Whispering Sweet Nothings

As Gaby turns 5 months today, I wanted to write this down because I don't ever want to forget. It's something my precious daughter has been doing for the past couple of weeks. It is simply the most adorable thing you've ever seen! I've asked a couple people if their kids had done this and they hadn't, so I'm thinking this is just one of Gaby's funny quirks. Anyway, lately, especially in the early morning (the sweetest time of the day!) Gaby has been whispering. It is the cutest, funniest thing ever! She literally just starts making these funny whispering noises. Now for the last few months she's been yelling and shouting (which are funny too) but a couple of weeks ago she started with these soft little whispers. Almost like she's practicing her different volumes. And she puckers her beautiful lips in the most precious way. It's so adorable and I wanted to document it so I will always remember. Gaby, you are the cutest! Once I can figure out how to put videos on the blog I will post her doing her thing:)

I also wanted to take the time to talk about our other little babies, Rosko & Ozzie. Now everyone said- once you have a baby the dogs will become second class citizens. I said- not me, not ever! Wrong. It's true, as Gaby becomes more interactive and needing more and more attention the boys are definitely left by the wayside. I still love my sweeties so much. It's just there isn't enough time and attention for all. So I just wanted to report that last month Rosko turned 5 and this month Ozzie turned 3 yrs old. They are both so well behaved around Gaby and they seem to know how they're supposed to act around her(even when she tries to pet them and ends up just pulling their hair or ears!). Good boys!

Headline: Byron & Angie Get Away!!

Chicago 2007
This past weekend Byron and I took a little break from our baby girl. We went to Chicago for the weekend to celebrate our friends' birthdays- John Dallas' 30th and Michelle Rega's 35th b-day.

It was also like a final hurrah with our STL buds. There was a group of 12 of us and we ran around Chicago like a bunch of college kids. Byron and I terribly missed our little cutie, but we also appreciated our first time away, alone, together in 5 months. We literally have only been to dinner alone once since the princess joined us (and that was last week for our 5th anniversary!). We enjoyed sleeping late(!), eating out, and hanging out with friends. My wonderful mom stayed in St. Louis and spent a fun girls' weekend with her precious "chiquita". Every time I talked to her (which was about 5-6 times a day) she sounded like she was having the time of her life. She adores little Gaby and showers her with love any chance she can get! She also enjoys dressing her up in frilly get ups with bonnet and all-

Father's Day

Sunday was Byron's first Father's Day. We came home from Chicago to a delicious home cooked meal courtesy of Pita and Gaby. They had slaved away for hours in the kitchen to make Daddy's favorite- Arroz con Pollo. We had a wonderful dinner and Byron opened presents from his girls.

And now a few words from Dad:

Well, well, well.........hola to all of you who have been enduring my wife's attempt at competing with her brother-in-law Steven (Mia's blog). And of course keeping up with all the news of my little angel! This is little Dudley's first posting on the blog.....and yes I'm allowed to talk about myself in the third person on MY FIRST FATHER'S DAY!! I wasn't sure what to expect, but found that I really enjoyed it because it was like Christmas and my birthday all at once. My choice of food, people calling wishing me happiness, presents and cards, all just for ME!!!!!!! Our first weekend away made it that much more enjoyable to get back and spend time with Gaby. Each day she makes a new sound, looks at you as if with true understanding, laughs out loud, and impresses with her actions. I never thought I could just sit around and stare at a child as long as I do......and I'm a pediatrician! I can also easily say that she looks exactly like her mother and I'm thrilled with that. She is so beautiful, and intelligent, and strong, and healthy, and............let the bragging begin. Either way, on Father's Day I can now appreciate what it means to want more for your child than yourself. And it makes me appreciate even more my father on this special day.........for all the sacrifices parents make on behalf of their children. I'll always try my best for Gaby.

For Sale No More!

Another very exciting event occured this weekend. We received and accepted an offer on our house!! FINALLY!! Just when we were losing faith and trying to figure out how we were going to handle two mortgages we got this amazing news. Once the inspection goes through we'll be on our way:) Byron has just two short weeks left in the STL and I, unfortunately, will stay behind for a week and a half after that. Gaby, Pita and I will leave on July 12th and wave goodbye to the our home for the past 5 yrs.

