Gabriel's Three Month Update

Ah yes... another month has passed with nothing but radio silence... Oy!

We have been so busy and I have so much I am needing to document but just haven't had the time because of kids... and work... and life. Anyway, before I ramble anymore, let us talk about the man of the hour -- Gabriel Anthony!

Our (not-so) little Gabe is now 3-months old and is cuter than ever! I can't get over how chunky and absolutely adorable this kid is... his personality is definitely coming through more and more, and it is such a joy to not only watch him grow, but be his mamma! Here is a look back at another eventful month:

Photo by Jackson.

Weight: I can't find our bathroom scale anywhere, but I am going to guess he's pushing 15 lbs...

Length: 23 inches. at his 2 month -- will have this updated after his next appointment.

Nicknames: Gabe, Gabey, Baby Gabey, Chunks, Chunkilicious

Wearing: 3 month is officially too small for our big guy and 3-6 month is getting to be a little tight... Jackson had a bunch of his cousin's hand-me-downs, but since my sister-in-law had another boy we gave them all back and I didn't realize how few of our own clothes we had! That being said, Gabe goes through the same few outfits over and over (and I keep having to do more and more laundry) and I REALLY need to go thrifting to get him some "new" stuff! Hopefully soon I will have time to get back to my thrifty ways (instead of constantly shopping on Children's Place's website for clothes that he outgrows after only a month)...

Sleep: Still a great sleeper... as long as he is on me! He will usually take a 30 minute nap in the morning in either his swing or Rock n' Play, a nap on me at around lunch time, a long afternoon nap when I go to lay down with Jax, and then he sleeps all night, 

Gabe likes: Being interacted with, smiling/laughing, eating, bath time, kicking, his playmat, sleeping on mommy, Jackson, staring at daddy, tummy time (when somebody is down on the floor with him), swinging, books, tickles

Gabe dislikes: Not being able to roll over, dirty diapers, car seat (though he is getting better), tummy time on his own, loud music, being left alone for too long, when he sees somebody leave the room

Mom & Dad's Favorite Things: His huge smiles/belly laughs, cute little jabbers, big eyes, and playing with him/showing him off to friends and family!

~My parents think I'm crazy, but I seriously think that Gabe and Jackson (right) look A LOT alike... what do you think? (Both are 3 months in these pictures)

~I got a little ambitious on New Year's Eve and decided that since we were staying up late anyway, I would try to get Gabe to sleep in his crib. It was... exhausting. I seriously rocked/nursed/sang to him for nearly an hour to get him to even lay down in the first place, and then he would scream the moment I laid him down. After letting him cry for a few minutes, I would start to process over again and he FINALLY slept in there for two hours (he would even wake up and put himself back to sleep)! Anyway, we tried again the next night and it was a nightmare so I decided to not mess with it again until he's a little older. 

~Gabe's first Christmas was a huge success! We hosted and had my parents, brother, aunt, and uncle over on both Christmas eve and day, and the boys received a train set and Curious Georges/books from Santa! It was a wonderful day and Gabriel even gave us the gift of a long nap while we opened presents :)

~All day, every day. I think I had mentioned cutting dairy out of my diet in Gabe's 2-month post, but can't remember if I had mentioned what a difference it has made! It was like clockwork: Gabriel would begin to cry and was completely inconsolable for about a month there and once the dairy was gone, he has done a complete 180 and is now such a happy baby! 

~For our 4th anniversary, we went to dinner with my aunt and uncle, took the boys to a DU men's basketball game, and stayed the night at the Denver "dinosaur" hotel and had an absolute blast! The game was a little louder than I had anticipated but the stadium was nearly empty (and we sat right behind the players) which made for the perfect first basketball game for both boys!

This was taken at 5:30 am, so ignore my face.

~Last week we attended the beautiful wedding of a dear family friend in Dallas! Both boys did AWESOME on both flights (and Gabe slept/nursed both trips) and we had a wonderful time visiting with framily, resting in our hotel, visiting the Dallas World Aquarium, and dancing the night away at a fun wedding reception! There is so much more I want to share about this trip and will hopefully get around to writing a dedicated post soon.

