All Things GABE

Thought I would give a little profile of Gabe right now .... Enjoy!

LOVES: his hairbrush, the remote, anything paper, anything crinkly like a bag or wrapper, kicking his legs furiously, little chunks of ice, talking, screaming, sticking his tongue out like a little doggie, nametags (of his therapists), balls, anything that makes music, cellphones, bathtime, splashing in the bath, hair (always playing with mom's and dad's), cottonballs.

DISLIKES: whip cream, the grass, having anything paper taken away from him, going without his naps, long trips in the carseat, seeing food without getting some himself, doing leg stretches at therapy, cold water, having his teeth/gums brushed.

WOULDN'T BE CAUGHT WITHOUT ... his thumb in his mouth w/ his blankie by his face at sleepy times, his hair fuzzy and crazy in back when he wakes up, some slobber hanging out of his mouth, Orajel on his gums, something to play with in his hands.

FAVORITE ACCESSORIES: sunglasses, mom's jewelry -- and this includes necklaces, bracelets, watches, and earrings.

LAUGHS WHEN YOU ... smell his bum for stinkies, pinch his leg chunkies, talk in funny voices, suck/bite on his chin, blow raspberries on his tummy, play peekaboo, throw him up in the air, bounce him up and down, swing him around, hang him upside down.

YOU'LL LAUGH IF YOU ... see his teeth -- they crack everyone up!, hear him munching on his crackers, watch his funny crawl, hear his dog-like breathing he loves to do every now and then, see him sleeping {he sleeps in weird positions}, watch him splashing in the tub.

IS IT WEIRD THAT ... he loves every little detail {such as buttons, small little screws in the floor, my eyelashes, a piece of fuzz floating by him in the tub}, he would rather play with his hairbrush than any other fun toy he has, he cries the same way when I take something away from him/if he bonks his head, he doesn't like old people but will smile at everybody else, he will sit on my lap at church but nowhere else??

FAVORITE PASTTIMES: jumping sky-high in his jumper, crawling like a maniac all over the house, pulling stuff off of wherever they are, playing with wires, banging his toys against things {like tub or box}, talking talking and talking some more, following mom all around the apartment.

This & That

This post is dedicated to this and that -- just a bunch of different things going on around our house. First off, Gabe is getting his 7th tooth, which means he's been super cranky until we give him his Orajel, then he settles down. Thank goodness! Next, he's been sick on top of his teething, with a running nose, congestion, coughing, a fever, and wheezing. I was really worried about his cough Tuesday, so I took him into the doctor. We found out he has asthma, due to alleries (most likely from the environment). I am almost positive he is either allergic to grass or dust. So now he is on a breathing treatment through a nebulizer. He hates that. I would too! Poor little muffin.

You can guess what my life consists of right now -->  Giving medicine, comforting my little guy, feeding, changing diapers, entertaining, cleaning, and cooking. It's been busy. But I like it, of course. I also have been reading a lot of good books. I just finished Jane Eyre, which is now one of my favorite new books ... SO GOOD!! I am going to start LOTR Two Towers pretty soon. Other than that, we just hang out around here, go to therapy, the park, or sit out front on the grass blanket!

Love his profile

My attempt at getting him to show his top teeth

There they are! All six of 'em

(not the most flattering picture of him, but oh well, it shows his teeth!!)

Happily splashin' away in the bath tub. He loves the water!

Who needs cleaning supplies when you have a child to lick it clean for you?

First time sucking on a popsicle! He liked it, despite the look on his face :)

The 411 on Our Fam

Just wanted to share some pictures from Father's Day of Gabe and Alejandro. Well, the first one is of Gabe giving Alejandro his present. We got him a nice razor and the DVD Mrs. Doubtfire (Ale loves that movie). We had a nice day at church and hanging out together. We both love Alejandro so much. Just a little info on my honey: He recently graduated from BYU-Idaho with a degree in Business Management and is currently completing his internship at the hospital here in town (which isn't paid). Since it's not paid, he decided to get a job at night working at Wal-Mart, just to bring in a little money while he finishes his internship (in his field). Well, if you have never worked at Wal-Mart, then you wouldn't know how hard it really is. But Ale continues to have a great attitude and goes there after a full day at the hospital. 

