Bonham and Dallas

Gabriel, Grammaw, and I went to visit lots of our extended family in July. Our first stop was Bonham where I lived when I was little. Gabriel got to meet his Great Grandmother "Mom" while there. Mom is called Mom by all of her grandchildren. There a story of how the name originated, but at this point, I just like to think of it as a way to honor the matriarch of the family. She's sort of the original Mommy from whom the rest of us received life and love.

Gabriel and Mom
You can see Jim's name embroidered
on the blanket thrown over
the back of the chair.
I like that he is in this picture, too.

While visiting Mom, Gabriel also met my Aunt Beth, my cousin Kelley, and Kelley's daughter Lily. Lily was a big, big help in entertaining and caring for Gabriel while the big people visited.

After our visit in Bonham, we left for the Dallas area. We visited with Grammaw's brother and his wife for a little while. Gabriel was lucky enough to get a few little gifts from them, but the highlight of that visit was climbing the staircase!

So glad we don't have stairs at home.

We had to come back down the stairs in order to make it to the family reunion of all kinds of cousins on Justin's side of Gabriel's family tree. There were too many people there to name, but it was fun to see cousin Easton who is just 9 days older than Gabriel.

I was reminded that trying to sleep with Gabriel in my bed is not a good plan. We tried that for a few hours one early morning while in Hobbs, and I tried it again in Dallas. He was really upset and couldn't get back to sleep in his playpen, so I tried to cuddle with him and get him to settle down next to me. But mostly I got kicked and flopped on while he fussed and cried for about 3 hours each time. He hasn't slept in my bed with me since he was 4 months old, and even then he was on my chest, not next to me. I won't soon try that again.

Gabriel was a very good traveler. We were in and out of the car quite a bit, going to a lot of different places, and sometimes driving for a long time. By the end of this trip, he had pretty much mastered drinking from a straw.

Raised on decaf non-fat mocha fraps with whip
and cherry limeades, all because of straws.

New Mexico

Gabriel racked up a whole set of firsts last week when we went to New Mexico to visit Aunt Lydia's family.

First trip out of state
(I barely caught the New Mexico sign.)

First long car ride
(About 8 hours each way.)

First stay in a hotel
(We had all this plus J's golf clubs, a stroller, a backpack full of toys, and my purse.)
(For a three night trip)

First time to meet cousin Hunter, cousin Easton, and uncle Ryan
(Easton was born 6 days after Gabriel.)

I think it was also his first Wendy's chicken nugget, his first McDonald's chicken nugget, and his first Dairy Queen blizzard, but I didn't get pictures of those.

It was definitely his first trip to a zoo when we visited the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens State Park in Carlsbad. I can't be trusted to get the camera out, apparently, but we saw a bald eagle, prairie dogs, a sleeping bobcat, bison, and elk as well as various snakes and native plants. Hunter's favorite part was the "bomb cat." Gabriel's favorite part was the Pepperidge Farm goldfish crackers.

One Year Letter

Dear Gabriel,

We just celebrated your birthday. You are officially 1 year old. How on earth did this happen?!

Your dad and I have watched you grow so much over the past year. We have loved every smile and every laugh. We’ve listened to every coo, cry, and babble. We’ve encouraged you to wiggle, roll over, crawl, and now stand up and cruise along the furniture.

I remember standing over your tiny body and craving the day when you would reach for me to pick you up. And after that, I anxiously awaited the time that you would throw your arms around my neck to hug me and hold me. Now that I have those moments to treasure, I look forward to hearing you call me mama, to you telling me you love me, and to you running from across the room to jump into my arms. I won’t wish your life away, but know that I look forward to every milestone, big and small.

You are an observant little boy. You watch everything, soak it in, and dissect it. Then you apply what you’ve just learned and practice it until it’s right. You will be the child who takes apart the DVR or the microwave just to understand how it works. You’re not really interested in walking yet, but I’m convinced it’s because you won’t try it until you know you’ll be successful. That’s pretty much how you started rolling and crawling.

You are smart and curious. You put small things inside bigger things, you understand how to open and shut drawers and doors, and you try to put your socks and shoes on your feet. You play peek-a-boo with blankets and with your hands. You like us to take turns putting on sunglasses or hats. You laugh when dada throws a ball up in the air. If you want to give me something, you grab my hand, turn it palm up, open my fingers out, and put the thing in my hand.

You are opinionated. You know what you want, what you don’t want, and when you do or do not want it. You learned early on how to push something away from you when you didn’t care for it. And you completely understand and exercise the connection between crying and getting someone to pay attention to you. (Your dad says I give in too much…)

You are a blessing in so many, many ways. But a big one for this mama is that you let me sleep every night. I give you your last bottle and rock you and sing to you, and then it’s into bed. You sit up for a bit and listen to your glowworm play a song, and then you go to sleep for 10-11 hours. I do not miss the days of listening to you cry when we put you in your crib for bedtime. It is glorious to kiss your sweet head, tell you goodnight, and leave the room without any fussing. But I do miss the extra long cuddles we used to have in the rocking chair. These days you are more comfortable in your crib than on my chest. So for those few moments when you lay your head on my shoulder, close your eyes, and get your body settled for the night, I drink in your smell and your existence. I think that’s what fuels me for another day.

