Gabriel's Out of the Crib

Gabriel started the transition last night to sleeping out of a crib. We put the crib mattress on the floor, and then the whole family gathered around Gabriel as he tried to fall asleep. We turned the Oli night lights on and the turtle that projects stars. The dogs are enjoying the new "dog bed" on the floor and certainly show interest in snuggling up with Gabriel. When I checked in tonight on my way to bed, I found Gabriel hanging off the bed.

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Double Well Baby Appointments

Michael and I took Garrett and Gabriel to their well baby appointments on Wednesday. We were able to coordinate Gabriel's 2 year appointment with Garrett's 4 month appointment and got them back to back slots at Concord Pediatrics.

Garrett went first and he is growing well. He was his usual jovial and chatty self during the appointment with the nurse practitioner. Garrett now weighs 15 pounds and 4 ounces (50-65% percentile) and he's 25.5 inches tall (75% percentile). Garrett seems to be bulkier than I remember Gabriel being at this age, and Garrett seems to be wearing bigger clothes sooner than Gabriel, but the actual appointment measurements just aren't supporting that. It might be those gorgeous ham hock thighs that are throwing me off and making me think Garrett is a pudgy baby. I went back and looked at Gabriel's 4 month appointment stats and he weighed 13 lbs and 14 ounces, but was about a week and a half younger at his appointment than Garrett was. Gabriel was 75% percentile for height as well. Garrett was great with his immunizations and he consoled quickly. And Gabriel was very patient during Garrett's appointment. Daddy took him out just prior to the shots just so there wouldn't be any unnecessary emotional trauma.

Gabriel now weighs 28 pounds (50th percentile) and is 35 inches tall (65-75%). And supposedly if you double a toddler's height at 2 years, you can get the predicted adult height. So that would put Gabriel at 5 feet and 10 inches when he is fully grown. The surprise from Gabriel's well baby check is that he had a nice ear infection. Considering typical two year old behavior, Michael and I (and his day care providers) really had no clue he had a red, pussy inner ear. We started an antibiotic that night since we weren't sure if this was a new and developing ear infection or something that had been around a while. Gabriel had a shot free appointment this time around.

Snow Broom

Gabriel just loves Mommy's snow broom!

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New Year's Resolution

One of my goals for the new year is to do more blogging about the boys. I have a lot of photos for their milestones, but I have not been keeping baby books for them. So it's even more important that I keep blogging so I have the narratives and more details. I found an application for my cell phone that should help me to accomplish this as well. Stay tuned!

POOP!

Gabriel is 21 months old and just pooped on the potty for the first time. Gabriel mentioned he had to go poop and Daddy whisked him off to the bathroom. We haven't been putting a lot of pressure on potty training. We've read two books about using the potty. We have had a potty in the bathroom for a very long time, but used it mostly as a stool. And we recently bought an Elmo potty seat to go on the big toilet. We talk about how some day Gabriel will wear underwear and use the potty. And when he was pooping in his diaper, I would encourage him to tell me in the future when he felt like this and I would take him to the bathroom. We honestly have been thinking he wouldn't be ready until at least two years old, so it had been all talk so far. And we have already been warned by a few parents that there sometimes is a honeymoon period with that potty followed by regression. So far, we've had a pee on the potty and a poop. We will let Gabriel show us what he's ready for. But Gabriel was certainly proud of himself and he kept announcing, "I DID IT!"

I wonder how traumatized Gabriel will be as an adult that I posted his first poop photo?

Garrett's First Trip to the Library

Garrett had his first trip to the library today. We went to the Lapsit morning program at the Concord Public Library. It's a story hour/play time designed for children from newborn to age two. Garrett was wide awake when we got to the library and he seemed to like the colorful rug, the singing, the overhead lights, and looking at a few board books. Garrett was by far the youngest attendee of the day, but he was very popular with the toddlers anyway. They liked looking at him, and Garrett watched them toddle around. Many Moms remarked about how alert Garrett seemed. Garrett became very sleepy as the hour was winding down and he took a solid nap to recuperate. The program will be taking a hiatus and starting up again in November, and I plan to try to take Garrett again sometime before I have to go back to work. I may even try to find a day that it will work to take both Gabriel and Garrett together.

Happy Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Gabriel slept "late" until 5:45 am.

