Nine Months Old

Gumba just recently turned nine months old and to celebrate I'll give a run down of how busy he (we) was (were).

- Started to get first tooth. He's been working on this for several weeks and it's only a third of the way in!

- Pulling himself up on everything.

- This quickly manifested into Gumba having to figure out how to get down from everything.

- Walking along furniture. Still not his favorite though.

- Just started to wave! It's pretty cute, he stretches out his arm and then looks at his hand as it moves. Yesterday in JoAnn's he way wooing the ladies.

- Eating oatmeal. I made this amazing blueberry sauce that I can't wait to give with the oatmeal. I'm totally excited.

- Found out he's a little behind developmentally. I guess if you don't clap or wave to your child they don't learn it. So, we're practicing.

- Had his first official illness, and ear infection. Thankfully it's cleared up. I'm back to getting (better?) sleep. Husband and I were taking turns sleeping with Gumba during naps and bedtime. By the end of it all I was pretty wiped out. Now he's back to sleeping on his own.

I'm sure I've missed something. But there's most of it anyway. Next I'll post about Husband and I's month. Everything that could have gone wrong did.

- Oh, let's not forget about Gumba's baptism with his cousin. The visiting priest was awesome and grabbed the two of them and started walking around church. I don't have any pictures, my parents have them all. Both sets of grandparents were able to be there, and Gumba's godparents were visiting from San Diego. Afterwards we had a barbeque at our house were 19 immediate family members (from McGilvary side) were here. That doesn't include everyone by the way.

Walkin' In A Winter Wonder Land...Sort Of

We had our first snowfall of the winter season on Tuesday. Many may think this is early, but I've seen it earlier. The snow of course has come and gone several times this week. This morning I awoke to more snow, and some of it has stayed, but who knows how long. Gumba has an ear infection, poor guy...and really poor me as well. Every night and all naps he sleeps with us (mostly me). I haven't had a good night sleep in several days. But, back on topic. Since Gumba loves walks I packaged him in his over sized snow suit and off for a walk we went. Here are his first encounters with snow:

Grandparents Kick A$$

Grandparents day was earlier this month, so I thought it was a good time to celebrate Gumba's grandparents...they kick a$$. Husband and I are VERY lucky to have both sets. Each love this grandson to death and take great care of him. Gumba's paternal grandmother takes care of him whenever Husband and I's work schedules overlap. This typically happens once a week. It is wonderful to be able to leave your precious child with someone who has as much of a vested interest in his well being as you do. I don't know what we would do without her. Gumba's paternal grandfather helps out as well, he keeps Gumba company during his naps!

Gumba is my parents first grandchild, and therefore holds a special place in their hearts. The day he was born they drove up to Fairbanks in -40F weather to see him. My mother, Gumba's maternal grandmother is great. Before Gumba was born she came up and helped me wash, fold, and sort clothes. She made many meals that we froze. She additionally has come up to visit many times. In doing so she has kept him company so I can take a little break. She too has sat for us many times. My father thinks Gumba is the best looking kid ever (I agree!). Gumba loves his grandfather and always gives him a big smile when he walks through the door.

Below are Gumba's grandparents. I discovered that we don't have any currents photos of Gumba with his paternal grandfather. This will be remedied at tomorrows barbecue. Celebrate your grandparents!

Maternal Grandmother

Materal Grandfather

Paternal Grandmother

Paternal Grandfather

First Tooth!

Gumba is getting his first tooth! I've felt around his precious little mouth every morning for a couple of months, and finally I left something sharp! Granted it's barley there, but I'm counting it. Husband and I had no idea when to expect this little jewel, he comes from a lineage of early teethers, I from late. Gumba came out right in the middle. His cousin who is roughly the same age already has six to put it in perspective. When the tooth has grown enough I'll try to get a "toothy" smile so you all can see.

Bumps and Bruises and Bawling Oh My

Now that Gumba is pulling himself up we've run into the tricky issue of balance, and holding on to things so we don't hit our head on the hardwood floors. Gumba only wants to stand now which is great if you don't mind a little bit crying. Turns out balance and holding on to something sturdy isn't innate. We have ourselves a baby that has bruises all over his head and has had countless consoling with mommy. He also moves so quickly now while on the floor he spins himself into sharp cornors. Grandma learned that first hand when Gumba hit is head on the TV stand and ended up with a big goose egg on his head. Her guilt was tempered with the fact that the previous day he had rolled over on the changing table, pushed himself up, then rolled onto his face, leaving a bruise on his cheek on my watch. Husband will get his chance to chase his son around the house tomorrow. So far he's been lucky to get out of it.

