Happy Birthday my Love!

Well it was Gabriel's first birthday today. It was exactly one year and 16 minutes ago when I gave birth to my amazing little boy. I cannot believe that a whole year has gone by. We never thought we would get out of the hospital. I can still remember what it felt like that first day. He has been a lot of work, but a lot of fun too. I am so lucky to have the family that I do. Gabriel has been through a lot in his first year of life, but it has not all been bad. He is the happiest baby I know. I am so happy about that, well unless you are grabbing his hands, near his nose, eyes, or his ears. He will let you know those areas are off limits. We could not have made it through the last year if it had not been for our family, friends, and all of the NICU staff.

His very first photo right after he was born

Mommy and Daddy meeting our son

We had his first birthday party at Kiddie Park, which is an amusement park for kids, and it was a scorcher of a day. It was 107 degrees, but we had a great time. The cupcakes and cake were not able to take the heat, they melted. Poor Mellie kept trying to move the cupcakes every time the sun moved. Note to self: Eat the cupcakes/cake first.

We cannot even begin to express how thankful we are to everyone that showed up. We are truly blessed with the best family and friends. Gabriel loves all of his toys. Sebastian and Noah have thoroughly tested out each and every toy to make sure is was durable and safe. Gabriel may not realize it, but he had the best birthday ever.

Big Boy

This weekend we went to a birthday party for a friend at Peter Piper Pizza. it was really fun. We went with Grandma Angel, Kayla, Sunny, and Leo. Gabriel got to play one of the games and he rode two of the cars. He had such a good time. He was so taken by all the lights and noise from the games. I am not looking forward to him walking.

Gabriel is getting a little mobile. He is pivoting like crazy, and will just go in a circles for fun. Someday that will turn into doing doughnuts with the car. He is able to get a little distance with his military crawl. he is starting to follow us when we walk away. He has also developed a liking to all cords. I cannot keep him away from my computer charger and breast pump tubing. He just very curious and nosy. If he cannot see where a noise is coming from, he will try to get around what is blocking his view. Today he figured out how to get himself off the couch. He will just slide right down the side. We are in big trouble now.
Tuesday he is having an evaluation with Speech Therapy. He had a swallow study done in April and they are gonna work with him so he does not aspirate when eating. The milk is hitting his vocal chords when he is eating and if it were to pass them he could aspirate. This could be a result of his reflux. We are supposed to be thickening his milk and serving it  a little cold, but he throws up when we do this. So, the Speech Therapist is gonna work with him on this.
He has been giving us problems with refusing to eat his solids. He is always trying to get the food from our plates. Today he was successful at getting his hands on my arroz con pollo and liked it. It probably wasn't the best thing to let him eat, but it's better than him eating my cake (like he tried to at the party). I ended up mushing up the rice and let him feed himself. He got more of it on him than in his mouth, but at least he ate. he is gonna be one. Feeding him yogurt is a fete on it's own. That little boy gets it everywhere. He will rub his dirty little hands in his hair. Good Times Good Times!

He won't use a pacifier, but he will chew on everything else

He is just like Mommy when it comes to sleeping. We will do anything not to wake up.

I think he thought the yogurt was conditioner

That is not where my pumping bra belongs

All that rice everywhere

Family Reunion

Well we had the Angel Family reunion last Saturday. It was really nice to be able to introduce Gabriel to his family. I felt like I should had played the circle of life from the Lion King and held him in the air. As soon as I walked up people came up to see the little monkey. It was nice to have a park full of babysitters. I did feel like I was missing an appendage, since he is always with me. He was such a good baby and didn't have problems with anyone. I am so proud of him. He is definitely our child, he loves to socialize.

He finally did the military crawl. It was only once and there hasn't been a repeat performance yet. He is pivoting at 360 degrees, and shifting his weight really good. We started Physical therapy once a week to go along with the occupational therapy he is doing three times a week. They are determined to get him to crawl. He is dying to walk. He could go from the front room all the way to the back tv room while holding your hands. He would not walk on our tile at all. He has been banned from standing right now. We have to keep him off his feet and on his knees. It seems a little cruel to me. So we are working really hard at it.

We are in full party planning mode. I have decided to move the party to Kiddie Park instead of at the house. This has cut our guest list down quite a bit, it was to much for me to get together after loosing the baby. I have finally pulled it together. I am almost done with everything.