Sleep, Wonderful, Sleep

Gaby's sleeping is back on track and she is definitely getting into a good sleeping pattern. Thank God! I just pray that once the move begins we can keep it up and not mess her up too bad.

The Survivors of Operation: Cry It Out

Well, we have survived four nights of Operation: Cry It Out. The first night Gaby ended up crying about 1hr and 10min. Then exhausted and wedged up to the corner of her crib she finally fell asleep and slept until 6am! Of course, I kept on waking up to check on her with the monitor. Despite my being completely exhausted and nerve racked I felt like we made some definite progress. The second night was amazing. Gaby slept from 8:30pm to 5am waking up once at 11pm for her final feeding. Halleluhia!! The third night she went down at 8:30pm as usual but decided to wake up at 9:30pm and yell for 30 min. But then without a late night feeding she slept until 4am. Now granted, 4am is not fun but the key is long stretches of sleep and we are starting to achieve that. The fourth night she slept like a champ! Woke up once to eat and then slept until morning. I'm hoping we can keep this up as the work week begins tomorrow. Here's Gaby snoozing in her crib:
Gaby's newest trick this week has been rolling from her tummy to her back. I have only witnessed this once but know it's happening often as I'll leave her on her tummy only to find her sunny side up. I can't get her to do it on command yet, but I'm working on it. She's also enjoying her cereal finally and is learning to drink sips of water from a water bottle. Super cute!

Mia Update: Gaby's future best friend is doing really well. She has doubled her birth weight as 4-month olds should and is up to 10lbs! We are so proud of her and can't wait to take them both to the pool this summer:)

Operation: Cry It Out

It's been 10 looong days since we got back from Austin and our precious princess has yet to sleep though the night like she used to. She was sleeping better than this at two months! Last night was the kicker, as she woke up every hour on the hour starting at 1am. Mind you, it was a work night! Luckily, with my mom here I didn't have to get up every time (thanks again, mom!!) but since Gaby's room is only two doors down I had the pleasure of hearing most of it. Sadly, my mom headed back home and since tonight is the beginning of my weekend I decided there's no time like the present to start Operation: Cry It Out. As I write this, it is 3am and my sweet child has been screaming her head off for EXACTLY 53 minutes. I say exactly because when you decide to let a baby cry it out you watch the clock and pray that any minute now, any second now, she will stop crying. Now I have the benefit/curse of having a video monitor. So I have the pleasure/torture of being able to watch as she goes ballistic! Obviously, I'm not the first mother to go through this, but when you're in the situation you feel like no one has had to go through this mind-wrenching, soul-ripping, heart-breaking exercise in complete and utter cold heartedness toward your own precious child. I will survive, I'm sure. And more importantly Gaby will survive. But you'd think since society has been raising children for, I don't know, what seems like a billion years, you'd think someone would of figured out a way to help kids sleep through the night without this craziness! I'm just saying. Baby Valium, anyone?? You might wonder where my husband is right now. Since the poor guy has not slept in 10 days either and since his job involves saving babies' lives, he has been allowed to sleep downstairs. Now considering the volume our adorable angel is capable of, I'm pretty sure he's sleeping with his head between two pillows. 1hr 4min and counting.....

Big and Beautiful!

Gaby had her 4 month check up yesterday. She's a big, tall girl at 16 lbs 6 oz (95%) and 26.25 in (97%). She had her current vaccinations and this time did not appreciate them very much:) I'm trying to get her back on a good sleeping schedule. After our trip she's been totally out of whack. We've been waking up every few hours! Note to self- Gaby will never marathon travel again!! So we figured since she wasn't sleeping well already, it would be a good time to move Gaby into her own room. It was me who was always opposed to this. But surprisingly enough, it hasn't been that tough. Although, I do miss having her right next to me in her CoeSleeper. We've started cereal and she doesn't really seem to like it. We'll keep on trying. I'm hoping cereal is the key to lots of sleep....

Here's Gaby's first taste of cereal and her "almost" sitting up: