Gabriel is 10 Months Old

Mr. Gabriel is now 10 months old. 

It has been so amazing - for all six of us - to see the stages and progress that a baby goes through.

Gabriel is such a pure delight for all of us.  I knew our older children would be good with him...and love him.  But I really had no idea the extent that would reach.  They are each - every one of the four of them - fascinated by him, so sweet to him, and seek out time with him.  

When we were taking pictures of Noah on his 7th "Noah Day"...he asked for a picture with his lil bro

And while I didn't think the children would get bored with Gabriel, I did expect the "newness" to wear off after a while.  Well, it hasn't.  

We joke that every morning is like Christmas morning at our house.  The children expectantly and not-so-patiently keep asking if Gabriel is awake yet...and (mostly Noah) keep tip-toeing into our room to look at him in his pack-n-play.

Then...finally....Mr. G wakes up (anywhere between 8:30 and 10 a.m.) and then you here delightful squeals and choruses of "Gabriel is AWAKE!"  "Yay!  Gabriel is up!" 

And with this kind of treatment by his big brothers and sisters, I guess it isn't any wonder that Gabriel loves them all BIG, right back.

He gets plenty of attention from our friends and extended family also.

Playing with Mrs. Shan on a recent homeschool fieldtrip

Gabriel has not started having any stranger anxiety yet...maybe he never will.  

Gabriel has become much more interested in toys.




We keep a little covered basket of G's toys in the family room (pictured here), and one in mine and Jason's bedroom.  The older children like to drag the contents of the basket out for him to play with...but he has gotten good at pulling them out himself also.

Ummm...I think maybe he was pleased with himself.

And...he is still sticking anything and everything he can get his hands on straight into his mouth.

Gabriel enjoys the little balls and blocks that are in his baskets...but he is still really enjoying the kitchen tools also.

He happily bangs away with the metal measuring spoons on the big bowls for quite a while.  And - of course - sticks the measuring spoons into his mouth.

Something else that Gabriel is enjoying sticking in his mouth....smoothie!

He is totally digging our smoothies.  We have them (as our drink) with supper most nights.  In the picture above I had grabbed a straw and put it into my smoothie that Gabriel was expressing interest in. Now we've started giving him his own little cup of smoothie because he was drinking about half of mine!

Another new thing we learned about Gabriel this month: He apparently (surprisingly) has opinions and preferences all his own.  And he will let you know if you are not in compliance with his opinions and preferences.  I know...shocking.  A baby born with a sin nature alive and kicking.  

It is hard to be too terribly upset by his antics, though...because they are so funny...and cute.  He scrunches his eyes shut, wrinkles his nose up, waves his head back and forth...and makes this loud ugly fake-crying noise.  There are no tears anywhere...and he shuts it off just as quickly as he starts it.  Thankfully we caught a few good pictures of it:

The above pictures of G's little fits were taken 2-3 weeks ago...and now that I think about it, he actually hasn't been doing this anymore the past week or so.  Thankfully.



Gabriel is still not quite crawling.

He will get up on all fours, rock back and forth...

...and then flop down on his belly, and usually end up pushing himself backward a little.

So it is not unusual to find him stuck up under some miscellaneous piece of furniture.

And - thankfully - he doesn't mind all this.

Usually.

Now that it is colder, we're having to keep socks and shoes on our little buddy.  Well, we try to keep them on him anyway.  Given the opportunity, he will have them off...and quick!

I would insert a nice little list of G's schedule here. Except...I can't.  Because...he doesn't have a nice, set little schedule.  I know if he were our first child, it wouldn't be this way (I was very consistent with E's nap/bed times when she came home, and then with N & E when he came home and they were 1- and 2-years old.)  But he is not our first or only child.   There are 7 of us, and we live joyfully full lives with many (but not too many!) activities.  Some nights he is in bed at 8...some nights at 9.  Last night he was out with me at our Love the Least service on Human Trafficking until 9:30 p.m.  The night that E and Jas killed the deer, he was out with us (and awake the entire time!) until midnight.  He is just always happy.  If he gets tired, he falls asleep on my should or in the ergo.  And I don't know if G was just born flexible, if God just had mercy on us...or if he has just learned to be flexible. 

Some days (like today) he takes two naps (shorter one in the late morning...and one in the afternoon).  But that actually happens very seldom now.  More often than not, he takes one longer nap (2-3 hours).  And it usually starts in the mid-afternoon.  But then weekends our family schedule is different, and then church really throws a wrench in our normal schedule...but G just always goes with the flow.  And ***I*** am learning how to go with the flow (much to my family and friends' surprise and delight), although it has been painful for me at times.  I would personally be much more comfortable with a nice pat black-and-white, typed-up schedule.  Instead the Lord is teaching me to follow my (Spirit-led) instincts, watch my baby...and give up trying to control e-ver-y-thing!  

I'm trying to learn this - and all the lessons you have for me, Lord!  Thank you for never giving up on me!  Oh...and thank you for these 6 precious family members of mine that you've used to teach me the majority of your lessons!  Amen