how do i love summer?

let me count the ways:


fruit season - any day now i'm gonna turn into a blueberry, a lychee, or a pink grapefruit

cold bevvies - my 3 fave (junkie) drinks: mango lychee milk slush bubble tea, fresh strawberry bubble tea, coke slurpees

bbq'ing - maui ribs, 'nuf said!

balcony time - now that we have patio chairs, i'm gonna enjoy chillaxing on my balcony

playing outside - it's a big big world out there for gabe to explore and he's loving it! we've also been walking a lot because of beau, and it's cute watching them side-by-side on our walks.

9 months old!

this past month has been insane!

gabe is finally crawling now...it started off slow a few weeks ago, but yesterday he managed to crawl from the carpet all the way to the kitchen (all in an effort to meet beau...more on him later)! he's also working on lifting his body up, doing a "downward dog" and seeing what can develop from that, which is usually nothing :-) gabe's also showing interest in walking...if i hold his hands he'll push his legs up to standing and he'll take a few steps forward.

crawling out of his room after mama!

2 more teeth have popped out, for a grand total of 6 teeth! and with the growth of his first 4 teeth, he's started to grind them together...very unpleasant. i'm not sure if he's becoming a fussy eater or what, but he's refused food on a few occasions. i'll have to jazz up his meals and make them more interesting! i've tried to encourage self-feeding, but the nutrios are too small for him to make the hand-mouth coordination; the bananas just get all mushed up before they get to his mouth. and honestly, i hate the mess babies make when they self-feed, so i just have to get over that and let it be.

we've had to lower the crib to the bottom setting since i caught gabe on his knees with his hands on the top railing trying to push himself up. now i have peace of mind knowing that gabe's safely confined in his crib.

we've successfully completed his swim lessons at ED Pool. unfortunately they didn't end on a happy note...during his back starfish, the instructor said to lean them back so their ears were in the water and gabe hated it! then to top it off at the end of class the instructor turned on the fountains but my little man was mad when we went through them.

my mom instincts have gotten sharper. gabe's been a busy boy this past month, and i've caught him in the acts of all his "naughty" behaviours. he definitely does make a different noise, whether it's crying or general chatter, when he's attempting something new and exciting. gabe's been testing out his vocal chords and hasn't let us forget that he's around - the "dadada's", "wawawa's", and "bababa's" are so cute...it just melts my heart to hear him.


now that gabe has a more predictable schedule, we've jumped back into puppysitting PADS dogs. i knew beau was the perfect dog for our return to puppysitting...he's an older dog, full knowledge of the basic commands, and so docile. and sure enough, the two of them were nose to nose and gabe got a big lick on the face :P even when gabe started poking at beau's paws, there was nothing more than a head-lift and a look of boredom from beau. while walking the dog with a stroller presents its challenges (the stroller's gotten away from me a couple times!), and having an un-neutered dog is a first for us (i think he's marked every tree in our 'hood), there's nothing i love more than spending time with my boys.

we all scream for ice cream!

since gabe started eating food, i've been going "by the book" introducing foods one at a time for 3 days blah blah blah. but this past weekend, it all went haywire. unbeknownst to me, my cousin was sneaking some whipping cream to gabe! all i saw was the aftermath of gabe munching away and licking his lips. then yesterday, my mom and i were enjoying our cherry ice cream cones when she decided that it would be fun to let gabe try it, too. surprisingly he wasn't taken aback by the coldness but rather dove right into the cone to get more :P

growing up fast!

i had the biggest scare of my life yesterday afternoon. i had put gabe down for his afternoon nap, and i usually don't check on him at all, but this day something about his chattering must've said "something's not right" to me. i cracked the door open, and sure enough, there was gabe...sitting up (YES, SITTING UP!) in the corner of his crib, grabbing the railings trying to pull himself up!!!

i had thought about lowering his crib a couple weeks ago, but since he didn't really have the strength (or know-how) to lift himself up into any position, i brushed it aside...until now! since i needed chris to lower the crib, i had to keep an eye on gabe while he was trying to go down for his nap. i was actually pretty amused watching him sit up and lie down repeatedly before he finally fell asleep.

here he is this morning when went to get him up. and yes, he's managed to rip down his airflow crib bumpers, too!

happy father's day!

we've had a busy weekend...rachel's bday, brianna & bethany's bdays & father's day dinner w/my family, father's day brunch w/my family, and father's day bbq w/chris' family. phew!

the 5 major food groups: lamb chops, maui ribs, chicken, steaks and boewors!

happy father's day, chris!

pucker up!