There are so many signs that you are growing up…that you are not the tiny newborn baby we brought home from the hospital. That you are growing to be strong and smart and healthy. That’s what I want for you. You make me happy and proud. Your smile brightens my world.

You are beautiful.

You are my baby.

I love you,

mama

Happy Birthday!

At G's 12 month well-check appointment, he was:
weight: 23 pounds 4 ounces (60%)
height: 31 inches (80%)
head circ: 47.2 cm (70%)

Gabriel's first birthday party had a rainbow theme. I made various rainbow-colored decorations for the inside of Grammaw's house, and Grammaw hung up twirling sparkly decorations from the ceiling of the deck. Aunt Jordan made THE most AWESOME birthday cake ever to top it all off.

Here are a few pictures of the big day.

Obligatory birthday hat

Grumpy clown

Hesitantly testing the smash cake

Enjoying the cake once he figured out what it was

The awesome 7 layer rainbow cake made by Jordan

Inside of the rainbow cake

A slobbery birthday kiss from cousin Easton Graves (9 days older than Gabriel)

Eleven Month Letter

Dear Gabriel,

You are now 11 months old. This means that your 1 year birthday is constantly on my mind. I’m thinking about the details of planning a birthday party for you, but it’s not just to follow the ritual…It’s because I am so excited to celebrate your first year of life!

You have changed SO much, even just in the past month. I had been trying to get you to clap your hands for a long time. You would often pick up two toys and bang them together, but you wouldn’t do it with your hands. Then one day last week, you started doing it! Now you clap all the time!

You also started playing peekaboo. I noticed one day in the car that you were playing with a shirt that Elizabeth sent home from daycare. You kept putting it on your head and laughing. I couldn’t figure out why you thought a shirt was so funny. Then when we got home, you started doing it with a blanket, and I could tell that you were hiding your face and then uncovering it. We, of course, make a big deal about this and clap and praise you for how clever you are.

I noticed this week that you have two more teeth through the gum. They are on either side of the two middle top teeth. It’s kind of crazy for me to think of you with a full set of teeth! Your little grin with two on top and two on bottom is so adorable. You’re really learning to use your teeth, too. You bite Cheerios in half and take bites of crackers. Last night you bit the spoon I was feeding you with and wouldn’t give it back. You tried out your bite while nursing the other night, too…which was NOT COOL.

Your adjustment to formula during the day went very smoothly. And you’re getting pretty good at holding your bottle or your sippy cup by yourself. This month Elizabeth is starting to transition you to whole milk so that you can be done with formula when you’re a year old. I don’t have a real plan as far as how long to continue our morning and bedtime nursing…I think we’ll just play it by ear. It still works for both of us right now, so we’ll keep on.

You’ve been trying lots of new foods. You love French fries and sweet potato fries. You eat cooked baby carrots, banana, strawberries, peaches, and graham crackers. You like the small bites of cake or brownie that I give you. And you learned to drink from a straw because you apparently like root beer, sprite, and cherry limeades.

Your ear tube surgery is proving to be the good decision I thought it would be. You had a cold this past month that surely would have become an ear infection without putting the tubes in. It’s encouraging that you’ve been able to go over a month without any antibiotics. We have had to coat most of your body in Lamisil for the past couple of weeks, though. You picked up ringworm somewhere, and instead of having one spot, you had spots on both legs, your back, sides, and tummy. I’m just thankful that it didn’t get on your face or scalp.

While inspecting your skin for ringworm spots, I noticed that a small little freckle has appeared right in the crease of your right leg where it meets your body. I keep watching for more little freckles to pop up since both your dad and I have quite a few. Who knows where the next one will be?!

This past Sunday was my first Mother’s Day. We spent the day with Grammaw, aunt Jordan, and cousin Will. It was a wonderful, happy day, and it makes me feel blessed to have brought you into this family. I feel blessed that you are here in my life. You make this a beautiful life.

Thank you for making me a mommy,

mama

Clapping!

Please oh please ignore my voice. We don't realize how silly we sound when talking to children.

New Skills

Gabriel's new skills include:

1) Drinking from a straw. Because he wants mommy's root beer or cherry limeade.

2) Standing up in his crib and chewing on the top rail. We find him with little black flakes of paint on his chin sometimes. Awesome. Hopefully it's not lead-based paint...

3) Having ringworm. Which is terrific. Though he doesn't seem bothered by it at all, so that's good.