Bella, Gabe and Josiah

Apparently eating the laundry is an essential part of folding the laundry. I'm glad that I now have someone that can help me out with that!

We've reached another new milestone: we have a mobile baby! Now that he's figured out how to roll both directions, he's figured out how to roll to get things. He's spent most of his time getting stuck in his activity mat, which he just finds frustrating. But tonight he started escaping. I left him on his mat and this is where I found him a moment later. Then later he rolled across the room to Pat to pick him up. And so it begins...

Today was a momentous occasion around here: I went back to work. I've been working one day a week all summer, but today was my first day back full time. I haven't worked full time since I went on bedrest 9 months ago, so it's a little strange! This also means that today was Gabe's first full day at day care. He's gone twice before for just a couple of hours, but today he was there all day. His daycare is in the building next to mine, so I get to go over and feed him during the day, which makes this much easier. It also means that full time is a relative statement. I'm going to work every day, but I'm going to be a bit shy on hours for a bit here as long as someone is eating every two hours... Gabe is continuing to grow and develop as he should. He's officially tickleish! His big belly laughs are pretty adorable! He's also come along ways on hand coordination. He sees something that he wants and can grab it and get it to his mouth. He can even get his...

In the interest of taking full advantage of my last day of maternity leave, the kids and I went on a walk yesterday after Bella  got home from school. Apparently our timing was perfect because just as we showed up, we saw this: I've been out there many times, but this was the first time that I'd gotten to watch a bear grab a salmon and then eat it. There was even a third cub that didn't make the picture. It was pretty amazing. Even Bella was impressed and she's not usually terribly impressed with wildlife. Gabe was more concerned about the color of the coat the lady next to us was wearing... After the bears left, we walked out to the falls. The water level was a lot higher than I'm used to and we had to get our feet wet, but it was okay. The water was pretty cold though...

Gabe is officially 8 months old! To celebrate, we had a photo shoot. :) Things started out well. Gabe and the moose were laughing and telling jokes. Gabe even tried to tickle the moose! Then things got a little out of hand and Gramps had to settle things. It's a good thing Gramps is funny!

Today was the first day of school! Bella looks all grown up starting 5th grade. How did she get so big??? Gabe and I chose to take advantage of one of the last few days of maternity leave by going on a walk just the two of us.

Gabe has a new friend. He loves him so much that he just wants to kiss him all the time. His new friend even kisses back! He actually figured out the pucker kiss too!