On top of all that, Alejandro gets up every morning at 7 a.m. with Gabe. He loves to spend time with his little boy before being gone all day. Plus, he lets me sleep in until he has to leave for work at 8. He is always willing to help out with anything around the house: cleaning, feeding or changing Gabe, and playing with his family. We love him very, very much and want him to know that we are so proud of how much he does for our family! We are so lucky. ;)

**I apologize in advance for the excessive use of 'he' ... I really didn't know how to start my sentences all about Gabe.**

On to other news: some little tid bits about Gabe. He is now almost 10 months and such a great little boy. He is becoming much more mobile and working really hard on crawling. He can actually spin a 360 on his stomach, so to me, that's pretty sweet. He can also scoot forwards and backwards and roll over. So that's mostly how he gets to the things he sees/wants. He climbs over stuff to get to things as well. He lifts himself out of his car seat too. Oh no! I don't think I'm ready for this! :)  

Gabe is such a happy baby, if you haven't noticed from all his pictures on here. He smiles and laughs so much, it just brightens me right up. Most the time he is on the floor playing with his toys, jumping around in his bouncer or walking all around the house in his walker. He has four teeth so far {two on bottom and two on top), with at least his other front tooth coming in as well. And through all the teething pains, he remains a very joyful and silly little guy. 

He started eating fresh fruits and veggies and so far he is loving tomatoes, green beans, potatoes, watermelon, strawberries, and cantaloupe. He is a great eater and still eats a little jar food here and there, and of course, his bottles. Once in awhile we give him some crackers and he loves those. We are also trying to get him to drink out of his sippy cup, but all he's wanted to do is play with it, so we'll keep working on that.

Gabe is also a big talker. He already says "mama mama," "dada dada," and "baba baba." He has no problem screaming in the middle of Sacrament meeting or during family prayer. And I also have to say that he loves to put EVERYTHING into his mouth. I mean everything. If it's near him, it'll be in his mouth pronto. Just a funny little story that happened today: I had to take him to an appointment where his iron was checked, so he got a little prick on his toe. The nurse put two band-aids on his toe and then we drove to the hospital for therapy. When I got his carseat out of the car, I noticed he was chewing on something. It was his band-aids! I was totally grossed out, but kinda had to laugh because it looked like he had some crumbs coming out of his mouth. Another thing is that he loves to chew on the pew at church, oh, and the old lady that sits behind us's walking cane. Yummy.

There's a lot more I could say about Gabe, but all in all, we have a really great little guy and he brings so much happiness and joy to our lives! We love you Gabe!

The Skinny

So G had one of his therapy appointments today. Ever since he's started therapy and gotten his helmet, he's gotten so much better at things he should be doing (i.e., sitting up on his own, picking things up, etc.). However, he still cannot do things other babies his age are doing -- crawling, catching himself when he falls over, etc. He gets really frustrated at therapy with all the things they have him do. I am truly grateful for his therapists and all that they do for him. He hates being on his knees, he only will do something as long as he has a toy in his hand, or he'll just get distracted with another toy if the excercise is too hard.

I think I'm a naturally optimistic person, but this has been really hard for me, especially in the last few weeks. Sometimes I can't handle looking on other people's blogs or facebook and seeing that their child (who is younger than G) is already crawling or even pulling themselves up to standing!! It's not G's fault, obviously, but I want him to be crawling and doing all that other babies are doing. I know I shouldn't compare him to other kids, but its really hard. We love G no matter what, and I am so proud of all the hard work he's put in and how far he's come. He is such a happy baby and such a joy to have in our lives. Our lives really would not be the same without him -- I just needed to vent and hopefully that will ease my mind a little. Just keep him in your prayers so he will be able to progress and get where he needs to be.

