When did these kids start cracking up? Of course right when it was time to take a nap! I couldn't help but go get the camera cause they were both laughing, which doesn't usually happen. Gabriel is always entertained by Ayden running about, doing silly things, but I don't often get a laugh out of him and on camera. So this was a rare event and was funny cause they were both slap happy from being a bit tired. :)
It is so cute to see this little person sitting up at (on) the kitchen table and not in someone's lap or in the high chair! I couldn't resist in getting one of these little chairs. (see story on it below in the jumperoo post)
Ayden of course had to get in on the new baby toys!
I was talking to a neighbor who has a Jumperoo for her 5 month old and I thought..."That would be nice for Gabriel to get out some of that energy!" I think we had a Jonny Jump Up for Ayden, but he never took to is and I don't know what we ever did with it. So I didn't want to go out and buy this new Jumperoo that we tried at our neighbors...so I emailed my mom's yahoo groups to see if anyone wanted to get rid of an old one. I also wanted a Bumbo seat for Gabriel too. Someone actually emailed me back and had both of them to get rid of and gave them to me for only $25! I was proud of my bargains and so was my thrifty husband! Gabriel seems to like the Jumperoo so far. :)
Our neighbors Dale, Keiko and Erika invited us to a Bull's baseball game a couple of weeks ago and the kids were so excited because they were all ready with Bull's hats! For those of you that don't know...the Bull's are a pretty well known team that play in Durham, NC. You know the movie "Bull Durham"? One of Kevin Costner's better films, we think. Well, we did get rained on a little bit, but that only made it more exciting. We had a great time!
Ayden loves to dress up so much that pretty much every day, he is in a costume, pretending to be someone like a doctor, a monkey or in this case...a chef! We found this new indoor play place called Hopper's House, so we planned a playdate there and Ayden had fun dressing up in all the costumes of course. One of my friends in the play group said that pretending to be different characters or having an imaginary friend is a sign of intelligence...hmmm...interesting...:)
We have been truely dazing around this Summer, but lazy...not really! (Who can be lazy with two children to take care of and one that gets up at night! :) My job literally is a 24 hour a day one...but it is lots of fun...most of the time. :) One lazy Summer evening, we had nothing to do, so we packed up a picnic dinner and took the kids to the park and on the way back, stopped for ice cream at our favorite shop. Ayden of course had to have both "spiderman" and "cake batter" ice cream, which has become a ritual this Summer. I was laughing taking this pic on the way back cause Ayden was all sweaty from playing in the humidity and goopy faced from the ice cream. Nothing better than those lazy Summer days!
Gabriel had his 4 month well baby check-up this week, about a week after he turned 4 months. He was 14 pounds, 15 ounces and 25 3/4 inches long. He is in the 50% for weight and 75% for height. He was in the 75% for weight at 2 months and my guess is that he is so much more active now, that he is slimming down a little. He is nursing so much more now to make up for it, it seems! The most notable difference in Gabriel from last month is his physical ability! He can sit in the activity saucer without any blankets propping him up now and he doesn't get tired of playing in it for 15 or 20 minutes sometimes. He often does not want to sit in our lap anymore, he arches his back often to "stand up" or get down on the floor and play. We started feeding him solid food this month and so far so good. He likes fruit the most of course! He only eats a couple of table spoons twice a day, but he seems to enjoy a number of things so far like peaches, apples, bananas, carrots and the cereal grains. His favorite thing to do is be tickled, while held up in the air or while laying down. Face to face interaction makes him the most happy. I don't mean to say it so often...but I swear these two kids are so much alike thus far! :)
A giraffe with a monkey on his tail
Baby brother in a blanket
A Queen and King with crowns on their heads
Baby laying down
Ayden and Daddy and a "button thing"
Pancho had to go out of town on business for a whole week at the end of July, Friday to Friday (Saturday am) and we knew about this longer work trip ahead of time...so we planned to have my mom come out and stay with me and the kids while he was gone. Pancho has been out of town for no more than two over nights...but a whole week sounded daunting with the two kids. That would mean no catching up on lost sleep, no brakes for essentially 24 hours a day, for 7 days. I didn't want that for sure, so my mom flew out to help me out. I was so grateful...we all had fun together. We didn't do too much, just played around the house, did chores and errands. We did actually make it out to dinner and the farmer's market on two different days. Oh, and we cooked a lot of food! Thanks mom!!
