4 months old! 1/3 of a year! OH MY!!!! Lorelai continues to be such a joy. She is a happy baby. She is currently working hard on rolling back to front, but has not met with success quite yet. She is much more verbally "advanced" than Gabriel was at this age though so I have a feeling that's what she is focused on. We will be starting solid food in the next few days (oatmeal cereal) so we're excited to see how that goes. :) We need to get a current weight and height on her. She goes to the dr. for her 4 month wellness exam in January so we'll get those numbers at that time.
You know what that means! Lorelai had her very first Christmas!!!! :) Yay! Lets start with Christmas Eve. A little more eventful than we had originally planned for it to be. Granddad (Brian's Dad) came down to spend the holiday with us. I ordered pizza for our evening festivities (a tradition started in my family growing up), and everyone was having a grand time. Brian, Gabriel, Lorelai and Granddad went outside to play while Mommy made cookies. Well, I hear crying, and my poor boy is carried in. He is holding his arm. I end up taking him to the ER and find out he has a dislocated elbow. Yep, Gabriel's ER trips during the Christmas season seem to be becoming an annual thing. :( But, it was a quick fix (and a quick visit). We got home, but Gabriel wasn't really in the pizza mood anymore. But, you know what fixes that? Presents from your Uncle Matt, Aunt Angie, and cousin Barrett!
While Lorelai is too little to appreciate the fun that is opening presents, she did enjoy watching Mommy dress up her magnet ballerina for her. :) Thanks Wood Family! We all love our gifts.
Mommy took a picture of the present stash Santa left. :) It goes all along the back wall!
Gabriel and Lorelai both got stools with their names (which are puzzle pieces) in them. Lorelai's are pastel.
Of course Santa brought Gabriel lots of trucks, planes, trains, and helicopters. Perfect!
Oh, and books too! Of course Santa brought lots of great books!!!
A present for Daddy and Gabriel. Hmmm...what would they both enjoy?
They'd both enjoy a Little People airport to play with!!! :) (Gabriel enjoying a portion of his present stash.
Because he's such a pro Gabriel helped Grace open her presents.
Yay! A bone! Gabriel picked it out for her himself. He was so proud of it. Good story to come on the rawhide bone.
It's Lorelai's turn! All eyes on the first Christmas girl!!! (Look Mom...she's wearing those socks you bought us before Gabriel was born.)
Man, I love this bone! She was so proud of it. Her tail wagged like I haven't seen it wag in years. Cute story still to come further down...
Santa brought Lorelai lots of presents to grow in to, but of course he got her a whole heap of wonderful books to enjoy right now.
Like a My Little Pony! (I can't wait to play with girl toys!)
Here is the cuddle quilt I made Lorelai. :) A special gift just from me.
Doesn't she look cozy? This was about the 4th present in. She was getting sleepy and cranky so I helped her open it, wrapped her up, and she fell asleep. :) Brian and Gabriel opened the rest of her presents which Gabriel promptly wanted to play with. He really enjoys pushing her baby doll and Baby Princess Ariel around in the little stroller she got.
Granddad was around but kind of sat back and observed the action. Here he is trying to teach Gabriel how to spell his name.
So, I told you there was a cute story behind the bone. Grace couldn't decide where to eat it as she didn't want Gabriel to come along and snatch it up. (She sees how he is with Lorelai and her toys sometimes.) So, she ended up wanting to go into the back yard. She laid back there for a loooong time eating and enjoying the cool weather. Then I hear Brian calling me to come and look at Grace in the back yard and had I ever seen her "do this?" We look and she is in the back corner of the fence rubbing her head in the dirt. I thought maybe she got stung or had a thorn in her muzzle. Brian thought she found an animal or something. So, he went back to check and she had buried the remaining portion of her bone. LOL!!! She has NEVER done anything like that. She had dug a hole, dropped it an, and was covering it back up with her nose!!! Too funny!!!! I can't help but be proud of her for being so smart in keeping her special present away from her little brother. (Now I wonder if she'll remember it's there.) Anyway...check out that dirty nose! lol Normally that black area is all white.
