Just 2 Percent

Thanksgiving 2006

Michelle, Gabe and I spent a few days at the beach in Oceanside just before Thanksgiving with Michelle's family.  Place was right on the beach, so the view was nice and the sound of the waves crashing brought me back when I lived in Ocean Beach.

We spent Thanksgiving at my sister Kim's this year in Corona.  Had a good time, although I've been fighting a cold.  Dinner was good, always goes too fast though. Played wiffle ball on the sportcourt and fell off a skate ramp riding a Razor scooter and knocked the wind out of me.

A few updates, we got our first dog about a month ago. Sara is a yellow lab. We picked her up when she was nine weeks. She's already doubled in size. I added some new photos in the album so make sure to check her out.  I also added some pictures of Gabe at the beach. He's getting so big and he's talking a lot. However, he's still not making too much sense.  Although, I've notice his jibberish does have structure to it and he will repeat the same two word combinations. His latest one is something like, "Awyan Apee!" I don't have any idea what this means, but when I repeat it, Gabe looks at me and says, "Yeah!"

Gabe understands most verbal commands we give him. Commands such as, "Gabe, turn off the TV" and "Gabe, stand up so I can wash your belly" he executes on cue. Commands such as, "Gabe, come here so I can change your diaper" or "Let's go to bed" his selective hearing comes into play and I don't exist.  He also has down most of his major body parts. Michelle will as him to point to his head, and he does. He can also point to his feet, eyes, ears, nose, butt, and peeper.  Lastly, one thing I've noticed with Gabe is he's a great imitator. The other day we were watching Ryan's baseball game and I took him over to the bullpen which was empty. I stood on the mound and pretended to throw a pitch. After a few times, Gabe walked up, did his best effort at a windup and threw an air ball down the pipe. Tonight after dinner, Taylor got Gabe dancing to some music. She'd tell Gabe to do this and do that, and Gabe did a pretty good job at copying her dance moves. Must get the coordination from his mom.

Gabe's Playroom

Michelle and I have been working on reconfiguring the front room into a dedicated playroom.  We've never used the front room much and by turning it into a playroom, we've achieved two objectives: 1) Keep the TV room free of toy clutter; and 2) Open the house up by using the front room more. Last week, Michelle and I found ourselves hanging out in the other room while Gabe played.

Over the weekend we bought a wooden trainset and train table. Everytime Gabe and I go to the bookstore, I can't tear him away from the train they have there, so we got him one off of Craigslist. Michelle bought some eductional posters such as colors, numbers, and letters and has been practicing with Gabe. The other night, I heard him repeat 1, 2, and 3. It is amazing to think that in a few more months I might be having some simple conversations with my sun.

I've posted some other pictures of the playroom and just other random pictures of Gabe in the photo album, take a look and enjoy.

Gabe 19 Months

I've been working out in Chicago the past couple of weeks and picked up a Cubs hat for Gabe. He now has two, the other is an Angel's hat. He likes wearing them too. Here he is with his Cookie Monster shirt. Gabe's doing very well. He's picking up some new words and skills. He now says Mama on a regular basis, and is starting to point at objects and call them by name like dog and ball.  The ear tubes have been a little dampner for our summer pool fun, but Gabe's been a little scared of the water this year which is kind of weird since he loves playing in the bathtub.

1.5 Years Old

Rather than make excuses as to why I haven't posted anything for several months, I thought I'd focus on how Gabe is doing or rather what he is doing these days. First off, he had tubes put in his ears last week. Although it is a simple outpatient procedure, they still have to put him under and make some cuts to fit the tubes.  Aside from waking up from the anesthesia pissed off, Gabe did great. He is getting used to his special earplugs and even went swimming with Mommy and me on Saturday.

As a parent, of course I think my son is more advanced than other kids in certain things.  For me, it just seems that Gabe is very coordinated.  His favorite toy are balls, all kinds. He especially likes the round plastic ones you typically see in one of those playthings at McDonald's. He has about 50 of them and they are usually strewn about the house. He's got a good arm and I think he is left handed just like his daddy. He even bats left handed. After watching some of his older cousins last Saturday playing baseball, Gabe holds the bat on his shoulder and will swing it when I hold the ball in front of him. I've got to be careful because he swings the bat hard and hits my hand. I think I will buy him a tee this weekend and teach him how to bat.

Some other good news is that he is finally starting to sleep through the night. It is weird to actually get six to seven hours of good sleep after so long (mainly for Michelle). He's sleeping in his crib, however he is still in our bedroom. There are plans to move him in a couple of weeks to his own bedroom. Michelle and I have decorated his room a bit. Aunt Linda painted some letters that spell his name and I put them over his closet along with a cross my friend Bret and his family gave us as a give (the cross is up there because I didn't initially center the name and used industrial strength Velcro). We also put up one of his favorite mylar balloons, The Cookie Monster, onto his wall. When he first saw it, we stopped dead in his tracks and said, "Wow!".

His vocabulary has increased a little. He can now say daddy, mama, dog (will usually just go Woof!), 'dis (this), no, wow, and hi. There may be some others, but these I know he uses regularly.  His favorite shows are Sesame Street and Teletubbies. I get Sesame Street, but I think Teletubbies is the dumbest show on Earth. However, he'll sit their mesmerized but those little creatures.

Just Me and the Big Boy

It's Friday night and Michelle is in Palm Springs with my sisters at the LaQuinta resort. I got a call about an hour ago, they're a little drunk on margaritas. This is the first time that Michelle will be away from him overnight. She had a hard time this afternoon, but I assured her everything would be okay. Gabe and I got some dinner and rented a couple of movies then hung out tonight. I was nervous about trying to get him to sleep because he usually has his night cap (spelled, 'b-o-o-b') just before bed. After a little fussin' and two doses on Nyquil, he's sleeping like a baby (and why shouldn't he since he is one).

