Gabe Has Learned to Press Buttons!

Ah. . . my apologies for not keeping this blog more regularly updated! I'll skip the excuses and get right to the good stuff.

Gabe is sitting - sitting! - about ten feet away, proped up only minimally with the boppy. He is staring with rapt attention at a plastic train that plays music, and he has learned that when the music stops, he can press the big yellow button on top to start it up again.

I first noticed his ability to press buttons yesterday when we were playing with a chew-toy/rattle that has a clown's face with a red button for a nose. The button, when mashed repeatedly by a big strong adult, squeaks. I think we damaged it, because a baby's hands are incapable to coax any sound from the thing. However, after watching me mash the button, Gabe would reach over to take a turn at it. And if I had any question at all as to whether he was imitating me, the train proves it. He is over there, turning it on again and again.

Some more details about the train: it's full, if unofficial name, is "the ball-pooping train". Because, well, it is loaded with a belly full of plastic balls, which, depending on the mode the toy is set to run in, are recycled through a vortex on the top of the train, or deposited on the floor as the train chugs along in a circle.

I'll have to add some photos later. . . I need to go play with Gabe now!

Progress on Gabe's Garden

Gabe's Garden is coming along, slowly but surely.



More of our garden progress can be seen at the Clueless Gardeners. Also, there are more cute photos of Chris being composted.

Sippy Time

We've been giving Gabe sips out of real glasses for about a month now here and there. He isn't really expert at it, but I think some of the liquid goes down. I know we're supposed to get him used to drinking out of a cup before we go with the sippy, but we felt it was time he have his own drink at the dinner table instead of grasping across his tray for ours. Once we presented the sippy he was generally delighted.


Though often unsure as to which end was which.


Give him long enough though and eventually the right nubbin makes it into his mouth.


Michelle nabbed this picture of Gabe teething on my unopened can of coke zero at Lauren's birthday party. While I'm sure having a baby nibble on an aluminum can isn't the height of fine parenting the cold drink soothed his gums and made him very content.

That's Not Spitup. . .

Gabe was sick with a tummy bug this weekend. He woke us up in the middle of the night on Saturday, upset because he was wet – with cold vomit. He had stayed asleep until it had cooled off. After sponging congealed stomach yuck out of his hair and ear, and dressing him in fresh jammies, he leaked out of the other end (and out of the diaper and onto my lap) so at that point it was time for a one-AM bath.

The poor little guy was remarkably resilient through all of that. After his bath we spent some time playing with him on a towel, where he cheerfully chattered in between bouts of expelling more dinner. As long as we kept him clean and entertained, he didn’t really care about being sick. (But then I suppose babies are old hands at excreting liquids from both ends.)

Chris was a champ – if he had any lingering doubts about his ability to deal with super stinky body fluids, Saturday night took care of that.

And to show just how awesome Chris is, the next day Chris installed a baby gate at the top of the stairs. It’s going to need some further adjustment, but it’s mostly there.

It’s hard to tell if Gabe is feeling better because he never seemed to be feeling particularly bad, but he went all night and this morning without any more unexpected leakage, so I think he has recovered.