White Christmas in Portland!

Gabe's first Christmas was marked by the biggest snowstorm to hit Portland in 40 years, reportedly. It started around December 14 and basically snowed continually until Christmas day, with nightly ice-overs. For a few days in a row, we were snowed in and it put a dent into holiday duties (i.e. shopping, presents, all the good stuff!). I think because most times it's a wet Christmas, most people around these parts were tickled to have a white Christmas. But I have to admit that I have a love/hate relationship with snow. I loved it as a kid of course (it meant no school and snow angels, yay!), but the older I got, the love lessened. I am not a Grinch, I swear. But snow is only pretty if it doesn't interfere with my plans, :)

Anyway, the great thing is that Craig was able to walk to a toy store that was very close by and he bought G some presents. And I think it was nice to spend Christmas together, just the three of us. And during naps, I was able to catch some of the Star Trek: The Next Generation marathon on the Sci-Fi channel. Awesome.

Oh, by the way, despite my complaints, I still like walking and playing in the snow. If Gabe was older and it hadn't been so cold, I would have taken him out in it. Maybe next year...but hopefully not with quite as much snow!

The Anti-Napper

I've seen this term here and there online and it describes Gabe. As most moms know, it's a challenge to get much done when you're taking care of a baby. During those first few months, I gave myself up to not getting anything done except eating, showering and sleeping. I thought that once Gabe was in a routine, I could do things while he napped. Well, come to find out the boy doesn't "nap" in the strict sense of the word. He has what can be more accurately described as "brief lapses in consciousness."

Emphasis on brief.

I've heard of babies going down for sleep and/or naps seamlessly and staying that way for 2-3 hours. It's a foreign concept to me. Gabe needs to be walked or rocked to sleep. Now admittedly, it doesn't take long for him to enter sleepyland; maybe 5-10 minutes. But he's sure in a hurry to get out. He'll nap for a half-hour, usually. If I'm really lucky, I might get 90 minutes.

So what do I do? I go with the flow. Until he can understand that he must lay there, even if he's not sleepy!

First Foods

We've been feeding Gabe rice cereal mixed with breast milk for a few weeks now and he seems to like it okay. However, Gabe has been utterly offended at the other foods I've given him.

Cases in Point:
1) I tried yams on Thanksgiving: a look of complete disgust.
2) Sneaked yams into rice cereal: are you kidding me?
3) Tonight, pureed apple (Golden Delicious): mmm, this is strange...maybe I like it...no! Sorry!

I know its normal for babies to spit food out, hate it, then like it, like it, then hate it, on and on. But I must say I really thought he'd like the apples straight away. I certainly thought it was good. I was tempted to eat the rest myself. I wonder what babies are thinking when they are being given these new tastes and textures? If anyone has any stories about their babies (even if they are not babies anymore) and eating, do share.

Gabe sits up alone!

Wow..I hear all these milestones just suddenly happen. Craig was playing with him and he just sat up by himself. Just like that. It's amazing to watch Gabe grow up. So much happens in the first year, so we're trying to relish every moment.

Grandma Claire visits for Thanksgiving

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! Ours was pretty eventful. In addition to my mom flying out from Philadelphia for the week, Gabe's first two teeth (bottom front) worked their way up at an incredible speed. He also got a cold, but weathered it very well (no fever).

This was my mom's third trip to Portland and I think she likes the Northwest more with every visit. She was content, for the most part, just visiting with Gabe (oh and us, too). She, Craig's mom and I divided up cooking duties for the big day. A small crowd, but nice. We played a game called Apples to Apples, and that was fun. My mom is already planning her next visit: next summer (by the way, we've convinced her to move here, but it won't be for a few years! Still got to work on my bro...).

Fall at the Rose Garden

Two weeks ago, we visited with Brian and Eunice and their little ones Jaiden and Angel. They drove down from Olympia, WA and spent the day with us. It had been over a year since we'd seen them, so it was nice to catch up. We ate pizza, hung out at our crib and then bounced over to Portland's Rose Garden. Now, fall isn't the best time to go to the Rose Garden because the rose petals are, yeah, falling. But the day was pretty nice (you could actually see Mt. Hood), though cool, and it was fun to walk around and watch Jaiden and Angel pick up forlorn petals. Brian took these pics for us. Thanks, Brian!

Welcome!

Hi everyone! Welcome to the first post on our family blog, The Brewster Buzz. Craig and I have been toying with the idea of creating a family blog since I got pregnant with Gabriel last year. With most of our family and friends either a six-hour plane ride or a few hours drive away, we thought a blog would be a easy way to keep anyone that was interested in the loop on what's going on with us.

Now, naturally, I have been pretty lazy about starting it (my mom would say, in a playfully annoyed tone, "it would have been nice to have it while you were pregnant, Nise"), but now that we have a kid that grows incredibly fast with each passing day and the busy first months of Gabriel's arrival are behind us, I have a little more time to devote to it.

I'll post info and pics about Gabriel, holiday stuff, trips, and family updates. We'll try to keep random rants to a minimum, :) I'll plan to put up a new posting on a weekly basis, but I might miss a week or two because life gets busy, you know?

So, here are some pics of Gabriel after we put him into his PJs a few days ago. Right now, I think he is going through a growth spurt. The hair he lost is growing back in, too. I am still exclusively nursing him (no formula or solids) and he is thriving wonderfully.