Starting the "baby proofing", etc., etc.

We bought some gates and outlet plugs on Sunday from Babies R Us. We haven't put them in yet because G is not totally independently mobile, but he is getting there fast. He can slowly make his way across the room, if left to play on the rug. Within the last few days, he has mastered getting himself into a sitting position from lying on his stomach. And he tried numerous times to get up on his feet, but he is not quite that strong enough yet.

Nothing much happening this week. We are having a couple over this Saturday that we met in our childbirth class last year. Their son is a few weeks younger than G (Gabe is actually the oldest boy of all the babies born from our class). I am making a quiche with potato wedges for a side, and Craig will make some fruit smoothies.

Craig also borrowed his mom's tape player (we don't have one anymore) to go over some cassettes to figure out to which ones to get rid of and which ones to digitize. He has several cassettes of his late birth father's music and some of him (Craig) saying funny things as a toddler that will definitely be digitized. Everything else, we have to make a choice about. So perhaps we will start doing this Sunday.

Oh, and I've made a few additions to the blog: I added some of the blogs that I follow (they are all very, very cool, including my other blog Chronicles of a News Junkie), running a tally of books we've read individually or as a family, and one other thing I can't remember at the moment, :) If you get this blog in email, click on the link at the end to go directly to the blog to check it out. I will add more stuff, so keep checking!

Well, above is the photo of the week of G sitting in his crib. Those teeth are so cute!

Farmer's Market

Yesterday, the family went to the first Portland Farmer's Market of the season. It's located on the campus of Portland State University in Southwest Portland. G slept the whole drive there, which was great. When we found a parking spot, he woke up looking around confusedly. But he didn't cry. We put him in the stroller and made our way to the market.

I didn't get anything, since there isn't much in season right now. But it was good to see what vendors were there. After spending about a half hour at the market, we decided to walk around the area, which had the usual campus-like feel to it. It reminded me of how fun it was going to college, hanging out on Temple's campus. Even though going to school had it's annoyances, overall my college experience was fun.

So we saw a Seattle's Best coffee shop and stopped in. G was very chill, while Craig and I each got a treat: a berry latte for him and a Irish Cream latte for me. We drank most of it in the shop, then headed for our car. We then stopped at another coffee shop called Boyd's to look at some coffee makers; we're thinking about replacing the one we have. After that, we headed home.

G was fine throughout the whole trip. For those of you that don't know, G used to HATE his car seat. We had to get new one in November because he grew out of it and we got a different brand from Britax that he seems to like better. So while I don't think he loves his car seat, but I think he realizes this is the way we're going roll for the time being and it is better than what he had before!

Mr. Wendal

Here is a cute video of G dancing to "Mr. Wendal" by Arrested Development while sitting on Craig's lap

First Word?

I had noticed within the last several weeks that G was making "mama"sounds, but it was hard to tell if he was calling me or just experimenting with different sounds. Well during the last few days it became obvious that "mamama" means he wants me or he wants to nurse. To be fair, "mamama" can also be his way of saying "milk", too. It doesn't matter; either way its exciting to see him communicate!

We are working on "dadada", which I think he has just gotten the hang of. When Craig comes home, I always say, "There is Daddy!" So, I think it's cementing in who is who in the house. He also responds to his name pretty well, too.

Three new teeth coming in!

G has the top two middle teeth and one on the bottom coming in. The top ones have already broken through the gum and are making their way down. The bottom one has yet to break the gum. The pic above was taken a few days ago, so I think those middle ones have come down a little more since then.

As usual, he is taking things in stride. He has some moments of crankiness probably due to pain. But I think so far he is dealing well with it all.

Nothing much going on with the parents. I am currently waiting for a Amazon order of two books: a copy of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and a copy of the Jewish New Testament. Every few years, I purchase new editions of the Bible and I am well overdue. I've never owned a copy of the Hebrew Bible. So far as I know, the only differences between the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament is the order of the books. Once I start reading some of it, I will know if there are any other differences.

9 Month Appt.

Gabe is starting to even out with his height. He is now 29 inches, but still tall for his age, in the 70th percentile (for the longest time he was in the 90's). He is in the 15th percentile in weight at 18.5 pounds, so he is on the leaner side. I read that exclusively breastfeed babies are usually on the leaner side, but that is certainly not the case for all breastfed babies. G might just have lean genes!

He had no shots this time. Since he isn't in daycare and is breastfed, we're not getting all the shots the AAP recommends. They have a lot more shots than they were when Craig and I were babies. And the AAP schedule calls for sometimes several shots at once, yikes. Right now, he is getting DTaP and HIB. He is not due for another shot until about 15 months.

Gabe is walking! Sort of

Gabe can stand very well holding onto someone or something. But now, he demands that one of us (and for some reason he mostly prefers Craig) hold his hands and walk him around the room. He knows how to place one foot in front of the other and does quite well. He gets pretty upset if we stop doing it, unless we distract him with another activity. I think he is just bursting with the desire to be mobile, but his body hasn't quite caught up with his mind yet.

Today, we went for a walk to the UPS store to mail some stuff. It was nice and sunny (need to get that Vitamin D) and dry. It felt great to get out, but then when I got back I got terribly tired. And so was Gabe, who had a mini-meltdown during lunch! I settled him into a nap and finished eating my lunch with no problems.