And despite the chilly weather (in the 40s) Gabriel wanted to play outside. :) Loved getting all bundled up to play in the cold. And no...I'm not pregnant again. lol His leg is in my coat and making it bulge out.
Gabriel wanted to lay down on his big boy bed with Lorelai. I think he feels bad for her that she's in a crib and he gets to sleep in this cool new bed. So when we all woke up yesterday Gabriel wanted to share. :)
I love how she is looking at him in this picture.
This cracks me up to the point of tears! lol
Goofy boy!
Giddy up, Daddy! :)
Gabriel is clear of ear infections! :) Yay! We're so glad to have our normally cheery boy back. He is scheduled for a hearing check on Monday for his Speech Therapy. I'm sure he'll pass with flying colors. He has been inserting words a lot more. I'm not really sure that this is actually due to the therapy (he's only had it twice) as it is to he is just gearing up to talk more.
Lets start with Lorelai because we haven't had too many great pictures of her on the blog recently. She seems to be in the carrier or too little to partake in the fun fully. We just scheduled Lorelai's Baptism for the 23rd of January. Very exciting! :) I was trying to get a good picture for her invitation and didn't get any fabulous smiles. She seems surprised by the camera...as she's normally VERY smiley. Gabriel was the opposite.
Oh, hi camera!
What are you doing, Mommy?
Please stop taking my picture!
Oh, fine. Just finish, but I will look at you only with disgust.
Her big thing right now is working on rolling back to front. She can get on her side, but that bottom arm is getting in her way of making it all of the way over. Those pesky arms...never doing what you want them to. It's funny to watch her as she tries over and over and over again (she's a persistent little thing) and as she does she slowly turns in a circle. She's even kicking her legs while on her belly as though she wants to move forward. Early crawler? I don't know. I guess we shall see. She also has the uncanny ability to make Gabriel giggle like crazy. She likes to "sing" to him, starting with her voice low and making it go really high. This makes Gabriel laugh, which then makes her laugh. LOVE them!
Now for Gabriel. I am learning that my son is quite the womanizer. Seriously. The girls flock to this kid. He gives his little girl-friends kisses, holds their hand, and hugs them. In Kindermusik, as the teacher was reading to the kids, he put his hand on another little girls back as they sat beside each other. And just yesterday he and his little friend from the play date were laying in his new big boy bed under the covers! OH MY!!! lol And I can see why the girls would flock to him. He's well versed in children's literature, enjoys a good movie, can carry on a good conversation with anyone that speaks "Gabriel," shares his toys and food, and has a shy/sensitive side. But, he knows how to whoop it up when the occasion calls for it (most of the time). Not to mention he is just plan adorable handsome (Handsome gets you more "chicks."). All in all he's quite a catch. Wouldn't you agree?
My son the scholar. Learning the ins and outs of reindeer flight preparation.
Sounds like a boxing match doesn't it? lol Isn't that how it feels while you're preparing though? Anyway...we had our first round of Christmas celebrations with Grandma Cherlyn and Grandpa Greg on Friday. The kids had a wonderful time. And it was fun to see Gabriel's reaction to the presents this year as compared to his 9 month old self. He stood at the door yelling with excitement as his Grandma and Grandpa brought gifts in from the car. I wish I had gotten that on video. Gabriel is more interested in playing with his toys than he is opening the wrapped ones (he must take after his father), and Lorelai was so interested in all of the excitement and colors. :)
Look! I got a Car Transporter with a bunch of little cars to put on it!
What's better than a book full of trucks?!
Well, a basketball net is pretty cool. (Not as cool as a book full of trucks though.)
A little stack of presents just for precious Lorelai.
Both kids enjoyed the gloworm, but man does that thing make Lorelai smile. :)
A new book! Yay!!! Lorelai loves all of her girly books. :) I think I have another book lover on my hands. Yippee!!!
So, I was curious as to which present would grab Gabriel's attention more the next morning. Trucks? Books? Basketball? Nope...the art easel and art supplies.
