Cute Boy Exploring

Gabriel is adorable and loves to explore. He doesn't know his own limits yet, namely, he'll head-dive off the couch to go for the tv remote that he just dropped (it lights up and has buttons, so it's his favorite "toy" right now). :) Thankfully, we're there to catch him from the bad falls most of the time. Yesterday Gabriel saw this Wii remote sitting on top of the table, the cord was dangling so he reached and grabbed it. He had such a look of pride and accomplishment on his face, I had to try to capture it on camera.

Milestones

For all the fussiness he's had recently, Gabriel has grown so much lately. He was 17lbs 25inches at his appointment last Monday. Gabriel has been practicing sitting on his own. He can do it for several minutes now (before rolling onto his back or side). He loves this new point of view.

We recently inherited this little go-cart. It's on wheels, so Gabriel can kick around and push himself across the uncarpeted floor. He was extremely excited to discover this freedom!! (see it on his face?)

So Helpful

Gabriel loves to help me with the laundry.

No More Cradle

We've been trying to figure out how to enable Gabriel to sleep through the night. Yes, he hasn't consistently slept 5 hours in a row at night since he was born. We tried the "Ferber" method (where you put the baby down drowsy but not asleep and check on him to reassure him after gradually increasing time intervals until he falls asleep). After two hours of solid crying, we decided that crying himself to sleep wasn't a good method. (That and Paul couldn't comfort both a crying baby and a crying mother.) Since we tried that experiment three nights ago, Gabriel has slept through every night! :) We're trying our own mix of methods but welcome any suggestions!

Gabriel outgrew his cradle, which is partly what brought this on. Compare this picture below with Gabriel in August.

6 Months

Yesterday, for Gabriel's 6 month birthday, we gave him PEAS for the first time. He's just about over his cold, but he is still teething so I think he liked chewing on the spoon more than what was on it. As you can see from these pictures, peas didn't go over too well. He would shut his eyes tightly, smack his mouth, and shake his head (like we just gave him a lemon to suck on or something). Gabriel loves rice cereal, but it is the most mild and bland solid food you can give a baby (that's why you're suppose to give it to him first). Today we tried peas again and he like them much better. Of course, after he ate all his peas, he got really excited when I prepared the bowl of rice cereal. :)

Cold Update

Just a quick post: Gabriel has been miserable with this cold. He has a running nose now, as well as the icky cough from before. I've been trying to keep him happy and distracted, but he cries a lot. I'm hoping his longer naps are helping him get over his cold (and praying he inherited his father's constitution and quick recovery).

Here are some pictures from this morning, during a happy moment. I love his tongue sticking out in the second picture, and what a chin!

Milk Goatee

Here are some recent pictures. Forget milk mustache, I love Gabriel's milk cereal goatee! Also, Gabriel was losing his voice yesterday and today he woke up with a phlegmy cough. He's been exposed to soooo many colds lately, it was only a matter of time before he caught his first cold himself.

Shapes

Paul and I got these shape blocks for Gabriel for Christmas. They're better than expected because they're easy to grip. He's learning to switch hands and choose which one to grab. Still working on letting go, Gabriel bangs the block until it comes out of his hand. It's so cute. Sometimes the bucket is more fun than the shape blocks!