5 Months Old and UP Trip

I have been waaaaaay behind in my blogging but it was for a good reason. My mom and I took Gabi girl on her first long road trip to meet her Yooper family up in the old UP. Gabrielle hasn't met any of my extended family yet, only my parents and brother, so this was nice to spend some time all together. It's Florida season for Nick's family and family friends so he was quite busy at work keeping things running smoothly. We didn't go to Florida this year but we are thinking of taking Gabi to the island next year for the first time.

Gabrielle did so well in the car on our trip! She would sleep for two hours while we drove and then we'd stop for an hour to let her out and play, eat, and get her changed and then drive another two hours. We drove up to the bridge one day, spent the night in Mackinaw City, and then drove the rest of the way the next day. Gabi did very well visiting everybody. She was a little ball of entertainment and showed off her voice to everyone. She was getting very tired by the end of the trip but still behaved very well. She would play and visit for about an hour but would then fall asleep and nap for about 2 hours at a time. Overall it was a great trip! Even though Nick had to work I'm so glad my mom could come along and help out.

Looking at out at the lake.
Gabi's first hotel room! She loves sitting on big beds.
Getting ready to head over the bridgeWe stopped at Aunt Kathy and Uncle Dick's house before we went to Grandpa's
She got to see their horse while we were there and she absolutely LOVED him! She loves animals and the bigger the animal, the more she loves them. I wish we had audio to go with these pictures because she was screaming and squealing the whole time she was petting him. Luckily she didn't scare the horse. She was actually very gentle touching the horse, which is strange for her.

She also got to love on Pepper for a bit, but wasn't so gentle with him. Poor dog.
Then we finally made it to Grandpa's house!
We got to see lots of family while we were there
Cherilyn came up to visit and brought two of her dogs. Gabi couldn't get enough of big Arson!
Four generations
Last day there hugging goodbye
The farm houseThe little house on the left is the house my mom grew up in We made a little detour and went to meet Auntie Becca too!
And our first day in the UP little one turned five months old! Here are a few things the little lady is up to these days.

• She wakes up in the morning by cooing or squealing. She will give you a few buffer minutes of happy cooing before the crying starts.
  
• Still wears most all of her 0-3 month size clothes but can also wear most of her 3-6 month size clothes too (though most are still a bit big).
  
• Loves sucking on her fingers or anything else available.
  
• Still sleeps swaddled. I'm determined by the time she is six months she will be swaddle free....
  
• Loves playing with and examining her feet and toes.
  
• Actually laughs and giggles quite often. She seems to be ticklish on her feet and thighs.
  
• Sits up very well. You have to watch her though because she can fall back sometimes
  
• Loves eating her rice cereal. She eats it twice a day and would eat it all the time if we let her I think. She recently started moving her mouth and tongue when she sees others eating also.
  
• Is not too interested in eating from her bottle anymore. Usually wants to play with it or chew on it more than eat out of it.
  
• Screams, squeals, and makes noise all the time. Still not many consonant/vowel combos though (boo, ma, da, etc).
  
• Is starting to bounce/jump with her legs.
  
• We found out that Gabi doesn't like fruit so much, at least right now. She had some tummy issues up north so I tried to give her some apple banana baby juice and she couldn't even get any of it down. She would just gag and shiver with disgust anytime I tried to give her any. And, yes, I watered it down, gave it to her mixed with cereal, etc, etc. It was definitely a no-go.