We decided to spend the beginning of November visiting our family back east in lieu of dealing with the crowds during Thanksgiving. Zara and Gabe were squirmy on the flight but did well overall. We had a nice week in my hometown visiting friends and family in PA. Unlike our first trip to PA, Gabe and Zara no longer stayed where you put them, so it was a full time job making sure they didn’t get into trouble!

On our return trip we spent a few days in the DC area to catch up with friends and family there. We were able to find a hotel with a 2 bedroom suite with a living room so it worked out great! It was great to see our friends and family in DC as well!

The return flight did not go as well as the outbound flight. We arrived at the airport early and set up our “gypsy” camp in a quiet corner. The kids were able to get a good nap in before our flight. We headed to the gate a little later than we hoped and the flight was already boarding. We quickly changed the kids and picked up food for us. Z broke down the stroller and packed it and the 2 car seats in bags to check at the gate. I took both kids, the diaper backpack and the Pullman full of the toys, milk, bottles, and other essentials and boarded the plane. Unfortunately, no one offered to help me lift the Pullman to the overhead compartment and the lady behind me took the only spot left for a bag so we were forced to check the bag. I quickly unpacked the milk and bottles and other essentials (or so I thought). As we pulled onto the runway Z asked for a toy for Gabe…. My heart sunk when I realized I had checked every single toy we had. It was a long 6 hours but thanks to an extra outfit and plastic water bottle (which they chewed on), we survived!

View photos of our PA Visit.

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Gabe & Zara turn 8 months old tomorrow. They are growing so quickly and we are having a blast with them.

Both of them are now rolling over both ways and able to do the army man crawl. Gabe scoots with his right arm, Zara with her left (funny huh?). Sometimes f you’re looking at or talking to Zara she’ll roll onto her back and smile at you. Gabe loves feet, not only his own but all feet. He’ll take off from across the room and crawl to your feet to put them in his mouth. Both of them put everything in their mouths. Neither have teeth yet but they sure love to chew on everything!

In the last few days Zara and Gabe have finally started to notice one another! It’s pretty funny to see them smiling/talking to one another.

They’re still sleeping through the night for the most part. Gabe recently decided that he was going to wake up at 9pm and 3 am (almost clockwork every day). He’s also started fighting sleep more than in the past. We used to be able to put him down and he would only cry for a minute then go to sleep then he began crying 10 minutes straight. We’re tried the “cry it out” method which was hard (you don’t go into their room when they’re crying) but it seems to have worked. For the last few nights he was able to go to sleep right away and slept until 7am.

Solid foods are going well. They both eat pretty good. Zara isn’t a huge fan of any vegetables and gags when you’ve fed her something she deems inappropriate. Gabe eats almost anything but does gag on carrots from time to time.

View photos of Gabe & Zara’s 7th month photos.

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Check out footage of Zara and Gabe eating their first solids (there is some sound) :

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We can’t believe our babies are nearly 7 months old. We’ve been quite busy so we’re a little behind in posting the pictures from their 6th month.

I returned back to work full time at the end of August. In hindsight, I really wish I had eased back into it a bit slower because it was really rough in the beginning. Fortunately, Rita was here helping us which made it so much better. At least when I left in the morning I wasn’t worried about leaving them with a stranger or worrying about their care! Our nanny, Willow started with us at the beginning of the month and we feel very fortunate to have found her! I feel like we have known her for years. She is great with the kids and a huge help to us in so many ways!

I was really fortunate this summer to meet some other great mothers in the Seattle area. There is a class for new mothers/babies that Gabe, Zara, and I attended each week. It has been really great to get to know the other mothers and share our experiences with one another. It has also been fun to watch their children grow up over the past few months.

Gabe and Zara have started noticing things around them much more this month and they have finally started to interact. They’ve already started taking toys from one another so the next few years may be fun!

Gabe has been rolling over from his back to his stomach since the last week in July but still hasn’t really mastered rolling back. Thankfully, he no longer screams bloody murder when he gets onto his stomach. In the last few weeks he’s started scooting all over. He pulls himself with his arms or he grabs onto Zara’s clothing and pulls himself towards her. Zara is quite un-phased by it all….she just lays on her back all calm and kind of ignores Gabe. She has also rolled over but generally will just stay on her back.

Both of them give you a huge grin in the morning when you go to get them out of the crib. They’re both pretty funny in the morning – neither of them generally cries to tell us they’re awake. Zara generally will cough until we hear her, Gabe will yell or squawk. We’re pretty fortunate that they are still sleeping through the night and also taking good naps during the day.

View photos of Gabe & Zara’s 6th month photos.

Posted in Friends & Family, Gabriel and Zara 1,126 Comments »

Gabe & Zara turned 6 months old at the beginning of September. Six months is the current guidance for introducing solids, and you are told to wait between 3-5 days to introduce a new food to ensure there is not an allergy. Since my birthday was over a long weekend, we decided to introduce them to solids as one of my birthday activities!

I decided to make as much of their food as I am able to, just so we know exactly what they’re eating and they’re not getting a lot of additives, and chemicals. It’s actually fairly easy and quick to prepare their food. I have a little immersion hand blender and with a little added milk, the food is a perfect consistency in no time! As we’ve learned, the key is to have the food ready when they wake up, otherwise they may not wait patiently!

We did not yet have highchairs when we introduced solids so we had to feed them one at a time in the bumbo chairs. Their first meal was sweet potatoes. Both Zara and Gabe liked sweet potatoes and ate quite a bit for their first meal!

After much research and analysis, we found great high chairs so feedings can happen in parallel, although this presents challenges too!

We have since introduced avocado, pear, banana, mango, zucchini, peas, carrots, butternut squash and yam. Zara is not really a fan of peas or carrots (who can blame her really?), while Gabe thinks that anything slightly sweet is sour tasting…. He makes the funniest face when he eats sweet things. (see video).

We have had a lot of fun watching Zara and Gabe experience new flavors.

View photos of Zara and Gabe eating their first solids.

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