Following Where He Leads...: Gabriel is 6 Months Old

Our Boogley Bear hit the 6-month mark on Friday.

He is right at 16 pounds now, which means he has more than doubled his weight in 6 months, which is right on target. That just blows. my. mind: He is **TWICE** the precious baby he was when we first held him!

He **looks** twice the size in this picture:

Our shiny little Boogley Bear

I had just lubed him up with some yummy-smelling lavender oil after bath-time...which he still loves! We've had to cease and desist giving him baths in the baby tub on the bathroom counter...he kicks and splashes so much that water ends up all over our bathroom mirror! He much prefers taking a bath in the big bathtub!

Another new favorite past-time for Gabriel is jumping:

He spends happy-happy time in this jumperoo...

...that is another fabulous "necessity" that my dear friend Shanna has loaned to us. (What would we have done without you, Shanna?!?!)

To say that Gabriel loves this jumperoo would be a complete understatement.

And Mama's newest favorite toy is the Ergo baby carrier.

It's actually not new, per se. It's just "new" in that we've just started using it.

We actually got the Ergo months before Gabriel came home, but not until a couple weeks ago was he big enough to be worn in this carrier.

He and I are both loving the Ergo. It is highly recommended by everyone, and now I know why.

And this is the last carrier we'll need...and we'll use it until G is 2 or 3 years old (or more). I can wear him on the front, back or hip.

When we are out and about, I pop him in this and we're good to go. He is content in it, and sleeps cozily in it also.

Gabriel contentedly sat in the Ergo during an appointment with our lawyer on Friday. We were reviewing some paperwork Jas and I needed to sign in the process to finalize Gabriel's adoption. It looks like we'll finalize his adoption at a court date on September 14th.

Gabriel has recently "found" his feet. Whenever he is on his back, he usually grabs for them now.

He hasn't yet discovered that he can put his toes in his mouth...but I suspect that discovery isn't far off.

During tummy-time, Gabriel still spends much of his time high-centered...like this:

But more and more, he will pull his little legs up under him...which is so cute. I was glad to be able to catch a picture of him doing this move:

Gabriel can actually make a little forward movement now. But he usually will only do it if there is some prize out in front of him, like a toy or his paci. While laying flat on his belly, he will throw both arms forward and - slowly but surely - drag himself forward. A modified army crawl. It's not pretty, but it works!

Gabriel has also slowly but surely lost much of the hair he was born with, and his hair is much less thick now. It's happened so gradually that I don't even realize it day-to-day....

6-mos.

2 days old

...but when I see older pictures, it is really noticeable!

Another change in Gabriel's appearance:

As of a few days ago, he is the proud owner of two brand-spankin' new teeth. HOW can two tiny little things cause such BIG problems?!?!? Gabriel has been gnawing on anything he can get his hands on for a month or two, and I was thinking that he seemed to be handling the whole getting-new-teeth thing pretty well. We hadn't seen anything yet!

For the couple of days before these two suckers poked through, they were giving us (yes, ALL of us!) FITS! A little fever, not wanting to eat much, but wanting to eat every 2.5-3 hours (even through the night -YIKES!). Thankfully that all subsided once they decided to actually show themselves. I do not look forward to more teeth coming in any time soon!

I've mentioned this many times previously, but my 4 older children continue to blow me away with how well they do with Gabriel.

They seek him out.

They are fascinated with him.

They are helpful with him.

They love him dearly...

...and he loves them right back!

We recently got the chance to introduce Gabriel to some of my extended family at a gathering. One dear lady asked me if I "had Gabriel on a good schedule". My answer was that he has us on a good schedule!

The first few months we really had more of a cycle than a schedule. I always knew he would eat, then play, then sleep. Repeat about every 3 hours. But those wouldn't happen at the same time every day.

But now he has begun to naturally settle into more of a predictable and consistent routine/schedule.

Here is what a typical day looks like for our little Boogley Bear:

Wake up once during the night to eat - anywhere from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m.

I wake him up to eat at about 5:30 or 6 a.m.

He then sleeps until about 9 or 10 a.m.

Eat and then play for a while.

Lay back down at about 11:30 for a morning nap that lasts about 30-60 minutes.

Play.

Eat at about 12 or 1 p.m.

Lay down for afternoon nap, lasts 2-3 hours (and sometimes even longer).

Wake up and eat at about 4 or 5 p.m.

Play.

At about 6:30 or 7 he takes one last little catnap for about 30 minutes.

At about 8 or 8:30 I feed him one last time and we lay him down in his bassinet in our room, where he sleeps until his middle-of-the-night feeding...and we start the process all over again...

I am still nursing Gabriel...and am so thankful for this. I still want to pinch myself that I've really gotten to do this for him!

It has not been easy. I tell Jas often that if it weren't

for him and his support and encouragement, there is no way I would still be nursing G. And I'm so glad that I am. Oh, I already said that!

Most recently, he tried to go on a "breast-feeding strike" and was giving me fits...but it turned out to be related to the teething, and things have settled back down now.