Eight Months

My dear, sweet Angel Baby,

You are changing everyday in a very visible way. Each day you grow more and more awesome. You never cease to amaze me!

Stats
At last weigh in you were at just twenty pounds. That was about a week and a half ago. Not sure how long you are right now. Your 6-9 month clothes are just getting to be a smidge small.

Sleep
This month has been amazing for sleep! You snooze through the night in your crib, waking every 1.5 to 2.5 hours. Some nights, miraculously, you'll sleep three or even four hours in a row. Like last month, Daddy brings you into our bed at around four am and you finish the night there. Most days your last waking is around seven. I nurse you one last time, and you often sleep until nine. Lately, I've been sneaking out of bed after you fall asleep, and start my day while you finish your night.
You nap in my arms for 1.5 to 2 hours at a time, usually around ten am, two pm, and four pm.
We put you down for the night between 7:30 and 9:00, depending on your behavior and when your last nap was.
Just the past week, you started waking up every hour. It was really hard on us, especially your dad. We would often just bring you to stay in bed with us. This produced the usual discussion about doing something different to "encourage" you to sleep better. This past Saturday, we learned why you were having such a hard time. :)


Eating
The world of food has opened up to you this month. I don't know that I could begin to list all the new foods you've tried. You go crazy for food, when you see people with plates, and when we sit down at the table. You lift your hands up and say, "Mmm...mmm...!" This month you tried baby food for the first time. I had coupons for organic, whole food purees. You like them okay, but often prefer real table food. You do go bonkers for freeze dried yogurt and baby "puffs". You'll sample purees, but the bulk of your food comes from our plates.
You've tried: cinnamon apples, broccoli, ham, cheese, bologna, milk, different pizzas, various soups, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberries, velveeta, diet Dr. Pepper (shame on me), various cookies, chocolate, peppermint sticks, lollipops, cinnamon rolls, eggs, bacon, and many more.
You still nurse as much as you used to. I joke that you supplement nursing with table food because you're growing so fast! I can't keep up! Your table food is negligible and the bulk of your nourishment still comes from me. And I wouldn't change that for the world.
(see below for drinking and feeding information)


Milestones
At the beginning of this month and for much of last month, you had an adorable fake cough you'd do. You liked to have us mimic you and you'd often try to "converse" with us this way.
I got a smoothie from Panera Bread in hopes of encouraging you to start using a straw with it, and all it did was supply you with a huge straw through which to make music. This was huge deal this month: the development of your love of music. You smile when you hear it, and take pride in making noise and producing music.
You developed your pinscher grasp this month! It's something you're quite proud of  and you prefer to use it.You won't be fed, and instead enjoy feeding yourself with your new pinchy fingers. Unfortunately for me, as this skill was developing you practiced it on me while nursing. The under side of my arms had quite a few bruises for a while.
We have our diapers delivered monthly from Amazon and they arrive in an excessively large box. One day, I placed you in the box with some of your toys and you played in there for hours! You enjoy tipping boxes over, emptying boxes, and pulling up on boxes.
Indeed, you've begun pulling up. Mostly on Daddy and me and often as a means to reach something you want to get to. You haven't started pulling up on objects, yet.
No crawling, yet. Sometimes you will get on all fours and rock, but largely tummy time is torture for you because you want to crawl and can't. You get one leg under you to push off it and you end up rolling over onto your back and fussing about it. You can get down on your tummy from the sitting up position - a skill which just developed over the last couple of days.
You enjoy the "B" sound, always have. You say buh, boo, boom, bah. I want your first word to be boobie - that would be awesome. You say dah, muh, and guh. That's about it right now. But you say it a lot!
Like I was saying in the sleep section: for the week of December 16 - 21, you woke up about every hour the whole week. We didn't understand why. You weren't crying more than normal or fussing. You were a little congested all week, but we assumed you had a cold or allergies and were a little uncomfortable. Lo, and behold, Saturday, December 22, you cut your first tooth! We were at Grandma and Grandpa Dennis' house and Daddy felt the tiny little thing poking through. It's the one on your bottom right. So proud of you, son! There was much rejoicing!
You've slept pretty well since then. :)


Events
The biggest event that happened this month was Christmas and all the surrounding new sights and activities.
You weren't too fascinated by the Christmas tree. At first you played with it and shook it a little, but then went on to business as usual.
We went to the annual Children's Holiday Festival at Daddy's work, and it was there you met Santa for the first time. You cried. It was adorable.
You sat through many a Cantata practice.
We went to Six Flags to look at the Christmas lights, and again, you weren't too impressed.
I took you to see Santa at the mall, and you accepted him much better the second time.
For Christmas you received from us your new car seat. This will be the car seat you grow up with. You seem to like it a lot more and fall asleep more easily in it than in your old one.
We came home to Oklahoma, which is where we are now, and stayed with my parents first (21-24) and now we're at Grandparents Chambers' house through New Year's. Wonderfully, your first Christmas was white! About six inches fell on Christmas day. You seemed to like it, but were mostly cold!
Some significant gifts you received: your first ornament from Grandma Lori, your children's Bible and a couple of Bible storybooks, the Brave Little Toaster movie, a few toys from Grandparents Chambers, and some clothes from Grandma Lori.
Tonight, we'll walk over and see the Christmas lights for the first time in Chickasha. I hope it's not too cold!

Gabriel, I love you so very much and I love you more and more every day. You have been a wonderful blessing to us - a challenge and an honor. You are incredible - smart, strong, and so very sweet.

