let's roll :-)

i'm still not sure if i believe it or not. yesterday during gabe's tummy-time, he managed to roll over! he was showing off his strong neck muscles and looking around for a full minute, when he somehow gained momentum and started rolling onto his right arm. after observing the world on his side, he decided to continue the roll and ended on his back! typical, i had no camera or vcamera close by, so it's just my word against gabe's :-) however, i think it was a one-time deal...he hasn't done it since :P

later he surprised me and chris by doing something else new! as i was getting him ready for his bath, gabe stuck his tongue out at me...and never put it back! i kept trying to move his lips and push his tongue back in, but he kept popping it back out. nice game, huh? then to top it all off, he kept sticking his tongue out during his bath as well! being the good parent chris is, he stuck his tongue out at gabe and imitated him :P

ah, the joys of parenthood!

an accomplished thumb-sucker!

birthday mama!

such a busy (and long) day we had. yesterday sandra and i celebrated our 31st bdays with our friends and 5 little babies :-) celebrations have turned into daytime activities...with bedtime routines it's harder to get together for late nights.

to continue my bday celebration, we took gabe to his first canucks game. thanks to his great grandma and auntie arlene, he was all decked out in canucks gear :-) unfortunately his outfits are a bit big yet, but he put up with mom's antics! some of the noises at gm place surprised him, but he did well and didn't cry! he even managed to sneak in a 10 minute nap during the 2nd intermission :-) it was also our first "long-haul" in the ergo carrier...i fumbled a bit trying to get gabe in, but with chris' help it worked out fine. when gabe graduates out of the newborn insert, i think it'll be a lot easier.

and speaking of late nights...the boys just HAD to play mahjong after the game. my poor little monkey was so tired...he already has a late bedtime routine as it is, but being out and trying to get him to sleep just wasn't happening. oh well, late nights are a rarity for us, so once in awhile we can tackle an upset monkey :-)

christmas in pictures

christmas eve on my parents balcony...i believe gabe's expression says "WTF am i wearing mom?!"

surrounded by his presents, 5 minutes before he fell asleep

a christmas smile!

sleeping with cousin max

visiting gabe's great-grandma and aunt arlene

the lok family (minus mom who had to work)

the 16 pound ham and 18 pound turkey!

with cousins brianna & bethany, and finally proud grandpa!

merry christmas!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS
from the Lok's :-)

let it snow!

the weather hasn't been my friend today...we were supposed to be out for lunch and dinner, but thanks to the snow everything got cancelled. so we bundled ourselves up and headed for a walk in the snow to pick up groceries. i've decided there should be snow tires for strollers...it was like driving a car...we hit some skid marks, we veered off onto the grass a few times, and when we had to blaze our own trail, we got stuck :P oh well. gabe was none-the-wiser and slept for most of the walk.

(all bundled up...don't worry, i did cover him with both hoods and a raincover!)

while we still don't have a daily routine, i've started to recognize the need for naptime. on monday, after being up for almost 5 hours, gabe was just a devil! i've never seen him so cranky before, but i've learned my lesson. on tuesday my little man took 2 naps in his bed. and he's asleep right now, too! he'll be well-rested for our evening of trevor linden celebrations :-)

i've never been a morning person...until now. after a 9 or 10 hour sleep gabe is well-rested, and if i catch him at the right time, he's so happy to see me and gives me lots of smiles :-) yesterday i got all teary-eyed because he gave me smile after smile, it was so exciting! i tried to get a picture of him today, but he's not a big fan of the camera first thing in the morning so i only got one smile.

it's christmas-time!

such a busy week we've had...setting up gabe's bank account and RESP (i think he's richer than me :P), prenatal reunion, pete's birthday, shopping on commercial drive, aunt mary's birthday celebration, chiro, 2 month shots, visiting chris' "office", nora's christmas playdate and the PADS christmas party! phew, i'm exhausted :-)

i was really anxious about gabe's 2 month shots...i didn't know if i was strong enough to be in the room with him, so chris came along. turns out, i was fine...and so was gabe :-) i brought along a small bottle of milk and he started drinking as the injections went in. the first one he had absolutely no reaction; after the second shot, he started crying and gave up on the bottle. by the time his fourth shot was done, he was howling! oh i felt so bad for my little monkey, but i managed to not cry, and gabe managed to finish his bottle, and then i topped him up myself. i was a bit worried in the afternoon because he slept for 4 straight hours...very unusual...but once he woke up, he didn't stop crying. poor guy...his left leg was completely swollen and tomato red. my dad was convinced it would be a long night for me and chris, but fortunately by bedtime, everything was back to normal and gabe slept his normal 9 hours!

wednesday was a great day...during tummy-time, gabe fell asleep on the playmat so i managed to put him in his basinette for a 45 minute nap! it's the first time he's done that for me...usually he cries and wakes up when i put him down during the day :P after he was much refreshed we had a playdate at nora's house :-) good times! gabe was holding onto one of the toys on nora's playmat and was loving it. i'm going to add some links to his toys so he can grab them at home. to end the day, we headed off to the PADS volunteer xmas party. it was great to see all the volunteers, and gabe was a big hit! i think he garnered more attention than the dogs did!

say cheese!

gabe is 2 months old today!


the newest development over the past few days is smiling! yup, our little guy has started to smile at us :-) his first smile was at his great-grandma (above). he's smiled at least 3 times that we've witnessed, but the camera's never around when he does it. hopefully he'll become more predictable with his smiles and we`ll be able to capture it!

he`s also starting to make little noises...it`s so cute. we`re not sure what he`s trying to tell us, but we`re listening intently.

i`ve finally realized that gabe`s flaking scalp is due to cradle cap. i was surfing the internet and found an easy natural remedy...a 15 minute scalp soak with olive oil before his bathtime. we`ve done it twice on him, and noticed a slight improvement. i also bought dimpleskins avocado soap to wash his face and hands. i`ve only been using warm water until now, but his skin`s been drying out, and he gets a bit smelly from the vomit :P the soap has helped a lot...followed by aveeno baby lotion. i don`t think i`ve been moisturizing him enough...he`s definitely inherited dry skin from both me and chris :P