Go Team Friedman

Recap: Fall 2011 in photos

2012-02-12T16:44:00.001-05:00

I finally got around to downloading photos from the camera (and deleting all of the photos of the floor that Gabe took), so now I get to give you a quick recap of highlights from Oct-Dec. You can find the whole album on Google+.

October 2011:

Bubbie and Papa came to visit. One of the highlights of their trip included taking Gabe to a corn maze. He was more interested in the hay ride than the maze; we did that twice :)

Auntie Erica visited for a long weekend. She and Gabe built a LOT of Lego towers, and she got to celebrate Halloween with us at Team B.

Mike got the sewing machine out of storage and made some awesome Harry Potter robes for Halloween. He was adult Harry, and Gabe was Harry's son James. I was going to be adult Ginny, but Halloween beat us to the punch. Maybe next year!

November 2011:

We spent Thanksgiving in Myrtle Beach, SC visiting Uncle Jason, Aunt Jennifer, Cousin Alaina, and Auntie Chanda. Bubbie and Papa also drove up from Dallas. We had a great time eating (of course), playing outside, celebrating my birthday, and going to the bounce house.

December 2011:

Auntie Meg came to visit from Norway (actually on her way back to Norway from Antarctica), and we had a great time hanging out. She also introduced Gabe to the joys of advent calendars!

We're having another baby boy!

2012-02-03T21:53:00.001-05:00

Gabe would say "I told you so"; he's been telling people "I have a baby brother in mommy's belly." Today we had our big anatomy scan ultrasound and officially found out that we're having another boy. Now we have to come up with a name :) That's proving to be more difficult this time around!

Everything at the ultrasound checked out wonderfully. It turns out that baby boy 2 also got Gabe's stubborn streak; it took a solid 20 minutes to get the the right view of his head so that the sonographer could finish her measurements. He just wasn't interested in moving out of his cozy spot.

Twenty weeks down and twenty more to go!

Here we go again

2011-12-16T20:08:00.000-05:00

Baby Friedman #2 at 7 weeks

You may have noticed (by the fact that I just posted about a camping trip in October) that we're a little behind on the blog. There's a reason for that, though. At 12 weeks in, I think it's fairly safe to say that Gabe is going to be a big brother somewhere around June 29. It's been a pretty crazy fall, though - between editing and teaching on my end and teaching a load of new AP classes on Mike's end (and chasing the never ending energy source that is Gabe on both of our ends), we've been pretty exhausted. I've also had a much different pregnancy this time around; things were completely by the book with Gabe, and although everything is on target and progressing normally, the side effects this time around have been a lot more intense. I'm hoping that as the first trimester comes to a close, we can put some of that behind us.

We went in for an appointment today and got to hear the heartbeat for the first time since our seven-week ultrasound (although as you can see, there's not much to see that early); at 159 bpm, it was a wonderful sound to hear, and it brought me back to the first time we heard Gabe's heartbeat. Gabe, by the way, is very excited about becoming a big brother; I'm not sure that he completely understands the ramifications, but he asks me every day about the baby, gives my belly hugs and kisses, and asks when his new baby will be here. It's super sweet.

We're all looking forward to a relaxing Christmas break with the family. Next year brings another round of craziness - I'm going to be teaching the 400-student introductory biology course at UNC, Mike has a pile of AP tests to prepare his students for, and we're hoping that once the market picks back up in the spring months, we can finally sell this house and move somewhere bigger in time for us to be a family of four!

Backpacking 2: Raven Rock State Park in October

2011-12-13T22:53:00.001-05:00

Hiking to camp

We were less conservative for our second backpacking experience. Equipped with better packs, we again headed off for a cousin adventure to Raven Rock State Park. This was a much more traditional experience; the hike to the site was 1.7 mi (via an actual trail and not the flat, wide trail at Falls Lake), and we stayed in the canoe camping site, which had only 6 sites. The end result was a much more primitive (and quiet!) experience. We were right on the Cape Fear River, which is slightly misleading because the bank is so steep, it was a 5-min walk to the actual river. Again, Gabe did really well. He walked somewhere between a half mile and a mile on the way in (which was good considering that we got there after his dinner time), and we got to the site in time to set up camp and start a fire. I was impressed to see Gabe actually devour his dinner (a rarity in our house), but bedtime was not so easy. After we were all settled into our tent, Gabe decided that he wanted to sleep "at home in my own bed right now!". Not an easy feat when you're 1.7 mi from the car and an hour from home beyond that. Luckily, some Thomas videos on the iphone calmed him down, and we all had a good sleep.

Home sweet home

Daddy and Gabe relaxing

Sunday was a lot of fun. The kids spent some time exploring the site, relaxing with the dads in the hammocks, and playing card games. We had a leisurely breakfast and relaxed until it was time to tear down camp and head home via Raven Rock (you can't not see a namesake!). The actual rocks were on the river bank, which was 150 stairs down from the trail. Gabe (who hadn't been so eager to hike on his own) eagerly trekked down (and back up) all 150 stairs! However, between that, the mile hike to the rock, and the fact that it was past his naptime, he rode the last mile to the car on Mike's shoulders (and fell asleep in the process).

Exploring the campsite with Eliot

Cape Fear River with Mommy

Rock formations

Hiking back to the car

In all, it was a successful trip, and we're excited to try out some new parks in the spring.

Summer recap: backpacking

2011-10-19T14:16:00.002-04:00

Gabe exploring camp

My cousins have been begging us to go camping with them since they moved to NC. I camped fairly frequently as a kid, and Mike was a Boy Scout, but I don't think he's camped much since, and I haven't been since undergrad. Ben is of the opinion (and I can't fault him) that if you're going to camp, you should see some good scenery and not the backs of cars and RVs; therefore, instead of slowly getting our feet wet with some car camping, we dove in with a backpacking trip and a toddler.

During the last week of May, we ventured out with Team B for a night of backpacking at Shinleaf at Falls Lake State Park. It was a pretty short hike into the site (somewhere between a quarter and a half mile), but we picked a site close to the lake (and the vault toilet, which was critical with 2 kids under 6). Gabe walked most of the way himself (backpack and all), and we managed to get a fire started and the tents set up before it got dark. We had a short first night; by the time we got the kids to sleep, we just went to sleep ourselves.

After the early night, the kids were up early, so we spent the morning hiking to the lake and relaxing in the hammock. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and snack and then packed out before lunch. Gabe barely made it back to the car; I carried him most of the way back, and he was asleep for a late nap before we even left the parking lot. In all, it was a great first experience. We managed to stay tick-free, and Gabe didn't run (too far) away, although he was very interested in going out onto the trail "by myself".

Gabe and Mike at Falls Lake

Checking out the wildlife at Falls Lake

Summer recap: potty training

2011-10-19T10:00:00.000-04:00

I neglected to mention that Gabe is now potty trained. We had been talking about it for a while during the spring, and even though he was on the young side (just over 2), we decided to let him give it a shot while we were all home during the summer. We wanted to wait until after our first trip to Dallas (2 days after Mike finished teaching) because we couldn't imagine flying (with layovers) with a potty-training toddler. During our trip, Gabe told everyone who would listen all about how he would wear underwear when we got home. In retrospect, the process was pretty painless. I did some reading, but mostly followed the advice from a friend whose son potty trained during the previous summer at about the same age.

Essentially, we went cold-turkey from diapers to underwear. Day 1 was fairly novel; Gabe was excited about his new (Thomas and Mickey Mouse) underwear, and he (generally) dutifully sat on the potty every 20 minutes when Mike's alarm chimed. We had a couple of accidents and a couple of tantrums when sitting on the potty got old, but overall it was a good day. Day 2 was not as good. The morning was ok, but after naptime, Gabe refused to sit on the potty at all. After a huge crying fit, we decided to revert to diapers for the evening. I thought it was the sign of a failed attempt (which we were ok with; we knew it was early), but it turned out to be the revitalization that Gabe needed. Day 3 saw many fewer accidents (and Grandma and Grandpa came to visit!), and on Day 4, we drove out to the coast to spend a week at the beach. The vacation turned out to be the perfect potty-training destination; Gabe was completely distracted by the new house and lots of family. We got over our cabin fever from not leaving the house for three days, and Gabe had a perfect toilet: the ocean! By the time we got back home, Gabe was completely potty trained - talk about a productive vacation!

What we didn't expect was that Gabe would night-train himself two months later. I guess he just didn't like wearing pull-ups; by early September, we were completely diaper free. So... who needs size 4 Pampers? :)

Rock star

2011-10-11T17:40:00.000-04:00

Gabe has been really into singing songs lately. His favorites are most of the TMBG "Here Comes Science" album, but he also loves "Hey Oh" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and "Dynamite" (except he sings "I throw my hands up in the air sometimes, Galileo, Galileo..."). Thursday after Mike picked him up from the babysitter's house, I found him singing "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" into the USB car charger "microphone".

We have officially entered the "why" stage

2011-09-19T12:55:00.000-04:00

Gabe has changed in so many ways since the beginning of the summer; he falls asleep on his own, is potty trained (even at night), participates in group classes, helps out around the house, and tells funny jokes and stories. He's always been inquisitive and wanted to know how things worked. However, last night at bedtime, he stalled with an endless stream of "no, but why"s. Some highlights: "Why can't Red Robin come to Chick-Fil-A with us?" "Where does Red Robin sleep?" and "How will Red Robin open the elevator?". Oh boy. Also, can you tell where we've eaten out lately?

We went to two different REIs this weekend to pick up Gabe's new shoes and some backpacking gear. He was thrilled because he could ride elevators and 2-wheeled bikes and play in tents.

Summer recap

2011-09-15T08:25:00.004-04:00

You can tell we had a busy summer because I haven't posted since May. Yikes! I guess now that it is September (and although it's been in the 90s all summer, the high tomorrow is 60), that means fall is almost here.

We stayed busy all summer. We took 2 trips to Dallas to visit Bubbie and Papa (one fun and one so that Mike could attend an AP Calculus teaching conference), spent a week at Carolina Beach with the extended family, spent another week with Grandma and Grandpa in NC, put the house on the market (including painting, flooring, and a full storage unit), and spent a lot of time with Team B. Mike is teaching 3 new classes this year, and I am editing full-time until I start teaching in October.

I've posted some representative photos and videos below. You can see albums from the first and second parts of our summer, and our vimeo channel has a lot more random videos from the past year. Mike also has some funny stories to relate, so look forward to that shortly.

Feeding the ducks on Father's Day

Gabe's favorite part of the Dallas Zoo

Gabe's second favorite part of the Dallas Zoo

Playing on the iPad with Larry and Sam

Snuggling with Stella at the beach

Camping during Hurricane Irene

Spinning on the chair and singing with Papa

Riding his bike all by himself

Creativity

2011-05-28T00:50:00.000-04:00

We've always known that Gabe was creative, but he's just gotten to the point where it really expresses itself in a way that we understand. On Tuesday, I took Gabe to story time at Barnes & Noble. After the story, he decided to play in the little corner of the kids' section where the toys are; the area has different flooring, a couple of pillars, and a roof. He explained to me that he was riding the elevator (his favorite thing in the world right now). He showed me that the doors were between the pillars, and that he had to push the button to go "down, down, down."

Next, it was my turn to ride. Gabe got very frustrated when I wasn't properly pushing the buttons (I thought it was just an arbitrary spot on the wall). As he later demonstrated, the elevator's functions were controlled by a set of paints that he'd found in a display on the wall. The red paint was for down. I'm not sure what the others did :)

Later that evening, Gabe and Mike were playing with Gabe's favorite toy: my old little people camping set. He'd put the daddy laying down in the back of the jeep, with the mommy standing outside. (Side note: before swimming lessons, we change Gabe into his swim diaper/swim trunks while he stands in the cargo area of Mike's SUV. It's a lot easier than dealing with the locker room, and it's become a part of his summer routine.) He explained to Mike that mommy was changing daddy's diaper. He then moved the people to the front seat, so that they could drive to work. Once at work, Mike found a little person to be the boss, and when I came downstairs, Gabe was pretending that the boss was talking to mommy and daddy. What does the boss say? "Blah, blah, blah, blah, get to work!"

Last night, I tried to explain to Gabe that I needed to go downstairs and work on my slides for the guest lecture I was giving in Developmental Biology. Later, Gabe explained to Mike, "Mommy has to go to work and ride the slide." Great, now he thinks that I work at a magical playground. To make matters worse, this morning in the car, Gabe asked for a special treat (which, among other things, means the tin of mints in my car). The mint tin was empty, but I have a stash at work, so I told him I'd bring him a special treat when I picked him up in the afternoon. "Mommy will go to work and have special treats." He must think I'm a horrible parent, dropping him off every day so that I can go have fun for hours without him! :)

Happy April birthdays to Ann H, Megan, Colton, and Quinn. Happy May birthdays to Ted, Eli (1 year old!), Uncle Cliff, Maddox, Deb, Phil, and Josh. Also, we have two more babies to welcome: congrats to Kurt and Geneva on baby Charlotte and to Danny, Sarah, and Mia on baby Jack!

Gabriel 2.0, Mommy PhD

2011-05-28T00:36:00.000-04:00

The first weekend in May was busy for us - on May 6, Gabe turned 2 (although now he says he's three years old), and on May 7, I received my PhD hood. Grandma came to visit for both events and we had a great weekend.