Love,
Mommy

Seven months

Dear Gabriel,

When you were first born, my mother, Grandma Lori, told me that babies start to get really fun right around six months. This month you have proven her right. You have just come alive and are exploring and charming your way through this world.

Stats
You currently weigh __________ and are __________ inches long. You wear size 6-9 month clothes. They're generally still a little big on you, but that's okay. :)

Sleep
From the moment you were born and getting you to sleep wasn't as easy as we had anticipated, we began co-sleeping and I told myself that I wouldn't push you to sleep on your own until you were six months old. Arbitrary, seemingly, but my gut told me that was right for us. Along the way, I have tried about once a month to get you to sleep in your crib and every attempt failed. We were just more comfortable having you with us - it was where you slept best.
Almost six months to the day, you went down in your crib. We put you on your tummy and you seemed almost grateful. We have a nighttime routine of nursing you down to the tune of your spiffy mobile at around 8 pm and when the song finishes, Daddy puts you down.
You still wake around every two hours on average. Daddy brings you in to me and I nurse you until you fall asleep again, then he takes you back to your room. Around 4 am, Daddy leaves for work, so he brings you in to me and we co-sleep until you wake around 8 am most days. You sleep more lightly during the wee morning hours and I still get to enjoy waking with you, which was always my favorite part of co-sleeping. It has been a great system.
I do miss having you sleep right next to me. That time was so fleeting and I did wish it away. I don't regret having co-slept with you and cherish that time together.

 Eating
You've been trucking through the solids this month! You really enjoy eating and have yet to refuse a food. You reach for our plates and cups and we pretty much let you taste anything we're eating.
Foods you've added to your repertoire: applesauce, guacamole, mandarin oranges, black beans, bananas, queso, tortillas, bell peppers, yogurt, tomato, and Thanksgiving fare: olives, turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin, pumpkin pie, and cranberry sauce. You loved cranberry sauce.
You've had some milk, water, and smoothies from straws, but you haven't sucked liquids into the straw yourself just yet. You're close, though.
You like to feed yourself with your hands, not be fed. If I try to feed you with a spoon, you grasp the spoon yourself and put it in your mouth.

Milestones
You play on your own, now. You reach for toys you want and enjoy digging in boxes for items. You especially like to play with whatever isn't a toy - straws, keys, bottles, eating utensils, etc.
You sit like a boss these days, and roll over like crazy, too. You are so so so close to crawling. Your dad and I have bets that you will crawl by Christmas.
In the middle of the month, you said, "Da da," for the first time! It was fun. Now you say it a lot. You don't call for Daddy, but I can say, "Where's Da da?" and you look for him. So adorable.

Events
Early in the month, Daddy traveled for the first time on business. Instead of staying home alone, you and I stayed with Grandma Lori and Grandpa Bill. It was my first time to have you overnight without Daddy. It went really well. We stayed in Oklahoma from November 5 - 10. While there we visited with Great Aunt Sharon. We also saw my best friends Lacey Green and Meghan O'Bannon. On our way to Oklahoma, we stopped off at Ikea. It was your first time going. While there we purchased your high chair and crib bumpers.You love your high chair. I'm not really sure why. You like banging on the tray.
We traveled to Oklahoma again for Thanksgiving and stayed from November 21 - 25. We stayed with Grandma and Papa Chambers. Your Great Grandmother Hoppe came all the way to California just to meet you and spend time with you. She really enjoyed watching you play and commented on how smart you are.
You loved Thanksgiving. We had a Mexican themed Thanksgiving meal and you sampled just about everything that wasn't too spicy. My parents came over for that meal. The next day we had a more traditional Thanksgiving meal and you had a little bit of everything from that meal as well.

I have enjoyed this month with you so much, Son. You have just lit up our world. Some days, I cannot believe I have a baby! And other days, I just cannot remember life without you. It seems you've always been here.

Love always,
Mommy

Six Months

Dear Gabriel,

I'm so sorry I missed our five month letter to you. Life got really busy suddenly and before I knew it, two months had passed.

So much has happened in those two months. You have grown exponentially and have become such a joy.

Stats
I don't know exactly what you weigh or how long you are right now, but your six month appointment with Dr. Thomas is Monday. I will edit this portion after the appointment to include your current stats.
You wear exactly the size you should wear: 3-6 months. You're almost too big for this size. I've been taking daily pictures of your outfits as much as I can so I can document the cuteness of them. It's sad that you have too many outfits to wear them more than once! The outfits in the larger sizes are fewer so you stand a better chance of wearing them twice. Someday I will post your daily pictures. :)

Nicknames
We've always called you by nicknames, but I think now is a good time to list the things we've called you throughout your life: Gabe, Gabey, Gabey Baby, Baby Love, Baby Lovin, Bugs, Bugaloo, Bugaboo, Bugalug, Chunk, Chunkalunkin, Chunkalunk, Chunkalunka, Lovey, Lovey Bear, Boogs, Booger, and Mister. My mom, Grandma Lori, calls you Junior Samples, which I think is pretty funny.

