First Birthday Bash

Gabe had a great FIRST Birthday! We celebrated at Grammy's house on Saturday, August 7, 2010. He was spoiled with love, sugar, and gifts! Here is a video of our Birthday Fun :)

12 Months!

Well here we are! One Year! This past year has been absolutely amazing...and exhausting!

There is not a single night that goes by that Andy and I don't say to one another, "How did he get so big?" and then of course that is usually followed up with a "I love that boy so much. How did we get so lucky?!?"

Gabe is a really good boy! Now don't get me wrong, he certainly has his daily screaming fits and like most boys he doesn't love having to sit still... but overall he is a sweet, smiley, loving little guy!

"So big!"

Look how long he is!! Holy smokes! Remember when that bear used to tower over him...

At 12 months, Gabe...

1. Tips the scales at 19lbs 11oz (10th percentile) and is 29 3/4 inch (50th percentile) and his doctor was please with his 2lb weigh gain since his last visit :) He is now wearing 12-18 month clothes!
2. Has a total of 8 chompers and I do believe we are working on some back molars.
3. Is fascinated with trucks, ambulances, and airplanes...often times he will hear the airplane before we can see it and he points to the sky.
4. Does "So Big" but often times he just throws one arm up in the air...so cute!
5. Loves to walk with assistance... but don't think about letting go!
6. Can stand by himself... until he realizes he is standing by himself ;)
7. Says mama (finally!), dada, and Uh Oh (minus the Oh...so funny)... and is constantly babbling on and on is his own special language.
8. Talks with his hands. He gets very expressive when he talks and waves his arms and hands all around.
9. Would rather stand in the bath tub than sit (a constant battle these days.... although it is getting better)
10. Can follow some commands. You can ask him where certain things are and he will show you. i.e. "Gabe, where is your book?"
11. Eats like a horse... anything and everything. We have found 2 things that Gabe doesn't care for... bananas ( I think the texture freaks him out... b/c he'll eat banana flavored things) and whole milk! ( So not a fan of whole milk... we even try sneaking it into his bottles...but he knows!)
12. Is a monkey! He climbs on or over everything! Nothing can stand in this boys way!

*and for those of you that are wondering... Mr. Bear is going into hibernation for at least the next 6 months... He'll see you when Gabe is 18 months :) and yes... more birthday pictures are coming! Mama is still not feeling 100%....

One is Fun!

A Year of Fun...

Today is Gabriel's First Birthday :)

Here is just a little something I put together to capture our year of fun!!!

* Lots More Birthday Fun Pictures to Come :D

August 9, 2009: The Best and Worst Day of my Life...

I was looking over the blog the other day and stumbled upon this entry. I had written this shortly after Gabe was born but never published it. It's kind of neat to go back and read this... one year later....enjoy!

Here is how it all went down...

I started contracting around midnight on August 9th... since I had had preterm contractions throughout most of my pregnancy... I thought for sure I would be up most of the night... feeling miserable... and then they would disappear as quickly as they came! Boy was I wrong! They were coming every 5 minutes and getting stronger and stronger. I tried to let Andy get as much sleep as possible but by 4 am it was time to get to the hospital. I very calmly woke him and told him it was time to go. He shot up and started running around the house....gathering miscellaneous items and he began loading up the car. I told him he better take 95/695 because I knew I could not endure those bumpy back roads to Towson.

We arrived at the hospital and they comfirmed that I was contracting every 5 minutes but unfortunately I was only 2 cms. They had me walk for 2 hours and then rechecked me... unfortunately I was still only 2cms. The decision was made that I would go home to labor some more... and hopefully progress. They did send me home with Ambien and told me to try and get some rest. HaHa...that was a joke!

I was in so much pain that Andy said I would shoot up out of bed and pace back and forth, screaming like a cave women, every 3 minutes like clockwork. After several hours of this... Andy called the hospital and told the on call midwife that we were coming back. He passed the phone to me and I screamed to the midwife that I couldn't do this anymore and I think at one point I said I would rather just die!! I honestly thought my insides were just going to rupture. I have never experienced pain like that. Back to the hospital... and this time I was in so much pain that I didn't' care how Andy got me there!

When we arrived, I was 4 centimeters and I was definitely staying this time!! I received an epidural around 6 pm. What a difference! It was like a light switch. Andy had to tell me when I was having a contraction. Ahhhh, Life was good!

