5 months

Wow...5 months already? It's amazing how fast times flies. Gabriel doesn't go for a check up until he's 6 months...but he's been developing so quickly over the past month.

He rolls over from his back to his stomach about every time we lay him down on his back. He gets a little upset once he rolls over because he hates being on his stomach. I'm sure he will not mind it as much once he learns to roll from his stomach to his back. It's so funny to watch him kick his leg across his body to roll over and then pull his arm from underneath him. Most mornings we'll find that he has rolled over during the night but doesn't make a fuss about it until he wakes up to realize it.

He grabs at objects now and tries to make a conscious effort to do so - whether it be a toy, your face or your fingers.We can put a toy in front of his face and he will reach out and grab it. I never thought such an insignificant thing to you can be so amazing to watch your child learn.

We started to put him down for the night a little earlier. He goes to bed between 9:00 & 9:30 and wakes up anywhere between 7am & 8am. He is usually really good about falling asleep on his own at night. It makes our nights a lot easier having him able to do that, as we have more time to get things ready for the next day- washing & preparing bottles, packing lunches, etc.

Gabriel is such a vocal baby. He squeals when he gets excited and laughs when you tickle or make silly faces. His face recognition is beginning to develop. He definitely knows his mommy & daddy. Steven will smile really big at him and Gabriel will show the cutest smile and turn his head away as if he were shy.

I think if Gabriel could crawl now he would. He likes to "stand" a lot and when you give him the opportunity to move forward, he lunges forward like he's got somewhere to be.

4 Months

Gabriel recently had his 4 month check up. His pediatrician told us that he is a healthy baby boy and is developing very well.

He is now 26" tall (90th percentile) and weighs in at 15lbs. and change (55% percentile). He received a series of shots during this checkup, and to our shock did not cry! He whined briefly following each injection and quickly went back to sucking his thumb...hope this is a new trend.

Gabe rolled over onto his stomach for the first time ever this past Sunday, Jan. 10th.

This past month he started grasping toys and brings most objects to his mouth for examination, which has caused us to increase our vigilance regarding items within his reach. He is laughing regularly and responds during conversations by cooing and babbling .

His next examination is at 6 months.

Fun with solid food!

Gabriel has been given the "green light" to try solid foods, e.g., single grain cereals, such as rice cereal and oatmeal.

However, these new solids will not yet replace bottle feeding; rather, they are being introduced to help him practice and become accustomed to eating solid foods.

He doesn't care much for the rice cereal...I can't blame him, it looks like dry wall flakes...but he loves the oatmeal. After 4 days of practice with solids he now recognizes the bowl when we bring it to him and opens his mouth wide when he sees the spoon headed his way.

Oh yeah, he also started eating out of his new high chair.

New Bouncer

Thanks to Auntie Sheila and Uncle Jeff's generous x-mas gift, Gabriel can now bounce at Lola and Grandpa's house (Jenelle's parent's house).

We have started him out in it at 15 mins. a day for now. Once he grows taller and gains more control over his body we will increase his exercise time.

I would recommend this particular bouncer, as it has about 5 height settings, which is more than most of the bouncers we researched. The model is Baby Einstein.

Cousins

Aunt Cristina, Uncle Paul and cousin Lydia visited us over the Christmas break. This was not Lydia and Gabriel's first meeting, but it was their longest and most productive in terms of relationship building.

Lydia was very maternal with Gabriel, calling him "bebe", which is "baby" in toddlerese. She would help feed Gabe, gave him his pacifier when he was crying, rocked him in his swing, and would generally express concern regarding his wellbeing when they were together.

Here is a great shot of the two cousins spending time together. I hope they look back on this one day and smile.

Tummy Time

Here is a shot of Gabriel enjoying tummy time...

Happy New Year

We rang in the new year quietly this year. We had our champagne toast with Nana & Abuelo and burnt the ano viejo (Gabriel's first ever). The burning of the ano viejo is a tradition in Ecuador in which you set fire to dummy filled with straw, or in our case balloons, the night of New Years to celebrate the birth of the new year and the dying of the old year.

I'm sure Gabe can't wait play a more active role in the tradition, including poking the ano viejo with sparklers...a favorite past time of mine when I was young.