My Little Pirate

G's been sick -- stuffiness, runny nose, ear infection, and sore throat. Poor little guy. Today I busted out chocolate pudding for relief from the sicky blues:

He got right in there and started playing with it

Oh yeah! That's what I'm talking about.

I love the look on his face!

I put a little bit of chocolate in his mouth -- after that there was no going back!

Such a mess! But I don't care!

And .... this is who I like to call ...

Mr. Beardsey

My new pirate buddy!

Two New Little Friends

G turned 8 months today -- and with that came two new, little friends: His two bottom teeth. We like to call them his "teefies." And boy are they cute! As you can see below:

We also took G swimming yesterday. It was his second time in the pool, and he LOVED it. He's developed this new high-pitched screetch, and he did that almost the whole time.

Sportin' his new shark swim trunks

It was way too sunny, so we put my sunglasses on him :)

This picture was taken today, so this is his 8 month picture. He loves his new high chair too!

You can kinda see his two teeth in this picture {too darn cute}

I wanted to write down some of the things he's doing (or things he likes) now, just for record keeping purposes:

• He has been consistently sitting up on his own.
• He has started to eat little finger snacks (from Gerber).
• He started drinking juice (with lots of water in it ... doesn't really like it that much yet).
• He likes his voice; screams and talks a lot.
• Smiles and laughs all the time (especially to strangers or if mom does her funny voice)
• Does so well with his helmet and has progressed significantly with therapy.
• Loves mom's cell phone, jewelry, clothes, and hair.
• Has started eating in his high chair and really loves picking up his finger food off the tray.
• Loves when we clap and has been attempting to do this himself.
• He still takes two naps a day and sleeps through the night.
• He loves music and any fun little tune from any of his toys.
• He's very expressive -- if he's sad, mad, happy, etc. ... you can see it in his face.
• He loves eating peas, banana apple yogurt, sweet potatoes/corn, squash, oatmeal, bananas and strawberries, and apples/chicken (he really doesn't like carrots).
• Talks himself to sleep almost every night.

Crabby Cakes

{His shirt has a picture of a crab and then "cake" ... so it's "crab cake" ... hence the title of the post}

{ignore my ugly face ... I didn't have any make-up on yet; but Gabe's face is kinda funny}

G has been very busy these days. He has helmet, massage, and physical therapy appointments, on top of his regular well-ness check-ups. But he has been able to muster up a boat load of courage & bravado to make it through every week {so he's really not a crabby cakes ... I just wanted to put that as my title}. We're going to California next week --- can't WAIT for a little vacation! Keep your eyes peeled for Ale's graduation post this weekend.

Feet & Sitting Up

Many people have been asking me why Gabe has to wear a helmet. So I will give a quick run-down of the basics. Gabriel was born with torticollis. Which, basically, is stiffness in your muscles or joints. He had this all along the right side of his body. Due to this problem, he couldn't move his head like other babies, so he ended up sleeping with his head in the same position night after night (even with many attempts from his parents to get him to change his position). He has been going to physical therapy for five months and that has helped with his movements, but his head was getting flat in the back and his forehead was getting bigger.

Well, we didn't want our baby being a mini-freak, so we decided to get him a helmet to remedy his head's uneven-ness. He also goes to massage therapy, as well as physical therapy, to help with his movements and motor skills. He hasn't been able to consistently flip over, grap his toys, or sit up on his own. However, in the past few weeks since starting massage therapy and getting his helmet, he has improved significantly. It's amazing all the things that have happened to help our little boy grow and progress. Heavenly Father has truly answered all of our prayers and then some. He is the light and joy of our lives and I love taking him to his appointments and being with him all day. Alejandro and I were talking the other day and saying how we are always excited to see him every morning and just how much he has added to our family. We love him tons.

Sorry this is so long. I usually don't like writing a lot, but I felt that I needed to explain some things. The pictures below are the explanation for this post's title. Gabe is obsessed with his legs and feet. Just today I took all of these pictures and in many of them he was touching his feet or crossing his legs. He also sat up by himself for about 7 or 8 minutes (which is huge for us). We are so proud of him! Anyways, here are the pictures and notice how he is crossing his legs in them (too cute).