For Gabe's birthday, Grandma and I took Gabe to Marbles Kids Museum for a busy morning riding buses, pirate ships, gardening, building race cars, grocery shopping, and enjoying a picnic lunch (er, chocolate chip cookie). We baked a cake (which Gabe looked forward to all day long - next year we may have cake for breakfast, just to get it out of the way!), opened presents with Daddy (more trains, oh my!), opened Gabe's new trike from J4, and then celebrated with dinner, cake, and presents with Team B. It was a long, fun day.

Blowing out candles with Ben's help

Digging in!

On Saturday morning, we trekked up to Chapel Hill for my PhD hooding ceremony. I got to spend some time catching up with Matt, and Mom, Mike, and Gabe got to spend time with Kelly and Matt's family. Gabe was awesome - he spent a lot of time running around, but he came in to watch me walk across stage and met me with hugs after the recessional. Mike, Mom, Gabe, and I had a celebratory lunch at Brixx, and then trekked home for a relaxing weekend.

ABCs

2011-05-26T16:49:00.000-04:00

Gabe loves to sing and dance. Here is a quick clip of him singing the ABCs along with his music table and doing what we call the Tommy Schoolbus dance (it's a long story).

Gabe singing the ABCs
24 months
May 2011

Easter with Uncle Ricky

2011-05-26T16:47:00.001-04:00

We had a great Easter this year, mostly because it was the first holiday that Gabe was really interested in and could look forward to. We celebrated it several times: we went to an Easter egg hunt (madness!) in downtown Apex, we celebrated early with Grandma who was here to watch Gabe during his babysitter's spring break, had our annual seder to celebrate Passover, and then we flew to LA to spend the weekend with Uncle Ricky for Easter proper. I'll let the photos do the talking.

Easter egg hunt @ Apex town campus

Gabe discovering that easter eggs contain candy

Grandma and egg dyeing Easter eggs

Gabe and Mia at Passover

Gabe with Mommy and Uncle Ricky at Manhattan Beach

Dyeing Easter eggs with Daddy in LA

The Easter bunny came to LA

Snuggling with Uncle Ricky

Baltimore

2011-04-13T21:28:00.000-04:00

I wrote this post some time ago, but apparently it never posted...

Gabe in a rare moment of watching the fish

Last weekend we took a trip to Baltimore to visit Jacob and Jess. Although the weather was cold (we left behind warm NC weather!), we had a great time cooking, gaming, playing D&D from the MD side of the webcam, and catching up. We spent Saturday morning downtown with Emily, Brian, and baby Russell at the aquarium. There were a ton of awesome fish and sting rays and Gabe loved the... elevators. On occasion he settled for the escalators, but we spent most of our time hunting out ways to get from one floor to the next. I was feeling bad about it until we ran into another former UNC grad and his son (who was doing the same thing!)

Emily and Russell, Jacob and Jess enjoying Gabe's 2nd favorite activity: riding the bus

In closing, here is Gabe showing off his new toddler eating skills with some avocado chocolate pudding :)

Happy birthdays to Auntie M, Jeremy, Richie, and big Brian. Also a big congrats to Jeremy, Lizzy, and big sister Emma on the arrival of baby Lane!

My brother moonlights as an NFL agent

2011-04-12T21:27:00.000-04:00

That's right, Rick isn't only a writer for Criminal Minds; he met his favorite player Dallas Clark at a game last year and got him a spot on the show. Colts tight end Dallas Clark's episode of the show (co-written by Rick) airs tomorrow night. Here's a teaser (you can see Rick in the background of some of the shots, sitting in the writer's chair).

http://www.nfl.com/videos/indianapolis-colts/09000d5d81f38978/Dallas-hits-Hollywood

23 months

2011-04-07T21:42:00.002-04:00

It's funny - some days I am amazed that Gabe is almost 2. On other days, I can't believe he has another month before he is officially 2, because he has been acting like a two-year-old for a couple of months now. This is a good and a bad thing - he's quite independent and is very easy to communicate with verbally. He's also very much into the "I do it!" phase. There are a number of things that Gabe feels are his jobs, and he gets upset if he catches us doing them. This includes putting soap in the dishwasher, using the microwave and toaster oven, starting the washer or dryer, flushing the toilet, opening or closing doors, turning lights on or off, and operating any type of remote control. It got to a point where he was in the horrible habit of screaming, "No! I do it!" any time he wanted to do something on his own. On Tuesday we started working on prompting him to replace his "no" with "May I do it please?" I'm very impressed with his progress in 2 days.

Gabe and Alisha playing Rock Band

Some of Gabe's recent verbal gems:

"We'll talk about it." I probably say this a lot.
When watching the rotating loading icon on Netflix on my iphone, he said, "It's spinning... like the Milky Way!"
"I say.. 'Ok, Mommy'"
"I'm working on it."
At bedtime, Gabe often asks where the non-bedtime parent is. The other night, Mike explained that I was downstairs working. Gabe said, "Mommy go downstairs and work. Mommy go downstairs and play guitar. Mommy go downstairs and sing 'Who Are You'." I guess we had been playing a lot of Rock Band lately. I recently taught him to sing the song by the Who, and for some reason he now thinks the PS3 microphone is called a "who are you."

Congratulations to Dr. LaFave!

My picky eater

2011-04-05T19:41:00.000-04:00

It's no secret that Gabe is a picky eater. We've been battling with foods ever since he started eating solids - first it was the gag reflex, then we found out that he has a pretty potent milk allergy, and then he entered his terrible twos a bit early. End result: a handful of foods that he will eat reliably, and that's about it. There was a brief phase where Gabe ate normally - grilled chicken, pasta, some veggies - but that is long gone. Gabe will eat about any kind of fruit or grain that we give him, and he's a fan of almost every milk substitute we can find (soy milk, soy pudding, rice ice cream, vegan cheese), but he has a very limited selection of proteins (chicken nuggets and hot dogs) and an even more limited selection of veggies (pretty much none).

The last week has been quite an adventure, however. I've been trying to sneak veggies into his diet: I buy him Trader Joe's fiber bars that are made from a combo of vegetable and fruit purees, I mix his green juice (Odwalla superfood) with pureed spinach and veggies, and I recently started experimenting with some hidden vegetable recipes (the avocado chocolate pudding was a hit, see left, and it's milk-free!). But there are some oddities in his diet. Specifically, Gabe is a big fan of hummus, pistachios, and pickles. He recently discovered that he likes popcorn shrimp (or shrimp nuggets, as he calls them), and yesterday decided that he likes black licorice. That's my boy - he won't eat spaghetti, but he's learning to shell his own pistachios.

Cooking dinner and jumping

2011-04-04T15:24:00.000-04:00

My son is a goof. Also, he recently learned to jump, so jumping on the bed is a huge deal right now :)

Welcome Jacob!

2011-04-02T21:49:00.000-04:00

Jesse and Meg welcomed Jacob on March 31. He weighed in at 6 lb 2 oz. We can't wait to meet the little guy. Congrats, guys!

Science jewelry!

2011-04-01T10:20:00.002-04:00

Mike outdid himself this year and got me two awesome presents. For Valentine's Day, he found a kit for making a solar system necklace - he strung up all of the beads himself, and the distances between each planet are to scale (each tiny black bead is 20 million miles). For my defense, he got me a serotonin necklace. So now I own a scale mockup of the solar system and the chemical structure of serotonin - and both are nice enough to wear when dressing up. I am so excited. Also, for those of you keeping score, Mike is on the last thread color of his cross stitching creation for Gabe's room that he started before Gabe was born. It is quite the massive project, and it's fun to see it coming together. I have quite the crafty husband!

Currently reading: Deke! US Manned Space from Mercury to the Space Shuttle
Happy 4th birthday to Hailey (2 days ago)!

PhD

2011-03-28T14:52:00.000-04:00

Please forgive us for the lack of updates this spring. We have been incredibly busy, are loving the springtime (despite this recent wintry relapse), and are trying to move forward with everything that was on hold. I defended my PhD dissertation on March 18. That's right - no more grad school! Well, almost... I have to finish up my paper resubmission, submit my final dissertation to the grad school, and finish teaching this semester. But the stress level is way down, and for that I am grateful. Here is the only (current) photo evidence of my doctoral completion: Mia, Gabe, and Mike at my post-defense party. Everything else is in living on the Nikon, and liberating them is on my list of things to do once Mom and Dad ditch us :) Anyway, the defense went well, Kim hosted an awesome happy hour for me, and we had friends and family over to our house to celebrate. The weather was awesome, too - 80 and sunny - I couldn't ask for anything better. It's been great having Mom and Dad here - we've worked on the house, relaxed, and played with Gabe.

Now that my grad school career is ending, I'm feeling the pressure of not having a job lined up for next year. I volunteered to TA summer school here, so that will keep me busy (and paid!) until Mike finishes teaching in June. We're hoping to sell our house this summer (even if we stay in NC), and have recently started updating and repairing little items in that venue. All the more reason to find a job - I hate not knowing where we're going to live in August!

I missed a lot of events and birthdays in the last 6 weeks, so happy birthday to all of you! Especially happy birthday to Grandpa Steve, Grandma Nette, and Papa Sam! I hope to be back to updating on a regular basis - Gabe has so many new tricks to write about!

More chocolate pudding

2011-02-04T20:41:00.000-05:00

Right now, Gabe is standing at the top of the stairs, repeating "Mommy more chocolate pudding, Mommy more chocolate chips, Mommy milk baba" over and over again. Mike is upstairs putting him to bed, but since G now has free reign of the upstairs, nothing can stop him except for the gate at the top of the stairs.

That's right, Gabe now sleeps in a toddler bed. We weren't ready to make the switch, but he'd learned to climb out of the pack n play (where he falls asleep at least once a week when we're visiting with family), and he could also climb into his crib from the floor. We didn't like all of that climbing, so Mike (broken ankle, flu, and all) assembled the big boy bed. Honestly, it's going ok. Once G is asleep, he tends to sleep through the night in his bed. On the occasion that he wakes up, he either calls us in or hops in bed with us. But bedtime is another story. He's always required one of us to stay in the room with him while he falls asleep. We'd been putting him in the crib and sitting in the room while he put himself to sleep. Now that he's not confined to the crib (or the room), there is more wandering and distraction involved. Bedtime takes a lot longer, but it usually ends up with him asleep in the bed nonetheless.

As always, Gabe is amazing us with his learning curve - he can count past twenty, he knows the alphabet, and he can correctly identify a handful of colors. He also knows the names of all of his favorite Sodor engines.

We've had great visits with family and friends lately. Christmas was a blast (19 of us on Christmas morning!), Bubbie and Papa just left, the Taylors came to visit, and Uncle Rickey is on his way right now. I submitted my second first-author paper and am defending my PhD thesis on March 18. Mike is still loving his new school. Gabe is the only healthy person in the house, since Mike has a broken ankle, just had the flu, and I have strep throat. There are a bunch of pics from December and January in the picasa web albums.

I missed a ton of birthdays since our last post, so happy birthdays to May, Jacob, Sara, Jenn, Will, Jesse, Myrah, Angela, Skylar, Fran, Nate, Jan, Arwen, Ed, and Will.

Cardinal Gems of Wisdom

2010-12-29T09:28:00.003-05:00

As Gabe approaches his 20th month, he doesn't really stop talking from sun up to sun down. His vocabulary is growing at an astronomical rate. Sometimes he uses some words he doesn't quite understand though. He knows many numbers, but apparently doesn't fully comprehend their meaning:

1. Gabe has taken to saying "one more time" when he wants to do something again. He will also say "one more time" no less than ten times.

2. Recently Gabe met Ben's twin, Guillaume. Erin said to Gabe, "look, there are two Bens" and from then on, anytime he saw Guillaume he'd say "Hi, Two-Ben," or "night-night, Two-Ben."

3. He got a power wheel for Christmas and yesterday he was trying to lug it up some stairs. He was having trouble and said "too heavy." I was impressed until he followed that by "three heavy."

4. When Gabe counts small numbers of items he counts "nine, doo, nine, doo, nine," but when he's going up stairs he'll count up the 14 stairs. Apparently he has to get past 6 before he decides to use the right numbers.

5. Gabe can say the alphabet except for 5 letters which he just conveniently skips. Pretty impressive until in the middle he switches from the alphabet to twinkle twinkle. "A B C D E F G, H I J K L M N O P, up above..."

2 new movies

2010-11-23T11:12:00.001-05:00

Gabe plays peek-a-boo "in" his tent
November 2010
18 months

Gabe learning to unbuckle the seat belt
November 2010
18 months

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Happy birthday last week to Eliot and this week to Mike G

Thank you

2010-11-13T10:37:00.000-05:00

Gabe is very interested in clipping the chest clip on his car seat himself, so Mike found some spare buckles and taught him how. Within 5 mins, he was an old pro at the task. Even better, we used the same buckles as a distraction at his 18 mo pediatrician's appointment when he got the last of his vaccines until kindergarten. Yay! The appointment went well - Gabe had a fun chat with Dr. Adams, and we found out that he's finally broken over the 10th percentile in weight. He's still 50% for height.