Sleep
Of course, over the past months, I have struggled with our sleep situation. You seem to sleep best with me, but I felt such pressure from the world (society, our culture) to have you sleep in your own bed in your own room. I even had this picture of you in the nursery and me going in in the morning to say good morning and get you up in your lovely room.
But I have realized that I actually like co-sleeping. I like going to sleep with you snuggled close, listening to the sound of your even, warm, sweet breath. I like knowing you're alive all night because you're close and I can reach over and feel your tummy rising and falling. And my favorite moments with you are watching you wake - being with you as you open your eyes and greet the day - and watching your sweet face as you sleep. I love being the first and last thing you see each day. I love knowing that my voice is the first and last thing you hear, not your own cry as you call for me. I love knowing that you feel safe and warm and loved rather than scared and cold and alone.
I know these days are fleeting and I have fought with myself and with the world around me. I have rushed you and I have let the word rush me. You will grow up. You will grow to a place where you no longer nap in my arms, at me breast. Where I can no longer watch you sleep. Where I can no longer snuggle you close. Those days will come too soon. I have learned and loved to relish these moments and be okay with being still and napping with you.
You still do not sleep through the night - you still wake every two to three hours and want to nurse for comfort, usually. But I've learned to be okay with that.
This is the mommy I want to be. Peaceful, cozy, warm, trustful, and content with allowing you to grow at your own pace.

Eating
Oh, this has been fun. In the last month or so we've been introducing you to solid foods. You've been super interested in eating and so we've followed your lead and our instincts.
You're still exclusively nursing. When I say "introduced" I mean, tidbits here and there and allowing you to play with your food.
So far you've had breads of various kinds (sourdoughs, honey wheats, plain sliced bread, banana bread), pizza crust, French fries, graham crackers, Nilla wafers, bell peppers, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, carrots, cantaloupe, grapes, apples, yogurt, cheese, steak, chicken, and lemon. I think that's all. Oh, and ice cream (fro-yo, frozen custard, gelato), and you are crazy for it. Especially chocolate ice cream. I think your favorite food, other than ice cream, has been sweet potato.
Now I know what people (and you!) may be thinking: "Oh, dear God! This baby doesn't have teeth, can't chew, and she's giving him _____!?" Well, indeed. You've largely just been sucking on these items. A few, like the sweet potato, ice cream, French fries, you've been actually swallowing, but most things you're just chewing, sampling the flavor, sucking the juices. It's been a really fun way to introduce solids to you and I much prefer it to commercial baby foods or even purees. I just give you bits of what I'm eating.
I plan on maintaining this method for a while. I hope to nurse you well into your toddler years, so I don't believe you will be nutritionally lacking, and as your teeth come in and you naturally wean, you will be more adept at actually consuming the food. Like everything else, I'm in no hurry for you to start eating solids as your only form of sustenance. This has helped maintain my sanity. I have watched a few moms stress because their baby, who is only eating solids, won't eat or won't eat enough. I like that I don't have to worry about such things.

Potty
Don't worry, this isn't about some weird potty training method! Again, I'm in no hurry! But along with solids come new waste elimination experiences. We've had to adjust to new pooping habits! For most of your life, you pooped daily. If you didn't poop one day, we could rely on you to poop the next. But once we introduced solids, and you started to get a little older, your poops stopped coming. Initially we thought you were constipated, but now we're coming to realize two things: a) we introduced solids, so your poops are more formed and harder to push out and b) you're processing breastmilk much more efficiently before and using more of it so there's less to poop out.
Now your poops come about once a week and boy, howdy, they are epic!

Daily Schedule
You are super regimented and all on your own! I didn't have to train you to develop this schedule, you did it all on your own!
8:00 am wake up
9:00 am nurse and nap
10:00 am awake and ready to play
12:00 pm nurse and nap
1:00 pm awake and ready to play
3:00 pm nurse and nap
5:00 pm awake and ready to play
7:30 pm nurse and sleep
It's so nice that you are wonderfully predictable. If you're fussing, I can look at the clock and know exactly what to do to meet your need. Sometimes you do sleep longer or at different times of the day, but generally, this is how we do.

Milestones
You're still smiling a lot and laughing often. You will smile when not prompted. You always smile at me. :) Your laughs are fewer, but still so joyful. You like being tickled (ribs and thighs, especially), but sometimes you'll laugh at things that are silly like your daddy and Rocky.
Tummy time has been so exciting lately! You are kind of creeping around - you try to crawl toward something but you always end up pushing yourself backward. But boy can you roll! You roll all over the place! I don't have to baby proof because of crawling but because you can get to something by rolling to it! Sometimes you get stuck in corners or up against a piece of furniture and you'll fuss until someone rescues you. You cannot wait to crawl and get so frustrated when you can't.
The big new thing is that you are now sitting! It took you about a week to learn how (October 5-13, 2012) but now it's one of your favorite things. If I lay out on your back you point your toes and lift your head and grunt until I let you use my fingers to pull yourself up to a sitting position. I say, "Sit up!" and you know what to do. You love to look around the room, watch Rocky, watch the TV, and play with your toys. Sometimes, you'll bend waaaaaay over to reach a toy and fall over onto your tummy. This usually upsets you and I have to rescue you. You really enjoy sitting outside in the grass. You dig holes with your heels.
Along with sitting up has come reaching up for me. I love it. I will walk by you and you seem to remember that I exist and you want me to hold you. It's wonderful.
You can't seem to wait to stand. You like for us to hold you up and you sort of bounce/jump. It's so cute!

Favorites
You're aware enough of your surroundings and have object permanence now to have favorite items. You love a really cheap giraffe rattle. She doesn't have a name. We just call her "Your Giraffe". You're really good at manipulating her so you can chew on her face or the rattle's handle. You also really like a robot toy we've named Domo. You talk to him when you're disgruntled in the car. It's really funny. You enjoy your play gym.

