7 Month Letter

Dear Gusser

You are seven months old. This is the age in which I think you have really formed your personality. You are very a kind hearted, expressive, happy and reserved baby. Except you do not seem like a baby anymore to us. You are becoming a little person. You have likes and dislikes and you can communicate with us. It is so fun for us to see you being so interactive.

You are crawling; I think I can officially say that. You have taken your first crawling steps but after a couple moves of your arms and legs you like to kick out your legs behinds you and get into a sitting position. You love to crawl all over both mom and dad. If we are on the floor with you, you come over and use us as your personal jungle gym.

As I said in last month’s letter you had a big month! First let’s discuss your baptism. You were baptized on October 25, 2009. This was an amazing day, the sun was shinning and the weather was amazing in Chicago. You had all your loved ones in town and everyone was ready for your big day. We dressed you in a comfy white romper and we were so excited for this day. Dad and I made the decision ahead of time that we want you to get dunked in the baptismal font. This would of course require you to be naked. For some reason this was very stressful for mommy. You love being naked and free and I was terrified that you were going to have an accident, but you didn’t. When it was your turn somehow your dad and I managed to get you undressed. I was holding you in a blanket that Mimi made for you and when the Deacon rose you up with your bottom facing the congregation we heard a roar of laughter fill up the church. Everyone had big smiles on their faces. Then he lowered you and said in the name of the Father, (dip) Son (dip) and Holy Spirit (final dip). You made it all the way to the Holy Spirit before you got a little upset. I did not blame you because when I grabbed your from the priest the water was cold! Once I wrapped you back up you were fine and had a big smile on your face again. Then we went to Ben Pao for a party! We all had a great day. See the pictures below.










The next big thing was Halloween! Your very first one, we dressed you up like a monkey and you were absolutely hilarious with your big ears. I took you to daycare with your monkey hat and some of your buddies were dressed up too. The girls at daycare went bananas (pun intended)! Then we were so excited to get ready for our trick or treaters. Our neighborhood has a lot of activity so we invited some of your friends over and hung out with the neighbors. We passed out candy and had you all dressed up. It was so fun!!!!







We took you to the doctor this month for your 6 month check up. You were awesome! The doctor asked us the following questions.

Is he sitting up on his own? Yep
Is he transferring objects from hand to hand? Yep
Is he trying to crawl? Yep
Is he eating solid food? Yep
Is he sleeping through the night? No – this is where the story gets interesting.

You are so exhausted when you come home from daycare that we feed you, bathe you and put you to sleep. It is usually around 7 pm. You cannot physically stay up any longer. Then typically you wake up around 1 or 2 am hungry. We would feed you a full bottle and you would go right back to sleep until about 6:30 or 7 am. The doctor told us we would need to eliminate the late night (early morning) feeding. That we need to start sleep training you. What this consists of is when you wake up in the middle of the night to go in your room and console you but do not pick you up. Then leave the room and let you cry for 5 minutes and then go back in and console and keep repeating until you finally fall back asleep on your own. Dad and I had to psyche ourselves up for this one. Then miraculously, you slept from 7 pm – 4am that evening. No sleep training required! You have now been consistently sleeping through the night. Sometimes we hear you rustle a bit, but you seem to go right back to sleep! I think some part of you heard the pediatrician talk about this sleep training stuff and you wanted no part of it!!!!! 10 to 12 hours of sleep is here!!! Yeah!

You are such a sweet boy; I love watching you sit up and bounce up and down with excitement. You are so easy to please, it makes mommy realize that it does not take much to make you happy. We can all learn from that. You only need love and affection! Happy 7 month Gus!

We love you,

Mommy and Daddy (or Da Da as you call him)

Dad's and their mini me's

Mark and Gus and Mike and Elizabeth. The family resemblance is uncanny!

Happy 6 month Birthday!

Dear Gus,

You are six months old. Wow, it has been the fastest six months of my life. I cannot believe the little person that you have become. All of a sudden you have a distinguished personality and know your place within our family.

