11 Months

When I looked back at the 10 month update I was surprised at how much can change in a month.  He is now crawling in the "standard" position (he no longer does his "army crawl"), is pulling up on everything with no problem, and he stands with just one hand holding on to things and is really steady.  In fact, he mostly only likes to play if it involves standing.  Only occasionally does he want to sit and do things.

He loves his learning table from the consignment store

A lot of mornings now when he wakes up and we go to get him up he's standing in his crib.  I need to get a picture of him, but that is just the cutest way to be greeted when you walk into his room (until he figures out how to climb out of the crib.  I'm not really sure what to do when that happens. . .).

Hanging in the church nursery rocking a hat he borrowed from one of the girls helping out

We took another trip to Atlanta this last week for his beautiful aunt's baby shower.  It took us a long time to get there (a little over 10 hours).  A couple days after we got there he got a fever and was so fussy.  He'd been a little "off", but I figured that he was teething and a little confused from traveling.  Anyway, I took him to our old pediatrician's office and turns out he had an ear infection.  Poor kid.  It probably came from the runny nose and all of the drool due to the teeth he's getting.  We had a fun trip, but it certainly was exhausting (oh, and he was 19 1/2 pounds at the visit)

Chilling in the car and chewing on a key

Speaking of teeth, I'm not sure how many he's actually getting.  His first one actually broke the skin last night while we were at our Bible study group (it's on the bottom left).  He was chewing on my finger a lot while we were there and then all the sudden I felt it.  His top two front teeth are also bulging out.  I guess he waited a while to get them and now he wants to see how many he can get at once.

Standing, playing, and listening to some Pandora radio

 That's all that I can think of to say for now except a couple little random things.  I love that when I feed him in the morning he wants to hold my hand and rub his hair.  I love it when you give him a bath he wants to suck the water out of the washcloth over and over (I try not to let him do that once there's soap in the water).  I love it that when you take him out of the bath and wrap him up in a towel he almost always smiles like crazy when he sees himself in the mirror.  I know those are totally unconnected things but I just always smile at them :)

Being a cool kid.  Onesie hanging out.

And now just some more random pictures. . .

I put this hat on him at Cracker Barrel and he actually didn't pull it off.  His Grandma proceeded to buy it for him.  While I'm not sure if he loves it, he at least doesn't pull it off like every other hat.  It has gotten a little cold here so he wore it out for the first time last night.

Our little mountain man

Taking a driving break (sorry my finger is in the way a little)

Playing at the park with Dad.  It's sadly already getting a little cold for the park.  I was really enjoying taking him there.  We're going to need to find some indoor things to do.

Who doesn't love pasta?

If I eat the skin off he loves to finish a pear for me

He took a while figuring out how to use a sippy cup, but I had some water with him in the car while we were on our trip and one day he just decided that he was ready to use it all by himself.  Such a big boy sitting in the car eating his Cheerios and drinking his water!

Sinkland Farms

 We had a really fun weekend over here.  Aunt Stephanie came for a visit (hooray!), and even though the weather was less than ideal, we headed to check out Sinkland Farms.  We didn't stay for a really long time because Gabriel was getting tired and I think he was a little overstimulated (lots of people, big open space, pumpkins, tractors, lots of barn animals with the new smells that brings, etc. . .), but it was a great time for taking some fall pictures.  I'll post a formal "update" when Gabriel hits the 11 month mark, but for now he's pulling up on everything and is in the process of getting his 2 front teeth (Ouch!  Poor guy is just uncomfortable).  Anyway, enjoy the pictures!

Such a big boy

Having so much fun 

Butternut squash!  The current size of Baby Spears! Can't wait to meet this little pumpkin!

A couple of goofs

He loves being with his daddy.  He's always learning something too

10 Months: A day in the life of Gabriel

 Since we didn't go to the doctor this month, Gabriel has requested to use this month's post to share some pictures and give you a glimpse into his average day.

Before we get into my average day, one side note to share.  Mommy and I took a little roadtrip to Atlanta for a couple of days to celebrate some birthdays.  We had a great, but tiring, time! I was really chill for most of the drive though.  Mommy kept a box of toys in the front seat and kept handing them back to me when I got bored.  The only problem is that Mom was taking way too long getting us there.  I wanted to drive!

And now, moving on to  a more normal day. . .

Come along my friends and I'll show you what I do day in and day out.  If you follow too closely we may get stuck under some furniture but don't worry, if we cry loud enough one of the parents will get us out

I wake up every morning sometime between 6:45 and 7:00.  Mommy usually doesn't get me out of my crib until around 7 though.  I don't mind.  I just talk to myself and play with my crib toys.  She feeds me, we read books and play, and then we eat some breakfast together.