I think we'll go to the SD Wild Animal Park tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it because no one will tell us that they're board at looking at the gorrillas. I can spend the whole day looking at them and I'm sure Gabe won't mind if I give him enough treats. I can't remember from the last time I was there, but I am hoping there are a few petting zoos at the park. Gabe is still too young to fully enjoy one, but he's pretty observant with animals (loves dogs) so it would be cool to get him to touch a goat or something.

As for me, I'm a little nervous tonight. I am hoping I can soothe him when he wakes up during the night. The days are good for me, it is just the night time that gets to me. I'll let you know how things turned out and how the park was tomorrow.

Say Hello to the Big Boy

 

With a lot of hard work, sweat, and grunting, Gabriel is now the master of his domain. Here he is on all fours (something he learned from his mama) practicing what Michelle calls "the drunken sailor". Rocking back and forth, he is beginning to pull his knees forward. Within a month I think he will be completely mobile.

Interestingly, I can tell that he knows what he's accomplished and I think he feels proud. I give him lots of praise and clap and tell him what a big boy he is. This weekend Michelle is going to Palm Springs with the girls and it will just be me and Gabe. I was thinking about taking him to the SD Wild Animal Park. Michelle wants me to wait so she can go too, but I like that place so much, I thought we could just go again.

Kim brought him a new book title, "An Adventure with Morris Mouse" a peek and find book. I've looked at the first few pages and the flip outs are done really well. I haven't gone through the whole book because I don't want to ruin it for Gabe. I'll wait until we can go through them together.

7 Months

Seven months go by pretty quickly. While I am away at work, Michelle likes to put wigs on Gabe and make him wear dresses. Oh, wait a minute. This isn't a dress-up picture of Gabriel, but a picture of Michelle when she was one. Most people tell me he looks just like me, but I've been saying since a few weeks after he was born that he looks more like his mama. Make sure to check out the updated photos in the album to the right. Michelle took some great ones.

6 Months Old

• Tomorrow Gabe will be six months old. By the looks here, old age is not worrying him a bit. Several events have taken place since my last post. Here is a list of the most memorable:
  
  
  
• Gabe has his first tooth. Located on the bottom front. Besides all the drooling, doesn't seem to bother him much.
• He's eating rice cereal, vegetables, and fruit. Likes everything and hasn't had any reactions. He also likes cherry flavored icees.
• Although he can't sit up by himself yet, he's getting very close. I think he is a little frustrated by the fact that he can't just yet.
• He can roll from back to front and then back to back whenever he wants to. I can no longer place him on the bed and walk off too far.
• Has now seen Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi, plus Attack of the Clones. I think he enjoyed them better than I did since the dialogue and story line are more on par with Dora the Explorer rather than really good epic movies like the Lord of the Rings series.
• Has been kicked out of his first Las Vegas Casino. Michelle tried to play some slots with Gabe last week at the Mandalay Bay. Gabe put up a fuss but did not want to get black listed so early in life.

Next week he goes in for his six week check-up where he gets his last set of shots for a while. I hear him in the other room waking up Michelle so I'm going to take him downstairs for some oatmeal (for me).

5 Months

Took this picture a few weeks ago. Sorry, I've been pretty busy. When I get home, I find myself not doing much but playing with Gabriel and hanging out with him and Michelle. I like it very much. The weather is getting warmer and the nights have been really nice. We'll go out and sit by the pool until it get chilly and then we come inside.

Gabriel has experience many firsts since my last posting. To start, he's on vegetables (started him on rice cereal about three weeks ago). He likes them all, green beans (Michelle's favorite), peas, sweet potatos and carrots. In about a week or so, we'll start him on some fruit.

While I was gone, Gabriel rolled over from his back to his stomach at my mom's house. She was the first to see him and got it on video tape. Last night was the first time I saw him do it. He rolled over from his back to his stomach and kept on going to his back again. What a big boy! I was very impressed and was the coolest thing I've seen in a long time (although the SMART reports and the Proclarity tool at the CLC conference comes in at a close second). Tonight while changing him, he rolled onto his stomach before I could put his diaper on. He scrunched up on his knees and I could see his balls hanging down. Yes! That's my boy.

18 Weeks and 3 Shots

After being in Los Angeles attending the annual SIOP conference since Friday, I took a vacation day today to spend time with Michelle and Gabriel. He went in for his 4 month check-up and to receive the second dose of his immunizations. He's pictured here shortly after Michelle turned around and mumbled, "The kitchen is closed." At 6:30 am, I though breakfast just started.

As far as the doctors visit went, we did quite well. Three shots, two in one leg and one in the other. He cried, but after I picked him up and held him, he seemed to be okay. As of 8:30 pm, he hasn't run a fever from the shots, so all is good. The nurse took measurements and said Gabriel fell within the 75th percentile as far as height and weight are concerned. Here are a few new stats and percent increase from birth stats:

• 26" short, or 8.5" since birth (a 41% increase)
• 14 lbs. 14 oz. for an 8 lbs. 2 oz. weight gain ( an 114% increase)
• His head measured 16" in diameter.

Developmentally, Gabriel has reach a monumental cornerstone in the past week. He has found his wiener. He's been getting close for the past couple of weeks, inadvertently hitting pay dirt every so often during baths and diaper changes, but yesterday and today, there is no hesitation nor self control. Bad thing is, his hands hit more than pay dirt during changes, and now I must be careful not only to wipe the butt, but his hands as well.