In the last month, you have reached a ton of milestones. You are sitting up on your own, flipping over all the time, and eating real food! You want to crawl so badly. You are doing what I call downward facing dog (yoga pose) where you do a push up with your arms and then stick you butt in the air and stand on your tip toes. You are scooting around and going backwards and I know it is only a matter of time before we need to baby proof our entire condo. You love your jumperoo, I put a video on here of you going to town. You could jump for hours!

You have taken up quite an interest in our dog, Roxie. Dad and I are convinced that some variation of the word Roxie will be your first official word. You now reach out to her and want to pet her all the time. We are so happy that she sees you as her little baby and is so gentle with you. It is fun to watch.

You are babbling up a storm. On your report cards from daycare they now say you have conversations with them and that when you want to talk there is no shutting you up. Ummm, another great quality from the Leber side.

Your cousin Elizabeth came to visit this month! It was so nice to spend time with her. She is so adorable and she has the best belly laugh ever. She would just sit and watch you squirm around and laugh. It was fun to hang out with her, Uncle Mike and Aunt Sharon.



There is a lot to look forward to in the month ahead. You are going to be baptized and we are going to have a party. Your Nana, Papa, Aunt Sara and Cousin Max will all be in town. All your Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Friends will be there. It should be a lot of fun.

I am also very excited for Halloween! You are going to be a monkey! I feel the costume is so fitting for your personality. You are always moving and on the go! We will make sure to take lots of pictures.

Gus, you are the sweetest little boy and I just adore you! The more we see of you the more we love. You have a smile that could melt anyone’s heart and the biggest brown eyes. I know a lot is going on in that head of yours and I am so looking forward to teaching you new things and watching you grow. Happy six month birthday!

Love, Mama

Happy 5 month Birthday!

Gus Gus,


Happy 5 month Birthday! Time is going by so fast and I feel like we do so much in a month’s time. This month is about eating! Yep, we started you on cereal! You had some funny reactions to it and really do not seem to like it. I also tried a mashed up banana and avocado, you seem to really like the banana and are just so-so on the avocado. The best part of eating is that you are able to sustain longer between feedings which means you sleep a little longer at night. YEAH!






Another thing you have been doing is when you wake up between 4am – 6am and start immediately babbling. You are not upset you just love to talk. Dad and I let you go for as long as we think you can. A couple of times I spied on you to see what you were doing and you were holding your green cow and talking to it. It was super cute. I think you and your stuffed animals are already becoming very close.

Dad and I made a deal that we would not fill our small condo with a ton of toys; we just do not have the space. Besides you have access to every toy ever invented at daycare. We did decide that we would let you have one major toy in our family room. We put your swing in storage and replaced it with what is called a Jumperoo! It has a farm theme and does all sorts of stuff. The only problem is that your little legs do not quite reach the ground yet. It is fun watching you in it.







Nana and Papa from Texas also came to visit this month. They spent a long weekend with us and got to know you very well, it was so nice to see them. They think you are a very good boy! We took them out one evening to celebrate their 40th Anniversary and you hung out with Mimi and Papa. When all four grandparents got together I overheard them saying that mommy and daddy do not fully realize how good they have it! I think they were trying to say that you are a good boy. Mimi and Papa also said that they should pay us to baby sit you! Again, you are so loved by all of them and you love your grandparent in return so much!

So the last couple of days have consisted of teething. Yes, that is right just about the day you turned 5 months old you started teething. I have never seen you in this much pain. Since you were born you were not a hard child to console, until now. This is very painful for you. I never know so much drool could come out of such a little boy. You completely soak your PJ’s and your toys. We are looking forward to the day that this tooth finally pops up.

You are almost crawling! You are already scooting around and starting to shift yourself backwards. I am not looking forward to the day you are mobile. I like being able to put you down and grab something and know that you will still be where I left you. Whether I like it or not, it is coming!

This next month there is a lot to look forward to. Cousin Elizabeth, Uncle Mike and Aunt Sharon are coming to visit. Then later in October you will get to see Aunt Sara and Cousin Max.

Lots of Love Gus!

Mommy

http://picasaweb.google.com/JennyBell12/Gus5Months#

4 month letter

Dear Baby G!