Here is Gabe learning to put the buckles together. My favorite part is the "thank you" at the end :)

Happy birthday to Natalie on the 11th and Ben yesterday!

18 months (and 3 days) old!

2010-11-09T12:36:00.000-05:00

Can you believe that our little monkey is a year and a half old? This time last year he was army crawling around the living room. Now he's running and talking (using adjectives!), has quite the sense of humor, is very opinionated, is a picky eater, sleeps through the night, and gives great hugs & kisses. Time flies!

My parents came to visit for their fall break and Gabe got to spend a couple of days home with them. In the time they were here, Gabe perfected "grandma" and is pretty close to "grandpa" (though it's closer to "papa" right now). I know he had a good time because he asks to call them almost every night :) We got to spend some great family time together, have a couple of dinners with family and friends, and even make our first-ever trip to the NC State fair. We didn't find the kiddie rides until it was too late, but did have a good time walking around, eating fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches, and seeing the animals.

We celebrated Halloween with Team B, who hosted an amazing party. Gabe dressed up as Mario (he even wore the hat for most of the evening. Yoshi kept getting left behind, though) and had a good time chasing Stella and the other kids as well as playing with Ben's parents who were in town visiting.

Gabe also got to spend an afternoon this weekend with Susan and Mike (plus Team B) who were in town visiting. Bonus: we got to celebrate Mike's birthday and Stella's birthday at the same time. I can't get enough of this family time - it is so great being able to see family on a weekly basis :)

Last weekend Gabe also had his first commercial haircut (my Aunt Jan cut his hair this summer in Indiana). It was getting kind of unruly, hanging down into his eyes and ears, so it was time for a change. He was a complete trooper - playing nicely for the hour we had to wait and then sitting still for the actual haircut. Here is a before & after.

In the weeks since our last post, there have been a lot of birthdays to celebrate: Meg, Alaina, Alysia, Matt L, Rick, Bubbie, Jason K, Stella, and Mike M. Happy birthday everyone! Also, a big congrats to Dr. Jacob who defended his PhD thesis on Friday! Finally, congrats to Steph and Stephen, who recently welcomed the arrival of baby Natalie.

Finally fall

2010-10-18T21:10:00.000-04:00

It's not to say that we don't still have warm days here, but we've had our share of chilly ones, too. It's finally feeling like fall here, and I'm looking forward to all of the fall activities that we have planned.

Every time I think that our lives can't possibly get busier, they do. I'm not complaining, but I am sorry I haven't had more of a chance to post updates! Mike had fall break and got to spend a nice couple of days home with G. We had several chances for dinner, movies, and games with family and friends. Work and school have ensured that we have no true downtime. Plus Gabe is changing so much. We stopped writing down his new words because they were coming too quickly for us to keep track (but some of my new favorites are Oreo, peek-a-boo, airplane, Thomas (the train), tickle, and Galileo [of the Baby Galileo variety]). He is tackling new obstacles each week at Little Gym - this week he was crazy about the balance beam and the springboard. He is in love with the new baby at his babysitter's house and comes home every night talking about Ava. He also is officially into a train phase and requested to watch Thomas (Tommy) every time he passed the TV this weekend. To appease him, we made a trip to Barnes & Noble to play with the train set there and randomly saw some train car reshuffling in downtown Apex.

In other news, welcome to the world Alma (and congrats to new Mom & Dad Alysia & Steve)!

And finally, happy birthdays to Uncle Jim and to Debbie :)

Our little mimic

2010-09-21T13:12:00.002-04:00

Gabe is currently in the throes of mimicing our every move. It's a behavior that is adorable, impressive, and scary (he picks up on EVERYTHING!). He's saying a lot of new words now, picking them up on the first try and then remembering them. He also mimics our behavior. Since I shower at night, one of my morning rituals is wetting down the hair at the back of my head so it doesn't look like I just rolled out of bed (which I did). Gabe has always enjoyed sitting in the bathroom sink and playing with the water and toothbrushes, but now he says "hair" as he rubs water all over his head. He loves to wear our shoes (which he calls knees for some reason), pretend to drive the car, sit on the "big chairs" at the "big table," buckle his own car seat... the list goes on and on. It's pretty adorable. Here he is with Daddy and their matching Fedoras.

To satisfy Gabe's need to be like us, we made a weekend trip out to IKEA in Charlotte to pick up some little furniture for him. We actually set out to pick up a toddler bed (hopefully we won't need this for quite some time, but it's not going to be long before he can climb out of the crib and we want to be prepared if necessary) but ended up with a lot more. We picked up a little table and chairs and he loves to sit there at snacktime or when watching tv or drawing.

He also loved the armchairs and rocking chairs (but they were sold out). Here is Gabe enjoying the little rocking chair and spotting the black eye he got by falling into the corner of the storage shelves in one of the other display rooms. He was a big trooper though and despite the long car ride and time in the store, really enjoyed playing with all of the display furniture.

Last but not least, we finally bit the bullet and picked up a jogging stroller. We put it off for a year, mostly because we weren't sure if we'd actually be able to get out for a run with Gabe in tow, but also because the stroller is expensive! But we've already been on a couple of runs, Gabe loves the stroller, and we're wondering how we lasted so long without it. The Graco that came with his car seat now lives in the attic and we're not even sure we'll use it when it's time for baby #2 - the jogger is SO much better!

Happy birthdays to Sam, Moen, Sarah, John, and Emily.

I want to be an astronaut

2010-09-07T10:44:00.003-04:00

That's the title of Gabe's current favorite book, not a personal opinion. Well ok, it's still sort of true, but not the point - a few months ago, Phil got Gabe a copy of this book because Jack loved it so much. G has been interested in it for some time, but lately he wants it constantly - he brings it in the car with him, carries it around the house, shuffles through the books on the shelf looking for it. This weekend his new word is astronaut ("am-nah") and he said it over and over.

Gabe also has long been a fan of the dishwasher. On Friday I was cleaning up around the house and he was playing in the kitchen. I left for 30 seconds and when I came back, he was playing like this:

Silly boy! We had a great long weekend together. The weather cooled off enough for us to keep the windows open most of the time and to get out of the house. Highlights included a trip to the park and a trip to the Museum of Life & Science with S&S.

September already?!

2010-09-02T13:30:00.002-04:00

Ok, I've been alerted to the fact that it's been over a month since our last post. Unforgivable! :) We've been super busy and I guess I've been waiting until all of our recent photos/movies are uploaded to post about the rest of the summer. But obviously that hasn't happened yet, so let me give you a quick update to tide you over.

Dan and Claire got married in AL, and since we flew to Atlanta and drove to AL, Gabe has now been to 11 states. The whole weekend was much fun - so great to catch up with all of our friends. Lucas came to visit for a week and though we didn't do anything very North Carolina-ey (sorry Lucas!) we had an awesome time just hanging out with him. Phil visited NC for work and we got to see him for a couple of evenings, including Mike's birthday. My cousins also moved to NC and we are loving being able to have impromptu dinners and gaming sessions with them. They also serve as family travel bait - we got to see Laura and Rick on Laura's birthday because they were in town visiting :) We're also swapping babysitting which has worked out fabulously. Mike's parents came to visit for a long weekend, and we filled the time as much as we could. Mike also started a new teaching job, which he loves. You can't imagine how happy it makes me to see him satisfied with work after the last year of horrible-ness.

Gabe is changing every day which still blows our mind. Current new favories: keys (and putting them in the door, in the car ignition, or even in his toy car where the ignition should be), Elmo (I blame his cousin Stella for this one, as we certainly didn't teach him!), dancing, singing, rolling around on the floor (thanks, Little Gym), and saying "okey-dokey." He has so many new words that I can't keep track, but some of my new favorites are Mickey, green beans, and Ruby (his babysitter's dog). He knows the words for (and can point to) most of his body parts except that he still insists that his ears are also called "eyes."

Ok, next update will have some visuals to go along with it.

Finally, happy August birthdays! Of course, happy birthday to Mike :) And also to Megan, Jonah, Laura, Hugh, Kate, Nikki, Tommy, and Beau. Phew!

Keep on rockin' in the horsey world

2010-08-02T13:15:00.002-04:00

Tommy's dad John made Gabe his first rocking horse and it couldn't have arrived at a better time. Gabe was on an every-animal-says-"baaa" trend but soon after we unwrapped the horse, he learned that horses say "neigh neigh." He's also taught himself (in true monkey fashion) how to climb onto the horse (next task: climbing down).

Gabe leaned to climb up onto his new rocking horse
July 2010
15 months

Last weekend was full of friends, famliy, and gaming. On Friday we played our first D&D game in over a month (and the first with virtual-Jess) and managed to not pay too high a price for taking an extended rest in an enemy stronghold :) On Saturday Lucas flew in from Norway to visit us for the week and on Sunday we enjoyed hanging out with him and later also with my cousin Ben who just moved to Cary (Sara and Stella will be here today!). All of this activity is making it hard to get up and go to work in the morning, though...

Happy birthday later this week to Erica! Happy early 30th, big E, you old lady :)

9 states in 14 months

2010-07-29T13:00:00.006-04:00

We just got back home from a whirlwind trip: we joined Mom, Dad, Adam, and the rest of the family in Detroit, MI for Laura & Rick's wedding (and G's 9th state) followed by a week in Indiana spending time with family (Jan, Jim, Josh, and Jonah flew out to join us) and friends (Phil, Amanda, Jack, and Hugh drove up for the weekend). There are too many stories to tell, so I will just give you a recap in photos.

All decked out at Laura & Rick's wedding reception

Uncle Adam spent some quality time with Gabe, here walking up and down stairs at the reception

Dad & Mom actually got to dance!

We took Gabe to the Johnson County Fair (here, petting a goat)

My Aunt Jan gave Gabe his first haircut (a family tradition)

Gabe meeting my Uncle Jim

Joshua turned 13 on this trip and came out of the basement "man cave" long enough to play some Mario Party with us

Jonah brought a lot of his toys and passed them down to Gabe; they had a fun time playing together

We took Gabe to the Children's Museum with the Taylors (here, playing at the water table)

Jack playing in the sand table

Hugh crawling in the play gym

Now that we're back home, we're preparing for a wave of out-of-town visitors. It's crazy at our house, but in a very good way. We're going to go through a bit of family withdrawl when this all comes to a close!

Happy July birthdays to: Dan, Kim, Mia (who just turned one!), Steve F, Jack (big 3!), Josh (13!), Nick, Amy, Brian K, and Erin L

"I still love the way you smile"

2010-07-01T09:41:00.002-04:00

It seems like we've been going non-stop since I last wrote: helping the Sawyers pack up the truck; celebrating Mindy's birthday at Milltown; watching Episode III with Danny, Sarah, and Mia; and spending an evening with Brian and Alisha who just moved here from San Antonio. I'm so glad it's the summer! And so glad we're finally getting a break from the 90-degree weather that's been scorching us for all of June. Gabe is just glad that he can spend some more time outside now.

Here is a video that makes me smile every time I see it: Mike and Gabe playing peek-a-boo over the back of the couch

Peek-a-boo from Erin Friedman on Vimeo.

Happy birthdays this week to my Aunt Susan and to Steph

The monkey has turned into a fish

2010-06-25T10:39:00.002-04:00

I can't believe it's already late June. We've been so busy, the summer is absolutely flying by! Mom & Dad were in town visiting for 10 days and we got so many projects done: among other things, they refinished our kitchen table, helped fix our dripping A/C condenser (and the water it left on our ceiling), and fixed Gabe's curtains so they will block out the evening sunlight when he's going to bed. I was a bit jealous as they got to spend the days with Mike and Gabe at home while I went to work, but I got nice evenings and weekends anyway. It was really nice being able to hang out and relax while somebody else took care of the cooking and most of the cleaning. I've been spoiled! :)

Last night was Gabe's last swimming lesson. It was so much fun to see him progress so much over the course of 8 short lessons. He really took to the water and was starting to move himself around in it. Plus he was the only kid in the class who would put his head under water (and as the youngest one in the class, I was super impressed by this!). We're going to have to find a place to take him swimming now that he is finished.

Walking is now G's primary mode of transportation and he is quite the pro at it. He also continues to talk constantly and has added "dirty" and "Grandpa" to his list of words. He still has the same 6 teeth he's had for months (though with last week's bout of mouth pain, I think he'll be getting a couple more soon) but is quite adept at chewing with them. He's always liked pureed green beans, but last week he ate the real thing (complete with creole spice) and couldn't get enough of them.

We are also been spending one night a week with Danny and Sarah introducing Gabe and Mia to Star Wars. They're technically supposed to sleep through the movies since we start them after dinner, but Mia has seen most of them and Gabe stayed awake for the animated Clone Wars last week. It's fun to see so much of D&S and also for Gabe & Mia to get so much time together. They are becoming quite the pair.

Happy late June birthdays to Amanda, Carl, Matt, Uncle Jason, Corbin, Ben, and Kayla (and Mindy tomorrow)! Also a huge congrats to Dr. Sarah who defended her PhD thesis last week!!

Summer!