Events
Early in the month I ran my first 5k and you came along for the ride. It was at SeaWorld, so we ran first then went to all the shows. It was your first time at SeaWorld. I went once when I was eight months pregnant, but that was it. You slept through most of the run, but loved the shows! Well, the first show we went to, the walrus and sea lion show, was too loud and made you cry. The second show, the Azul show with the beluga whales and dolphins, you really liked but the soothing music soon put you back to sleep. You were asleep for the Shamu show. So that was your first trip to SeaWorld!
Grandma Lori and Great Great Aunt Sharon came to visit for a week. We went to the zoo and the Drafthouse with them. They also baby sat you one night while they were here.
You stayed with a baby sitter that wasn't family for the first time. The Allardyces were very nice to watch you while we went out to eat.
Because it's October and fall, we went to the South Texas Corn Maize. While there, we did the maze, went on a hay ride, and visited a pumpkin patch were we picked up pumpkins to carve for Halloween. Halloween is technically in your next month so you will get to hear all about it then.
Establishing and maintaining traditions is very important to me and this is my favorite time of year (October - February), so hopefully you'll get to hear about all the wonderful things we've been doing over the holidays.

So there you have it! Your sixth month in review. I suppose it's your fifth month in review, technically. :)

We love you, Kidlet.
Mommy and Daddy

Four Months

Dear Angel Baby,
This had been a wonderful month full of social changes for you. It has been such a joy to watch you develop and grow.

Stats
We just got back from your four month appointment with Dr. Thomas. You are fifteen pounds even and are 25 inches long! Your head measures seventeen inches around. You wear 3-6 month sizes but sometimes the pants are a little tight around the middle or the onesies are a little short.

Sleep
You are still co-sleeping, although after a couple of rough nights in a row I got that bug up my butt to change your sleep habits. One night you slept two hours in your crib! These attempts only lasted two nights and you were back with us. Although now, I pass you off to Daddy when you wake too soon to nurse again and you've been sleeping with him a lot more.
You've been sleeping longer night hours. Usually from around 930 pm to 8 or 9 am. Since I stay in beef with you, I don't mind.
Your daytime naps are shorter and less predictable as you are learning to express your desires about wanting to sit up and look around. Usually, you fall asleep after nursing and only stay asleep for about thirty minutes every time. If we're home, you'll sleep for longer, typically in the morning.

Eating
You're still nursing full time.
We aren't sure, but you could be just starting to teethe. You drool a lot, which we don't mind - it's really rather cute, and you like to gum things. This could also just be you trying out your world.
We've been giving you licks of things off our fingers to try new tastes and sensations like hot or cold. You particularly liked froyo and leaned forward as if asking for more. We also gave you a bell pepper slice that had been grilled for fajitas and let you suck on it. Other than your suck being a little too powerful for Daddy's preference (he said you were going to suck it right out of his fingers!), you seemed to like the taste.
You put anything in your mouth. Anyone whose hand you hold, you desperately want their fingers. You especially like to bite things - your favorite item to bite is a washrag.

Social and Practical Changes
You smile like crazy and I absolutely adore it! You especially like to smile at me. Over the month, you smiled more and more.
This month we heard your laugh for the first time! It was more a chuckle - so your dad says - and it happened in the bath. Your daddy had you perched on his chest while he laid in the tub and he would squirt water at you from his mouth. Any time it hit you in the face, you laughed! You've laughed only a few more time since then - mostly for Daddy and mostly in the tub. He tickled your feet with the washcloth and you thought that was grand! I made you chuckle once when I was pretending to eat your tummy - I said "NOM, NOM, NOM," then nommed your tummy and you chuckled. Such a wonderful sound!
You've been practicing your speech. You'll scream and wail just for fun. I always say, "Loud!" or "Gabriel's loud!" You enjoy stuffing pieces of fabric into your mouth and wailing around them. In fact, you enjoy talking with anything in your mouth! When you're disgruntled and you come to my breast, you'll even mutter to yourself while you eat. So adorable!
You've started making intentional eye contract and focusing on faces - especially mine. You search out the eyes and will lift your head to look up at someone.
You will turn your head toward a sound, especially the sound of a voice - especially the sound of my voice. You also find someone in a room, like me, and track them. You really like to watch Rocky.
You can intentionally bring your hands together to grasp a toy. And you hold my finger to look at it and intentionally place it in your mouth.
You've begun holding my breast in place so you can better latch. Also, while nursing, you work on you're grasp and pinching, which is often my skin. I've started wearing long necklaces so you can grab them instead.
Your vocalizations are obvious attempts at communication. Your cries are very distinguishable and you rarely cry for no reason - I would even go as far as to say you never cry for no reason. This backs up my notions that the beliefs that "babies just need to cry sometimes" and "it's good for babies to cry sometimes" are false. If you respond to your baby's cries, they will learn that the vocalizations mean something and can get their wants (needs) met.
You play better on your own. As I type this, you're laying on the floor (with Rocky) on a blanket, talk to the ceiling fan, eating a cloth napkin that came home with us from Thai Taste. We still stay near you, but we're trying to allow you time alone as well. (You just yelled really loud!)