Gabriel and I left the house early and headed to the NH Sheep and Wool Festival at the Hopkinton State Fairgrounds. I've wanted to go for years and finally made it. Though, Gabriel turned out to have a crabby morning, and it was rather brisk in temperature and windy. So I can't say I loved my trip. But I did buy some fancy colored wood sock needles, and some red and grey sock yarn. Maybe I can make matching socks for Gabriel and #2. I found a little stuffed llama for Gabriel, which he clung to tightly- probably because he was freezing. And I found a little sheep rattle for #2. Oh... and I got a little felted sheep kit too. Maybe I can make a few for the Christmas tree this year.

I've been wanting to go to Buy Buy Baby in Nashua, so Gabriel and I went for a ride to Nashua this afternoon. It was too cold to be outside any more, but I enjoyed the sun from the car. Gabriel napped on the whole ride down. We saw a huge Elmo at Buy Buy Baby. We also found an Elmo Learning Curve sippy cup. It's almost impossible to miss anything Elmo with Gabriel around to point him out. I bought a nightgown for #2 and a matching soft cotton blanket. Today was the first day I actually bought things specifically for #2. Gabriel got a Darth Vader T-shirt. The newborn clothes are looking really small again in comparison to Gabriel. I also bought Gabriel a booster seat, which he used for the first time tonight. Time to put his high chair away. He's getting to be such a big boy! He seems proud of himself sitting up at the table with Mommy and Daddy and reaching up over the edge of the table with his fork.

Yesterday I got a basket of pink and white cut flowers and a Mother's Day balloon from Gabriel. And on Friday he brought home from The Learning Center the cutest purple and white dragon fly for me. The kind made with nylon and wire. I think Gabriel painted the white nylon purple himself.

And today I got a card from Gabriel. And a card from Elleigh and Lucas with a gift card to the Elegant Ewe. And Daddy and #2 got me a card and another gift certificate to Motherhood so I can buy some more prego clothing.

And I most enjoyed that Michael cooked dinner, start to finish. Marinated steak tips, garlic and asiago focaccia, butternut squash ravioli with a maple cream sauce, and salad. And then two chocolate dessert pieces that we all shared on the couch while watching a family movie.

Gave my Mom a call this morning, but we did our annual Mother Day flower shopping trip a week early this year. So that happened last Saturday and then tonight I had to bring in all of those new flowers because we are to get down to 33 degrees tonight. Burr!

Gabriel and I drove to West Lebanon to visit with Nana, Papa and Angus on Saturday after swim class. We met at Friendly's and had lunch. We even enjoyed sundaes despite the bitter cold temperatures outside. Gabriel is definitely a fan of sundaes. He would moan and nod his head while eating the bites of sundae. After a good lunch, we went shopping at Kohl's. Gabriel got a new palm pilot toy (just like Mommy's) and he seems to really enjoy it. It looked like a good car toy and it seemed to keep Gabriel's interest. Then we went to K-Mart where Gabriel and Papa tried out a wheelbarrow from the toy section. I find it interesting that Gabriel still isn't walking much without holding on to something. He certainly can walk, but just doesn't. Crawling seems to be his fastest mode of transport. We saw his first steps back just before Christmas and thought for sure he would walk by the new year. He instead went on a walking hiatus, just to surprise us with 5-8 step walking episodes at his January 10th birthday party at Grammy and Grampy's house. And though we encourage him to hold our hands and walk, he doesn't like it. And he walks around the house holding onto his play gate, or the wall, or the fridge. So in K-Mart, Nana showed him a wheelbarrow. Gabriel has to lift the handles up, balance, and push- and he can seem to do all of that while balancing Papa's soap and seeds in the bucket area. He later tried out a toy lawnmower too. His teachers are telling me that this is consistent with what Gabriel is doing at school too. He uses pushing toys to walk all over, but he certainly isn't needing them for balance.

Chuck E Cheese

Gabriel took his first trip to Chuck E Cheese's on Wednesday night. We met our friends Shaelyn and Karen there for some pizza and fun. Karen and Shae gave Gabriel a new Tupperware sorter toy. I remember having one of these as a kid, or at least having access to play with one. I apparently really liked it since I can still remember it. I certainly hope it becomes a favorite for Gabriel too. Gabriel helped me play a game of Whack-a-Gator and he took a ride on a fire truck and Clifford the Big Red Dog. Shaelyn showed Gabriel how to climb on the toddler play structure. He wasn't too sure about it, but then he saw the steering wheel mounted on the wall and he was much more willing to climb in. He also took a couple trips down the exit slide.