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

Back in the crib

It took a week (and perhaps it may take a little more time), but by the Lord's mercy and grace, Gideon is now back in his crib. Here is the account of our experience:

Monday (8/2): Our first night. We rocked Gideon to sleep, warmed up his bed with an electric heating pad, made his room nice and comfortable, placed him asleep in his crib, and walked away. He woke us up only two times to feed! Not bad for the first night!

Tuesday (8/3): Same routine: rock, sleep, warm, put in bed, walk away. He did so well on the first night, we expected the same thing on the second night. No. He woke us up five times! We were tempted to bring him back into bed with us by the third time becase we were so exhausted, but we supported each other and him and placed him in his own crib every time we woke up.

Wednesday (8/4): Same routine, except this time, he woke us up only three times! Although, it was a little bit difficult putting him down for the night.

Thursday (8/5): Same routine, except Gideon vomited quite a large amount of milk tonight. Maybe it was the bath in the middle of feeding? Maybe it was his lack of burping? Maybe he caught a chill while getting undressed for the bath? We felt so bad for the little guy, it took us a long time to put him down for the night and we almost brought him into bed with us. But, he felt better and woke us up only two times!

Friday (8/6): Gideon vomited again, but looked rather chipper afterwards asking for more food and playing with Teddy. He fell asleep rather quickly in our arms and woke us up only once overnight!!! And, when he woke up at 7 am (Saturday morning), he was able to put himself back to sleep! I think that was a coincidence, but I'll take it!!

Saturday (8/7): Gideon woke us up two times overnight. We also did things a little differently tonight...we turned off all the lights when we went to bed and didn't turn on his room light when we got up to feed and change him. Not sure if it helped him stay asleep, but it sure did make things feel more calm.

I'm not sure what is in store for us tonight, but I do believe Gideon is now back in his crib! I'm a bit concerned that he may become a screamer and a longer crier as a result of all this because I'm not sure how long he cries at night before we wake up and get to him. But, we just need to have faith and continue to pray every night for our little boy to enjoy sleeping in his crib and to have a restful and peaceful night.

Next bad habit to work on: the need to fall asleep in our arms. We may wait a while on this one since Gideon is still so young, but it probably won't be a long while since he is getting quite heavy. :P We don't want to use the cry-it-out method; our friends, the Tuans, suggested using the "Baby Whisperer" method, so we're gonna look into that and prepare. Once again, it will take a lot of prayer and faith on our part. Keep us in your prayers!!