Events
We circumcised you this month. In hindsight, we would have done it sooner. It happened in Dallas and involved your first hotel stay and trip to a Galleria. The Galleria trip was just for fun, and had nothing to do with your circumcision. You can read more about the event in a later post.
You met your Great Aunt Jeanette and Great Uncle Bob. Jeanette is Grandpa Dennis' sister. She is ten years older than he and lives in Tennessee. I hope you get to see her a few more times in your life and can really know her. They are interesting people.
Jeanette and Bob were visiting Oklahoma and staying with Grandma and Grandpa Dennis. So we went home to see them.
We try to go home to Oklahoma once a month. We're so sorry we cannot raise you near our families just yet, so to make up for it, we see them as often as we can. It's a long ride and you are not partial to it. We've begun traveling over night, so you'll sleep most of the ride. It's also cooler then and our little Honda Civic doesn't have rear air!
You attended your first political event - we went to Support Chick-Fil-A Day and stood in line for an hour to show our support of the first amendment and freedom of speech/belief. One day, when you can read about it, we hope you'll agree with our political beliefs, but we want you to determine on your own where you stand.
You also attended your first surprise party. My friend's husband planned one for her 31st birthday. You thought it was grand fun until we all yelled surprise suddenly. Oh, it scared you to death! I felt so bad. But once you nursed and calmed down, you had a good time.
We take you to church every Sunday and everyone always comments on how well behaved you are. You don't participate in the children's program yet, instead going to Sunday school and "big church" with us. Usually you nurse and nap, but sometimes you sit up and listen.

I cannot wait to see what this coming month has in store for us. You're growing so quickly and I'm loving getting to witness every minute of it. You're so blessed to have such a hardworking and talented Daddy who earns enough money for Momma to stay home with you. And I'm so blessed to have such a smart, strong, sweet baby boy.

I love you,
Mommy

Three Months

Dear Gabriel,

This week you turned three months old! I cannot believe the time has passed so quickly. However, there are days that seem to never end. You weigh fourteen pounds and are a little over two feet long! You wear anywhere from three month to 3-6 month clothes. I can't believe you're that big!
We call you many names. Obviously the standards like Gabriel, Gabe, and Gabey. I also call you Gabey Baby, Lovey, Lovey Bear, Chunk, Chunkers, Chunk-a-licious. I'll sometimes refer to you as Porker. :)

You are nursing exclusively and I hardly remember a time when you weren't. I wouldn't have it any other way. It's such a special time for us to spend with one another. Just this month you started the most darling thing: in the past when you were done eating you would just fall asleep. You still do that, but sometimes you make eye contact with me and smile. Every now and then, you'll coo and laugh. That's the most wonderful thing. The struggle to nurse - the pumping, the bottles, the sore nipples - were completely worth this outcome.
We nurse whenever you want. Sometimes you want it a lot, often, and sometimes you will go hours without being near me. I believe in nursing in public so I nurse wherever we are. I refuse to nurse you I'm a bathroom - would I eat in a bathroom? Never!
I also stopped using the nursing cover. It's so hot here in San Antonio right now, you would just get so frustrated. So far, I've had no negative experiences with people being offended by my brazen display.

Very temporarily we went through a phase of trying to manipulate your sleep. It had to do with this idea I got that surely there was someway you could be getting better sleep. It's not like you were getting bad sleep. I just, for some reason, thought you could stand to get better/longer/deeper sleep. After a week or so of failed attempts to fulfil this idea - which involved lots of tracking of your habits, lots of frustration with you, with me, with Dad - I decided it wasn't the route I wanted to take. This tired, frustrated person was not the parent I wanted to be. I blamed you for not sleeping like all these other people thought you should.
Instead, I brought you into our bed. You sleep with me and it's been the most wonderful thing. You fall asleep in my arms, nursing, and I just roll you over and we face one another while we sleep. I wake when you stir, wanting to eat or having fussy dreams or gas, and I get to comfort you or nurse you. I also get to wake up next to you. Each morning when you finally open your eyes and look at me, you smile. I say, "Good morning! I love you! I missed you while you were asleep!" And we lay in bed and smile and play with one another.

Then I change you diaper, dress you, and put you in the bouncer while I shower and get ready. You like this most days. I always make sure the bouncer is placed so you can see me and I'll talk to you and dance around to entertain you. After I'm ready, we head downstairs where we play while I eat breakfast. When I'm done with breakfast, you eat your breakfast and fall asleep for your morning nap.
If we stay home in the morning, you'll usually sleep until around noon. Sometimes we do our errands in the morning. Often you'll sleep while I grocery shop and drive around, but lately you've been staying awake when we're out and about. You're super interested in what's going on around us.
Daddy comes home every day at lunch and he plays with you while I eat. You nurse down soon after he leaves. You wake up around four and we talk and play together before Daddy gets home at 5:15. Daddy plays with you much of the evening and we go for walks most nights. You and Daddy take a bath every night before bed - it's one of your favorite times of day.