2010-06-11T11:40:00.003-04:00

Today is Gabe's last day at Miss Jennifer's house for the school year - I know Mike is excited to stay home with him this summer, but we also know that Gabe is really going to miss seeing Jennifer and Priscilla every day. We are trying to work out some play dates over the summer so that they can hang out (and to make the transitions easier). What blows my mind is that this time last year I was on maternity leave - oh how time flies!

We started parent-child swimming lessons with Gabe last week and he's improved so much just in 4 lessons. He took to the water quickly, but for the first lesson mostly held tightly to me. Now he's good at floating, playing, blowing bubbles (when he isn't drinking the pool), and jumping into the pool. Yesterday he put his head under water for the first time and did really well with it. Now we just have to find someplace (outside) to take him swimming when this is all over - he is becoming quite the fish and the kiddie pool no longer seems to interest him.

Gabe has quite the repertoire of words now - his newest (and current favories) are "up" (when he wants us to pick him up or take him out of his [stroller, car seat, high chair]) and "hot" (as he points to the stove, microwave, or toaster oven). He has his own toaster oven to play with now - Mike's parents replaced ours and we put the old one next to the trash can. Gabe quickly claimed it, so we cleaned it up and cut the cord - now if you ask him to toast something, he walks over to it and turns the dials and opens/closes the door. So cute!

He has also started making this face, which he sometimes uses when he doesn't like something, but more often when he thinks something is funny.

Happy late birthdays to Elias, Eva, and Big Grant and today to Brian N

Gabe: Live on Two Legs

2010-05-28T22:32:00.002-04:00

Gabe has been on the verge of walking for months now - he's been pulling up and standing with some assistance since he was 6 months old, walking while holding onto our fingers (or his walking wagon) since shortly after, and free-standing (unintentionally) since the beginning of spring. However, he's really had no interest in walking. This week Gabe walked a couple of steps from his music table to me and then to Mike, from the kitchen cabinets to Mike (video below), and tonight from the cabinets to the kitchen table (a whopping 10 steps!). I don't know how long it will be before he chooses this mode of locomotion over crawling, but I'd say he's officially capable of it!

Gabe walks from the cabinets to Mike
12 months old

Happy birthday to Gabe's Godfather Lucas today! Also, congratulations to Emily and Brian who are getting married tomorrow. Congratulations you guys!

Animals love rain and sun...

2010-05-25T10:39:00.002-04:00

Bubbie and Papa came to visit last weekend and Gabe had a great time showing off all of his new skills. We did some shopping, played lots of games, and stayed up late Saturday night chatting. Gabe enjoyed driving the laundry basket, chasing the "doggy" (his word for dogs and cats), playing with the phone (he likes to call Grandma but he especially likes to push the buttons - big surprise!), eating hummus, swinging, and going on walks. We've always tried to get him out in the stroller a few nights a week, but he has started to request it - by climbing into the stroller on his own and then rocking back and forth in an attempt to make it move. We can't help but to indulge him when he does that - even yesterday when it was raining a bit.

After recently learning that Gabe is definitely allergic to milk, we've started offering him some soy alternatives. He's still not sure what he thinks about soy milk, but he definitely likes the yogurt. Unfortunately my homemade soy alternative to mac n cheese did not go over so well :( We'll just have to stick to plain noodles for now. He's also started to try to feed himself (typically with the wrong end of the spoon, but still managing to get some of the food into his mouth) with utensils and though he'll take a sippy cup, he prefers the real deal (and is getting pretty good at not spilling it everywhere, though we do have our moments).

We are spending this week regrouping and waiting for Bubbie and Papa to return from visiting Jason et. al. in SC for another weekend of fun at our house :)

Happy birthday to Phil last week and to Josh W tomorrow!

Busy Weekend

2010-05-17T19:25:00.005-04:00

Gabe had a busy weekend. First, he learned to unlock the iPhone. Looks like Erin and I will have to start passcoding our phones. Then he got to meet his uncle Jason, aunt Jennifer and cousin Alaina. While they were here for the day on Sunday, we learned that Gabe is most assuredly allergic to milk and that it would seem that babies can't decide if they like lemons or not as seen below (check out the face he makes about 45 seconds in). Also, 10 minutes ago, Gabe walked 3 steps from the couch to Erin. Afterward, he refused to even stand up, crumpling anytime we put him on his feet, but it's still obvious that he could do it if he chose to.

Happy May birthdays so far to Ted, Deb, Cliff and Maddox.

Our dancing monkey

2010-05-10T11:35:00.004-04:00

You all know that Gabe is quite the monkey. Last week I was putting away clothes in Gabe's room while he played at my feet and Mike ran him a bath in the bathroom across the hall. Mike was standing at the top of the stairs sending email on his phone. At one point, I realized I hadn't heard Gabe for about 30 seconds, so I yelled out to ask if he was with Mike. He wasn't, so we were both surprised to find Gabe in the bathroom and... in the sink! In 30 seconds, he had left his room, gotten to the bathroom, climbed up on the toilet, over onto the cat box, used the toilet paper roll as a step, and got up onto the counter. When we got to him, he was sitting in the sink, playing happily with his toothbrush. We are in so much trouble!

Gabe also really likes to dance - it doesn't matter where the music comes from - our singing, his music table, a musical book, the radio, and his glow worm are all valid sources - but he really likes to groove. Yesterday morning he was playing with the radio on Mike's alarm clock and I caught him on video.

Gabe doing all his dance moves.

We got all of the birthday photos uploaded and they are now happily living in our webalbums.

One year old!!

2010-05-07T08:33:00.006-04:00

I am still in disbelief that we are the parents of a one-year-old. I will get some photos uploaded this weekend from his birthday yesterday, last weekend's birthday party, and our visits with Mom and Alysia & Steve, but I will leave you with this image: Gabe devours his first cake.

I also wanted to give a huge welcome to Elijah Brian who was born at 12:31am today. He missed out sharing a birthday with Gabe by a whole 31 minutes, but hey, having consecutive birthdays will be fun too. We can't wait to meet little Eli and are sending hugs out to Amy & Andrew. Congrats and happy early first Mother's Day! :)

Almost one...!?!

2010-04-30T13:54:00.003-04:00

The past year has absolutely flown by for us. It's an interesting juxtaposition of feelings: I can't believe it's nearly been a year since he was born, but I can't really remember what life was like before him. It's like he's been here for an eternity and a second at the same time.

Inspired by Jack's swing in St. Louis that Gabe enjoyed so much, Mike decided to build a similar swing frame for him at our house. Since we don't have a tree big enough to hang one in, he took some pictures and got some instructions from Amanda's dad about Jack's swing and then set out to recreate it. Danny, Sarah, and Mia came over on a Sunday morning and the boys spent a few hours cutting lumber, drilling holes, and assembling the 7' frame. I was very surprised - though there were a few hang-ups (like a saw blade too small to cut a 4'x4'), they improvised fixes and had the whole thing operational by early afternoon. Gabe and Mia both enjoyed testing it out! Happy early birthday little man!

Uncle Rick sent Gabe a walker wagon and we couldn't resist letting him open it early. Here he is checking it out in the house. It's already gotten a lot of outdoor use and when inside, he enjoys climbing into it over and over and over.

Gabe has developed quite the sense of humor, imitating our laughs, and doing things that he think will provoke ours (like repeatedly dumping the kitty food all over the kitchen floor). He is working on learning to feed himself with a spoon (a feat that requires a bath after every dinner), climbing even higher than before (tables and beds are no longer safe!), and talking (aside from his 4 or 5 words, he lets out a constant stream of babbles and baby sounds).

I've been negligent in the birthday department: happy April bdays to Jeremy, Richie, Ann (see? I'm trying not to fall back on "Mrs. H."), and Megan.

Pros and Cons

2010-04-16T20:03:00.002-04:00

A quick post, but too good to pass up:

We ran Gabe a bath and he was standing waiting to go in. I took off his diaper and he immediately peed on my foot. While laughing hysterically, Erin put Gabe in the bath only to find little brown dots floating in the water. I know what you're thinking, but you're way off. Turns out Gabe had walked through the cat litter and Erin had put him in the bath still wearing one sock.

On the other hand, Gabe has become an unconscious pro at a number of things, many of which I've noticed, but never called out. He always knows which side of a door a hinge is on, he always gets his fingers out of the way when closing doors and drawers, he is a great sound mimic, learning how to make all the sounds we make at him, and just now after his bath, as we were putting on his PJs, he lifted one foot and then the other as we put on his pants (which was quite helpful as a couple of days ago I put both of his legs in a pair of jeans). Where does he learn this stuff?

Easter and 11 months old

2010-04-07T10:15:00.003-04:00

Since we both had Good Friday off, we decided to make a quick trip out to St. Louis to visit Phil, Amanda, Jack, and Hugh for the weekend. We had such a good time - the boys really enjoyed playing together, we cooked lots of good meals, actually had some time to play a game, visited the St. Louis zoo, ate at the Spaghetti Factory, spent Easter morning playing with the wagons in the circle (alas, we were actually blocked from attending church as it was completely full!), ate cheese and chocolate fondue, and had an Easter egg hunt after dying eggs. It was action-packed but great fun and we can't wait to see everyone again. It's so nice to have some playmates for Gabe!

3 boys at the zoo

Jack watching penguins

Gabe and Hugh playing together

We also lucked out and were not only able to spend an evening with Auntie Marilyn, Crazy Uncle Cliff, and some of the cousins, but Gabe also got to see Bubbie and Papa who happened to be up visiting from TX. They had a lot of fun, especially playing with bottles of mixers (bad influence! hehe).

Yesterday we celebrated Gabe's 11 month birthday. I can't believe he's almost 1! While we were in MO, Gabe cut another tooth (#5), almost walked (took a step towards Hugh before he realized what was happening and switched to crawling), and learned to say "uh oh."

Finally, speaking of Auntie M, happy birthday to her today!

Passover

2010-03-30T22:19:00.003-04:00

We had a seder on Saturday to celebrate Passover with our friends and went to the Cooper's last night to celebrate Passover with the Jews and Erin and my stomaches couldn't be happier. Austin (a Cooper I tutor) can't believe that we relish Passover food so much as he thinks it's gross, but there's something about food that you only have once a year that is so good. In fact, I'm planning a seder in September as I want matzoball soup and all the rest twice a year.

Gabe got his first taste of passover, eating a little matzo, matzoball, charoset and his first taste of juice. He also got his first taste of kissing a girl as Sarah and Danny brought Mia to the seder and after playing together at Gabe's music table, this happened:

Look out ladies, here comes Gabe.

Our little monkey (part 2)

2010-03-16T21:34:00.002-04:00

One of Gabe's favorite tricks is climbing. Ever since he could pull up to standing, he's been scaling our furniture - stairs, desks, shelves, dishwashers. Last week he managed to get onto the pack n' play changing table that we have in the living room. I was there to make sure he didn't fall, but he got up there all by himself. You can see his path better in the pic below: first up to the couch, then over the top of the couch, and finally onto the changing table. He was quite pleased with himself and wasted no time playing with the wipes container on the table.

Later the same week, Gabe scaled the box for the car seat that Mindy had loaned us. His goal: a roll of duct tape on top that he promptly knocked down and then hopped off to play with. What a little monkey!

Other new tricks: waving (and saying) "bye bye," dancing, feeding Mommy and Daddy, playing peek-a-boo (initiating it by pulling his taggy blanket over his face and giggling hysterically), and pulling off his socks and bib.

Happy birthday to Dad/Grandpa last weekend!

Born to be wild

2010-03-03T19:29:00.003-05:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks at the lair of Team Friedman. Last week, Mom came to visit and to take care of Gabe during the days. While she was here, we got Gabe his first pair of shoes. He's not quite walking yet, but he loves to walk around holding onto our fingers. After a couple of trips around the grocery store in socks, we decided that a trip to the shoe store was in order. We also knew we needed a pair of new car seats, since Gabe was within 1/2" of the height limit of his infant seat. Bubbie and Papa bought Gabe an early birthday gift. He loves having the extra space (we've since gotten a second one for my car).

We were only able to take a couple of walks early in the week before the weather got cold again, but did venture out for a fancy dinner together. Later that week, we celebrated Mom's birthday with a Mike-cooked dinner and guacamole. We watched some of the Olympics, played some games. Oh yeah, we also replaced our hot water heater which gave out on us Tuesday.

On Friday we took Gabe on his first out-of-state road trip (his 5th and 6th states!). We drove up to DC after Gabe went to bed, and he slept most of the drive up. There, we stayed with Susan and Mike. The next morning, Dad arrived (he was in town for a conference) followed by Sara, Ben, and Stella. We went on a cold walk through the snow and spent the day hanging out, playing games, and eating. Gabe enjoyed playing with Cousin Stella. On Sunday we enjoyed a delicious brunch at Sara & Ben's house before driving back to NC (where we were greeted last night with more snow).

Happy birthdays to Mom and Jessica!

Mini Me

2010-02-16T17:02:00.009-05:00

Everyone who meets Gabe has an opinion about who he looks like. Some say he looks just like me, some say he looks just like Erin, some see both. Me personally, I can't tell yet, but his behavior, that's another story.

