Fun in the sun

This past week in San Francisco was HOT! In fact, it was so nice out, I actually took Gideon to the beach with our cousins, the Chins. I put my distaste of the sand aside, placed Gideon ever so gently in our Ergobaby, hopped on the MUNI train, and had some fun in the sun. Gideon actually slept the whole time, but that's okay. The important thing was the we got out of the house and got some healthy sunshine.

A cousin's visit

Gideon's cousin Avery came to visit us in San Francisco! Not only did Gideon get to meet his cousin for the fist time, but he got to meet his Auntie Gladys and Uncle Duke as well! Avery's all grown up now at 14 months. She can walk around and sign quite a bit. She can also freak out around Gideon! Why? Because...well, you look for yourself. At almost 12 months apart, Gideon and Avery look quite similar in size... I think Gideon's a lil on the big side...yes?

**cousins meeting for the first time**
**with uncle duke**
**with auntie gladys and mina in the oven**
**12 months apart, but similar in size**

Talking and Rolling

Gideon is quite the talkative baby these days. And, he LOVES to hang out on his belly and roll over. Sometimes, after he has rolled over, he gets ubber excited and wants to be on his belly again. He also LOVES to talk to us while he's on his belly!

Sleep Train

No, not the mattress store and definitely not an automotive that goes choo choo. We are talking about training a baby to sleep. Before Gideon was born, I was pretty adamant about NOT letting him in our bed, NOT rocking him to sleep, and NOT walking him to sleep. This lasted oh...a few weeks. For the first few weeks of his life, Gideon slept happily without any problems in his own crib on his own. Then, thanks to his parents (yes, me and Eugene), he had to be rocked to sleep or walked to sleep every single night. In the beginning, we didn't mind so much. Then, when he got to be more than 13 pounds heavy...our backs started screaming! So, the only way we could figure out to get him back to the beginning was to train him to sleep again. Thanks to our good friends the Tuans, we employed the methods of the Baby Whisperer and Gideon is now back in his crib, able to sleep on his own without being rocked or held! We just kiss him goodnight and put him in his crib when it's his bedtime (he has actually set his own bedtime too!) while he is still awake, stand there for a couple of minutes, and then walk away while he drifts into dreamland (on the good nights). This has helped us get our nights back too. No more waiting around for Gideon to fall asleep or taking laps around the living room to walk him to sleep. Yay!!!

Next on the to do list: more naps. Gideon has a habit of taking naps only when he is utterly exhausted and will only take one nap a day.

Roll over!

Gideon rolled over for the first time today! We were having some fun quality tummy time and noticed that he started leaning towards one side. Before we realized it, he rolled over! "That had to be by chance or something," we thought. So, back on his tummy and then...he rolled over again! "Okay. He's rolling over and we're not catching it on video!" I think the video file might be too large, so here are some action shots we took. And just so you know, we put him back on his tummy about five more times just to be sure. :P

Three's a Charm!

Gideon is three months old today! My how time has flown right by... Here's Gideon's progress and a look at this past month...

Gideon can now:
*hold his head up much higher during tummy time*
*laugh and smile when he sees us*
*recognize our voices and songs I sing for various things we do throughout the day*
*focus on random things like Teddy, a mobile, his playard monkey*

Suck Suck Suck!

Gideon did it! He finally did it! A strong and forceful suck...he breastfed!!! I was so excited I wished that I could have taken a picture...until...spat! He spat my boob out, cried, and that was that. Okay...will try again later. :P