Then, shifting gears a smidge we fast forward to this morning. We had Gabriel's friends Izzy and Alyssa over to decorate cookies with us. So fun! Thanks for coming to play and craft girls!
So, I am an awful mom and didn't get a single picture of Gabriel working on his cookies. Mostly because he was needing a lot of assistance. I'll have to get a picture of his finished product.
After all of that playing it was time for some lunch. And what better way to get kids to sit down and eat their lunch than with the promise of one of their freshly baked cookies when they're all done? :)
If you're not watching The Sing Off you are missing out on some quality television. Okay, maybe the girl judge from Pussycat Dolls comes across as high (she very well may be), but otherwise this is great TV. Genuine singers being appreciated for their actual singing abilities. And I actually feel as though the majority of the groups this year have been amazing! I implore you to get on Hulu and watch the previous episodes (there aren't that many but they are 2 hours long each). It will suck you in! Below is a video of On the Rocks. They may not have made it to the finals (sorry about that spoiler there), and may not be my favorites to win (Street Corner Symphony!), but they are HIGHLY entertaining and will give you a taste of what you are missing if you don't watch this show.
Well, Gabriel is now in his toddler bed and I think he's still working on feeling completely comfortable in it. He no longer cries when we put him in it, but I think he has a hard time falling right to sleep. He's not used to the whole pillow thing, sleeping in a different direction, and not having the comfort of the prison bars crib rails surrounding him. Mommy is also having a difficult time with it. As I was disassembling his crib I did have tears come to my eyes with the realization that he is ever that much closer to not being a true baby anymore. And while that's exciting and wonderful, it's also heart breaking and terrifying. As I'm telling my new mom friends and pregnant friends...everything with Gabriel is always uncharted territory. You never get over that "new mom" thing with your first born (and I'm sure some things the subsequent children do as well).
So here is my big boy, showing his animals that sleeping in a toddler bed isn't as scary as it at first may seem.
Well, lets get the not fun and "exciting" things out first.
1) Lorelai is better! YAY!!!!
2) Gabriel isn't. His ear infection moved to both ears, so he is now on his second round of antibiotics.
3) Gabriel climbed out of his crib. Twice. So he has moved to a brand new toddler bed (we'll get him a bigger bed in the future, but this took us very much by surprise so I found a toddler bed on clearance for $20 at Target. Ya can't beat that! Especially on short notice.)
4) Gabriel is having a hard time transitioning to the new bed. Especially with being sick which means Brian and I have gotten VERY little sleep. We're talking like 2-3 hours of sleep a night for us. (And for Gabriel.)
5) We had Gabriel evaluated for his speech by ECI (Early Childhood Intervention). I will try to make this short...he qualified, but they fudged his numbers to make him qualify. I'm annoyed by this. They used his everyday vocabulary (about 5 words) rather than his full vocabulary (about 50). This put him in the 14 month category for speech development. Anyway...I know they were trying to do us a favor by marking him that way so we can get services for him, but I wanted him scored as he actually is. They didn't even count his animal sounds as words (which they're supposed to be). Okay...anyway, he will be having a speech therapist coming to see him once a week at the house, and we are working with him at home (all of the things they gave us to do are things we were already doing though so I just feel very frustrated by it all). We're doing it for now, and will see if we feel it is helping him at all or not.
Now, on to the zoo trip. We took a family visit to the Houston Zoo today. It was gorgeous. And despite the family's lack of sleep everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I'm short on time so I'll just post the pictures with brief captions for you. :)
I believe he's looking at some sort of hoofed animal here. He loved walking up to the fences this time.
This is a great one. :) And he was enjoying the pigs sooo much.
But, we tore him away to go pet/brush some goats. He made it his goal to brush every single goat there. I think he did.
When a goat would walk past him he would squeal with delight.
Lorelai was there too! lol But, she slept in the carrier for the most part.
Family shot. Sorry my hair is so crazy. It's funny because in the second version of this pose my hair looks fine. Weird.
