Cuteness

Here are some more recent photos of Gabriel.

He likes to sit in his Bumbo and show off his cheeks...

..and grab things.

A couple of weeks ago we went to a get-together with the moms and babies from my New Moms class, and the dads this time.  The babies have grown:

The moms look great:

The dads are good sports.

Who's that handsome Slavic-looking one?  Oh!  Right.

Those cheeks are so cute....it's dangerous.

A Day in the Life

Here are some photos of what we do on a typical day.

Each morning right after Gabriel wakes up and nurses, I prop him up on a pillow.  We talk to each other and I get some great smiles.

Sometimes we do some tummy time.  He likes the tummy time mat Grandma Christie bought him.  He can look at stuff on it.  He's even rolled over, with the help of the little pillow.  I was shocked one day to walk back in the room and find him on his back!

Sometimes we go for a morning walk.  Here's Gabriel getting ready:

 If Gabey falls asleep in the stroller, I hang out in the back yard with him so he'll keep sleeping.

Notice the pacifier falling out of his mouth, a sign of sound sleep.

I've been working on getting him used to this hammock so that it might help him nap a little longer.  If the baby moves, it rocks the hammock, helping them stay asleep.

He has started to nap longer than 40 minutes in the hammock without waking up!

He used to stay happy only a few minutes in his swing, until I figured out that he wanted to try to put things in his mouth!  He really enjoys this, as these pictures give evidence.

Trunk in the mouth.  Classic.

He also likes books.

Unfortunately, some of our day is usually spent like this (except with me holding him, trying to get him to sleep):

We're both relieved when Daddy gets home!

Oh, and here are some photos from a New Moms class I did.

Gabriel's Baptism

Hi everybunny,

On Saturday, May 11th, Gabriel was baptized.  My parents and Tim's mom were able to be in town, which was wonderful.  Our pastor at St. Mark's, Fr. Humberto Palomino, baptized our son.

My Dad stood in for Gabriel's godfather, Fr. Emmanuel Taylor.  My dear friend Susan (with whom I served on NET) is Gabriel's godmother.  She lives in St. Paul so it's great that she will be able to see him often.

Gabriel cried vigorously the entire time, through Father's sermon and everything, up until the actual baptism.  As soon as he was baptized, he fell asleep.  He then slept through the car ride home and continued to sleep on Tim's shoulder through an hour of people talking at the party.  This never happens!

Come to think of it, we've all been sleeping better since the baptism, and I have been feeling encouraged and happier.

Here are some recent shots from a trip to the park.

Notice how Gabriel is rearing his head back in the Moby carrier.  This is what he does for the entire walk.  He's actually not a big fan of the carrier.  He is more interested in looking around than in being snuggled in.  It works okay for walks but not for around the house.

We were looking for morels (mushrooms) but turns out this park is very swampy in the spring, as you can see here.  This area has been dry the other times we've been here!  I think it was the wrong kind of spot for morels, so no dice.

There were, however, many pitcher plants, and some gross little mushrooms, all black and inky.  I will spare you a photo of those.

Knitting & Sewing

So, this is a post I almost posted right before the baby came.  Now everyone wants to see pictures of the baby, but I'm going to post this anyway, so I can feel like I accomplished something.  On this blog, that is.  I'm accomplishing lots of diaper changes and things like that.

I finished my first knitting project:

...in the nick of time, of course.  It took me a long time, mostly because I didn't work on it very regularly.  All the times I thought I could work on it, like when Tim was reading to me in bed, I was so hungry that I had to eat instead.  (I finished this about two days before Gabey came.)

I think I will make some little booties next - that should go faster.  If I finish them before baby comes, of course.  (Hah!)

I also bought a sewing machine!!  It was a great deal on Amazon, including free shipping.  It's computerized and has lots of cool stitches and easy-to-use features.

I'm making baby wipes out of flannel and the machine is much-needed for hemming them.  (Yep, didn't finish those.)

Here's Tim doing one.  For his first ever time using a sewing machine, he made very straight stitches, I must say!

It's been nice to have some projects to enjoy while I'm sick (bad cold, ugh) and waiting for baby.  Here's a 40-weeks pregnant photo of me, trying not to look cold.  40 weeks is 9 months/full-term, for those who don't know.  (Baby came 6 days later.)

Downtown Minneapolis is in the background.

Here's some Minnesota ice formations in late February.  And houses have some serious icicles around here.

Here's how different everything looks now.  Ha.  Ha.  Ha.

Picture taken April 20th.  We're getting six more inches of snow tonight.  That should really be the last snow.  Really.  For real this time.  It's supposed to be in the 60s on Friday.

Okay.  A few recent pictures of Gabriel.

He loves to look out the windows in the sun room.

And sometimes he likes to sleep.

Sometimes he gets excited.

And sometimes he wears his Star Trek engineer shirt that Uncle Joseph gave him.

He's 7 & 1/2 weeks now, and growing fast.  Ta ta for now.

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter to all of our friends and family.

We made it to morning Mass, which was beautiful, and then had Easter dinner with our friends Michael, Colleen and baby Kathleen.  We seem to be wearing our coats for every picture we take in Minnesota, even though this one is inside!  Gabriel borrowed a hat for the walk home.

Gabriel has continued to have some problems with nursing, which has been hard.  I just took him for a cranio-sacral therapy appointment today as well as an appointment to address his tongue tie issue.  So we're hoping things will start to improve!

And now....more baby pictures.

Baby Gabriel with Grandpa Mariusz (Tim's Dad).  He stayed for 9 days and helped us so much! Especially with his wonderful cooking, which helped me get my appetite back, and his ninja baby skills.

Bulldog Baby

First Bath in His Own Tub

Chillin' with Daddy

Yes, there is still snow on the ground!  I think this was March 30th.

Chillin' with Daddy Close-up

He really seems to enjoy walks, at least judging by how well he sleeps through them.  (:

We're all doing well besides the nursing stuff.  Starting to catch up on sleep enough to feel human again!

Again, a Happy Easter Season to all.