Busy Busy Busy

Well I made it through another semester, and could not be happier that I passed my classes. It has been pretty crazy for us. Gabriel has been teething or so the doctor says for some time now, and mommy is really ready for these teeth to break through. We have been working on feeding him his solids. Today we tried baby yogurt, and I don't think he was a fan. He is about 14.1 lbs and 24.5 inches. He lost a little weight because he caught a cold and wasn't eating very much. It was not that bad because his pedi thought it was teething, but the pulmonologist checked him and it was a cold. We didn't even know he had one until it was almost gone. I am so glad it was not bad.

Gabriel spent his first Easter at his Uncle Derek and Tia Sarah's house. We had such a great weekend. It was Sebastian's fourth birthday and Easter. We went to the railroad museum, which was pretty awesome, and had a party at the house. The only bad thing was that Manuel, Gabriel, and I were so tired we slept through most of it. Daddy slept through most of the Easter egg hunt. Gabriel had his first cascarone popped on his head. Sebastian and Uncle Derek fought dirty with a water hose. I was not prepared. I was wearing Manuel's shoes because I was too lazy to find mine, and they got wet. He was not happy about that when he out his shoes on. Oooops! It was such a fun trip. Jose, Buela, and Aunt Shannon were there too. it was so nice to have a lot of babysitters around. 

We also went to Dallas for Ryan's first birthday. It was nice to finally meet my nephew. We have been so busy with Gabriel and all his restrictions we never had a chance to get together until now. Gabriel also got to meet his cousin Tommy and Ryan, his Uncle Tommy and Tia Nancy. All five boys were together, and they played so well together. The boys were all so gentle with Gabriel. I cannot wait until they are old enough to really rough house it togehter like we did as kids. Gabriel adjusted to traveling, but after going to Dallas one week and SPring the next he was not happy with his car seat. He would cry every time we put him in it for a few days. he eventually went back to my happy little baby.

Most of you know that we were pregnant and lost the baby, we never got a heartbeat and the baby stopped developing. My mom was so great to come stay with us a few days to help us through that. We could not be more grateful for our parents during that time. Gabriel was so sweet, when the doctor told us and I started to cry he just reached out and hugged me. He also gave his daddy a huge hug also. He is definitely aware of what is going on around him. We are doing much better now. Thank you to everyone that was there to support us. Gabriel had a great time being with his Buela last week. I think he is sad that she is gone. When he heard her voice on the phone today he was all smiles and dove for the phone.

The other big new is that we finally finished Gabriel's baptism on Mother's day. It was such a great ceremony and I am so happy we got it done. It never would have happened if Grandma Angel didn't help us do it. Gabriel was pretty good in mass. I was so worried he would act up. When he did cry because he was tired, his Tia Sarah and godmother, sang him his song and he immediately calmed down. She sings Close to you by the Carpenters, and no matter how upset he is he will calm down. It is magic! She gets a lot of late night calls from us right now.

We are getting ready to celebrate his first birthday next month and I could not be more excited. We are having it at kiddie park. All the kids will love it there. Sebastian has given us the seal of approval on the date and location so we must be doing something right. He had a lot of input when it came to making the invitation. I guess he wants everything to be perfect for his cousin.

Now that school is out and I am taking internet classes where I am not writing papers every day I will have more updates.

I think we should leave the nail trimming to Mommy or Mellie

Playing with Buela

Trying out his new Cars chair

  Looking handsome in his baptismal outfit.

                                                

First Easter

                                 

 

Funny Little Man

Well Gabriel has been doing very good. He is getting bigger and a developing such the personality. He keeps me very busy. He is eating vegetables now, and already he doesn't like spinach. I was able to mix the spinach with the sweet potatoes and he ate it. I guess that is how most parents do it. We have really been having fun. He is doing very good health wise. He still needs work on his upper body strength. He wants nothing to do with crawling. Me and his occupational therapist Teresa are working hard with him. He is very temperamental and acts just like me. He knows what he wants and when he wants it.

My friend Amy was very nice and she gave Gabriel all of her sons old stuff. He got another jumper, two different walkers, and a really nice rocking Harley Davidson motorcycle. He is very lucky to have so many people looking out for him. Between Amy, Tia Sarah, and Tia Nancy we really haven't had to buy clothes.