Exhibit A:

I was holding Gabe and having a snack, hummus and crackers, and he showed some interest, so I put a little hummus on my finger and let him taste it. Normally when trying new foods, he make the most wonderful grimace and will many times pair it with a noise, which I obviously can't relate in this forum, but suffice it to say, sprays food everywhere. This time was not the case. So I let him try the tiniest piece of cracker. He's used to bigger puffs though they are designed to disintegrate in the mouth. He handled that well. Finally, I put some hummus on a tiny piece of cracker and he actually opened his mouth and leaned forward to get to the snack.

Exhibit B:

I guess you have to start him early. In Gabe's hand is the coffee mug that I bought my first semester at Tulane (Fall '97) and take to work every day. I guess I'll get him a starbucks gift card for his first birthday.

Exhibit C:

Gabe loves the PS3 controller. I thought it was the red led on the top, but as it turns out, he likes it because I'm playing with it. I know this because I tried to trick him and give him the player two controller while I was playing and he wasn't falling for it. He also figured out that when his presses things on the controller, sounds from and things on the tv change.

Happy Birthday to Adam yesterday.

9 months!

2010-02-09T09:30:00.003-05:00

We took Gabe in for his checkup yesterday. As expected, everything is going well and he is ahead of the curve on most fronts. His doc spends some time each visit telling us what to expect between now and the next visit but usually G has already done half of the things on the list. When Dr. Adams said that Gabe would start to say "ma ma ma" and "da da da," Gabe yelled "da da!" That's our boy! He also is maintaining his growth rate in the 25-50 percentile for weight and 50 for height. At 19 lb 3 oz and 28.25", he is 3/4" away from needing a new carseat. There goes our tax return! :)

Happy birthdays to Eden Adam G and Paul

A snowy weekend

2010-02-04T09:27:00.003-05:00

We had a lot planned last weekend but most of it fell victim to the snowstorm that started on Friday night and didn't end until early Sunday morning. We actually got a substantial amount of snow - 5 or 6" sandwiched between ice and sleet - so of course NC shut down for most of the week. We enjoyed just staying inside and warm for most of the weekend, but were glad that Phil, Amanda, Jack, and Hugh still managed to visit for a couple of hours on Sunday. It was a very short visit, but we were happy just to see them - twice in two months! Gabe was very excited that his buddies were visiting, and spent his time shadowing Jack and giggling at Hugh. We're still trying to teach him to be gentle (and not to steal pacifiers from babies' mouths!) but luckily Hugh was a good sport about it all. Somehow I didn't manage to get out the camera all evening but I was able to steal pics from Phil :)

So in true NC fashion, school was canceled due to the snow and ice. On Monday we both stayed home with Gabe since the roads were pretty awful. I went to work on Tues & Wed while Mike stayed home (yes, he had 3 snow days from a Saturday snowstorm!) and today Mike is back on a 1-hour delay. Gabe enjoyed his time at home, but also was happy to see Jennifer and her kids this morning.

Happy birthdays to Ed & Will

It's a snap

2010-01-30T08:17:00.001-05:00

Just a quick update as we're pretty much home bound. It started snow/sleeting last night at about 7 and it is now 8 am and it doesn't appear to be letting up any time soon. At least we have Gabe to entertain us. Recently he's learned how to wave and let me tell you how awesome it is to come in to a room and have him spontaneously wave to you. Better than that though is that he's been trying to snap. Words can't describe how cute/funny it is to see his tiny fingers picking at each other trying to get out the tiniest of sounds.

Welcome home

2010-01-28T09:29:00.002-05:00

When the weather is warm, I'm sometimes greeted at the screen door by Mike and Gabe when I arrive home from work. Yesterday it was too cold to have the door open, so I didn't get such a greeting. Gabe was playing in the living room and didn't immediately see me come in, but when he did, he waved and then crawled over for a hug. He has waved before, but this was the first time he had waved to me in such an appropriate context. My son impresses me on a daily basis and it is the best feeling ever :)

Happy birthdays yesterday to Auntie Jan and to Tyler (who turned 1!!)

AFC Champs!

2010-01-26T12:26:00.003-05:00

Thanks to the afternoon game time, Gabe was able to watch his first full Colts game on Sunday. Of course it was a big one, ending in another trip to the Super Bowl. Gabe was good for the whole thing - he watched a little bit, but mostly we played upstairs (since we don't have cable and the antenna gets better reception on our bedroom TV).

Otherwise, we've really just enjoyed a calm January and hanging out at home. We've been on a couple of walks thanks to unseasonably (though fleeting) warm weather, celebrated Nathan's birthday at his party on Saturday (Gabe got to see so many people!), and spent countless hours cruising around the living room. Gabe loves to walk around while holding onto furniture, but will happily switch to crawling (and boy has he gotten fast) if something catches his attention like a kitty or the laptop. Also, his hair is finally starting to grow - he still has way more in the middle, so the other night we gave him his first mohawk. That's my little punk rocker!

Happy birthdays to Angela, Myrah, Skylar, Fran, and Evan. Also a warm welcome (Dec 21) to baby Mary Katherine! Congrats Katie, Dave, and Grace on the new addition to your family!!

Gabe's first Christmas

2010-01-12T21:38:00.004-05:00

Gabe spent his first Christmas and New Year's in Indiana. We had a great time - spent a lot of time relaxing with friends and family, had a great Christmas Eve/Day, let Gabe play in his first real snowfall, spent the New Year with Phil, Amanda, Hugh, and Jack, and survived Gabe's first stomach virus. Here are just a few of the pics (the rest are on the web albums). Happy 2010!

Our little reindeer

Napping with Daddy

Opening presents on Christmas Eve with Grandma

Uncle Rick helping Gabe put the angel on the tree

Relaxing with Uncle Adam on Christmas Eve

Playing with Grandpa

Enjoying his first substantial snowfall

Adam, Rick, Erin, Mike, and Gabe

Mike, Hugh, Phil, and Gabe

Mike and Jack watching trains

Gabe + Cats

2010-01-04T17:37:00.001-05:00

OK, this is an attempted post from my phone, so we'll see how it goes. Gabe did two funny things in under 5 minutes, so I thought I'd share.

1. Gabe and I were playing in the livingroom and Quin came by for some petting. Gabe was curious, so he opened his mouth and licked her. The look on his face was undescribable.

2. Gabe reached into the cats food bowl and with a new found dexterity, pinched out one piece of food and popped it in his mouth. He's had the hardest time both picking up and putting cheerios in his mouth, but cat food, no problem. Follow that with him fighting Erin to keep gumming it. Why buy fancy baby food or even put him in a high chair?

Our little monkey

2009-12-20T17:06:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was busy for us - we hosted D&D from 11-4:30 (and are now level 4!) and then had Kim & Dan over for dinner at 6. Because of that, we were scrambling between events to get things cleaned up and dinner cooked. While we were both in the kitchen (a rarity, as usually one of us cooks and the other plays with Gabe in the living room), Gabe played with some tupperware and spoons on the kitchen floor. However, he soon put his monkey climbing skills to use and used the top rack of the dishwasher to climb onto the open door.

What a funny kid!

Gabe has gotten very good at "da da" but "da da" means everything, including Daddy, Mommy, kitties, and anything else he sees. He is also good at "raaawwr" which we call his dinosaur noise :) One of his favorite things to do is stand at the screen door and watch what's going on outside - especially if one of us is out of the house. It's so awesome to come home to his smiling face waiting for me at the door! Gabe now climbs the stairs without a lot of trouble. He is also starting to cruise along furniture while standing up and holding on to it. We are in big trouble as I'm guessing he'll be walking in the not too distant future.

Happy birthday to our sister-in-law Jennifer the 11th and to Jesse today!

Buried Treasure

2009-12-12T22:03:00.004-05:00

Good places to bury things:

Under the tree is a good place to bury presents. Here's a picture of ours, notice the Hanukkah bear tree topper:

In your gums is where Gabe's first two teeth were. They have now broken through and we have already felt the wrath of them many times.

In the couch is a less expected place to bury things, but yesterday I went looking for the remote for the TV and found this:

The couch was a hand-me-down from Jan and Jim and in it were some things of Jim's (an ee. cummings book and a 1992 magazine), Carmex (which I assume is Jan's), and some of the boys' toys (duplo, a car, and a thermometer) along with some other treasures.

Seven months

2009-12-07T14:04:00.007-05:00

It's hard to believe that Gabe is more than halfway through his first year. Doesn't seem possible! On the other hand, it seems like he's always been here - it's hard for us to imagine life before his arrival.

Since the last update, Gabe has been very busy. Some highlights:

Gabe learned how to canonically crawl (though still mostly prefers to scoot)
Standing up is now an automatic activity. Anything is fair game for something to pull up on, and his new goal is now getting on top of said object. So far he's been successful with stairs, but tables and chairs are too tall for climbing.
Tooth 1 has emerged! Gabe was a champ about this, only fussing a bit. We have yet to actually see it, but the tooth definitely broke through as we've both felt its wrath already :)
Gabe continues his US travels, adding TX to his list of states visited

I spent my 30th birthday teaching and then flying, but the day was still a good one. We had a nice dinner at the airport (mmm, California Pizza kitchen), flew to Dallas, then spent a couple of hours with family (Mike's parents, Aunt Marilyn, and crazy Uncle Cliff) and friends (Tommy, Ted, Ed, Deb, and Dan). We even had cake! Gabe stayed up long enough to meet everyone (quite late for him!) but went to bed soon after so that we got some time to catch up.

The rest of the trip was quite a whirlwind, but very enjoyable. I spent the second half of it (and currently still am) sick, but we still managed to see almost everyone we wanted to. We had a very enjoyable Wed night Thanksgiving (of course Gabe was the hit of the night), a nice family Thanksgiving, caught up with more friends, Gabe met some more babies his age (Parker and Sam) and ended the weekend with a big reunion by seeing the Archer, Bracy, and Hoffmann families simultaneously!

Gabe's new friends: Erin + Gabe and Natalie + Sam, Mike + Gabe and Ali + Parker

Since I've been sick all week, we've tried to get festive for Christmas to make things a little more pleasant. We bought our first Christmas tree on Thursday at a little family-owned lot down the street and are enjoying the smell of our frasier fir in the living room. So far Gabe has shown interest (especially in putting lights in his mouth!) but we've avoided disaster. Zoe does love to drink the tree water, despite our best efforts.

As always, you can find updated pics in the web albums.

Happy end-of-November birthdays to Amanda H and Mike G. Happy early December birthdays to Jacob and Sara. And happy 6th anniversary to Meg & Lucas yesterday!

Standing up

2009-11-23T18:46:00.006-05:00

All of the practicing Gabe has done lately paid off today: he learned how to pull himself up to standing! The video is about his 3rd successful attempt at the task. We now have to find a new storage place for the laptop.

Gabe learns how to pull up to standing
23 November 2009
6.5 months

We've had a busy but great last couple of weeks. Gabe's last babysitter left on us unexpectedly, so Grandma Nette flew out here for a week and a half to take care of our monkey for us. They had a great time hanging out and relaxing at the house. I could tell that Gabe really enjoyed staying home with her - he slept less and ate more in our absence and was always very happy when we came home from work. We also enjoyed having some time with Mom - she cooked dinner for us a lot of the nights, we watched some movies, did some shopping, and just enjoyed her company. Plus is was so much easier to get things done in the evenings with an extra set of hands!

Gabe is also becoming a champ at eating. He loves his dinners so much that we've added breakfast on the weekends and will also add it on weekdays starting after Thanksgiving. So far his favorites are rice cereal, oatmeal, applesauce, pears, peaches, carrots, and sweet potato. We're still working on the green beans and peas - he dislikes green veggies just like his Mommy :)

There were lots of November birthdays in my absence, so I'll get right to it. Happy birthdays to Natalie A, Cousin Ben, Eliot, and Nick K (on his honeymoon to boot!) :)

6 Month Checkup

2009-11-11T21:05:00.002-05:00

Gabe went to the doctor today. He measured 27.25" long, 43.5" head circumference and 16 lbs. 6 oz. He also got an ungodly number of immunizations and vaccinations. I can't even list all the things he is now protected against because many of them were cocktails for multiple things. All I know is that he got one oral vaccine and FIVE injections. He took it like a man... which is to say he cried and screamed, but got over it way before Erin and I did. I'm still not really happy about it 5 hours later.

6 months!

2009-11-09T10:26:00.005-05:00

Gabe celebrated his half birthday on Friday. To commemorate the event, we went to Chili's where Mike and I took advantage of the 2 for 20 and Gabe ate some sweet potatoes (his first commercial baby food experience). Here is Gabe at 6 months, sporting the outfit that M and I bought for him nearly a year ago on the evening we found out he was a boy :)

Gabe's first Halloween was a huge success. On Friday, Mike brought him up to our building's Halloween party where he got to meet a lot of my colleagues and show off his costume. On Saturday, we had Jacob, Jess, Matt, and Kelly over for some Halloween-themed D&D. After the game, we dressed Gabe up as Link and he got to walk around the neighborhood a bit. Then it was back inside for dinner and more gaming with J&J.

Since our previous babysitting arrangement ended last week, we are trying out a new sitter starting today. I'm really hoping that it works out for us because I hate moving Gabe around right now - he needs some stability (or maybe I need him to have it so that I don't worry about him so much while I'm at work!). Mom is flying out on Wed to watch him for a week and a half, so if things don't work out we have a chance to find an alternative. At least he'll have some good Grandma bonding time!