Happy 4 month Birthday! This last month I felt like you were changing everyday. Life for us all is a little more on a schedule and that is good! The most exciting change is that we finally found some traits that you get from me! Those of you following the blog know that Gus has really taken after his Dad and I was searching for some Leber characteristics and here they are…

Two things actually, first your strength…Lebers are strong and you are no exception. Daddy and I started to realize that we may need to hit the gym in order to keep up with you. You are holding your head up and now you are grabbing for things. You are not just grabbing you are grasping on for dear life. There are times I cannot even wrestle the object out of your hands. We have a new nickname and that is Bam Bam. There is nothing gentle or delicate about you or the way you go after what you want (I like it!) Whether it is a necklace, some of my hair or a toy you grab on and do not want to let go. My days consist of prying your fingers off whatever it is you are not supposed to be grabbing.

The second trait is that you are extremely active. You may be a little guy but you are a mover! You rolled over two days after you turned three months old. The teachers at daycare were so excited. They could not believe it. When I arrived to pick you up they jumped up and said “Gus rolled over today!” I knew you were very close, then they put you on the floor and sure enough you did it. Not only back to stomach but from stomach to back. I raced home with you so we could show Dad. It was amazing how on cue you were. I put you down and you performed! Daddy and I were so excited until…bedtime.




Ahhhh! No one told me that all this rolling around would cause some havoc on your sleeping. We would put you down in your crib on your back and you would immediately flip to your stomach. At first we thought it was so cute, but then you would move so much you would get stuck. There were times that found you with your head butted up in the corner with your little legs moving a mile a minute and you screaming in this high pitch voice. You were not hurt you just wanted your presence known. At 2 am it was not as funny or cute. You are a mover and shaker and that has forced us to always be on our game.

This last month you went to Aunt Pam and Uncle Jimmy’s Lake House. We went on a boat ride and you got to play with your cousins. We take you everywhere we go and you adapt very well. Whether it is out to dinner or to a family outing you seem up for it and have no problems with new environments. Honestly, Daddy and I have not changed our lives that much we just made you a part of it all.

Happy Birthday, we love you so much and look forward to eating solids, watching you try to crawl and teeth!

All my love,

Mommy

Gus 4 month pictures

Gus Talking to Daddy

The quality is bad and the adult voices are annoying, but here is a brief video of Gus talking to his daddy. They often have these conversations.

My First Teddy

My close friend Deborah knitted a Teddy Bear for Gus. It is so special because she spent so much time creating it for him. Gus and I will cherish it forever!

Some pictures of you!

We had a lot going on this past month. You love to be held and we rarely (knock on wood) hear you cry.

Here is a picture of you and Daddy and uncle Mike and Cousin Elizabeth. Also Nana and Papa and Mimi and Papa.

You will also see your great Aunt Shirly and Uncle Hans. You are so loved!

Months 2 and 3!

Dear Gusser,

Happy Birthday Buddy! You are three months old today! The last two months have really brought out your personality. We can thank your Daddy for your sweet and calm disposition. I can honestly say that I love seeing my boys together (you and Daddy) you remind me so much of him.

This month you make us laugh all the time because you love to toot. In fact, we have nicknamed you the “Rootin’ Tootin’ Cowboy!” In addition, I love the fact that world has become very interesting to you. You are starting to recognize all kinds of things from your hands to the sound of both mommy and daddy voice. I will never forget the first smile you gave us this month. I was singing to you and I looked over and you were beaming ear to ear! Tears came to my eyes because it was the most beautiful smile I had ever seen (again, another trait from your Dad).

This month was full of firsts! You took your first trip on a plane to Texas to see your Nana and Papa, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. On the plane ride to Texas no one would have ever suspected there was even a baby on board. You were so good; you ate and slept the whole trip.



When we arrived in Texas is was HOT! So we decided that it was time for your first swim. Dad had been waiting for this, he fancies himself a swim instructor and coach. What did he do the first opportunity he got-He DUNKED you! You were NOT happy and mommy yelled at daddy. In retrospect it was probably good for you. The next swim, I took you and gently eased you into the water and you loved it! I would like to say you got this trait from me because I always loved to swim, but your dad would beg to differ since he swam competitively.