OMG, gabe and alyssa shared their first lip-to-lip kiss yesterday! here's how it started: gabe was sitting on the floormat and aly planted herself right in front of him so they could play together. they kind of stared at each other and played with their respective toys. then before i knew what was happening, the two of them leaned in towards each other and their lips connected! it wasn't just a quick little peck, it was quite a substantial kiss...like 3 seconds long!! definitely long enough for us to get a huge laugh out of it, but unfortunately not long enough for anyone to grab a camera :P then after it was over, aly got up and walked away :-)


ah, the babies are growing up so fast!

boys will be boys!

i'm not sure what the deal was tonight, but gabe was content to just amuse himself on the potty. and by amuse, i mean scratch and pull his penis. i couldn't help but laugh my ass off when gabe was scratching! i wanted to post a picture, but chris poo-poo'd the idea...he doesn't want gabe scarred for life by mom's antics :P so here's a pic from earlier today...

on a happier note, gabe was asleep by 9 p.m. after crying it out for only 15 minutes! hmmm, perhaps all that scratching was tiresome :-)

booby battle

we've hit an awkward stage with breastfeeding. before gabe had teeth he used to clamp down with his gums, and i'd yelp and flick his cheek to get him to stop. that worked out well. but now that he has 4 teeth, my yelping only makes him cry and the cheek flicking just stuns him. i tried to tough it out for a few days, but the pain was just getting so bad...i mean, he never broke skin (thank god!) but it's a pain like i've never experienced before (having never gone through the entire birthing process). and when we're having a feed "on the road" he's just a nightmare, between finding a comfortable position, trying to keep the hooter-hider in place, and being able to flick his cheek...MOTHER SUCKER!

so now gabe is cut off from one booby, and i've had to revert to pumping throughout the day. the unfortunate thing is that pumping truly isn't as effective as breastfeeding so i have to pump more frequently. but i have to be careful that i don't pump too much...there's no need to increase my milk supply! have you ever pumped in the car to/from a destination? i almost flashed a bus full of people driving beside us :P awkward!

i did consider cutting gabe off completely, but i do want him to benefit from breastmilk until he's at least 12 months old. plus i'd prefer to wean more naturally over the next 4 months as opposed to the pain of drying up on my own in a shorter period. breastfeeding has always been a "job" to me, and not a special bonding time with gabe, so i don't feel any emotional disappointment about this latest development. it`s just frustrating now that i have to travel with my breastpump and bottles :P

what else do you do at 11:30 p.m.?

man alive, we've had 2 rough nights. gabe has been an absolute angel during the days, but refuses to go to bed at night. he's usually in bed by 9:30 and asleep by 10:00, but last night at 12:30 a.m. we finally gave up (after 2 rounds of baby einstein and another feeding) and strapped him into his rocking chair in front of baby einstein and he eventually fell asleep around 1:30 a.m. he woke up at 3:30 and i successfully transferred him to his crib with minimal protests.

tonight i took a different angle and tried to let him cry it out, but after an hour i caved in and we watched baby einstein again. unfortunately it doesn't seem to do the trick anymore and gabe's refusing to go to bed. i think at some point we'll just leave him alone and cry it out. seriously, eventually he'll fall asleep, right?!

so now chris is taking a turn at comforting gabe and i'm baking peanut butter cookies.

8 months old!

holy crap, where has the time gone?! have i said that before? seriously, where has it gone?! gabe is growing like a weed...quite literally. while we haven't weighed him in a while, i did a rough estimate a couple weeks ago, and he was approx. 21 pounds. yikes!

so what's new this month? gabe's FINALLY figured out how to roll from his tummy to his back in his crib. it takes a lot of maneuvering, spinning and kicking, but at least we don't have to rescue him as often. phew! we've given up on crying it out...we just don't have the patience to stick with it...especially since baby einsteen works like a charm every time! we'll deal with his tv addiction later on :-)

we're seeing the early attempts at movement. during playtime, gabe will twist his body around and start rocking back and forth...he's definitely able to move towards his toys doing a little bum scooch and leg-twisting, and he'll even flip himself onto his belly and flop around. it seems as though no matter how many pillows or blankets i place around him, he always manages to fall on the one spot that has no extra padding and he hits his head on the floor. he's done it so many times now that he doesn't cry and just lies there waiting to be rescued.

on the food front, we've finally had success with turkey and peas...they just have to be mashed with his favourite yams or sweet potatoes :-) we've introduced papaya, tofu, broccoli, cauliflower, avocado, zucchini, butternut squash, and oatmeal. up next...green beans, brown rice and more fruit!

gabe now has 4 teeth, and it`s made breastfeeding a real challenge. i was almost ready to cut him off completely after a painful day yesterday, but we worked through it today and are still trying to find a solution to it...the yelling and cheek poking is helping :-)

speaking of milk, i finally went through the blood tests and got approved to become a milk donor! over the past 6 months i`m not sure how many milk bags i`ve filled (7 shopping bags worth), nor the exact measurement, but i estimate the bank is getting about 1,000 ounces! yippee! i wish i had a picture of all the milk, but it`s been at my parents in their deep-freeze for long-term storage. just think...i still have at least 4 more months of breastfeeding to go...we`ll have to see how much more i can donate later on!