You started smiling like crazy this month. It has made all the hard work from the first two months worth it. We've even gotten a couple of chuckles out of you. You think things are funny, which means much of our time is spent trying to get you to smile and laugh. You love when Daddy whistles at you and when I sing to you. You particularly enjoy "Daisy, Daisy" but I sing it "Gabey Baby."
You've become super alert and will look around and watch what's going on around you. You just started getting to where you can play alone. We got you a play mat and a jumperoo to bounce and you love them. You watch the dancing lights and grasp and bat at the little toys. It's a great advancement.
When we go shopping the afternoon, you won't take your afternoon nap. You insist on looking around the whole time and taking in the sights, sounds, and smells. Your dad and I joke that you believe people only exist to smile at you and tell you you're adorable.
And that's pretty much true. :)

We love you,
Mommy and Daddy

Conviction

Our incredible pastor did his lesson on the reality of hell this evening and I felt really convicted by it. Anytime I think of eternity, let alone hell, I feel an overwhelming sense of loss and urgency.
Sometimes I think about how secluded my life is; I'm not really friends with many unchurched people. The reality of it is, though, I have several significant people in my life who would go to hell for eternity if they died today.
That terrifies me. The idea that they will be able to see me in heaven and might wonder why I never tried harder to talk to them about the Truth. That I will be held accountable for their fate. That my closest loved ones will suffer forever because I am afraid to hurt their feelings now.
"Christianity, if false, is of no importancw. If true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important." - C.S. Lewis

Just for Today

I'm trying to get back in the habit of blogging daily. The implication there being that I ever blogged daily. :)

Things I Want to Remember About Today
1. Today was the first day I gussied myself up on my own since Gabe was born. He chilled in his bouncer while I blow dried my hair and did full makeup.
2. I ran/waked two miles this evening as part of my 5k training.
3. It's been eleven weeks and I'm really relishing the feeling that I've finally got this. That David and I have this baby thing down. When Gabriel cries, we know why. We have a workable routine. He smiles and babbles and coos and gripes. Rarely does he have crying jags anymore. I can go anywhere and do anything with him.
This is what I imagined babyhood would be. Fun, wonderful, and sentimental.

8 Weeks

Dear Gabriel,

You were born eight weeks ago today. I can't believe the time has flown so fast! It seems like you've been part of our family forever.

In some ways you're just as you were during your first week. You still study the world with a very serious look on your sweet face. You still have a love/hate relationship with your swaddle. And your hands are still your best friends.

You've grown a lot, too. You can hold your head up like a champ now. Your mouth and jaw are much stronger. You sometimes like to lay alone to play and observe the world. And you can get your hands to your mouth on purpose to suck on them.

You now weigh twelve pounds and one and a half ounces. That's nearly three pounds bigger than when you were born. At your lady doctor's appointment you were 23 inches long but that was nearly two weeks ago so you could very well be longer now. You were 20.5 inches long at birth. You are currently wearing size 0-3 month and plain 3 month outfits.

You aren't "sleeping through the night" yet, and just recently stopped sleeping for longer than an hour and a half at a time, but that's okay. We were frustrated at first but now we've decided that this, too, will pass.

We do have a bit of a daytime routine going. We start our day between 8:00 and 9:00. You wake up a little fussy but then we nurse and you perk up pretty quick. Then you get all smiley and happy while I change your diaper and get you dressed. After that you're usually pretty okay with laying on the bed or in your bouncer greeting the ceiling fan while I brush my teeth, fix my hair and makeup, and get dressed.

Then we head downstairs where you chill in your Bumbo chair looking out the living room windows and chatting with me while I eat a quick breakfast. After all this activity, you're usually ready for a nurse and a nap. You'll usually sleep for an hour or an hour and a half. I like to snuggle you and will either nap with you, read, or watch TV.

You wake up right around the time Daddy comes home for lunch and are often all smiles and wide eyes for him. He plays with you while I eat lunch and by the time he leaves suite work, you're ready for another nurse and a nap. This nap lasts longer, between two and three hours, and I can usually put you down in your swing. While you sleep, I take care of the house doing the dishes and the laundry. Sometimes, I try to sneak another nap in.

You wake up just in time for Daddy to come home. He plays with you while I make dinner and you usually eat when we do. After dinner, we go for a walk. Sometimes you ride in your stroller and sometimes I wear you in  your wrap. You just got big enough to be worn facing out and you love seeing the world come at you. Sometimes you kick your feet and when the wind blows in your face you'll coo.

After our walk, you have a nurse with Mommy and playtime/storytime with Daddy followed by a bath - usually with Daddy but sometimes with Mommy. Then you get a lavender massage, a fresh diaper, and a swaddle. Then we cuddle up in the rocker and you nurse to sleep.

Sometimes you and I will go shopping or have a playdate in the mornings but it's summer now and gets dreadfully hot earlier in the day. You also aren't a huge fan of your carseat currently.

You've been lots of places this month. You took your first road trip to Oklahoma. We learned that you travel the great distance better over night. We went there for Memorial Day. We stayed with Papa and CiCi. You swam in a pool for the first time. It was cold but you laid your head back and cooed.

We went back to Oklahoma over Father's Day weekend. Some of your cousins came to visit from Michigan. We went to see them and you met most of your cousins on your Daddy's side.

We celebrated many things this month: Rocky, Mommy, and Daddy all had birthdays and Father's Day. For Daddy's first Father's Day and his birthday we got him a handsome watch.

You got to meet your third set of grandparents - Mommy's dad and stepmom.

You went to see Dr. Thomas for the first time and saw Joi for the last. You enjoyed your visit to Dr. Thomas.

We made huge progress in the world of nursing. Mommy couldn't nurse you at first because your mouth was weak and my nipples were flat. After six weeks of pumping breastmilk for you and nursing between feedings, we started nursing full time and never looked back. Despite the sore nipples and sleepless nights, I couldn't be more proud that we overcame that huge hurdle when so many others would have given up.

Mommy has learned quite alot about mothering, herself, life, and God in the last month. She's had many tears - of happiness, frustration, awe, and love. Never did she know just how strong yet dependent she was.

