On the Move!

Yay! Gabriel is crawling! He has been getting on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth since December. Even his pediatrician said "He'll be crawling any day now." Well, it's now the end of February and Gabriel finally got it! It was a matter of coordinating hands and knees.

He got lots of encouragement from his sister yesterday as he tried to do it. She crawled around him to "show" him and told him "Come on Gabriel! You can do it! Hands and knees, hands and knees! Come on!" So cute, he got a kick out of it and not long after he was crawling!

It's just so so cute. Every time he tries crawling, he gets faster and faster. He also discovered that he can head for and grab things he's been wanting to get his hands on for a long time. So funny! Go Gabriel!

Here is a picture that I caught last night. The camcorder was still charging so I hope to get a video today!

New Blog Layout ...

If you are a regular follower, you may notice I have a new blog design. While I love my usual look, I thought I'd change it up a bit in celebration of my sister's upcoming Vow Affirmation ceremony. It's only a week and a half away!

What's a vow affirmation ceremony? Well, Megan and Ryan are already married. They were married in front of my mom, the kids and I on November 10, 2009. Now we are having a ceremony to affirm the vows they made in November in front of our family and friends. The prayer at the top of my blog was given to my sister by her godfather in honor of her marriage and we will be using it in the ceremony.

So I changed things up to spread the love, get into the spirit and share the excitement of what will be a beautiful day for our family!

The bride, Matron of Honor and Flowergirl and of course, Gabriel.


The flowergirl and her dress

It's Potty Time!

She did it! Aitana is on the Potty Train and we are full steam ahead! I'd been trying to get her to do it for a while. We had a couple of starts and she just peed all over the floor every time we went for it. Then one day I was just so frustrated ... we had to go to the store to get diapers for Gabriel. Aitana asked me to buy diapers for her. I told her no, only babies like Gabriel wore diapers and she was a big girl who needed to wear panties and go pee pee in the toilet. So, of course, she asked for new panties. I had to tell her she had plenty and when she started going pee pee on the toilet, she could get new ones. Mind you my sister's bridal shower was that coming weekend, so I had no intention of potty training until that was over.

Well, we got home, I told her we had to change her pull-ups and I asked her to wait while I got a new one. She told me "NO, Aitana not wear diapers. Aitana go pee pee on the potty." So I told her to hold on, I'd get her toilet and as I ran upstairs she yelled after me "And my panties too!" Well, that wonderful day (I think Jan. 12) Aitana went poop multiple times in the toilet! We had pee accidents, but that was ok. She wanted to go potty in the toilet!

We've had a few accidents, but they get fewer and fewer and are now becoming mostly my fault for not paying attention at certain times. But as of this Friday, Aitana will have been potty training for 1 month and I think we are finally there!

The moral of the story ... let your child be the one to tell you when he or she is ready a new milestone. You can't force them to do what they are not ready for. They've been on this earth fewer years than we have, but nature is often more powerful than nurture. Or at least the strong, stubborn will of my daughter has proven to be more powerful than mine.

I am so proud of you, Aitana! Congratulations on this huge victory you sweet girl!

Gabriel Growing Up

Well, time just flies. It's sad, but true. My baby boy isn't so little anymore. Gabriel is already fitting into size 12 month clothes, following in the footsteps of his sister. He is sitting up so well and can turn himself around in the sitting up position.

He hit a few milestones recently ... and I'm glad I'm writing them here, so I can remember to put them in his baby book. He got his first tooth on January 31. I'd been watching it try to poke through for a while, but it finally broke the skin and popped up! Then on February 5, he officially got his second tooth! He is so proud to show them off to me, but just like his sister, I'm the only one he readily shows!

Then the next big milestone is that he sat himself up for the first time on Monday, the 8th. What a surprise! He's been trying so hard to crawl and in his efforts, he actually unexpectedly sat himself up. Now he's all smiles and giggles when he does it while he's playing.

So, now we are waiting for the big crawl. Gabriel gets on his hands and knees at a moment's notice and has ninja focus trying to coordinate the legs and arms ... at least until Aitana or I go up to him and shout "You can do it Gabriel! Crawl to me!" It is so funny when Aitana does it ... startles Gabriel every time. He did the army crawl once a long long time ago, but apparently he decided that it's all or nothing ... hands and knees or he won't crawl. It's difficult to watch his frustration, but there is nothing this mama bear can do for her baby but cheer him on. But he'll be there really soon.

Can't believe so many new phases in such a short time!