P.S. In some of the pictures he doesn't have his helmet on because he gets a break for about an hour each day. He's letting his head breathe!

He's trying to suck on his feet here, but he has yet to discover how to get them to his mouth while sitting in his Bumbo.

Sitting up on his own -- for more than 30 seconds!!


All he wanted to do was suck on this toy


Oh my goodness gracious -- crossing his legs -- this cracks me up.


Helmet pic

Crossing his legs & holding his own bottle (YAY!)

Being a baby is so chill :)

The Music of Opportunity

Today at church we learned about creation -- God's creations. The teacher was telling us that when we look in the mirror, we need to look deeper, just not on the surface. She also showed us a video of this young man, Patrick Henry Hughes, who was born without eyes and has never been able to walk. However, he was born with tremendous musical abilities. He is in the marching band at the University of Louisville, and he dad marches him around the field and goes to all of his practices.

This made me think of how lucky I am to have sight and the ability to walk {two things I definitely take for granted every day}. But more than that. I am truly grateful for the talents and abilities I've been given. Sometimes I do spend too much time thinking about what I look like in the mirror, when in reality I need to be looking much deeper. At the end of the video our teacher showed us, the commentator said, "Patrick Henry Hughes was given the music of opportunity," which I took to mean that we have so many opportunities to be what God wants us to be. We just need to grab those golden moments! I know my body is not perfect, and it never will be, but my life should be more about my inner beauty than my physical appearance.

Of course I always have to show pictures of our little man. Ale's parents check the blog out daily in hopes of new pictures. So here they are:

Making him smile one day as we hang out on mom & dad's bed.

Aunt Jilly has been so kind to come hang out with us a couple times a week. And he loves hanging on her. I thought his legs looked funny in this picture. What a lover muffin. :o)

In other news relating to Gabriel, he was supposed to be getting his helmet this past Tuesday, but the prosthetic people called that morning to say they didn't like the way the helmet turned out. So they are having the manufacturer re-make it. That means it will be another week to week in a half before he gets his helmet now. Since the last post, he has also acquired massage therapy appointments, to help with his hyper-toned muscles and other problems with his little body. We are still very blessed to have such a happy, smiley little boy. Amidst all his physical problems, he continues to remind both Alejandro and I that we need OPTIMISM and JOY every day. Thank you Gabe! We love you tons.

6 Months!

Our "big" boy turned 6 months today! Nothing really special happened besides him getting his shots {yuck!}. We also got his growth stats and he is still a small little guy. We got some good information on what he needs to eat now and how much he can eat. Let me just say I had NO idea 6 month olds could drink juice {they apparently can, but I'm not going to}. So, we are going to start giving him his fruits and continue with veggies. No more proteins until he's at least 8 months old. // Gabriel ya cumplio los 6 meses hoy. Por ahora nada especial ha ocurrido, lo unico es que a Gabriel el doctor les dio las vacunas(gua cala). Hoy nos dijeron las medidas de el Cacheton y todavia sigue siendo pequeno para su edad. Nos dijeron que tipo de comida puede empezar a comer y en que proporciones. Yo no sabia que un bebe de 6 meses puede empezer a tomar jugos. Bueno pero no le voy a dar jugo por un rato.

Everything else is really healthy -- ears, heart, lungs, etc. I am so happy to know that we have a healthy boy. He's not big, so we can't say big n' healthy, not yet anyway. Here are some pictures I took of him today. He wasn't being very cooperative though :) // Gabriel esta fuerte y saludable. Sus oidos, corazon, pulmones, etc. Estoy muy feliz de saber que tenemos un bebe tan saludable. No es grande pero no podemos quejarnos ya que es saludable. Aca hay unas fotos que saque de el, no estaba cooperando mucho con la camara.