I love you, Gabe, and can't wait to see what the next month brings!

Love,
Mommy

Sleep Up to Eight Weeks

My spiffy new cell phone has a blogger app so now I can post to the blog without having to go through the trouble of getting out thee old laptop. So cool!
Gabriel's sleep up to now has brought us little more than confusion and frustration. Our time in the hospital is a blur filled with much chest sleeping on G's part. Once home, we continued with what we knew. By the time G was two weeks old, we were exhausted.
Knowing that something had to change, we tried to move him to his co-sleeper. It didn't go over well; he cried so often we ended up holding him all night anyway.
When we were preparing our lives for G, we weren't comfortable with him alone in another room having decided we wanted the benefits of being attached parents and overnight parenting, specifically a lower incidence of SIDS. However, we didn't want him in our bed for safety reasons so we opted for the bedside bassinet. We wanted him near but wanted to maintain some boundaries.
By the time we reached this point in our sleep journey, we were totally down with bed-sharing (we enjoyed the nighttime convenience and peace of mind) having him super close but wanted a safer option. At Babies R Us we found a product called a "nest" that was basically a little pod that rested on the bed so he could safely share our bed.
He stayed in his nest successfully until he was around six weeks. At that time we opted to move him out of our bed and into his bassinet. We began this by simply placing his nest into the bassinet. He transitioned easily and didn't really know the difference. After about a week we ditched the nest entirely.
Our huge struggle now was getting him to sleep and getting him to stay asleep. I would nurse him to sleep and try to put him down and he'd rouse within minutes. This would happen repeatedly all night. When I'd get frustrated, David would take over, bouncing Gabe for hours. We were back to getting no sleep.
I turned to the attachment parenting guru's, Dr. Bill Sears, the Baby Sleep Book. It was here I learned how babies sleep. I learned that G was gadling asleep when I nursed him, but he want staying asleep when I put him down because I was jumping the gun. Babies sleep in two stages: light (REM) and deep. They spend about half their sleep time in light sleep while we only spend 1/5 of our sleep time there. I was simply waking him up when I put him down! All I had to do was wait about twenty minutes and he'd be in deep sleep. I began to do this and it works most of the time.
Most recently, in pursuit of regular naptimes, I also read the famous Happiest Baby on the Block. This book has done wonders for our sleep! The book is built on the foundation of the fourth trimester, which I fully agree with. The fourth trimester is the observation that most mammals are born relatively self-sufficient except a few like humans and kangaroos, which need a little more time to develop outside the womb. Thus the three months following standard gestation should be spent giving Baby a gentle transition to life outside the womb by nursing on cue, sleeping close to one another, and baby wearing.
The book touts the "five s's" of baby sleep strategies: swaddling, side laying, shhing, swinging, and sucking. Long story short, we recently began implementing these strategies and have seen dramatic improvements in falling asleep and staying asleep, especially during naps.
For example, last night G slept for four hours and then intermittently for the subsequent four - waking to nurse and rapidly falling back to sleep. Then, this afternoon, he slept for two hours straight in his swing. I was actually able to put him down (swaddled, post nursing, in deep sleep) and get some stuff done around the house.
It's so nice to finally be making progress with our little guy! :)

Valentine's Weekend Getaway

Since we got married, we've used Valentine's weekend as an excuse to take a quick trip to a nearby city just to get away and be romantic. Our first year, 2009, we went to Tulsa. In 2010, we went to Houston and Galveston. We did duck out in 2011; we were both working full time and decided it would be easiest to just do dinner and movie.

This year, we had plans to go on a Babymoon - a final hurrah before baby. Initially, we played with the idea of taking a cruise - even going as far as to get passports. But as we researched cruises, we determined we didn't like the idea of our first cruise being so limited in activities by my pregnancy.

Then we looked at perhaps going to Colorado, New Orleans, or Destin. All within driving distance of us, but all would take a lot of planning and we would ultimately be very far from home - something I'm not too comfortable with this late in my pregnancy.

So we decided to stay near to home and take it easy. We found a nice little B&B in Seguin and didn't really plan anything else too far from there. We had some general ideas about what we'd like to do, but most of all, we wanted to relax and be romantic together. :)

We stayed at the Mosheim Mansion (http://www.mosheimmansion.com/) in Seguin, TX, a restored Victorian home run by Carol and Bob (we discovered most B&Bs are run by Carols and Bobs). We selected this particular B&B based on their website, the pictures we saw there, and reviews we read at TripAdvisor. They were also running a "buy two nights, get the third free" special. The rooms have hot tubs *in the room* - not just in the bathroom. It also seemed well kept and romantic. We booked for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.

As it turns out, Carol is quite the character. I suppose you have to be to run a B&B. She and her husband both hold degrees in industrial engineering, but he works in San Marcos doing something or other management and she runs the B&B. Also located at the B&B is a dog rescue, which Carol runs. She currently had fourteen dogs on premises! While we didn't know this ahead of time, it certainly warmed us to Carol and Bob. And while you may think that all those dogs would be noisy and dirty, they were located elsewhere on the property and you wouldn't know they were there unless you looked.

Carol made some amazing meals! We had several choices of breakfasts: French toast, omelettes, and German pancakes. I had the French toast twice, David had the omelettes twice, and we shared a huge German pancake one morning. Carol only uses local meats and produce - organic when possible. It was divine!