Gabriel enjoyed roaring at the lions.
The elephants were also a hit. When we got home and I asked Gabriel what his favorite animal was at the zoo he made his elephant sound.
He was practically diving out of Brian's arms trying to get to the elephants. But, he had to settle for this statue.
Here he is making his elephant sound. He sticks his nose up in the air and goes "Ooooo.." (with an elephanty sound to it.).
There were 2 baby elephants. :)
On our way out we saw the Meerkats. Gabriel thinks they're a hoot.
Staring contest! lol Actually he kept trying to kiss it through the glass, but the brim of his cap kept preventing him from doing it.
All in all a great day, despite everyone being very tired from Gabriel's frequent night wakings. Fingers crossed that he gets over that soon and his ear infections go away.
So, if we go back to last Thursday we start off with Lorelai getting a cold.
Saturday Gabriel begins getting sick and we have our family (Lorelai's 3 month) pictures. (I hope they turned out well. None of the children were cooperative in the least due to having colds.)
Sunday Lorelai begins having trouble breathing. Gabriel has fevers of 102. Call the on call nurse.
Monday take everyone to Houston for a doctor visit. Make 3 separate trips to Walgreens. Don't even get me started on that. And that evening my husband accidentally sorta floods the bathroom. Long story. The damage isn't terrible but he did have to pull up the linoleum and the baseboards. Gabriel sleeps horribly.
Tuesday I begin getting a cold. Mother-in-Law calls to tell us she's not feeling well and is headed to her doctor in Houston. Gabriel sleeps horribly.
Wednesday we find out Mother-in-Law is okay. She has an inner ear problem. (We're sorry to hear that!) The kids seem to be on the mend although Lorelai still has a little wheeziness. (Is that a word?) And Gabriel is still very cranky. Finally Gabriel slept, but Lorelai woke up twice. At least her appetite is back.
Thursday...both kids are napping at the SAME TIME!!! And we have someone coming over at 4 so I have been cleaning like a mad person.
I'm not looking forward to breaking the sickie habits Gabriel has created. He was so lethargic he watched a lot of TV and has been VERY demanding of my attention. More so than usual. Lorelai thankfully is a wonderful sickie. So happy. Apparently the cranky sick guy thing starts when they're little. It's not just an adult male thing. So, to cheer up anyone else who had a crummy week here is some video of my little Lorelai laughing. These are little laughs. She really had a big hearty one the other day. :)
My poor babies. We're off to the doctor tomorrow. Lorelai was the first one to get a cold on Thursday. Her breathing has worsened but not enough to be concerning until today, but no fever. Gabriel started getting a cold yesterday, but last night graduated to a mild fever. Today he has a fever ranging anywhere from 100.9 - 102.2 depending on the time you take it. Both kids are coughing and have stuffy noses. Luckily Gabriel's nose runs. Lorelai's won't and I can't get hers to suction hardly at all despite the saline I'm using. I called the on call nurse and she said they sound like they'll be okay for tonight but to bring them both in tomorrow. She said it doesn't sound like Lorelai has croup. So, say a little prayer for fast healing for the kiddos.
3 months has come and gone! It seems like Lorelai has been part of our family forever and yet time, as always, has gone so quickly! She's such a happy and talkative girl. So easy going. Here she has a horrible cold and she is acting just as cheery as a sicky can be. I wish I could have the cold for her, poor thing.
She is now weighing in at about 13.5 lbs. and is still in the 80% for weight. We didn't do her height. She laughed for the first time today. It was darling! :) Can't wait to hear it more. Don't you just want to hug her? I'm so lucky. I get to every day. :) BEST. JOB. EVER!
This Saturday we attended the Lake Jackson Festival of Lights. We figured Gabriel was old enough to get some form of enjoyment out of it all. Yeah...we were wrong. First tortured our poor boy on the merry-go-round. We even chose an elephant thinking he would enjoy it more. Nope. He wanted to get off before the ride even started and by the end was sobbing. (I'm thinking he was hungry, which contributed to it, as he hadn't eaten much of his snack.)