Happy birthdays to: Bubbie Diane, Jason K, cousin Stella, Hanna, and Sophia!

A busy October

2009-10-26T22:14:00.004-04:00

We've been running around like crazy people lately. As aforementioned, two weekends ago we got together with Sarah, Danny, and Mia. Gabe was having a bad evening teething, so was a little fussy (very unusual for him) but still managed to have some fun with Mia in the rainforest. Though they are two months apart, Gabe and Mia are almost exactly the same size right now!

The following weekend, Auntie Erica flew in from NM to meet Gabe. We had a really laid back weekend. She stayed home with Gabe on Friday for some quality bonding time while Mike and I went to work. We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing, hanging out, and making a failed trip to the Carolina Brewery Oktoberfest. Hey, operation: hang out with Gabe was a complete success!

Last weekend my parents were in town. They also spent 2 days taking care of Gabe, Dad cooked lots of great meals, we all played some games, hung out, and tried to relax. Mom and Mike made Gabe's Halloween costume which we can't wait to show off. As always the weekend was way too short, and Gabe loved the Grandparent bonding time.

In closing, Gabe's laugh has gotten even better (something with we thought was impossible). Here is a video of him after dinner last night playing peek-a-boo with Mike in his high chair:

26 October 2009
5 1/2 months old

Finally, lots of birthdays to celebrate. Happy 30th to Meg and to Alysia. Happy non-30th bdays to Rick, Matt L, and to our niece Alaina!

Gabe <3 his kitties

2009-10-15T14:01:00.000-04:00

As you can see, G is getting quite adept at moving around the house in his half-crawl half-scoot. I think he'll be crawling very soon - at night I'll catch him up on his hands and knees rocking back and forth like he could launch forward at any second. Nighttime is when, by the way, he learns all of his new tricks. Months ago I'd wake up to him practicing rolling. Then it was laughing. And scooting.

We have a bunch of photos to upload, but Erica is coming to visit today, so it will have to wait until she leaves. Then I'll catch you up on Gabe's eating and teething, Erica's visit, and Gabe's playdate with Mia.

Happy birthday today to Uncle Jim!

5 Months Old

2009-10-06T20:23:00.008-04:00

I know, two posts in two days. Don't get used to it :)

Today marks 5 months since Gabe was born. For those of you keeping score, he's 25.5 inches long and 15 lbs. On this momentous occasion, Erin and I took advantage of two free sandwich coupons from Fridays and had a "birthday" dinner for Gabe. He also had a "birthday" dinner of his first vegetable, sweet potato (plus a hearty amount of breast milk). Additionally, as we have said before, he is trying desperately to crawl. Today he chased a ball across the room in a mostly scoot plus a partial crawl (I apologize for the crappy quality iPhone video, but I'd already missed 5 or 6 rolls and scoots and didn't want to miss more finding the video camera).

Also, I don't want to leave you with nothing. Here are a few of the gems I've heard Erin say recently (extra funny out of context):

"I think Quin's meower is broken."
"I'm not counting those ducks yet."
"It's more happeningable."
"Careful, the sink's full of wet water."

Gabe vs the Atlantic

2009-10-04T20:06:00.003-04:00

Gabe wins!

We took Gabe on his first roadtrip in mid-September because I was giving a talk at the Plant Molecular Biology conference in Wilmington. On Friday we packed up the car (with so much stuff!) and drove out to the beach - the weather was ok, though overcast and chilly when we arrived. The event didn't kick off until 8pm, so we took a walk on the beach, introduced Gabe to the ocean, and ended up ordering a room service dinner because we couldn't find any reasonably priced food and didn't want to wake up Gabe to leave the hotel. The welcome reception was nice and we got to hang out with a lot of our friends from the Bio department. On Saturday I went to some talks, we spent our break on the ocean and lounging in the shade by the pool (sun finally came out!) and I gave my talk right before dinner. On Sunday we left early since Gabe took a nap and we decided driving home would be easier during naptime. All in all a pretty stress-free and relaxing weekend.

Once we returned home, we gave Gabe his first taste of rice cereal.

He's been grabbing at our plates for weeks and really wants to eat, so it was fun to indulge him. We waited a few days before his second dose and now he's eating a bit every night. He doesn't need the nutrition but boy does he like eating "big boy food" from a spoon :) It's quite a mess, though, and often requires a bath after we're finished.

We spent last weekend babyproofing the house as Gabe is more mobile every day. He's still just scooting but he's very good at it - he's started chasing the cats and is trying to grab them. Surprisingly, Zoe has been the most tolerant - even letting Gabe grab her fur as long as we're there to pet her at the same time...

Congrats to Jan & Nick who got married yesterday!!

Mobility

2009-09-24T12:17:00.003-04:00

I'll post about the beach trip (with photos) this weekend. In the meantime, I wanted to share Gabe's newest activity. Gabe has been rolling over and scooting on his front for quite a while, and while he works on building up the muscles he'll need to crawl (something his doc was quite surprised about - we're pretty sure he'll pass that milestone before his 6 mo checkup), he's been developing alternate ways to get around the living room. Lately he's been combining scooting on his front with rolling to get where he wants to go. And he's gotten pretty effecient at it.

Yesterday I stayed home with Gabe, since we are all sick and he'd been running a fever (no worries - M took him to the doc on Tues and it's not the flu or an ear infection - just a cold). That didn't slow him down any, though - once I put him down in his rainforest (which was next to the entertainment center) and spent 2 minutes in the kitchen cleaning out the cat box. When I came back, he was here:

For those of you familiar with the layout of our living room, you know how impressive this is. What's even more impressive to me is that he traveled all the way to the table with his Rainbow Fish book. He loves that thing - somewhat for the pictures but mostly for its satiny texture - he could chew on that book all day long :)

So I guess it's time for some more babyproofing - I'm not worried about the stairs yet, but the fireplace with its marble hearth needs some blocking so that he doesn't crush his head on it mid-roll!

Finally, happy late birthday to Emily!

Beach-bound

2009-09-17T21:58:00.003-04:00

I'm giving a talk at this year's plant molecular biology retreat in Wilmington, so tomorrow we're packing up everything we could possibly need for a weekend in a hotel and driving to the coast. It will be Gabe's first trip to the Atlantic, so I'm really hoping that it doesn't rain all weekend like the mean weatherman said it will. In packing, we've realized how much harder it is to travel to a hotel than to visit friends or family in their houses. I've been especially spoiled by traveling with or to see my parents - we don't have to worry about a bed, diapers, soap, wipes, babyproofing... in fact over Labor Day we were able to travel with just carry-ons. Not the case this weekend!

I got to talk to my cousin Jonah this evening and Gabe was babbling away in the background. Jonah is so sweet - after he invited us to go on the Nickelodeon cruise with him next summer (though warning me that I'd have to ask my Mom and Dad if I wanted to go swimming), he kept asking about Baby Gabe and stressed that he really wanted to see him playing with his toys. I snapped a pic with my iphone and sent it to Jan so that Jonah was able to see it in near-real-time. He was pretty thrilled with the technology - maybe next weekend we can set up the webcam so he can see Gabe live! Anyway, here is Gabe playing with his toys so that you can see him too.

Apparently it's a birthday-tastic week: Tuesday was Sam's birthday and (get this) happy birthday tomorrow to Moen, Sarah, and Tyrell and on Saturday to Nguyen and John Bracy.

Kicking machine

2009-09-11T09:55:00.007-04:00

9 September 2009
4 months old

We've been remiss in the birthday department. Nonetheless, happy late birthdays to Tommy, Nikki, and Beau :)

Goings On

2009-09-10T16:30:00.008-04:00

So it's been a long time since we posted and even longer since I (Mike) posted. Here's what you've missed:

Three weeks ago we had a visit from the Maurizi clan. Mike, Susan, Sara, Ben, Stella, Laura and her fiance Rick came to North Carolina for a family vacation and stopped in our neck of the woods to hang out with us. We had a good time, playing Carcassonne, Guitar Hero, eating an incredible brunch (Thanks Mike and Susan) and just enjoying each others company. It was great to see everyone and to meet Rick.

Last weekend we flew to Indiana so that everyone could meet Gabe and so that he could be baptized with Meg and Lucas as his god-parents. Lynnette and Steve had everyone over for a sort of open house to meet Gabe on Saturday afternoon and the baptism was Sunday morning. Outside of that we spent as much time as we could with Meg and Lucas - who knows when they'll be back from Norway next :) Gabe also hit 4 months on Sunday.

Yesterday, Gabe had his 4 month doctors appointment. Everything is looking good - he's now 13 lbs. 10 oz. (in the 25-50th percentile) and 25 and 1/4 in. tall (50-70th percentile). The doctor said we could try feeding him baby foods over the next few months, so expect some pictures of Gabe with rice cereal everywhere. The doctor also was surprised/impressed with Gabe's strength and ability to roll over, scoot and hold himself up.

Happy boy

2009-08-22T13:52:00.005-04:00

19 August 2009
15 weeks old

Welcome Hugh!

2009-08-21T21:23:00.003-04:00

Congrats to Amanda, Phil, and Jack who welcomed Hugh Colwell yesterday morning. Seems all are doing well. We can't wait to meet him! I also have to give huge props to Amanda for being pregnant all summer! I was hating the heat in May so I can't imagine what she went through :)

Gabe survived his first week at daycare. Actually, we were the ones who survived - he actually had fun. I guess it's a bonus of starting him young - he doesn't yet have the separation anxiety. He's been big into imitating us this week: first trying to make buzzing noises with his lips and then today wanting to try to drink from a cup. We gave him an empty one and he was pretty good at knowing what to do with it. Our little boy is growing up so fast!! We have a busy weekend planned, with a lot of my family traveling in to meet Gabe. Susan, Mike, Sara, Ben, and Stella are driving down from DC and Laura and Rick are flying in from MI. We can't wait to see them all!

Happy late birthday to Laura!

Celebrations

2009-08-15T18:37:00.002-04:00

Wednesday Mike turned the big 3-0. We celebrated with a family dinner out at Chili's. We also had a little birthday party for him last weekend after D&D - just some friends, some grilling, some cake... pretty low key but nice to see everyone and hang out. Gabe also got to hang out with Mia again. He shared his rainforest with her but was fairly oblivious to her presence most of the time...

Mike and Gabe on Mike's birthday

Gabe has been learning like crazy (as usual) - his feats last week include rolling across the floor (he's known how to roll over both directions for a while but he's good enough at it now that he'll use it to move) and laughing (his laughs now sound like real laughs!)

Happy 7th birthday to Jonah bug!

3 months old!

2009-08-06T20:24:00.003-04:00

We're celebrating Gabe's 3 month birthday today. In the past week, he's wowed us with his frequent smiles and laughs and with his ever-growing rolling over skills. Not only can he roll over when he feels like getting a workout, but he now rolls over with intent. Just this afternoon he saw his mirror out of the corner of his eye, then rolled onto his front so he could see himself in it. He's also grabbing toys from his play gym and pulling them down so he can chew on them. That's our boy! :) Here is a shot of him today just after rolling over...

Last week we finally got to meet Mia. Emily was in town to meet her, so we spent the evening with Em, Mia, and Sarah - yummy food and great baby time. Gabe was smitten at first but then quickly got distracted by her toys.

Last weekend Bubbie and Papa Friedman were in town. We enjoyed some nice meals, games of canasta, and of course bonding with the Gabe. This weekend we're playing D&D and then having an early 30th birthday party for Mike. He's almost super-old!

Speaking of birthdays, there have been a lot lately: Erin L last week, Erica yesterday, and two big 3-0: Amy last week and Jen today. Happy birthdays ladies!

A week of successes

2009-07-28T14:14:00.003-04:00

Lots has happened since our last update (in no particular order)

Two days ago, Gabe started laughing
My Gbeta evolution paper was accepted to the Journal of Molecular Biology
Mike and I celebrated our 7-year anniversary with a family picnic at the lake, a movie, some late-night guitar hero, and a belated dinner out
This morning, Gabe finally learned how to roll over the other direction (back to front). Now there is no stopping him! He's also officially a little over-achiever. Our baby books say that he should be learning to roll front-to-back right about now (a skill he mastered at 10 days) and that back-to-front will happen at about 6 months!

I'll get some new photos in the albums this weekend. In the meantime, here is Gabe just after rolling over for the first time:

Last week Jack turned the big 2 and Joshua celebrated his 12th birthday. Happy birthdays, guys!!

Welcome Mia!

2009-07-19T08:38:00.002-04:00

Congrats to Danny and Sarah who welcomed Mia Elise on Wednesday, July 15. You can read all about her arrival (and many stories to come, I'm sure) here. We can't wait to meet her in person!

Homemade treasures

2009-07-17T13:51:00.002-04:00

I've been lax in posting pics of the awesome gifts that people have made for us, so I'll try to catch up now...

Dragon and stars quilt from Megan (with planets and stars on the back - how perfect!)

Raggedy Andy made by Karen - which is especially awesome because she made me a Raggedy Ann doll when I was a baby

Natalie crocheted Gabe a blanket with his name on it :)

Left, a quilt from Lynn. Right, a blanket crocheted by Susie - it's super soft and we love the colors!

