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.

Gabriel's Baptism

About a month ago Gabriel was baptized, which was a very important day for us. (Sorry it took me so long to write this, I have been slammed with studying and exam-taking.) We were blessed to have our families there with us and to have it done by Chris Robins--our pastor for the past few years while I interned at St. Paul's Presbyterian Church. It was actually his last Sunday at the church because he will soon (Lord willing) be planting a church in San Francisco.

You might read this and wonder why a baby was baptized. Well, if you want the long explanation you can check out my blog posts on it or you can listen to the sermon I preached about baptism from Col. 2:11-12. In short, when God made His covenant with Abraham, He made it with his children as well (cf. Ge. 17:7). Part of that covenant is the consistent covenantal refrain, "I will be your God, and you will be my people," and that promise is given to believers and to their children (cf. Ac. 2:39). Does that mean Gabriel is saved? No, but it means the promises are for him, and Erika and I will do our best to raise him in the knowledge and admonition of the Lord, pointing to his baptism and teaching him the gospel, so that one day he will, Lord willing, accept the promises in faith made to him in his baptism.

It also means that we are not the only ones responsible for his growth in the Lord. One of my favorite parts about baptism is that it reminds us we are part of a covenant family, and Gabriel has covenant brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles who have vowed to assist us in that. Right before a child is baptized, the pastor asks the congregation, "Do you as a congregation undertake the responsibility of assisting the parents in the Christian nurture of this child?" By affirming that oath, we affirm that those parents are not alone, never alone in the raising of a child. Derek Webb has a song about the Church, and at one point he sings:

So when you hear the sound of the water
You will know you're not alone

Erika and I know we are not alone. A recent example of this (minor but sticks out in my mind) was a picnic Erika and I attended in Blackburg, VA--a picnic for us, for our new church home to get to know us (Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church). While we were there, we handed Gabriel off to one of the elder's wives and then to our pastor's daughter, and he was passed around for a while. I did not see him for well over an hour, but I also was not worried. They are his covenant family, and they love him as a covenant brother/nephew. We are not alone, and when we hear the sound of the water at every subsequent baptism, we will know we are not alone.

So, I am sure you are interested in pictures, which is probably why you went to this post in the first place. However, if you know me, you should have known you were going to get more than just pictures. But, I also cannot deny you, so here you go:

Fortunately, he looks like Erika.

Several families together, loving Gabriel.

"Where is my tie?"

"I look good, I know."

Bulletins are for eating.

Gabriel watched Chris intently during his explanation of
baptism. He found Chris fascinating.

A little blurry but a great shot of Chris
praying for Gabriel.

I think this family shot turned out great. It is my Facebook
profile photo (at the time of writing this, anyway).

By His Grace,

Taylor

7 Months

Guess who was 7 months old earlier this week?  Yup, this super cool guy. . .

Not much too exciting to say, so I'll let the pictures do the talking for the most part.  Gabriel is becoming so much more aware of everything.  It so much fun to watch him discover new things (mostly by putting them in his mouth). . .

Notice the destruction behind him.  It's really cute to watch him play with the DVDs on the shelves (although when he gets to the point where he's taking EVERYTHING off of ALL the shelves it might not be so cute)

He's pretty much mastered sitting up by himself, although sometimes he does fall backwards.  He's not crawling yet, but he's doing a pretty good job of rolling around to get somewhere if he wants to.  He basically rolls back and forth and inches his way along. . .

And then sometimes gets stuck. . .

As far as sleeping goes he goes to bed between 7-8 pm and usually wakes up between 7-8 am, although the last week he's thought that 6:15 am is a great time to wake up and start the day.  Thankfully he just stays in his crib and has fun rolling around and talking to his toys because that is WAY to early for this mommy to start playing.  

Checking himself out

The grocery store is sensory overload.  So many things to look at

He's also starting to try new foods.  Several vegetables and fruits are now on the menu.  He mostly just loves rice cereal though.  All the other foods are touch and go depending on the day, but he can down that cereal in the morning in no time.

And just today he went to the Georgia Aquarium.  He was kinda fussy, but he was a little trooper and really enjoyed looking at things (I think more at all the people than the fish, but that's ok too)

Love you darling boy!

6 Months

 Gabriel was 6 months old last week!  To celebrate we took him to the pool for the first time.  I think the pictures tell the story of how he felt about it. . .although I took him again today and he seems to like it a little better. . .

 

 Little man went to the doctor today for another round of shots (ouch).  He weighed in at 15 pounds 10 ounces (20th percentile).  His height was 26 inches (40th percentile).  His head circumference was 17 inches (75th percentile).  While his weight percentile dropped again the pediatrician wasn't concerned since he's eating and developing just fine.  And it's no shocker about the head.  I've doomed the poor kid to have a large noggin.

He's still working on eating.  He's gotten down having some cereal and moved onto vegetables just today.  He didn't seem to be a fan but we'll keep trying. . .

And here are some other random pictures and videos from the last month.  As a side note, I may always sound perky when I write blog posts, but he can certainly be exhausting.  He's so much fun and such a happy baby (most of the time), but he certainly can drain the energy right out of you.  What I want most is just to have a day when I don't have to get out of bed and can just sleep and watch TV.  And while this isn't possible (the little man has to eat), I certainly appreciate a good nap ;)

Look at me!  I can grab my feet!

I want to be just like Dad

I can do everything he does

So, in summary, Gabriel is eating well, sleeping well, and growing like a champ.  So love this little boy!