Gabriel's 7 Month Update

Now, I know what you're thinking... "Wow, Gabe has been 6 months for almost two months now!" Right? Wrong. What actually happened is that this has been the craziest month ever and I FINALLY have a chance to sit down and write... Totally weird and unlike me, right? (Just nod along, please.) Anyway, it has been another wonderful month with our boy -- here is what our Gabey is up to:

This is how most of our photo shoot looked.

Weight: I'm guessing 17 lbs... we will have an exact weight for his 9 month update!

Length: At his 6 month checkup, he was 26.75" long (56%)... and a noggin in the 97% (18 inches!) 

Nicknames: Gabey, Gabe, Chunks, Blue eyes, Chunkilicious, Stinker, Little Brother

Wearing: 9 & 12 month

Sleep: No changes, except that we have all been going to bed/waking up earlier since our trip to Tennessee last month! (Gabe normally goes down 9:30-10 and sleeps until at least 9.)

Gabe likes: Jackson, Bella, stuffed animals, crawling, tickles, cuddles, being the center of attention, being interacted with, bath time, exersaucer, sleeping, stealing his brothers toys, pulling hair, eating, sitting in the high chair at restaurants, plane rides (for the most part), the Sandmeier clan (Grandma, Grandpa, Great Grandpa, and Great Aunt Debbie)

Gabe dislikes: Not being able to walk, the stroller, when bath time is over, when everyone leaves the room, long car rides, having toys that are too small taken away from him, diaper changes, having to lay on his back for long periods at a time, not being able to move around when we are out and about, long car rides

Mom & Dad's Favorite Things: His interactions with Jackson and Bella, watching him learn new things, his adorable little smile and laugh, his rolls, how he tries mimicking things

I usually show pictures of something correlating to this month's big milestones, but I don't have many relevant pictures... soo, enjoy these quick bullet points! 

~I kid you not, we only set Gabe up on his own once or twice and he not only had it down, but quickly learned how to move from a crawling position to sitting up back to crawling... this kid is way too stinking strong AND smart!

~My mom played Patty Cake with Gabe one weekend when she was here and Gabe was absolutely enthralled and started clapping a few days later... (To give you a little comparison, The Bump says clapping doesn't normally begin until between 8 to 9 months!) 

~With all of this being said, it should come as no surprise that Gabe is extremely observant and studies every one and everything really closely... Future doctor and/or president? I think so! 

First time sitting at the table! 

Baby Besties: Gabriel, Natalie, and Bennett!

Sleeping on the plane to Grandma and Grandpa Sandmeiers

4 generations of good men in Tennessee!

First time in a high chair (sharing chicken tenders with Grandpa Bryan)

Somebody loved his grandma!

 

Last day at Grandma and Grandpas :(

Daddy introducing the boys to Star Wars on May 5th 

 

 

Big boy's first time riding in the front of the cart!

 

 

Somebody was SO happy to be out of the car and at our New Mexico hotel!

Trip to Santa Fe for my cousin's graduation

 

Congratulations, sweet Sarah!

Can't stop, won't stop with the sleeping pictures <3

On the way home from New Mexico -- he wasn't a fan of the long road trip

Gabriel's 6 Month Update

What a month! Our baby is now moving more than ever (which I didn't think was possible) and is also getting cuter, funnier, and even more of a sweet little personality. Month 5 was another busy one so I will skip the chatter and get to the update! 

Weight: 16 lbs. (he's in the 22%, which can be attributed to the fact that he was sick and only nursed for a week AND that he is ALWAYS moving!)

Length: 26.75" (56%)... and a noggin in the 97% (18 inches!) 

Nicknames: Gabe, Gabey, Chunkilicious, Red, Baby Gabey

Wearing: 9 month fits best, but he can still squeeze into a couple 6 month pajamas. 

Sleep: He still sleeps great as long as he is on me... he likes to nurse throughout the night (which the doctor said is more of a pacifier issue), so trying to get him accustomed to his crib should be interesting! 

Gabe likes: Jackson, Bella, Costco, going for walks, jumping, moving constantly, being included in things, being held and interacted with, reading, army crawling like a mad man, bath time, his exersaucer, 

Gabe dislikes: Being hungry and/or alone, feeling left out, his crib, when mommy tries to make him sleep in his crib, being overly tired, not being able to do something he has set his mind to (crawling, putting food in his mouth, etc

Mom & Dad's Favorite Things: Watching him play with Jackson, his adorable laugh, seeing his little personality come through more and more, how smart and alert he is, his big blue eyes and red hair

I usually show pictures of something correlating to this month's big milestones, but I don't have many relevant pictures... soo, enjoy these quick bullet points! 

~Gabe is OBSESSED with Bella and it is adorable -- I can remember when Jackson first noticed Bitsy when he was maybe 6 or 7 months old and got the biggest smile on his face... anyway, Gabe first noticed Bella at around 4 months and has been going after her ever since! Luckily, Bella is the sweetest girl ever and is really gentle with Gabe (even when he pulls her fur or tail).

~We learned how to army crawl this month and haven't looked back! Gabe can actually get around really quickly, but gets so frustrated in that he still can't figure out how to crawl on his hands and knees... maybe this will be the month he finally gets it. 

