Life Lessons

Many of you may or may not know our family dog, Roscoe, but here he is: 

{so handsome, by the way}

This was taken just a few days ago in my parents' backyard. He has been such a good dog for our family and we love him so much. 

About three weeks ago he slowly stopped eating his dog food. This was worrisome to our family since this is highly unusual for him. Well, then last Sunday and Monday we really started noticing he wasn't acting like himself. My dad took him to the vet last Monday to see what was up. We found out his liver  is failing and that he probably wouldn't live that much longer. 

My dad and I have been working all week to get him feeling better. We have tried many different avenues and some of them seemed to be working for him. He was playing "ball" with me (like his old, happy self), and even letting out a few courtesy barks. But Friday, Saturday, and today we finally realized he is not truly getting better. To make this sad story short, we are going to be putting him down to sleep tomorrow. We feel it the most humane and loving thing to do for him. 

I know most people won't read this, but it is really helpful therapy for me. We love Roscoe and will continue to love him long after he's gone. Up until two weeks ago, he's been such an active and happy dog. He makes us laugh and he is certainly too smart for his own good. :) He is technically my brother Nick's dog, but he has a special place in all of our hearts. If anybody knows Roscoe, you would know that he loves his family and his ball more than anything else. Our family has tried to remain positive throughout this ordeal, and in so doing, had a conversation last week about what Roscoe would have in heaven. We all agreed that it would be very appropriate for him to have golden balls. There would be nothing greater for that ball-loving dog. And its a great comfort to us knowing that we will see him again someday. Here's to our loving, smart, handsome, and caring dog, Roscoe. We will miss you -- and we know, especially, since dog's have a special intuition, that you already know that we will miss you. 

Now on to a happier note -- Here are some super cute pictures of my boy:

We've been getting outside at least once a day when I get home from work (and especially since we wanted to play ball with Roscoe)

It's been quite nippy outside, that's why he is all wrapped warm

Gabe hanging with Great Grandma O and of course, Zoey, who loves to be in the middle of everything

Gabe loves his ketchup

"Talk to the hand" -- haha, that's so 90's, but hilar

The first time we went outside, Gabe made a beeline for this car. 

I know Gabe's a boy, but I had no idea how fast he would love "boy" stuff. He absolutely is in love with cars and trucks. 

Here he is "backing" it up.

Inspecting the hood (?). Such a cutie. 

And Gabe is now 18 months -- a milestone -- mostly because he gets to be in nursery now!

Some stats:

He is almost 23 pounds (4th percentile)

He is 30 inches long (11th percentile)

And I can't remember how big his head was, but I remember the % -- 40!

Rockin' Out with G

Turned 9 months this past Tuesday -- This was his traditional monthly picture. What a snookum pants!

I guess eating really does wear you out!

He loved looking at himself in that little "mirror"

He usually never sits like this, that's why this picture makes me laugh so hard ... what is he doing??

A cute little face amongst all the bathroom hygiene products

"How you doin'?"

Thursdays Aunt J comes over and hangs out, and thats usually when we do stupid things, like music videos and dressing G up ... we're still polishing up our video, so you're just gonna have to wait to see it.

9 month stats:

Weight: 16.2 lbs. -- 2%

Height: 27 in. -- 12%

Head circum.: 17.5 in. -- 26%

Still small and short. Not much different from mom and dad {well, except the small part, cause that's not really the case with mom :)}

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.