Lorelai was oblivious to the chaos as she was sleeping in the BabyHawk carrier. Have I mentioned that I love that thing? :)
After the ride of terror we thought we'd head over to a ducky game for some calm entertainment. Easy stuff...pick a ducky and the letter on the bottom (S, M, L) decides the toys you get to choose from.
Well, after being emotionally scarred by his Daddy on the merry-go-round...
Mommy taught Gabriel how to pick up some ducks. Once he learned how to pick up ducks he didn't want to stop. We claimed his prize, and the man running the booth was very nice and let him pick one for Lorelai too. But, Gabriel was now fascinated with the ducks. The man in charge let him have his fun for as long as he wanted, but Brian and I decided it was time to move along resulting in more tears from Gabriel.
So, of course when your child is visibly upset what does any good parent do? Put him on another terrifying ride of course! This time I rode with Gabriel in these little Flintstone looking cars on a little round track. Once again before the ride even began he wanted to get off. But, we stuck with it. He cried a little bit more but mostly sat in my lap sucking his thumb.
Apparently he was not ready for the Festival of Lights. Oh well...now we know.
Today was a rare occasion when Gabriel was napping and Lorelai was awake. It's not often I get to spend fun time with my baby girl uninterrupted around here. We had a fabulous time dancing to The Wheels on the Bus and doing little cheers. :) She is so strong. She can already hold her head up 90 degrees for a fair amount of time and she is trying to stand in my lap at times. She consistently can roll from front to back, so I know back to front is just around the corner. And today, on the day her brother turns 20 months old, I am reminded all too much of how fast they are growing up.
Do you think if I put bricks on their heads they'll slow down for me some?
On a side note...I need photography advice. I LOVE my camera. LOVE. But, I don't really know how to use it and don't have very much time to learn (and not a lot of patience to read about it frankly). So, can someone explain to me how to get good shots of my kiddos indoors without a flash? They move so quickly that most of their shots come out blurred. The top one of Lorelai is minus the flash, but is slightly blurred. The bottom is with a flash so it's perfect, but it looks like the room is dark and it wasn't. It was really nice and sunny (cheery) like the top picture. Maybe I'm asking too much, but I'd like to get the bright cheery feel without the blurriness. Anyone have suggestions??? :) (Or is someone willing to research this for me and to give me the easy answer for what settings I need to use?)
Gabriel loves to help with Lorelai when he can. So after watching me feed her a bottle he wanted to come and help as well. Notice how he feeds her, strokes her head (loving on her like I do as she eats), and then wipes her mouth? LOVE IT!!! :) Oh, and he's looking at his Toy Story 3 DVD. His new addiction...all things Toy Story. He carries his Woody doll from Disney World all over the place now.
And isn't Lorelai just yummy? Seriously I could cuddle that darling girl all day long!
Gabriel is a creature of habit. He always has been. Yesterday was a day filled with inconsistencies. What happens when Gabriel is over tired from a chaotic morning?
Let me start this by saying that Gabriel is a VERY well behaved little boy and rarely gives Brian or myself any trouble. However, we are getting to that stage of testing some limits. And while a simple "No no" and head shake work wonders with him, there are times that that isn't enough. Example: Dinner. If he's in the booster he screams, throws his food, and pushes his chair back from the table with his feet almost knocking himself backwards. So, we started letting him stand in the chair. Now he eats but wants down to play before he's finished. We had been putting his food down on the chair so he could run by and get some as he needed to, but I realized we were creating a BAD habit. While I understand his toddler need to stand/sit in the big people chair, he needs to learn that food is eaten at the table. Not as a drive-through. lol
Enter "Love & Logic." I LOVE this stuff. It's so common sense parenting. I actually happened upon it early in my teaching career and used it for several years with GREAT success. Then my last school (Woo! Jane Long!!) began using it as a school wide discipline technique. I think it was a great improvement and the kids knew consistently what would happen in every class/place they went.
