We are officially in trouble. I mean big trouble. Saturday morning during Gabriel's first "nap" of the day, Mommy walked by and spied the little guy standing upright in his crib just holding onto the edge like it was the most natural thing ever. He continued to stand long enough for Daddy and Grandma to be summoned to see for themselved...and he hasn't sat down since! Suddenly even crawling is just not good enough for him! We think he's already bored of standing after less than one week, because now it is always accompanied with jumping (yes, jumping, we can barely keep a grip on him) and climbing. Two feet on the ground is not an option...one must always be seeking higher ground.

Gabriel is officially a mover. There is no snuggling in our household despite our best efforts, cuddling with Gabriel is more like wrestling with him, but that doesn't change the fact that he is incredibly cute! He is just like Daddy and Mommy were when it comes to bedtime - falling asleep is not acceptable and all body parts begin to revolt as the eyes begin to close, it is so funny to watch. Even his "magic blanket" which he has always loved is becoming the enemy, because when he sees it come out he knows that sleep is iminent. Daddy calls the blanket Gabriel's kryptonite. It weakens him and he just can't fight it, but he sure can try. Its so hard not to laugh out loud as Gabriel lies there in his crib, eyes closed, head on the blanket, and the rest of his body thrashing and circling and fighting to stay awake.

Despite his inability to sit still, Gabriel still continues to steal our hearts in different ways every day. He is still incredibly good natured and easy to please. Smiles are never hard to find, and he loves being the family entertainment. We've tried to video tape some of his milestones but its almost impossible...as soon as the camera goes on he stops whatever he is doing and crawls, hops, and climbs his way with incredible determination to GET THAT CAMERA!!

Wow am I horrible at this whole blogging thing! Life and Gabriel are just changing and growing so fast that I can hardly keep up! We now officially have a mover on our hands. Gabriel has been trying to crawl for nearly three weeks and last week he mastered it. There is no stopping him now! We can't say we didn't see it coming though...long before he was crawling he was getting frustrated with not being able to get to the things he wanted, and now that he can he's as determined as ever. Now he is literally working on standing and he's not even six months old yet. Sunday he fell and knocked his head on the crib while trying to pull himself up to standing in it! He has already surprised us several time while we are sitting with him all comfortable and relaxed, and next thing we know he grabs our hands and pulls himself up!! The little stinker can stand and walk with only a little help so it won't be long before he really takes off. Yikes! Its baby-proofing time!

Also in Gabriel's world, we are introducing solid foods. He's a big fan of Oatmeal, Carrots and Sweet Potatoes, but Rice Cereal and Peas are foods he could stand to live without.

Here are some great new pictures of our busy little guy (click to enlarge):

Ooops, its been awhile since we've updated this little blog, and so much has happened! Gabriel had a wonderful Christmas with Mom, Dad, Grandma Casebolt and Aunt Jessica. He and his big brother King had full stockings and received enough presents that they would have filled the ground under the Christmas tree at the Rockafeller Center! Our house was completely stuffed with presents!

Gabriel is now almost 14 weeks old and more than 15lbs! He is a growing, smiling, eating and pooping machine! Most recently he has discovered that he can roll from his back onto his stomach, although when he does he just gets frustrated because he's not quite srue how to get his arm out from under him. So we give him a little help and he's back to smiling, laughing, and sticking his tongue out at us (literally). Daddy has taught Gabriel to stick his tongue out and blow...Mommy is thrilled. Mommy is genuinely thrilled though that the cutie pie is now able to laugh, and he is definitely ticklish! What an amazing sound a baby's laugh is...somewhere between a belly laugh and a squeaky toy, but its enough to get Mommy and Daddy into stitches.

We are also beginning to think that Gabriel could be teething. Its early, I know, but Daddy teethed very early too. He's become a little chomper, and you'd better watch out for your fingers when holding him or they will become fair game for chomping, and man does he chomp hard!! Unfortunately he's still too little to hold his own teething rings, and most are even too big for his little mouth, so his pacifiers get the brunt of the abuse.

That's about it for now, things are changing every day!

Christmas is almost here. Its so hard to believe how fast the holidays have come! We can't wait to share Gabriel's first Christmas with him. Gabriel's ninth week has been a week of first for Gabriel already. After 2 days at daycare he got his first cold, had his first fever, took his first trip to the ER, had blood drawn for the first time (while Stacey sobbed), and got his first antibiotic shot (more sobbing by mom). He has now completed his first week of daycare and is feeling much better.

Gabriel is such an active little guy, even his Doctor can't believe some of the things he does out of the blue! Whether it was intentional or not we don't know, but this week Gabriel picked up his pacifier on his own and put it right in his mouth for the first time just in time for Dr. Galan to see it. She was quite surprised!

It is so fun to see how fast Gabriel is growing. Last night we looked in his bassinet in disbelief. It seems like just yesterday that he looked like just a tiny peanut in it. Now he takes up almost the whole length! He is long and lean at nearly 12lbs (the 58th percentile for his age) and almost 24inches (75th percentile). It seems time is going way too fast. We love where he is at now, it is so fun and adorable, but its not going to last long. It is awesome to watch him grow and achieve new things, but every day we are reminded of how fleeting time is, and how soon he'll be a little boy, and no longer a baby!

Gabriel has officially become a daycare kid. Unfortunately these days its nearly impossible for a parent to stay home from work to care for their children. Yesterday when Stacey went back to work Gabriel spent his first day at Nilou's Daycare. Nilou is a very sweet Persian woman who runs a daycare out of her home and has done so for 16 years. We were lucky enough to find her at the very last minute when Stacey's OB/Gyn gave us her number. Dr. Bony's daughter has been with Nilou since she was 2 months old, and she is now 3 years old. While it's hard to imagine anyone will take care of our baby as well as we want them to, and certainly not as well as we would ourselves, we feel like he is in good hands. According to Nilou, Gabriel's first day was as smooth as could be, and Stacey was able to stop crying much sooner than expected after dropping him off. It actually felt pretty good to rejoin the "real world," but by the end of the day she was about to burst from missing him so much!

Please keep us in your prayers as we gain confidence in Nilou and get used to letting someone else take care of our little baby. Most of all pray that he will be treated well and kept safe and loved.

Its amazing how time flies. Gabriel is already 7 weeks old now and growing like a weed. Its so wonderful to see his personality emerging (as well as his toothless grin!).



This week our pediatritian even commented on how strong Gabriel is getting. He holds his head up on his own almost all the time now. He loves doing situps while holding onto our hands, and many times even pulls himself up to standing although he still needs lots of help balancing. Its so cute to watch, he is so focused and determined while working on these things; We can already tell he is going to be a tough cookie, and he'll do whatever he makes his mind up to do...gee, could that be hereditary?

Another of the joys of being new parents is having baby conversations with Gabriel. He is starting to make all kinds of talking sounds, testing out his mouth and tongue. Sometimes, if you didn't know how young he was, you might think he was already saying "Hi" and "Hello." Mostly he makes an "L" sound and then smiles wide as we react with praise. We are so blessed with Gabriel! He is truly our little angel.