day.  Some days he will and some days he cries from being tired but has a very hard time dozing off unless he's being held.

He also really seems to like going outside.  I again put his super cool hat on him and we went out for a few minutes and got some fresh air.  He was all smiles when we came back inside. . .

That's the update for now!  He just woke up!