~Jackson came down with a nasty fever followed by lots of coughing and snot which, of course, Gabe ended up with the next week. Fortunately (I guess), it was just a virus, but the doctor still put him on amoxicillin since he also contracted a double ear infection. This didn't come as a huge surprise, but his doctor brought up getting his tubes in his ears since this is his 3rd or 4th ear infection in 6 months. We definitely want to wait a bit to do the surgery (preferably until after he is 1), but are pretty certain it is something we want to go forward with. In other news, Gabe STILL can't rotate his legs out to the side like he should be able to, which could be because of hip dysplasia or just the fact that he is really stiff (which is what the doctor thinks -- he had a hard time getting his arms to even bend and joked that he will make a great football linebacker but a terrible gymnast), so he ordered hip x-rays to get a better look. Aside from that, everything looked great (and he once again marveled at how strong and stubborn Gabe is for a baby). 

Baby's (and big brother's) first Nuggets game! We played the Cavs and WON!

Somebody got his first taste of cake this month (during mommy's birthday lunch)... he has yet to look back! 

Baby's 1st opening day! We went to Cheddar's to watch the game and shared a dessert :)

 At the Wish Boutique fashion show with mommy, Grammy, and Aunt Nancy! (Not pictured: All the ladies oohing and ahhing over him -- including former Miss Colorado, Kelly Johnson!) 

 Wearing his brother's Easter outfit

Gabe enjoyed sucking on the Easter Bunny's matted fur :/

 The Easter Bunny left lots of goodies on Grammy and Grandpa's fire place! 

Gabey's 6 month check up

Gabriel's 5 Month Update

...and just like that, Gabe is 5 months old :/ This is the last month that my baby will be closer to being a newborn than he is to being 1... how can this be?! As always, Gabriel is a true joy and is beginning to show us his little fiery, go-getter personality. He loves being held, moving constantly, and trying to do whatever his big brother is doing (which tends to receive a mixed reaction from Mr. Jax). Whenever I think back to when I was pregnant and stressed out about whether or not I could ever love Gabe as much as I love Jackson, I have to laugh -- we truly couldn't love this boy more than we do! 

Enough of my babble -- here's the man of the hour:

Weight: No scale at home, but I will guess that he's up a pound from his 4-month checkup (so 15 lbs. 15 oz).

Length: As per his 4-month checkup, 25 inches (68th percentile, with a head in the 93rd....)

Nicknames: Gabe, Gabey, Baby Gabey, Chunks, Chunkilicious, Cheeks

Wearing: Some 3-6 month still barely fits, but for the most part he rocks the 6-9 month clothes.

Sleep: No big change since last month... he still sleeps on me... BUT we have been talking A LOT about getting both boys back into their rooms, so I may have some stories to tell about that come next month. 

Gabe likes: Being held, jumping while he's being held, eating regular foods, feeding himself, being able to do things on his own, watching Jackson, reading with Jax and mommy, rocking, being sang to, interaction, playing on his mat, chewing on EVERYTHING, kicking and rolling, Bella

Gabe dislikes: When he can't do something on his own, being left out of anything, when everyone leaves the room, staying in one place for too long, loud noises, having something taken away that he was chewing on, traveling long distances

Mom & Dad's Favorite Things: His blue eyes and red hair, cute little smile and babbles, his stubborn personality, watching him interact with Jackson, when he discovers something new and gets excited

~Right after we got the go-ahead from Gabe's doctor, we started him on solids! It's funny because I was SO opposed to starting Jax on real food until after he was 6-months (partly because we were getting ready to go on a big road trip and partly because I was depressed and didn't want my baby to grow up) but Gabe has been so fascinated with watching us eat since he was about 2-months and would always get so excited and enthusiastic about it... anyway, we decided to wait until we got back from Punta Cana to begin, but I ended up giving him some tortilla (pictured) the night of his doctor's appointment. He is already such a good eater and loves sampling just about anything we're eating (his favorites so far are any kind of bean, fruit purees, breads, fish of any kind, and chicken)!

 

 

~The boys sweet Nana (Brandon's mom) and her husband -- Grandpa Russell -- came out from Kansas for the weekend and we had a wonderful time showing them around Denver and introducing them to Mr. Gabe :)

 

 

 

~We took the babies to Punta Cana this month (which deserves a post of its own) and had a wonderful time relaxing by the pool, exploring the resort (Hard Rock), and overeating. The plane rides there were pretty smooth and uneventful, but the trip back was an entirely different story and made for one stressful day (long story short, we had a one hour lay over in New Jersey and didn't make our flight in time because of customs and the world's slowest security line and world's rudest TSA agents... fortunately, we made it on the next flight to Denver, but Gabe and I sat in a different row than Brandon and Jax, and Gabe only napped 20 minutes of the entire 4 hour flight... ugh!)

~You wouldn't know it from his pictures, but holy moly does this kid have a temper! He is usually pretty happy and content, but the minute something isn't going his way (he drops something, everyone leaves the room, he's bored with whatever he is doing), he SCREAMS. Personality wise, he is the dead opposite of Jackson, so I have a feeling we may need to tweak our parenting style a bit for our feisty and opinionated little man!

~No picture, but ever since this kid first rolled from his back to his stomach (at exactly 15 weeks), he has not stopped and now gets from point a to point b in record time by rolling himself across the room... Needless to say, we ordered a baby gate for the stairs and Brandon is getting it installed this weekend.

Pictures

Baby's first ashtag (and the first time he ever took his paci!)

 

Somebody loved his cousin, Gabby!

Meeting his godmother, Veronica (AKA Cinderella) after her performance

 

Jackson is always asking to hold Gabe and Gabe thinks that Jackson is the funniest person on earth!

Daddy and his 3 babies

5 am flights call for 1 am wake up calls :(

Trying on Jackson's hand-me-downs before the trip

3 best friends enjoying the playroom