Baby Gabe

After weeks of trying, Baby Gabe finally rolled over from his back on to his tummy.  Up till now, the farthest he got was a 3/4 turn.  His arm always got caught under him so no matter how much he kicked, he couldn’t quite make it all the way over.  He would get frustrated after a minute or so and start crying.  This time, despite his crying, he kept at it.  He kicked and kicked and kicked until he finally plopped onto his belly.  It was a momentous occasion.  Soon, he will learn to fetch, sit, and catch frisbees.

Michelle’s erstwhile owner has come forward and corroborated the dog bite incident.  She offers her sincere apologies to Baby Gabe’s mom and condolences to Baby Gabe for depriving him of the chance to know the love of a dog.  We want her to know that no apologies are necessary as this happened a long, long time ago, and we have all moved on.  She can find respite in the fact that prior to the dog bite story, Baby Gabe’s mom objected to dogs because she was allergic to them.  The dog bite story only came out after having several visits with relatives/friends with dogs with nary a sniffle from her.  The next objection on her list is that she read Cujo in grade school, and that really put her off dogs.  As you can tell from the photos, we have an animal theme going with Gabriel.  Hopefully, one day he’ll have a pet of his own, but these imaginary friends will have to do for now.

Actually, his name is Spot.  We’re trying to give Gabriel more tummy time so he can improve his head control, and Spot is so soft and plush that he’s a natural choice to help out.  Gabriel has taken a real liking to Spot, who was a gift from Gabriel’s cousins Andrew, Aaron, and Austin.  Andrew, Aaron, and Austin have a dog named Jenny, who is a real dog.  Unfortunately, Spot might be the closest Gabriel will get to having a dog because his mom is still traumatized by the time she was bitten on the leg by Michelle, a member of that most vicious of dog breeds — the Labrador Retriever.   Gabriel’s mom’s parents have no recollection of this event, but the trauma is no less real.