All he wanted to do was lean over and hide (and suck his thumb). // Lo unico que queria hacer era acurrucarse en el sillon y esconderse detras de la almohada.(tambien queria chuparse el dedo)

Ahh ... there's the little happy boy we all know and love! //

Y una vez mas el nino Alegre que todos conocemos y queremos mucho.

Jibb-jabbering away. He always has something to say! //

Haciendo sonidos como todos los bebes. siempre tiene algo que decir. muy charlatan, a quien habra salido?

6 month growth stats: Las medidas de los 6 meses

• Weight -- 13.7 lbs (2%) Peso 7 kilos
• Height -- 25.5 in. (19%) Altura 70 centimetros
• Head Cir. -- 16.8 in. (19%) 30 centimetros

According to the doctor, his weight and height are good with each other, so he is growing, just more slowly than other babies his age. At least he's taller! He was at 6% in height last time. // Segun el doctor el peso de Gabriel es normal cuando lo comparan con la altura. El esta creciendo bien pero mas lento que otros bebes de su edad. Quizas es porque nacio prematuro. Por lo menos sabemos que es alto.

I also wanted to include three reasons (even though there are many more) why I love Gabe: // Quiero incluir tres razones aunque hay muchas mas por la cual amamos a Gabriel.

1. His smile. It melts my heart. Anything can go wrong, but his smile will always make me happy. // Su sonrisa me derrite el corazon. Cualquier cosa puede salir mal y puedo tener un dia horrible pero su sonrisa me hace feliz siempre.

2. He is such a sweet-natured baby. He was sent to our family for a special reason, and I have felt this many times. So easy-going and so happy all the time. // El es un bebe muy dulce y se que fue enviado a nuestra familia por alguna razon, siento esto muy a menudo. Tan bueno y feliz la mayoria del tiempo

3. He is so fun to take care of. Maybe it's because of #1 & #2, but he is getting to the age where he loves to talk and discover new things all the time, and I absolutely adore being home with him everyday. // El es tan alegre y nos divierte mucho cuidarlo. Quizas por las razones 1 Y 2 ya mencionadas. Gabriel esta llegando a la edad en que le gusta hablar y hacer ruidos, y explorar las cosas a su alrededor

Obviously I don't know everything about his personality because he has yet to develop those qualities, but I know I will grow to love all those things about him! // Es obvio que todavia no conocemos su personalidad por completo. Sabemos que vamos a amar su personalidad.

The Tale of the Littlest Ewok

The inspiration for this post:

An Ewok

{if you haven't seen these movies, you're really missing out!}

Today was the big day: Gabriel got his head cast for his helmet.

I asked the prosthetic guy {I really don't know what they are technically called, sorry} before we started how most babies react to plaster being put on their heads. He said 75% of babies wiggle, scream, cry, and really hate it being on their head. The other 25% are rather good; only minimal crying and stay still, for the most part. Well ... let's see what percentage my little Ewok fell under ....

Stripped down to his diaper and ready for the get-up [happy right now]

Hmmm .... starting to look Star Wars-ish {Obi-Wan as a baby}

Then the head covering; it's starting to get good

My Little Ewok!


Starting to put the plaster on ...

still looking like an Ewok


Relatively calm ... getting a little fussy

Ahhh!! This Ewok was MAD!

Butttt ... you might be surprised. The pro guy said he actually fit under the 25% because the above pic was taken after 20 minutes of having all this stuff on his head. This was right at the end of the process. Gabe has a bad case of Emotional/Mood Confusion -- a condition I just made up. He would be whimpering a little bit, but then if we would smile at him, he would start smiling again. He cried about 30 seconds total. Good boy!

This is him getting cleaned up afterwards.

He stayed still the whole time. He was a very brave little boy, since having something like that on your head can be really weird for a baby. We will be getting a call within a week in a half to get his first fitting in his helmet. Yay!

Thanks for joining this little Ewok on his adventures!

GOOD NEWS!!!

Gabriel got approved for his helmet. He wasn't approved, but the insurance was. :D He goes in this Thursday for his molding {that sounds disgusting} and then in a few weeks he should get his helmet. Heavenly Father has sure blessed our little family and answered many, many of our prayers.