Sunny Seattle

2009-07-17T13:37:00.005-04:00

We spent last weekend in Seattle for Kurt and Geneva's wedding. Gabe (as always) was a champ - he slept through most of all four flights - only waking up to eat and smile at the other passengers. A testament to how quiet he was - on our flight from Dallas to Seattle, the people in front of us only noticed there was a baby in my lap after we arrived in Seattle :) We also managed to arrive 15 minutes early in Dallas in both directions, making a tight connection into a manageable one.

The visit itself was a lot of fun - Gabe loved hanging out with Arne and Anne, sitting by the lake, meeting Erin and Eric, dipping his feet in the hot tub, taking his first trip to the spaghetti factory, and going to the rehearsal dinner and meeting Kaare & Sigrunn, Rhonda, Dale & Audrey, Kurt and Geneva, and Shane and Emily. He especially enjoyed meeting Maddox (3) and Colton (who is only 2 weeks older) - his first experience with other young kids and babies. He and Colton spent time just staring at each other - very cute :)

Kurt & Geneva's wedding was beautiful. They had it at the Golf Club at Newcastle which had a beautiful view of the city. The weather was perfect - a bit on the chilly side, but warm enough to keep the tent open. We had a gorgeous sunset and there was even a far-off fireworks show at one point during the reception. Gabe slept for the whole ceremony and most of the reception, but did get out on the dance floor (mostly with Grandpa and Grandma). The pics are all up in our web albums.

On Wednesday we took Gabe in for his 2-month doctor's appointment - aside from the shots (he had 3 shots covering 7 vaccinations), he was a really happy guy, smiling and laughing at Dr. Adams. He weighed in at 11 lb 4 oz and was 22.5 inches long. He was 25th percentile across the board. That's our little grower!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

2009-07-09T08:30:00.001-04:00

Today we embark on an adventure to Seattle for Kurt and Geneva's wedding. This will be Gabe's first two flights with a 45 minute layover in DFW. Wish us good luck and we'll tell you how it went when we get back.

On a completely unrelated note: Last night I was thinking about words like the difference between ice and dry ice and I asked Erin about it. I asked her if the word ice was specific to water. Like if you freeze alcohol, what do you call it? She said "ice-ohol." OK, I said, what if you freeze milk? She said "milk-ohol."

Two months old!

2009-07-06T13:01:00.003-04:00

As of today, Gabe has completed two months of life. I'm still reeling from that statistic - time has really flown by recently. Gabe has changed a lot since we brought him home from the hospital. Aside from the obvious (growing longer and gaining weight), he has really developed good head control, he's able to see much more (our faces, the tv, and his new favorite - pictures on the wall), he smiles, he is very vocal, he's starting to sleep more at night (well, for the first stretch anyway - he'll go for 5 hours but then wakes up every 90 minutes - we're still working on that part), and he's really trying to push himself around when he's lying on his tummy.

Uncle Rick came to visit for the 4th of July weekend and we had a great time with him. We mostly just hung out and relaxed - watched some movies and an entire season of Weeds, ate good food, and shot off some fireworks in the driveway. Plus now Gabe has an entire new wardrobe thanks to Rick :)

Happy birthday yesterday to Dan! Also happy late birthdays last week to Ben, Mindy, and Aunt Susan :)

7 Weeks

2009-06-24T11:00:00.003-04:00

It's hard to believe Gabe is 7 weeks old. It's also hard to believe it's already time for Erin to go back to work. Today is the first (half) day for Gabe and I alone together and boy are we having fun. So far he's played on the ground, trying his hardest to crawl, but he doesn't have the coordination or strength just yet (thankfully), eating from a bottle and taking a nap. He's also growing out of his newborn clothes. He hasn't quite made it to 0-3 month clothes even though they still looks cute on him.

A week with Tommy

2009-06-18T13:51:00.002-04:00

We've neglected the blog for 2 weeks but that's not to say nothing has happened in that time. We had a couple of days at home alone with Gabe (a first!) before Tommy came to visit. During that time Mike had to teach while Erin stayed home with Gabe and attempted to get things done around the house. Easier said than done!

Tommy visited for 10 days and we kept ourselves busy the whole time. Tommy was kind enough to help out around the house (cleaning, cooking, gardening, grocery shopping, even folding laundry) and it was fun to just have some relaxing time to hang out. In addition to bonding with and photographing Gabe, Tommy helped us flesh out the backstory for our D&D characters. We also spent time watching movies, playing games (Munchkin Cthulhu, Carsacconne, Killer Bunnies, Guitar Hero), and just catching up. We ended the week with our first D&D quest (Jacob, Jessica, Matt, and Kelly came over for something like 8 hours) which was a lot of fun. It was cool that Tommy was here to play Mike's character and help us out with some of the rules :)

Gabe with one of his gifts from Tommy

Since Sunday afternoon we've been flying solo as a family of 3, and while we miss the company, we're really enjoying figuring things out on our own. I hesitate to say we're in a routine, but we have managed to accomplish most of what's on our list each day. We've also managed some walks, a trip to Chapel Hill for E's 6 week appt and to meet some of the co-workers, and some shopping outings.

The photos should be updated by now, so enjoy them. Also, happy late birthdays to Amanda on Sunday and to Uncle Jason yesterday.

Oink oink, little piggy

2009-06-03T21:25:00.004-04:00

Gabe is 4 weeks old today and in the last week of his life he has been a busy boy. On Saturday he made it to Kim and Dan's wedding where he was the third most popular person there. On Tuesday he made it to Skylar's softball game (her team won and is on to the semi-finals). And today, he paid his dad a visit at school where all of the students could ooh and ahh over him.

We've also found that he belongs in a zoo as he has a menagerie of interesting new traits. For instance, he snorts like a pig, he tastes the air like a snake (tongue flicking in and out) and Erin calls him a monkey. Who knows what's next.

21 days

2009-05-28T13:02:00.002-04:00

Yesterday marked Gabe's 21st day of life. We celebrated with pink cake with rainbow chip icing - admittedly more because I wanted some cake than that we need to celebrate each week with a party :) It's been a busy week, though. We spent the remaining time with my parents hanging out, playing games, and just watching Gabe do his thing. On Saturday we traded one set of grandparents for the other - with a few hours overlap between them that we all hung out together. Bubby Diane and Papa Sam have been fawning over him ever since (plus we've found some time to play Canasta and Mexican Train as well). Right now Gabe is sleeping in his swing while the grandparents are grocery shopping - it's a rare quiet moment for me!

More photos are up in the albums.

Happy birthdays to Lucas today and to Josh W 2 days ago!

2 weeks!

2009-05-20T19:45:00.005-04:00

As of last night, Gabriel is 2 weeks old. The pediatrician revealed that he's up to 6 lb 14.5 oz and 20" long. Also this week Gabe learned to turn over from his front to his back - something the baby books say will happen by the time he's around 4 months old. Quite the little overachiever! We've immensely enjoyed his first full week home without any hospitals. Grandma Nette and Grandpa Steve take every chance they can to hang out with him in addition to taking care of the house (something I've been no help with at all) and meals. We took Gabe on his first restaurant outing at the Salem Street Pub - we all enjoyed the food and he slept through the whole thing :) He also enjoys walks in his stroller and playing on the activity mat.

For now, we'll be uploading all of the Gabe albums to Mike's web albums for your viewing pleasure. You can also always access his albums by clicking on the family photo at the top right of this site :)

Also, a late happy birthday to Phil on Tuesday.

There's No Place Like Home

2009-05-13T17:36:00.003-04:00

Some of you have seen my twitter or facebook status saying that we were back at the hospital and I don't want you to worry.

Gabriel had his first pediatric visit on Monday and the doctor couldn't be more happy with his (and our) progress since his birth, but he thought that Gabe looked a little yellow and was concerned about jaundice so he sent us to a nearby hospital to have his bilirubin level checked. Everyone has bilirubins in their blood, but your liver tends to take care of it - jaundice in adults is a sign of liver failure. Babies livers aren't initially up to the task though. At day 5, a normal baby's levels peak at around 14 mg/dL, but Gabe was at 23 mg/dL. This put him at medium/high risk (for what I later found could cause Kernicterus, a form of brain damage) and that he would have to go to the hospital for photo-therapy. This is where they put him under UV lights until his levels come down.

He, Erin and I headed over to Wake Med's Children's Hospital and he was kept under the lights for 20 or so hours. When his level got under 18, they sent us home. His level was checked again today and he's doing just fine. We're happily back at home. So I leave you with a picture of Gabe looking uber-cool in his bilirubin light shades.

Gabriel Jacob Friedman

2009-05-10T11:00:00.003-04:00

Gabe was born on Wed 6 May at 8:25 pm, clocking in at 6 lb 6 oz and 18.75" long

We've had quite the week. On Wed morning at 1am, I went into labor. We had two frustrating trips to the hospital: one at 4:30 am and another at 11am. Both times, I hadn't progressed along enough for them to keep us. After the second trip, we drove back home, napped for an hour, at which point my water broke and we made our third and final trip up to UNC. We got settled into a room by 4, I got my epidural, and things progressed normally until about 7pm. At that point, the docs were getting concerned because Gabe's heart rate was decelerating with contractions - they tried repositioning me a bunch but then he dropped to 50bpm and that's when the insanity started. Things are a blur at this point, but I remember my nurse Katie (who was a saint) explaining everything as it happened (and then again to Mike in detail after the fact) - there were like 8 people in the room trying different things to fix the problem - fluids, meds, position, monitors... it was insane. At some point my doc decided that I needed an emergency C-section and off we went. Poor Mike was left stranded in an empty room to pack up our stuff, suit up in scrubs, and wait an eternity until summoned as they wheeled me down the hall in a flurry of activity. Surgery prep took forever - they had to add meds to my epidural about 5 times before it was suitable enough to start the operation. In fact, they had to un- and re-prep the field while doing this because they weren't able to monitor Gabe while I was prepped for surgery. Turns out his heart rate had stabilized enough, which saved the me the trouble of general anesthesia. Eventually they brought Mike in and started cutting, and then it was just a few minutes (though lots of pulling and tugging - he was wedged in there really well!) until Gabe was born. They got him cleaned up, determined that nothing was wrong with him (it's still a bit of a mystery as to the problem), then the 3 of us spent a couple of hours in the delivery room with Katie. Katie even let Mom join us (even though the rule is 1 visitor per patient). I was pretty drugged up on morphine by this point, so the rest of the night's memories are mostly from Mike.

We spent 3 nights in the hospital and returned home on Saturday afternoon. Honestly, Gabe has been an absolute angel. He's been through a lot but never really complains about it. He eats well, sleeps well, rarely cries, and is (in my obviously unbiased opinion) the cutest baby ever. Mike and I are absolutely thrilled with everything. I'm recovering from surgery - my recovery expectations are probably a little high and it's making being home frustrating, but I do notice improvements daily. It's hard not to run around doing too much. Mom is being a great help with Gabe and around the house, and I'm just loving bonding with my new family. Mike has been amazing through all of this (not that it's anything new) - he's taking care of everything and me and Gabe despite the fact that he has to go back to work tomorrow. This morning I woke up and Mike and I just spent some time with Gabe between us sleeping and the 3 cats all cautiously watching. What a perfect first Mother's Day!

All of our photos so far are on Mike's web albums. Some highlights: First family photo in the recovery room, Gabe's first night in the hospital, Family photo day 2, and Gabe ready to go home from the hospital.

Thanks to everyone who has supported us through this. We had some friends visiting in the hospital and have tons of emails to respond to. It feels awesome to know that so many people are excited about the arrival of our son. Also, happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there, but especially to new Grandma Nette and new Bubby Diane.

and DNA, baby, that spells DNA

2009-05-05T14:46:00.002-04:00

On Thursday, my extended lab surprised me with a baby shower. It really blew me away - I'm not surprised easily, but this time they really got me. You have to understand my lab to know why this was such a shocker - we don't tend to do many social events, and if we do, I'm usually the one to plan them. So when I went to a supposed research meeting with a collaborator only to find a table full of food, party games, and gifts, I was floored. Stephanie and Brenda devised the whole thing and I believe that Yash and Jing took charge on this side of campus. Anyway, thanks to everyone who planned and celebrated with me! Steph took a ton of pics, but I don't have the files yet - until then, here are some camera phone snapshots - cutting the cake and the decorations.

I also wanted to share a little story about Gabe's first book. That's right: the first book to grace his bookshelf is Haskell Programming! It showed up with all of the other baby gifts from Meg & Lucas and apparently Lucas picked it out especially for us :) Of course, Gabe really has no chance but to at least be interested in the topic, what with my casual interest in programming, Mike's more serious interest, and the fact that Meg & Lucas are both employed in the industry. He's already a nerd in the making!

38.5 weeks down

2009-04-29T22:12:00.004-04:00

and 11 days to go until Gabe's due date. I only know this because every day when I come home, Skylar, Myrah, or Ashley ask me how many days are left. Up until now, they've been depressing, always asking if I had one week less than I actually did. But now that it's almost May, they're right on. It's fun to have so many people so excited about our son's arrival.

Today I got a haircut - partly because I don't want to deal with it anymore and partly because it's been in the 90s since Friday. And a little bit because we had a coupon. Anyway, here is the 38.5 week belly shot, for those of you keeping score.

