First Halloween, First Birthday and Other Assorted Firsts

First Merry-Go-Round

First Halloween

First Birthday

Note how food is more important than presents.

First Cake

First Bath With Natty

This kid has a great arm.

First time raking leaves...well, eating leaves.

First steps toward becoming a tease like his father.

First time using the computer.

Whew. That was exhausting.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

An assignment from Grandma
By, Gabe Balzotti

First, we went to Chicago to see Aunt Alyssa and Uncle Sean but we don't have any pictures because Mom didn't charge the batteries in the camera. :(

Then we went to Lake Geneva where the wonderful Akemann family put us up for a whole wonderful week!

On the lake with Dad. More interested in the boat itself than the water.

The beautiful Akemann women, Sarah, Donna and Rachel

Uncle Peter driving the boat with Pono, Rachel and Mahea

Playing with Pono

Playing with Mahea

Saying goodbye to Lake Geneva with Grandpa...

And saying hello to Port Stanley, Canada!

At the beach with Dad

Grandma is helping me get used to the sand.
Yeah, I think I like this!

At the Pottery with Grandma, Great Grandma Brodie and Dad. 4 generations!

This is the pond at the Pottery where Grandma Debbie was baptized!

With Mom, sitting on a frog.

When we got back from our long trip to Chicago, Lake Geneva and Canada, we went to the ranch with these fun cousins and Jake caught a fish! Don't worry, Gracie and Jake didn't eat it until it was cooked.

Playing guitar with Natty and Dad teaching me.

Playing with Aunt Elisa and Natty

Playing with Big Papi

That's amazing!

Helping Aunt Krista move with Natty's help.

YaYa holding the keys to the Penske. It's amazing we made it all the way to Berkeley without incident.

And saying good-bye to Aunt Krista. We still miss you Koos!

So overall, it was a great summer. Sorry the report was so late Grandma! Hope you like it!

The Babe becomes The Boy

It's official. He is 1. We love this guy. Happy Birthday Gabe!

Halfway to a year!

Our little babe is 6 months old! We took him to the Doctor last week and he is 28 inches long (90th percentile) but only weighs 16 pounds 3 ounces (23rd percentile). Long and lean. He is so much fun. He is rolling all over the place, back to front and front to back. He gets up in crawling position now but has yet to make any attempt to actually crawl. Gabe sits up well on his own and is so much more engaged with the world around him. The other day he looked at me and said "Mom." I don't think he had a clue what he said, he was just making noises but it made my day! Gabe loves being outside and has become very social, particularly with other kids. He reaches out and touches their faces and gets very excited when he sees them playing. In the morning when I am getting ready for work he loves to sit next to me in front of the mirror and play in my makeup bag. Jon says that habit has to stop when he gets a little older but for now it is pretty cute. He eats solids really well, thanks to a trick Jon does, and still loves nursing. When I get home and pick him up he gets a really big grin and starts sucking on my face. He is a happy little guy and we feel so lucky to have him in our lives.

The only downside to him turning 6 months old is that we have to decide whether or not to separate his two little toes that are webbed on both feet.


We have a consultation scheduled with a plastic surgeon, which is beyond bizarre for me to even think about, but we want to know what our options are. Jon is really worried that he will get teased if we don't do it but neither of us is too keen on the idea of him having surgery so to help us make a decision we are putting it to a vote. There is a poll on the side of the page, let us know what you think!

Fun with Grandma and a frog

This is Gabe's newest trick. He does it when he is excited which in this instance is brought on by a frog puppet singing. The only negative is that he has a completely bald spot on the back of his head and the kid doesn't have much hair to begin with! Oh well, it is pretty funny.My mom is the one with the puppet and it is her laughing in the background. I just love this kid!

Rice Cereal

This was Gabe's first experience with "solid" food. There really wasn't anything solid about it. He has now expanded his repertoire to include not just rice cereal but sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, oatmeal and peas.

He is a good little eater, even when he is making a face like it might all come right back up. Here's hoping he makes it through to enjoy real solid food in a few months. It's worth it babe!

I just love this face!