Now that Gabriel is getting a little older and can understand more Brian and I are committed to using this technique at home. So, this week and next posters are going up on the walls of our home to remind us of the techniques we need to use. It's sort of Super Nanny minus the cheese factor. ;) What is boils down to...
Kids are sort of like banks. All day long you want to make deposits into their trust accounts. The more choices you give them over little things (what shoes do you want to wear? do you want milk or juice?) constantly throughout the day the more willing their are to concede to what you NEED them to do (making a withdrawl) when those rare occasions arise. The more choices you give them all day, the more willing they are to do what you ask, and even rarer (over time and practice of course) when they pitch a fit you have a solid technique for dealing with it. EMPATHY! I could go on and on, but I HIGHLY recommend this book to all parents (these techniques can also work with teenagers, or even spouses sometimes. lol) or parents to be. Seriously. Read this book. It can change your parenting life. I don't get mad. I get sad, and it makes a world of difference. And as with any discipline program consistency is key. That's why the posters will be going up so that Brian and I are doing the exact same things. I'm so excited to get both of us started.
So, I've been trying and trying to catch Lorelai rolling on video. But, as all kids seem to do, as soon as the camera comes out she won't do it. Today I caught her mid roll. Of course when I tried to catch the whole thing she wouldn't do it anymore. Sorry. I do what I can when I can, and before Gabriel notices the camera and takes it to make his own "home movies." lol
She is also quite the talker these days. I call her chin her "Happy Button." When you jiggle her little chin she just smiles, coos, and laughs. (The laugh is when it sounds like she's coughing while smiling.) She's changing so fast.
And I know my mom wanted to see Gabriel playing in the playhouse so here is video of that. :)
After about a month of on and off hard work in costume making I am proud to say that Halloween was a HUGE hit. :) The kids were adorable. And everyone knew what they were. (Thank goodness.) Gabriel made a wonderful Peter Pan and Lorelai was the sweetest little Tinkerbell. Make sure you go through the entire post for some extra cute video of Gabriel.
Mommy made: the headband, skirt, wings, and dyed the onesie. The wings are sewn to the back of the onesie.
Mommy made: The hat, shirt, pants, belt, and dagger.
So, the evening started off with an early dinner so we could get out before too many other kids were out and about. Gabriel was very excited. He was running around the house shrieking. He wasn't too fond of the hat at first, but once we got outside and walking he didn't mind it anymore.
Early on he was enthusiastic about carrying his treat bag. That lasted for about 30 seconds.
Lorelai promptly fell asleep.
We only really visited houses of people we knew or that knew our kids. There is an elderly couple that we are friendly with that was really looking forward to seeing the kids dressed up. So we stopped by there first. Of course our shy boy cried and cried on our way up to the door. So, Mommy picked him up and once he saw that it was Mr. Bob he was fine. Gabriel got braver as the night went on with each house. He was pretty shy overall though. No more crying after the first house however. Yay, Gabriel! He chose the standing back and letting mommy get the candy for him method.
He preferred to hold all of his candy at once. This proved to be difficult as we visited more houses. Decisions had to be made. He opted for carrying mostly lollipops. He kept trying to eat them through the paper. So first we opened a chocolate Tootsiepop. He wasn't a fan. Then we got to the cherry. He sucked on that one for the rest of the journey...getting it on his clothes, hands, face, and hair. But, he had fun.
She should have been Sleeping Beauty for the way she conked out while we visited houses.
Of course one you get home you have to inspect the goodies. Gabriel preferred the candy while he allowed his daddy to hold on to the lollipop wrappers.
Gabriel's FAVORITE part of the evening though was handing out candy. We stayed out on the driveway until the mosquitoes came out in full force. Gabriel caught on very fast as to how candy is handed out and he began helping Brian at the second trick-or-treater to show up at our driveway. After a bit he began waving candy in the air to let people know he had candy to hand out. Then when he'd put the candy in their bag he'd wave bye-bye. CUTEST little candy hander outer EVER!!!
Gabriel gave this little girl 3 pieces of candy (more than he gave anyone else) and practically ran after her to give her more! lol