Thursday, when we checked in, we asked Carol and Bob for suggestions for dinner. They came up with the Liberty Bistro (http://mylibertybistro.com/home.aspx) in New Braunfels. Located in the basement of a building, it wasn't the kind of place we would normally frequent, but would like to. I had the pork saltimbocca served with gnocchi and green beans and David had a wood-fired pizza topped with proscuitto, garlic, and red pepper. Incredible food and great service. Nice, quiet atmostphere. A releaxing meal to top off our day.

The next day, Friday, we hit the shops at San Marcos. We walked the entire grounds of the Prime Outlets making stops at Banana Republic, New York and Company, Gymboree, Carter's, Motherhood Maternity, and Vera Bradley! :) We ate lunch at an adorable chain called Johnny Rocket's. It's a 50s themed full service restaurant specializing in milk shakes. Of course, we sampled their classic dishes - burgers, fries, and shakes!

That evening, the B&B was hosting a fund raiser Valentine's cabaret dinner theater to benefit the Seguin Main Street Program. We got to sample Carol's dinner time fare: a lemon pepper chicken topped with a pomegranate reduction, green beans, and potatoes, homemade breads, and a "wicked, wicked chocolate thing" for dessert! Stellar food! The show was very nice as well with quite a variety of acts - musical numbers, comedy routines, romantic dialogues. (Read more about the show here: http://seguingazette.com/news/article_7cc061f8-52b5-11e1-a7ce-001871e3ce6c.html.)

Saturday, we set out to hit the other outlets in San Marcos but weren't impressed. We have been on the hunt for some new living room furniture as of late, so we decided to see what all furniture stores we could hit up in the New Braunfels/San Marcos area. As luck would have it, we found an Ashley furniture store outlet! For our first furniture buying experience, we felt it went amazingly well! We were all ready to play hardball - even had our cash in hand, Dave Ramsey style.

We found a whole grouping that was just what we were looking for for a price that was really reasonable. When the guy walked up to us, the first words out of his mouth were, "I can do better than those listed prices." He walked off to find a calculator and David and I just looked at each other. We discussed what our highest offer would be ($1,000 for the whole set), and the guy came in and said that he would give it to us for $1129. We looked at each other and tried to low ball him some more by asking for the ottoman for free (it had a mark on it that they got out with a cleaning kit - drat!) and for free delivery (they can't). We even asked for a cash discount (some places will do it), but because it's a clearance house, they wouldn't deal with us on that. So we took it!

Images via Ashley Furniture

I later found the whole set on-line for $2,090. Score!

Next on our agenda, a couple's massage! After all that furniture buyin', we needed to do some serious relaxing. We found the Body Shoppe (http://www.bodyshoppemassage.com/default.asp) in New Braunfels, again through TripAdvisor. They offered just the services we needed - a couple's massage with prenatal massage. I cannot even begin to describe to you our adventure!

Image via Google

We met Roxanne (for me) and Marla (for David). We asked them our questions and expressed our concerns. We explained it was our first time. They asked us some questions about what we were looking for. David decided to be brave and went with deep tissue massage! I was stuck with prenatal, but that's what I wanted anyway. :)

Images via Google

The Shoppe is in a beautifully renovated Victorian home, and they escorted us into the couple's suite - a beautifully decorated, dim room that smelled lovely. They had soft music playing. It's pretty much exactly the kind of room I'd like to give birth in! Two tables, side by side. So romantic! They left us alone to strip down to our underoos and get situated on the bed. David was facedown in traditional massage style and I was lying on one side. Our massage was an hour long so I got one side for 25 minutes, the other side for 25 minutes, and 10 minutes on my back so she could do my neck, shoulders, and scalp. Oh heavens!

One concern I had, of course, was modesty - more for her sake than mine. She was very discreet and I never once flashed my boobs at her. When I was shifting from one side to the other, she held the sheet up high so that I had room to move and her view was obscured. It was so nice. I also wondered if they minded if you moaned or talked or anything, and while they said they didn't - they like if you communicate - I found that I didn't need to! She would whisper directions in my ear or ask how I was doing and that was all we really needed.


She massaged my shoulders, arms, and back with the most divine warm thick lotion (or butter). She worked hard on my shoulders but couldn't rub as hard on my back due to Mr. Bebe. She also massaged my legs, feet, and hiney! It wasn't awkward at all, I swear! And it felt so good!


I was incredibly sad when it was over. I felt so relaxed and loose. They left us alone to dress at our leisure. David and I just looked at each other and HE said, "That was life changing." In the car, on the way to dinner, we talked about our experiences. He said she was just having at him, using her elbows and really pushing hard. He even said that he thought he was relaxed before, but that he really knows what it means to be relaxed now and that he can't wait to have another massage! I'm thrilled that he enjoyed the experience because it was my idea. ;)

Our massage therapists recommended a restaurant in Gruene called the Gruene River Grill. We did get a little lost trying to find Gruene, but once there, we learned that town is one little hoppin' hot spot! After quite a wait, we received the best seats in the house right next to their trademark epically huge fireplace. I had the gorgonzola steak - a steak wrapped in bacon topped in gorgonzola and a balsamic reduction with green beans and potatoes. David had the red fish - a Cajun dish served on basmati rice with squash, topped with crawfish. For dessert, we had Key lime pie - David's favorite. Again, an amazing meal!

Our evenings were spent lounging in bed (working in David's case, reading in mine) and using the hot tub.

Hands down, our best trip ever! :)