The Big Pee-Pee & Other Note-Worthy News

Tonight, Alejandro gave Gabe a nice, warm bath. During the bath, Gabe was kicking his legs like crazy (this happens every night) ... so Ale held his legs together. I was listening to all of this from the kitchen, where I was enjoying eating my dinner and relaxing. I heard Gabe cry because I know he loves kicking his legs. Then Alejandro brings him out and starts drying him off on the living room floor. I said, "It would be really funny if he peed on you because you held his legs together." Not three seconds after I said that, did the little mister shoot a nice stream of pee-pee on Dad. I was laughing so hard. Really hard. Alejandro declared that was the last time he would give him a bath. (Yeah right). //

Hoy por la noche Alejandro le dio un bano calido a Gabriel. Durante el proceso Gabriel estaba pataleando en el agua eso sucede cada noche cuando le damos un bano por eso Alejandro le sujeto las piernas. Yo estaba escuchando en el comedor mientras disfrutaba mi cena. De repente escucho a Gabriel llorando porque Alejandro le sujetaba las piernas. Luego Alejandro lo trae al comedor y lo empieza a secar. Yo pienso que gracioso seria que Gabriel le eche un pis al Ale porque le sujeto las piernas. Dos segundos mas tarde que yo pense eso Gabriel le echo un pis al Ale. Ohhh si que me rei bastante. Alejandro dijo que no lo iba a banar mas.

I know if update the blog, I have to put some cute pics up of our little guy. So here they are, with some little tidbits of info with each one :o) ....

My little buddy; I love spending my days with him

//Mi amigo, me encanta pasar los dias con el

He loves sitting in his Bumbo seat and watch me sing and dance while cooking dinner. He puts on the charm when you sing for him. // Le encanta sentarse en su sillita y mirar cuando le canto y bailo mientras cocino. Se rie un monton cuando le cantamos.

He was measured for his helmet, and he should be getting it in a few weeks; until then, the Doc said to have him wear a hat 24/7, except for bath times, to help him get used to having something on his head. Surprisingly, he's doing pretty well with the whole hat thing (thank goodness). //Hoy le tomaron las medidas para su casco el cual va a recibir en algunas semanas. el doctor dijo que debe usar el casco los 7 dias de la semana las 24 horas excepto cuando lo banamos. Para ayudarlo a acostumbrarse a tener algo puesto en la cabeza le ponemos una gorra. Pro suerte se porta bien y no se pone bravo al tener la gorra puesta.

I gave him a sampling of bananas the other night -- and this was his reaction. He seemed to really detest them (as seen by the above face); He makes us laugh everyday. What a sweet little boy. // hoy por la noche le di un pco de bananas para bebe. Esta fue su reaccion y segun parece no le gusta el pure de banana enlatado para bebe. Nos hace reir cada dia, que buen nino.

Here's one of the hats my friend made for him; we were on our way outside to get the mail -- he loves going outside. //// Este es el gorro que una de mis amigas hizo para Gabriel. Estabamos afuera buscando el correo. A el le encanta salir afuera.

We've been waiting patiently to find out what color his eyes will be. My aunt works with babies and she said that a baby's eye color is set by the time they turn 6 months. He will be 6 months in a few weeks and so far we can tell he will have blue eyes. They are dark blue with little specks of brown in them. No matter what color they are, they are beautiful eyes. We feel very blessed to have such a sweet little boy in our lives /// Hemos estado esperando pacientemente para saber que color los ojos de Gabriel van a ser. Mi tia la cual es una enfermera y trabaja con los bebes dijo que el color de ojos en los bebes cambia con el pasar del tiempo cuando ellos cumplen los 6 meses. el va a tener 6 meses en unas semanas. Hasta ahora sabemos que el tiene ojos azules. no me importa que color de ojos el tiene porque a mi me gustan igual. Sentimos que es una bendicion tener un nino tan dulce y amoroso en nuestras vidas.