This is not what I eat for breakfast, but we don't have any shots of eating breakfast food.  I LOVE to eat.  I could do it all day long.  Especially if it's bread or cheese.  I'm pretty good about eating my vegetables and things too, but all I really want is CHEESE

My nickname, if you'd like to know, is "Alfredo Fingers"

After breakfast we play some more and then I usually watch a little Baby Einstein while Mommy cleans the kitchen up.  This last week I had a cold, which was no fun at all.  It was the first time I've really felt bad.  I had a little fever, a runny nose, and was coughing.  So that I wouldn't use all of my energy crawling all over the place Mommy made a play area on the floor.  We read lots of books in my tent.

Daddy is not a fan of the Care Bear blanket

One of us is a little too big for my tent.  I should crawl out and give him some more room to play

After my video I usually take a nap for about an hour.  Then Mommy feeds me again.  Usually we try to go out somewhere too.  I will post a few pictures of that.  Sometimes it's super fun things and other times she makes me go to boring stores.  Then we eat lunch and play and I take another little nap.

Mommy wasn't paying attention for a few minutes, so I thought I'd be helpful and remove this thing sticking out of the wall.  It was in my way.  When Mommy found me trying to eat it she called it a "door stop"

Going outside is pretty cool, except Mommy and Daddy wont' let me eat leaves and grass.  They look tasty

I like going to the park.  Swings and trucks are fun!

I really liked going on a picnic.  The weather is perfect right now for being outside

One day it was a little cooler and Mommy tried to put this hat on me before we took a walk

I was not a fan and tried to take it off.  I'm still not sure how that thing works

After my nap in the afternoon Mommy feeds me again and then I do some playing until we all have dinner.  My favorite things to play right now: crawling and rolling everywhere!, taking apart decks of cards, pulling poker chips out of the case, crawling after Loki (she's so fast!), flipping through my books, chewing on and shaking random toys, pulling DVDs off of the shelves

Sometimes I have to take a little time out to do some e-trading and return emails

Be back with you in a minute.  I'm focused

Sometime around 7 Mommy feeds me again and I take a bath.  Those are pretty fun.  Then we read and sing and I go to bed.  I sleep straight until I wake up the next morning.  Then we start the fun all over again!

This is during my nap.  My feet were cold because Mommy didn't have any socks on me.

And that's about it!  Other major accomplishment is that I can now go from sitting to crawling without smacking my face into the carpet, and as of yesterday I can sit myself up from a crawling position!  Hooray!

And on a totally separate and random note, I'd like to end this post by saying "Go Braves!" Way to clinch the NL East!

9 Months

 Gabriel was officially 9 months old a little over a week ago.  Since I posted some pictures a couple weeks back I don't have too many new ones to put up, but here are a few:

Kitchen utensils are delicious and also good for banging together

We went to his new pediatrician here in Blacksburg on Friday.  The office and doctor seemed fine, although I kinda miss our doctor in Atlanta.  I think that I liked the pediatrician there too much or something.  He just was all about telling us what a great job we were doing and was so encouraging.  Not that the doctor we saw on Friday wasn't nice, but she didn't give me the same warm and fuzzy feeling.  She'll probably grow on me though.  She was very good with Gabriel.

He weighed 18 pounds 3 ounces (12th percentile) and was 28.5 inches long (56th percentile).  So he's a lean little guy.  His head was. . .well. . .in the 78th percentile.  I wasn't surprised.  Poor little guy and his noggin.  No wonder he's not crawling yet.  It's hard to hold up that much of a head and move your arms quickly.  He does have a very speedy little army crawl though.  He can get where he wants to go in a hurry.  He had some nice rug burns on his knees the other day as a result.

Besides that nothing too exciting to report.  He had a little cold last week that wasn't too severe.  That's actually the first time he's been sick and it was so mild that I'm even sure that it should count as him getting sick.  Just a runny nose and a little cough and he seemed a little extra tired and fussy.

  He seems to be a little better adjusted to our move.  He's napping better most days and seems to like going out and about and exploring with me some during the day.  He's starting to really show his personality too.  Things he really likes to do: attempting to chase Loki around (and laughing when he gets close enough to pull her hair/tail), pulling DVDs off of the shelves, pulling random items out of baskets and bags, flipping through books over and over again (he especially likes ones where there are flaps to open), crawling around the living room and playing with random things, EATING (cereal, vegetables, fruit, beef, chicken, potatoes, bread, cheese, cheerios, puffs, eggs. . .), and smiling and laughing.  He has the best laugh :)

Some Pictures

Gabriel (and his parents) have made the move to Blacksburg.  And even though he won't hit the 9 month mark until next week I figured a little update and some pictures were in order.

