Slade's Baptism

Slade had a beautiful Baptism. He handled it like a champ! I held him as the Deacon poured the Holy water on his head and he just smiled away. And it was pretty cold in our church too. There were 5 other children being baptized and even though Slade was teething; he was very patient. My sister and brother-in-law, Kim and Steve are his Godparents and afterwards we celebrated by going out to dinner. It was a lovely day! We're very proud of sweet Slade Michael!

Our Baby Boy is 6 Months!

Slade turned 6 months on February 17th. He had his check up is doing very well. He's a very good eater. He's tried everything and loves it all... He's also been very busy rolling around, pushing himself up, spending time strengthening his muscles by sitting in his favorite chair (which is what he's doing in the above pic =). Slade's a very happy baby, always smiling, cooing and is also a big talker. He rarely fusses, loves his big brother and enjoys watching his pets run around the house. And if you tell him hi, he'll smile and will usually wave. =)

I Hear Things...

For a while Art, Gavin and I swore that Slade's jibber jabber was more than just baby talk... we just didn't want to say anything out of fear that y'all might think that we were crazy. He will be 5 months on January 17th and has uttered the same few sounds many times; so I'm going to go ahead and report:

-ma ma (It's sometimes mommy when he's crying like crazy.)

-da

-Ga (We're thinking that one is Gavin.)
-ba (When playing with his favorite ball.)

Guelitos and Galveston!

We were blessed to have Art's parents spend the Christmas holidays with us and Gavin was very, VERY excited to spend the holidays with his Guelitos! :-) They have never been to Galveston; so here are some pics from that day trip...

This Baby Loves Food!

Slade turned 4 months on December 17th. He had his doctor visit and the Pediatrician asked that I start mixing stage 1 jar foods in his cereal once he's comfortable with eating cereal from a spoon. Slade's been eating cereal for a couple of weeks; so I mixed the jar food in his cereal right away. His doctor suggested mixing a fruit in the morning and vegetable at the dinner feeding. Gavin picked banana and squash and Slade loves it and is a great eater! He also had 2 shots. He reacted by making the noise, "Eh!"... that's it. The nurse told me that babies are supposed to cry like crazy, but I reminded her that mine don't. Maybe she's not doing it right? Slade kept his 50th percentile trend for length, weight and head size and is normal with all his benchmarks for his age. He also pushes himself up during tummy time and is ABOUT to roll over... We're very proud of our strong, little guy! :-)

After Slade finishes his cereal he likes to down 4 oz of formula...

We're So Proud of Slade!

Slade has done very well with tummy time. I started him at 2 months with 5 minutes once a day and he didn't fuss at all. I soon bumped him up to 7 minutes still once a day and he would fuss at the end which I felt was normal. But you know the Ortegas roll... and that little fussing wasn't going to deter mama from challenging Mr. Slade! Not when he's being such a sport.... He's a week shy of 3 months now and he does tummy time for 10 minutes twice a day quite successfully with little complaining. He's a champ!

Today Slade tried cereal from a spoon for the first time. To my surprise it was a success! He opened his mouth, swallowed... down the hatch without any mess! Ok, so I shouldn't say NO mess a couple of times I missed his mouth... There was no mess on Slade's part though. He's like a baby bird. He loves the stuff! He'll be 3 months on November 17th. Beginners luck? Maybe, we'll see tonight when he has his dinner. Below is a pic of Slade and Gavin with Slade's first big boy toy. Thank you to the Forbes family for the fun Croc Block Wagon! Slade has been in awe as Gavin teaches him how it works. :-)

Our Baby Boy is 2 Months!

Slade turned 2 months on October 17th. He had his wellness check-up today and yes, it involved shots... 3 of them! He fussed a little, then took one look at that nurse as if to say, "Is that all you got?" The nurse said, "Ooh, he's a tough one... most of the babies cry for a long time and scream like crazy." One of them was oral. It was a liquid; so he lucked out on that one. He's in the 50th percentile across the board for weight, height and the size of his head for his age. Slade's also big on cooing, smiling, laughing and he's very alert. He loves to look around as well... he doesn't skip a beat! He really likes to be interacted with; which is good because Gavin is a motormouth... :-) And if you look closely in the background of this pic; that would be Gavin wearing his Halloween costume already. Y'all know he LOVES Super Mario Bros; so guess what his costume is? Yep... so ya he likes to play dress up with his Mario costume... We're gonna get our $20 worth out of THAT one! :-)