What a Week

The last week has been a pretty big one for the McGilvary family. Husband had a successful hunting trip, he shot his moose while on the trail to get to camp. He was gone for less than two hours. When he called and said he had news I thought the four wheeler broke again. So, with the moose and the fish my dad gave us, we're stocked for this winter. Hip hip hurray for Husband!

Gumba has been a busy little bee. He is very proficient at crawling now. He has even gone so far as crawling away from us into the bedroom or kitchen. Plus his whining about being able to move away from me has substantially subsided. It's pretty amazing how fast he took to crawling, and it's pretty cute when he crawls up to me and pulls on my pant leg to be picked up. I can't believe how cute he is! The other big Gumba news is he is now pulling himself into a stand position on anything he can get his hands on. He's taken two good spills so far. But, today (I think) he's started to figure out he needs to hold on. With all the changes this week, I can't imagine what next week has in store.

Solid foods are going really well. Gumba ate a lot of zucchini I had frozen. He hates green beans still. Peas are a new favorite. He loves bananas and applesauce. I'm still making the food. Last night my mom helped me make a bunch of stuff to store. For the next couple of weeks Gumba will be eating peas, green beans (hopefully), applesauce, yams, mango, nectarines, carrots, and bananas. My biggest fear is I'm not giving him enough variety. Oh, and I think next week we're going to give oatmeal with bananas a try. I was thinking today that in a couple of months Gumba will be able to eat what ever Husband and I are eating. How crazy is that!

Hope your week was as great as mine!

Allergic to Avocados

Gumba is allergic to avocados, a food that is listed as a "first" food for baby because of it's mildness and low likelihood of being an allergen, go figure. I fed him avocado about six weeks ago with no adverse affect. Then two weeks later I gave him a little more and he threw up for the first time. I didn't know if the avocado was an allergen for Gumba, or if it was just a bad avocado. So today my MIL gave him a little bit, and wallah, the goodness of a puking baby occurred. So, no more avocado's in his future anytime soon. I was looking on line about avocado allergies and each site mentioned that latex allergies are closely related to avocados. How unlucky is that? We'll have to make sure to mention this to the pediatrician and see what she says. I'll be getting up a few more times tonight to make sure the little bugger won't become dehydrated...go me for getting even less sleep then I have!

The Army Crawl

Gumba doesn't crawl so much, he's more into sliding on the floor, pushing himself along with just the left foot. It's really quite comical. And he usually only does this to get to the jumperoo to mouth all over it. I suspect the cold metal feels good on his gums. Not much else is new. I did learn that I wasn't feeding Gumba sweet potatoes, but was instead giving him yams. He's been eating true sweet potatoes the last couple of days and likes them. Go me for not knowing my starches! Husband is leaving once again for a couple of different hunting trips. He tried to go out and set up moose camp today but the hunting gods kept raining on his parade, literally. Today it was pouring down rain, he had a heck of a time getting the darn four wheeler to start (which took an hour), and then as Gumba and I were finishing up our walk (in the rain) Husband came up the street. I guess while he was in the middle of nowhere a tire went flat. The poor man couldn't catch a break. And as it turns out it's a good thing he worked for Forestry this summer, he now has to buy new tires.

He's Mobile!

So, Gumba is officially crawling. We knew he was close, he's been in the crawling position for ever, and had been throwing himself forward. But, he was stuck pushing himself backwards. And then today... Today he crawled to get some toys at his Grammy's house. And yes, I even got to see him the first time! He is only going short distances, but hey, it counts. It's a good thing we have the upstairs secure. The dogs had better watch out. He's a short video of Gumba at the station:

Different Spin on Same Toy

So, I've put a link below that will let you watch the cute video of Gumba. Like I said before, it's long, but worth the wait!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJj_zWY7KCQ

Also, Gumba has been currently feasting on apples (sauce) and banana. Like all the other foods, he has to see them three times before getting really excited about them. He still LOVES sweet potatoes though. I'm going to give him another taste of avocado, and think I'll try green beans next. What's great about feeding him fresh foods that I make is that they taste great. So...there's no faking the yumminess of the food! And applesauce homemade rocks. And you can save the water you used for steaming for cider.