In short, the move was a little hard on Gabriel.  Everything just became so different so quickly, and for a boy that likes routine that messed him up a little.  He seemed more fussy the week before we moved too (probably because there were boxes everywhere and everything looked different in general around our apartment).  When we got here his sleep was totally off.  It's starting to get back on track, but he was having a very hard time napping even though he was very tired.  He was also waking up way too early (that's worse than not napping in his mommy's book)

Loki seems to be adjusting ok too.  All of the sudden Gabriel is fascinated with her.  He gets really excited when she walks by.  I think that Loki is torn on what distance to keep from him.  If she gets too close he's likely to grab her hair.  If she stays too far away she might miss out on some food he's likely to throw her way.  I think she's warming up to him now, especially since she gets to eat whatever falls off of his tray.

Ready to head off for his first Sunday at our new church

 Besides all of that, I'm adjusting to being home with him more.  I am so glad to be here with him and not be staying up all night working 3 times a week, but at the same time I've started a whole different kind of work.  I think that it will take the two of us some time to get into a routine together of what works for our day (and I'm sure that will be constantly changing too).

Looking all grown up in his t-shirt and jean shorts 

Gabriel still isn't crawling, but he'll do it when he's ready.  He scoots and twists his way across the floor for the most part.  Here he is exploring a cabinet while I do some things in the kitchen.

One thing that I really have enjoyed the last couple weeks is getting out with Gabriel more than I have in the past.  I've tried to take him somewhere every day so that we can both explore our new town a little.  Some days it was just running some errands and picking up things that we needed.  Today we went and wandered around a new store.  We went for a long walk.  And the most fun of all was that Taylor and I took him to a little park a couple of times.  It's nice to be able to go outside and get some fresh air without so much humidity.

He loved the swings.  He thought it was so funny to try and pull our sunglasses off each time he came towards us.  He got pretty good at grabbing them off of our faces.  I'll have to figure out how to post the video!

8 Months

Well, little Gabriel is now 8 months old.  We have a lot going on around the Rollo house right now with our preparation to move as Taylor starts his job in Blacksburg Virginia, but I didn't want to let a month go by without at least a little update. . .

Hi!

Gabriel is just such a happy and playful little guy.  I really can't complain about him at all.  Sure, he's tiring and he has his times when he's fussy and irritable (heck, I do too), but most of the time he's happy and smiling.

Mmmm. . .broccoli

He is all about the food all of the sudden.  In addition to all his previous eating he's now having 3 solid meals a day.  Sometimes he wants to eat more than others, but usually at breakfast and dinner he's ready to chow down.  He's had a big variety of vegetables, fruits, chicken, turkey, rice cereal, oatmeal, and grits.  We think he has a sensitivity to peaches and possibly pears at this point because he gets a major diaper rash after eating them.  Hopefully he'll grow out of that later.

He really loves looking at books (and trying to eat them).  Here is Aunt Stephanie doing some babysitting for Gabriel and his visiting friend Kyla.  She is my cousin's daughter. . .the official name for how the 2 of them are related is escaping me at the moment. . .but she was super cute and Gabriel was glad to meet her!

He's still not quite crawling, but he's certainly getting close.  He rolls all over the place.  When you put his favorite toy (a stereo remote that we not longer use) a distance away from him he can scoot and roll pretty efficiently to get it.  He pushes really high up on his arms and is starting to raise his legs and behind in the air.  I'm just waiting for when I turn my back for a minute and he'll have crawled out of the room.

He still sleeps for about 12 hours a night, although we've discovered that it doesn't matter what time he goes to bed.  He always wakes up around 7:30 it seems.  Some nights he's up late because we're out or have things going on, but his internal clock pops him awake at the same time.  He's always talking and cooing in his crib when he wakes up.  I'm glad he wakes up so happy, but this mommy doesn't want to talk until she's had some coffee.

His serious face

And look who's ready for his big boy car seat!  He barely fits in his baby carrier anymore.  I have to say, I'm a little jealous of his new ride.  That thing is super padded and comfy and has cup-holders and everything.  He's riding in luxury.

And here are just couple more random shots.  As far as our move goes, I do feel excited, but also so sad to be moving away from family.  I want Gabriel to grow up being close to his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  But, I suppose it might end up being even more fun for him in the coming years as he gets to make special trips and spend more concentrated time with people.  It will hopefully be more quality time when we come back down to visit.