You also met a lot of Dad’s Friends who kept on saying how much you look like your Dad. Let me just tell you right now that you may have his looks and his personality but I know there is some of me in you so when I figure out what that is I will let you know and there will be a whole post about all the great traits you got from Mommy.

Mommy went back to work at the end of June and you started your school. We take you to the KC Academy and you love it! The first week I was so sad to leave you, but you handled it like a champ charming the pants off all the care givers. They fight over you now. Everyday they give us a run down of what you did that day. At the top of your report card you get rated overall for the day. There are three options; Cheerful, Content and Fussy. We are proud to report that you are pretty consistent on the cheerful.

I have be putting you in your Bumbo seat daily hoping you can hold your head up enough to sit in it. About a week ago like magic I put you in it and poof-you sit up like a big boy. You gave me a look like…Are you happy now, I did it!



One of the hardest things to deal with is that you are changing all the time. Just when I get used to some type of schedule or routine, it seems like it doesn't work anymore. Every day you are growing and getting bigger and we have to constantly adjust our lives to meet your needs. We thought we had your feedings all figured out, but I think you are growing and you now like to mix it up. Sometimes every 3 hours sometimes 2hours…Sometimes 6 oz. sometimes 4 oz.

Regardless of the lack of sleep and the unpredictable schedule and all the other variables that make our days race by, we are having a ball. We can't wait for all the stuff that is going to happen over the next weeks.

We are having the time of our (exhausted) lives with you right now, and we love every minute we are spending with you.

Love,

Mommy

One Month

Dear Gus,

You are one month old! We have been spending the first month of your life getting to know you better. Everyone tells us how cute you are and we completely agree. Nana came in town for a week to stay with us and help take care of you. She was a big help to both Mommy and Daddy. She held you a lot and would talk to you. It was nice to have her there. Papa Steve came in town and then both Nana and Papa had to leave because your cousin Elizabeth was born. Mimi and Papa cannot get enough of you and have been over to watch you several times.

You have had so many visitors. All your aunts, uncles, cousins and godparents came by to meet you. I was so proud to show you off. I still do not feel 100% like myself but I am feeling better.

You are a very good sleeper and we finally figured out the breastfeeding. That was a bit of a challenge. You are in the 50% for both weight and your head and the 30% for height (sorry Gus, you get that from my side of the family).

You are and have always been very alert, they tell me you cannot see much yet but I know you see me. You and I have spent a lot of time together and I am happy to report that I believe you are an old soul. When I was pregnant and when we went to church I would pray that God would send me a good soul. A soul with a big heart and good person, I truly believe we have been blessed.

This past month has been such a whirlwind. At first it seemed that all you were doing was sleeping, eating, crying and pooping. Lots of pooping. You have the amusing habit of enjoying to finish your poop mid-diaper change. Not only that but we decided to do cloth diapers and once you pee you stop when you feel it get wet and then your resume once we change you. You hit me right between the eyes one day. I laughed so hard and your father finds all this very amusing as well.

Speaking of Daddy! He is awesome. I am so lucky to have a husband that takes such an active role. He does everything that I do for you and he is such a natural as a Dad. I hope when you become a man, you are just like your Dad. Please pay attention to him and how he treats others. We can all learn from him.

Also, we are so happy to tell you that your doggy loves you so much. Our Roxie Bell cannot get enough of her new baby Gus. She gets up with me every time I feed you. She even barked at us once for not responding to your cry quick enough. She is super protective of you and licks you to death. We try to keep it to your feet but sometimes she just needs to kiss you.

Anyway, we are really having fun with you. I can hardly wait to see what you do over the next month. You are already waking up and looking around so much. We love being parents! Happy Birthday Gus!

The Story of your Birth

Dear Gus,

I have decided that I am going to write you a little letter each month so you can look back and see my thoughts about you and your development. First of all let me start by saying you have been the most amazing thing that has ever happen to me. I knew I had a lot of love in my heart but it was not until you were born did I know just how much I could love someone.

Getting to know you has been a pure joy. I was given great advice when I was pregnant... Not to worry too much about being a new mom because you are a new baby so we will both learn about this together. I think that was pretty sound advice.