Pictures

Since Jackson got to have his friends over to watch a movie, it was only fair that Gabe got to have his besties (Natalie and Bennett) over, too! 

Sweetest, most protective kitty ever,

We had the boy's passport pictures taken (and received the actual passports a few weeks later!) for our trip to Punta Cana in March!

Jackson crafting with an audience.

Gabriel's Two Month Update

Well, here we are again and here I go posting Gabe's monthly update a week and a half late... ugh! I'm sorry, second child; even if these updates are not posted on the dot (since I know you get online looking for them each month on the 21st...), I promise I will still write them up at some point for you to one day look back at. Anyway, our second month with Gabriel has been just as fun and exciting as the first! He is SO cute and chunky, and we just can't get enough of this little daddy clone! Here is what we've been up to this month:

Big lighting fail :/

Weight: 12 lbs. 5 oz (nearly twice his birth weight... what?!)

Length: 23 inches. 

Nicknames: Gabe, Gabey, Baby Gabey, Baby, Chunk, Baby Brandon

Wearing: We have officially outgrown just everything 0-3 month and are comfortably wearing 3-6 month... it is seriously comical to me how much different he is to Jackson (who was still in size newborn by this point)! 

Sleep: He still sleeps in the crook of my arm during the night (and does great as he can basically nurse whenever) and takes naps in either his swing or Rock and Play during the day. 

Gabe likes: Eating, bath time, clean diapers, Jax, being interacted with, the quilt beside the changing table, being held, Jackson, cuddles, the floor lamp in the living room, being moved, swinging, kicking, rocking

Gabe dislikes: Hiccups, acid reflux induced spit up, car rides of any length, having to wait for food, his car seat, shopping, 

Mom & Dad's Favorite Things: How chunky and adorable he is, his silly little grin, when he gets excited and starts to kick, how warm and cuddly he is, watching him interact with Jackson, how happy he is first thing in the morning

~It's official: Gabe is colicky. When we went in to have Gabe's ears checked at around 6 weeks and upon speaking with his doctor, I discovered that his inconsolable fussing that happened every night at the same time meant that he's colicky... In passing, she had mentioned that I could cut out dairy and see if that would help, but she quickly moved on and acted like it probably wouldn't work... I went ahead and tried it anyway and about 2 weeks after cutting out my nightly ice cream, chocolate milk, and Life cereal, he was acting SO much better and way less fussy. YES! It has been hard giving up my beloved dairy, but if it helps his poor tummy, it sure is worth it. 

 

~2016 was (obviously) Gabe's first Thanksgiving and we had a wonderful time spending the weekend with my parents and brother and eating way too much carby foods and desserts. 

~I finally got up the nerve to take the boys on my first ever errand run with just the 3 of us and it went about as well as I thought it would... Jax slept the entire time we were in the SUPER crowded Dollar Tree (picking up favors and snacks for Jax's birthday party) and when Jax slowly ate his pretzel and cheese at Target, but once we got moving and started shopping at Target, he woke up SCREAMING! I tried to do the whole (covered) nursing while walking the aisles and pushing the cart thing, but that wasn't working well, so I finally just found an empty bottom shelf and plopped down on it and nursed him for awhile... After awhile, a sympathetic employee came over and offered the dressing room for my comfort (I had my nursing cover, so I wasn't exposing myself or anything), which I took her up on, but it still didn't calm him... the rest of the trip was loud and stressful, but we made it out alive!

 

 

~Gabriel was baptized on December 11th and I seriously can't put into words just how amazing of a day it was... Deacon Jerome gave such a beautiful sermon, Gabe's godmother Megan and her family (my Aunt Judy, and cousins Nancy & Angie) drove all the way out from Kansas to be here, and our awesome family from around Colorado all joined us for the baptism, dinner at Cinzetti's, and then a little visiting/gift opening back at our place to end the evening... it was so perfect and is an evening I will never forget! We are so blessed to be part of such a wonderful church!!!

 

~I took the boys to Bass Pro to visit Santa! Gabe slept pretty much the entire time (minus Jax's and my quick coffee shop stop, which is when I nursed him) and we ended up with this super adorable picture.

 

~A few pictures of the world's cutest brothers... just because :)