My midwife Claudia arrived shortly after the epidural. She came in on her day off to deliver "Bean" She is absolutely wonderful!

Around 10:15pm it was time to push. I honestly didn't feel a thing. Claudia asked Andy if he wanted to help deliver his son.... his response... "ummm well... I don't know... let me think about it"... my response... "you better make up your mind in 3 seconds b/c he is coming" Claudia told me to reach down and grab my son. At 10:47 I reached down and pulled him up onto my abdomen.

I remember thinking everything was so surreal. Here was this little man I had waited 9 months to meet. Here was the little man that had caused me migraines, "all day" sickness, reflux, back pain and months of miserable contractions and bedrest... yet I have never been so in love! I knew I would love him... but WOW! What an amazing day! I can't imagine anything more beautiful than meeting your child for the first time! Gabriel Benton Hanson weighed 6lbs 10oz and was 18 inches long. (and yes... daddy did cut the cord... and no he did not pass out :) )

Cell Phone Archives

On this particular day I needed to run some errands and get some grocery shopping done. Well, Gabe had just been diagnosed with another ear infection and he was a hot and cranky mess! I knew that grocery shopping was not going to be an easy task with him feeling so miserable... but then I noticed they had shopping carts with little "car cars" attached to them! At first I was a little grossed out by putting Gabe in one of these.... how many germs were living on this thing!?! But then I realized.... "Hey, You're on antibiotics! Knock yourself out!!!" So in the "car car" he went and we both had a fun shopping experience :)

(and naturally he chewed on the steering wheel and the little seat belt...gross!)

*Photo taken May 25, 2010

Basket 'O' Balls

We decided to give Gabe a sneak preview of what's in store for his One Year Birthday Bash! I filled up a laundry basket with some plastic balls that will be used for his super cool ball pit on Saturday... I wasn't quite sure how he'd react... but I think this video says it all...

*Please pay no attention to his ridiculous looking and filthy outfit... he'd had a fun and busy day with his Great GrandMaw :D

Family Fun on the Shore

Friday night, we packed up and headed to Salisbury for a fun weekend. While Gabe had a great time playing with his Gramps and his Daddy, unfortunately, I was not having such a great time. I woke up early Saturday morning with a fever, chills, and just feeling absolutely miserable! While I was curled up in bed...

Gabe had a great time pushing his car car up and down the driveway...

playing with flowers...

and being silly with Gramps!

Saturday night the Thompson/Laatsch gang stopped by Salisbury on their way to Ocean City. We were especially excited to see Uncle Mike and Marie... they flew in from Arizona!!
(and were very excited to dive into some delicious crabs)

Sunday, we left Salisbury and headed to Ocean City for the day. While Gabe played on the beach with the family, Andy took me to a walk in med center... where I was given antibiotics for strep throat and a double ear infection :( So not fun!

The rest of the gang stayed in Ocean City to play but it was time for the Hanson's to head home.

Until next time Eastern Shore!

Whole Milk

A couple weeks ago, Gabe decided to stop nursing....(sniff sniff.... it still makes me really really sad) Sooooo, with my little turkey boycotting the boob, we have been giving him formula (free sample cans that we need to use up ;) but with our supply of free sample cans dwindling and his first birthday quickly approaching... it is time to transition him to plain old whole milk. Something tells me this is going to be a loooooong transition!!!

Oh yea... in case you missed it... Zoey farts in the beginning of the video. I was going to edit it out... but it was kinda funny!

Old MacDonald Had A Farm...

Gabe's buddy, Landon, was so nice to let him borrow his super fun farm! Gabe just loves feeding the cow veggies and playing with the chicken's eggs. Gabe is figuring this thing out so that when Landon get a little bigger, he can show him the ropes :)

Safety tastes gooooood!

"Thanks for applying these delicious teething accessories on the corners of our entertainment center, dad!"

Shoes

Over the last "almost" 12 months, we have had...

Giraffe shoes...

Tennis shoes...

Dress shoes...

Socks that look like shoes...

Baptism shoes...

Water shoes...

Puppy shoes...

and now....we have our VERY first pair of REAL shoes....

Real shoes that are meant for walking!

We're not quite walking on our own yet... but with a little help from our gator friends...

and some help from Dada.... we are getting close!

Here is Mr. Smiley in action!

Quack Quack!

We finally found someone to eat the heels off of our loaves of bread!

He was waving to the ducks... how cute is that!?!

Here we are at the very same duck pond, 11 months ago!