Let me tell you about the day you were born. Your Dad and I went to the doctor at 5 pm on Monday, April 13^th 2009. My doctor knew that I was getting a bit uncomfortable and she did something to me that I believe induced my labor. Anyway, after our doctor visits we would go to dinner at a place called Frankie’s in Water Tower Place. So as normal we went to Frankie’s. We ate and I started to feel a strange sensation, I could not put my finger on it but it was a new type of feeling. After dinner we headed home and I decided to get ready for bed. I awoke at 9:30 pm to a severe pain which I know now is a contraction. We waited the pain out until the contractions were 5 minutes apart for over an hour.

Off to the hospital we went and eventually arrived at 3 am. Once we got there they sent me up to my labor room and finally gave me the epidural. Mama was very happy after that, the pain went away and all I could think about was you and that I was finally going to meet the growing baby inside me. We decided not to find out whether or not you were a boy or a girl. I really wanted to be surprised. However, I knew in my heart you were a baby boy.

Papa and Mimi then arrived at around 6:30 am and stayed with us the entire day. Several people kept coming into the room to check on me. Eventually they gave me something to help me dilate and induce labor. At 2 pm I began to push and we were on our way. I pushed and pushed and pushed but not much was happening. I was getting very frustrated and felt exhausted. Then I started to not feel well. I was running a bit of a temperature and my blood pressure was very low. They put a monitor on you inside me and found that your heart rate was very steady and that your blood pressure was low. They highly encouraged me to do a C-section.

This is when things got a little crazy. They came in and did a second epidural for the c-section. After that I could not feel anything from the neck down and it was a little scary for me. It was just such a weird feeling. They made your Dad get into scrubs and wait back until they had prepped me for surgery. Once I got in the room, they hooked me up to the monitors and realized that they needed to move quickly. They began the c-section and your dad was not in the room yet. I asked twice “Where is my husband?” and finally my Doctor shouted "Someone get her husband!" Dad came in the room and I felt a lot better. Because I had pushed for awhile you did not easily come out so they tugged on you a bit. I heard my doctor groaning to try to get you out. The whole time this was happening your heart rate was amazingly steady. Normally when a baby feels the stress of the delivery the babies' heart rate goes way up, not you my dear. You stayed steady throughout this entire process. You amazed all the doctors..they could not believe it and said that they have never seen anything like it. It made me believe that you would have a much laid back personality. Time will tell if this rings true.

When you came out, Dr Roth said it’s a Gus (she new our names ahead of time). Tears emerged and came running down the sides of my cheeks. I believe I soaked the operating table. I looked at your Dad and saw an expression on his face that I have never seen before. He was so emotional and as you will learn he is not usually that way. They whisked you away immediately to clean you up and to make sure you were OK. This made both your dad and I very nervous. I kept asking your dad what was happening because we both felt helpless. They finally called your Dad to come into the room they took you in, and your dad being the amazing husband he is had to make sure it was OK with me and that I was being taken care of. I begged him to go see you so I could know you were OK. You weighed 8 pounds exactly and they gave you an APGAR score of 9 which is awesome. You were bright red and screaming, apparently that is just the way you should be. They wrapped you up and gave you to him and he brought you out to me. I could not feel my arms or hands so I could not hold you and it was killing me! All I could do was kiss your sweet little face and tell you how much I loved you. It was so great to finally meet my Gus!

It took them a while to finish the surgery and I watched your Dad holding you and talking to you. I do have to say seeing him with you and how wonderful he was with you made me fall deeply in love with him all over again. I ALWAYS new he would be an amazing father. We went to the recovery room and Dad called Papa and Mimi who had been so nervously waiting to hear if you were a boy or a girl. He told them that we had a baby boy that weighed 8 pounds and his name was Augustus William Bell. Papa got all choked up and so did Daddy.

So that is the story of your birth. Let me just say that it was intense and scary, but the most amazing experience I have ever had.

I love you Gus!

Love,

Mommy

Check out the pictures of your birth...You are so handsome!

http://picasaweb.google.com/JennyBell12/ProfessionalHospitalPictures?authkey=Gv1sRgCNSq8O7ptZfz9QE#