I also wanted to include a smattering of photos of particularly cute things we've gotten recently. My favorite 0-3 month outfit to date is the Pooh overalls set (how can you go wrong when you combine yellow, overalls, and Winnie the Pooh?) from Angela, Mike, and the girls. Meg & Lucas were way too good for us too - some of the many goodies that showed up today included a space-colored boppy and a bunch of red outfits. Because somebody knows that's my favorite color :) Gabe also now has a wide array of clothes for when he's a little bit older, thanks to our neighborhood. It's important to note that 2 of those outfits will get him through next year's UNC basketball season like a champ :)

currently reading: Citizen of the Galaxy

The "apex" of our weekend

2009-04-27T18:37:00.004-04:00

Erin and I had a very busy weekend. We were supposed to go to Skylar's softball game, but we were kind of behind in the cleaning department and we needed to prep for the gathering we had. It was kind of like a baby shower, but more like a afternoon with our neighbors as a last hurrah before Gabe arrives. We played some Kubb, cooked out (burgers, hot dogs, and chicken with some potato salad, corn, cheese dip from Angela and cupcakes made by Myrah) and then enjoyed the (rather hot actually) weather until the evening at which point we played poker. Erin's first venture at poker and she performed rather admirably, lasting into the final four of ten players. She went out about 2 am and then it was time for bed as we had big plans for Sunday.

We got up early enough to eat something before it was time to go over to Jacob and Jessica's to play some HeroScape. Erin and my and Jacob and Jessica's army quickly decimated each other - Jess torching 6 of our armies with her dragon before I devoured the soul of (took control of) it, at which point Matt and Kelly's army destroyed it before I even got a chance to use it. It was all down hill from there, but a good time was had by all. When we weren't playing, we were eating the excelent food everyone cooked. We got home about 7 and crashed on the couch with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on in the backgrond.

Also, let me leave you with another gem of wisdom: Today, Erin and I were talking about my work and some of the perks some of the staff were complaining about and Erin said it's like the saying goes "Don't lick a gift horse in the mouth."

Baby Gabriel: master of the hiccups

2009-04-22T14:13:00.002-04:00

He's gotten quite good at them in the past few weeks. His newest trick is getting them at exactly the wrong moment. This morning I splurged and allowed myself 10 extra minutes of sleep. Of course, he kept me awake the entire time with said hiccups (which promptly stopped when I hopped in the shower). Thanks, buddy!

We took full advantage of last weekend's beautiful weather. Mike spent Sat morning timing a track meet while I watched Skylar's softball pitching debut. After a quick lunch, we went back to the field to watch Myrah play. We spent the afternoon & evening at a baby shower for Danny & Sarah, then relaxed until bedtime.

Also, two noteworthy events occurred recently. First, Shane & Emily welcomed their second son, Colton Alexander, on Saturday. Then, Emily & Brian got engaged on Monday. Congratulations everyone!!

Because babies love RPGs!

2009-04-16T22:21:00.004-04:00

It's been a busy week:

Wednesday we celebrated Passover with a seder at the Coopers' house. Mike tutors the two boys and they just love him (who wouldn't) - it was fun to experience another family's traditions - plus they made us feel right at home despite the fact that we were 2 of about 20 guests! We had to ditch out early, though, and rushed home to watch Rick's Criminal Minds episode (first time watching live TV since we got the DVR!). It was pretty amazing seeing his name up on the screen and fun to see the script come to life. Of course it helped that we knew all of the references (and boy did he take every chance he could to throw in those names!) - so proud of you, Rick!

On Friday we had Passover II with our standard group of friends - and again packed 14 people in the kitchen (seated at tables) for dinner. Danny realized his life's dreams of creating "schmores" from kosher marshmallows and chocolate-covered matzo. Granted, the former tasted fishy, but it was still impressive. We also ate a red-sea themed jello (complete with red sea collapse) and were wowed by the kosher treats that people cooked up.

Otherwise, we've been quite busy rearranging the nursery, learning D&D 4th edition (we finally got a group of people who all want to play and we're having a lot of fun nerding out while preparing), practicing poker, and making sure we're ready for Gabe's arrival. We went to the doctor a couple of days ago and everything is completely average - so much so that instead of weekly appointments now, she was happy to see me in 2 weeks. In the meantime, Gabe is making sure that I never forget he's in there - kicking and stretching and getting the hiccups. He's a busy boy already!

There have been lots of birthdays recently: Auntie M, Jeremy (new father to Emma!), Richie, Big Brian, Ann H, and Megan. Hope they were all wonderful :)

And finally some more good news: Phil and Amanda (and Jack) are expecting their second boy in August. We can't wait to meet you, Hugh!

I'm in ur diaphragm kicking ur lungs

2009-04-12T14:23:00.003-04:00

Just a quick update - today marks 36 weeks down, 4 to go. Next week is 37, and that means full term. That means Gabe really could be here any day after that with absolutely no complications. Erin's thinking the sooner the better what with Gabe taking up so much of her space and stealing her food, but they're family, so she has to share. I'm ready for Gabe when he's ready, but at 40 weeks when he's actually due is the Physics AP test, so if he waits until then, I'll have the time to teach all I need. If not, sorry students, we did our best.

Special building!

2009-04-06T11:42:00.002-04:00

Last weekend the weather was beautiful and we celebrated by spending most of the weekend outside. Friday evening I came home to find my Mike, Angela, and the girls all basking in the driveway sunlight. We stayed out until it got dark (and it was time to get Taco Bell). Saturday morning we ran some errands - we got our car seat installations inspected, picked up some more baby essentials, then made lunch. We spent all afternoon outside with the neighbors. It was fun to finally meet Adam & Mike's brother Aaron (wrap your head around that one: how is is that we and the family next door both include a Mike, Adam, and Erin/Aaron?) and his daughter who were in town for a surprise visit. There was some ambiguity though with the kids yelling out such an overlap of names! Saturday evening we played Carcassonne and Settlers with Matt, Kelly, and Jacob. We also grilled out, watched UNC beat Villanova, and ate cake & ice cream. Before they left, we made a plan to finally start a D&D group (only Mike and Jacob have ever actually played before, but we all secretly want to. The podcasts haven't helped!).

This week is going to be insane: UNC basketball tonight (WHEN am I going to catch up on sleep and why can't any of these games start at a reasonable hour?), Passover and then Rick's Criminal Minds episode on Wed, and our Passover extravaganza on Friday. Maybe I'll get some work done in there too (but I can't promise anything).

Wish I'd taken pictures

2009-03-29T08:13:00.003-04:00

It's getting down to the wire now and I'm so ready for this to get moving. They say the last few weeks are the hardest - which is definitely the case but hard to accept mentally when it's so close to the end (feels like it should all be downhill from here). Anyway, last week we met with Gary Elliott and got some life insurance (a process we're almost finished with - just need to have the physical next week), toured the maternity area at the UNC Women's hospital (boy are they busy there!), and pre-washed all of Gabe's bedding and clothes. We also watched some UNC basketball (more tonight!) and last night played some Guitar Hero 4 with Jamie. My favorite part of the night was when she gave Zoe a raspberry - the reaction was hilarious!

I missed some birthdays last week: Sam had a momentous one with the big 6-0 and Danny had a birthday the same day (Mon). Also, happy birthday to Kelly and Julia last week!

33 Weeks

2009-03-22T20:46:00.002-04:00

With 7 weeks left, both Erin and Gabe are ready to get on with it. He's becoming more and more restless and Erin is enjoying it none too much. For her 7 weeks can't go by fast enough. For me... I can't wait to meet Gabe, but I don't know if I'm ready for what comes after that :)

Here's a shot of Erin's spectacular growth.

Working on the checklist

2009-03-20T14:57:00.002-04:00

Our massive "to do before Gabe arrives" checklist has gotten a little more manageable in the past couple of weeks. In fact, yesterday we nailed down a pediatrician (we were pretty sure we would go with that office and the visit sealed the deal). Other seemingly impossible tasks that are almost finished include life insurance and a will. I must admit, wrapping up some of these items is making Gabe's arrival (7 weeks and 2 days til my due date - not that I'm counting) seem a whole lot less stressful.

In other news, Thumper has gone from mere kicking episodes to some more intense movements. I think it's because he's getting too big for the space - instead of little fists and feet, I feel elbows and knees - and occasionally his head moving around. It definitely feels strange and it's even weirder to watch. We've tried to come up with ways to calm him down, but to no avail. Nobody told me that I wouldn't be getting much sleep before he was born!

It's finally stopped raining for a bit and even though it's not going to be very warm this weekend, I think the sun will have us outside for quite a bit of it.

Currently reading: To the Lighthouse

Call PETA

2009-03-15T16:30:00.002-04:00

At 32 weeks, Gabriel is already tormenting the cats. Quin was sitting on Erin's lap resting her head on Erin's belly and got kicked in the face by our son.

Other than that, it's been a nice weekend. Jacob and Jessica came over on Friday to play some Carcassonne and some Settlers of Catan (with the Knights and Seafarers expansions we had never played before and now covet). We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing and getting errands done.

Also, a belated happy birthday to Steve on Friday the 13th.

A very Taylor weekend

2009-03-10T22:21:00.004-04:00

To add to the wonderful weather last weekend, Phil, Amanda, and Jack came for a visit! We had an absolute blast the whole time - of course the visit was too short but we packed it as full as we possibly could. After arriving on Friday, they picked me up at work and after dropping me at my car, we carpooled to Apex. Luckily Mike got home soon enough to finish cleaning the house! We spent the afternoon watching Jack play (toys, drumsticks, kitties, slides), grilled out for dinner, then played Carcassonne. On Saturday they spent the day in VA visiting family. We woke up early, I got some errands done, we watched Niko's team win their final basketball game, then spent time sitting outside and grilling out with Mike, Angela, Adam, Hanna, and the kids (who spent some time here playing the Wii and DS). After dinner, P, A, and J returned and we had another relaxing evening. On Sunday we made breakfast, took a walk around the lake, then drove up to Chapel Hill for Indian buffet with Yash, Sunil, and Ekansh. We would have stayed longer, but decided to leave in time to miss all of the traffic for the UNC-Duke game. After driving past the new Monsanto greenhouse, we returned home and gave Jack a nap while playing some Mexican train. Dinner was fondue (Swiss and Guinness cheddar) followed by a late night of chatting and gaming. Monday morning came way too early (what with staying up late and daylight saving time) - we said a bleary-eyed farewell on the way to work. A sampling of photos are below (more are here).

Last but not least, Amanda's mom made an awesomely soft and fuzzy blanket for Gabe:

Spring is here!

2009-03-06T09:19:00.002-05:00

Ok, last time I proclaimed this, it stayed warm for a week. Then it gradually cooled down and we even had a snow day on Monday. However, I'm confident that this time around, spring is here to stay. Highs this weekend are going to be in the 70's and I can't wait.

To make it all better, Phil, Amanda, and Jack picked the perfect weekend to visit. They arrive later today and we have plans of grilling, gaming, fondue-ing, getting to know Jack, visiting the lake, and spending the rest of the time outside.

Yesterday Mike found a great deal on a bookcase at Target, so we spent a few hours last night putting it together. It was quite the adventure - there were something like 40 cam locks and 50 screws (and of course, we didn't think to charge the drill before we started) to install. In the end, it looks really nice and all of our games fit on it, which was the whole point. Now we have a free bookshelf for Gabe's toys and books in his room.

Also, now that it's public knowledge, I wanted to say congrats to Danny & Sarah. They are expecting a baby girl at the beginning of July!!

The baby ate my weekends

2009-02-28T17:14:00.011-05:00

Not that it's a bad thing. Last weekend was great. Diane and Sam were here for a visit and for the baby shower Danny and Sarah threw for us. It was a co-ed shower where each couple (or pair) of people competed for prizes in two games - a drinking and an eating game.

The drinking game involved drinking 9 oz. of the carbonated beverage of your choice out of a baby bottle and the eating game involved being blindfolded and fed baby food. I participated in the drinking game and as I'm not drinking while Erin can't drink, I had red Fanta in my bottle - not a wise choice. In the end Evan, who was drinking a porter of some sort, won by almost an ounce.

I could not participate in the eating game because as the father to be, I had to practice my feeding skills. So among others, Erin got to try 7 different baby foods including bananas, peas, carrots, chicken, mac and cheese, beef and pears. Dan won this game identifying 4 of 7. In a surprise turn of events, mac and cheese seemed to be the most revolting.

Aside from the shower, we spent the weekend playing canasta, carcassonne and mexican train.

This weekend, we're spending 5 hours a day in baby training, learning how the whole process shakes down. Today I learned that I am to slow dance with Erin during labor. You can't find that in just any book.

Let me leave you with one more gem of wisdom. This morning, Erin compared Zoe's tail to a "clock tick-tocker." It took her some time to come up with the word pendulum.

Happy birthdays

2009-02-27T20:35:00.003-05:00

It's been quite a long week and Mike will get to all of the details, but I wanted to quickly mention two birthdays from this week. Mom's birthday was on Tuesday and Bubby Jennie's was Thursday. Happy birthday (future and current) grandparents!!