Gavin 10 Months

Well hello there! It seems like I was just writing Gavin's last monthly update - I am not sure how Mindy keeps up with weekly updates because it's hard to find time to do these!! :) Here's to another great month and what I think is the best age we've seen so far :)

- We started the month off with a visit to the pediatrician not even a week after his 9 month checkup. He developed a staph infection on his cheek and it was SO scary! It started out very small and we thought it was a bug bite. It got bigger and worse looking over the next few days and I decided I should bring him into the doctor. I'm glad I did, because the day we took him in, it looked like this! :(

The doctor had to take a culture which was torture for poor G. They sent it off to Children's Hospital and sent him home with some antibiotics. It cleared up quickly, but he still has a red spot on his cheek today. I'm really hoping it doesn't leave a scar on his poor face!

- Gavin started pulling himself up shortly after he turned 9 months and now he does it all the time! At first he was a little unsure of how to get back down after he pulled himself up, but he's gotten the hang of falling back on his butt somewhat gracefully :) He's taken a few steps when we hold his hands but I don't think he is anywhere near walking yet!

- We had a nice visit with my parents a few weeks ago. My mom might have more of a shopping problem than I do.... she brings Gavin an outfit every time we see him! Haha, I can't complain, because that means less money I have to spend on clothes!

- Father's Day was nice and relaxing... Matt's birthday is only a week before Father's Day (that will be fun every year with getting him gifts!) so I combined his bday and Father's Day gift, which was a kayak! Gavin had his first time in the baby pool, too. I was all excited to set up his pool and have it ready when he woke up from his nap. Little man woke up on the wrong side of the crib, because he was not happy to be in his pool! He sat in it a few minutes then started crying. We're going to make another attempt soon!

- I went to Put in Bay with Ashley 2 weeks ago, which meant 3 nights away from Gavin :(

I had a wonderful time on the island, but I'd be lying if I didn't say Gavin was on my mind most of the weekend. I knew he was in good hands with his daddy, but that is a long time away from him! Matt did a great job with Gavin and even took him to our friends' party for a few hours solo.

 I'm so proud of him! It was nice to spend time with my friends and have some "me" time, but I'm so glad to be back home :)

- We took Gavin to Comfest last weekend where he met up with his buddy Oliver. Comfest is great people watching, so we just got some beers and hung out on a picnic blanket with the kiddos. It's legal to go topless in Columbus, so the boobs are out in full force at Comfest (it's basically a hippy festival)... so Gavin saw his first pair of non-mom boobs, haha!

- Mindy had a wedding in Ohio this weekend, so she was able to stop by on her way up to stay with us for a night! I was so excited to meet Miss Ella! Her and Gavin had a fun time playing on the floor... Gavin had fun stealing Ella's pacifier!

- We had a night away on Thursday to go to a friend's 4th of July party and watch the downtown Columbus fireworks. Lynette (my sister in law) watched Gavin so we could go for a few hours. It was so fun!

- We went to Cambridge during the day on the 4th to see Matt's family. Gavin was a ham the whole time, per usual, but didn't take the best naps there. He is hit or miss with his naps in the Pack n Play.

I think he likes the TV.

- We spent some time with the Petruso's in the evening on the 4th :) love these kiddos together!

Gavin 8 Months

8 months have come and gone, and my little man just continues to keep me wrapped around his little finger! He's mimicking us more and more and loves to say "da da" and "ga ga" and scream at the top of his lungs (a happy scream!). He truly lights up our lives!

- I feel like this past month flew by faster than any of the others... I should've kept better track of things because it just seems like a blur. Gavin is as squirmy as ever (it's almost impossible to change his diaper without a second person these days!) and is so so close to crawling. He's figured out how to get up on his hands and knees and sort of rocks his little but back and forth in the air (which might be the cutest thing ever). 

He can crawl backwards, but hasn't mastered moving forward yet. He can "scoot" around the carpet and he seems to be pretty content with that mode of transportation at the moment. I know a lot of babies don't even crawl, so we'll see if he hits that milestone. Either way, we have learned to keep a much closer eye on him these days, because that boy can get around!

- We are officially full formula feeding as of about 3 weeks ago. I went through a really tough time coming to terms with my low milk production and tried almost everything you could think of to try to increase. I probably could've kept up with nursing for much longer, but pumping just got to be more work than I felt it was worth, so I weaned over about a 1.5 week time span. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, I think mostly because my production was so low. So far I've only had one leak (haha eww!) and other than that we've had no problems. Gavin didn't even really seem to notice, I think because he is so used to getting a bottle at daycare anyway. It's kind of freeing now, not having to worry about providing my boob every 3 hours and worrying about drinking alcohol (haha obviously, it's me we're talking about!) and not having to leave my desk at work every 3 hours for 45 minutes at a time!

- Gavin just loves eating "real" food. So far he's tried peas, squash, avocado, sweet potato, pears, peaches, carrots and bananas. He wasn't a fan of peaches, and avocado continues to be his favorite! He's eating solids 3 times a day and gets a bottle 4-6 times a day (so about 30ish ounces of formula). He gets so excited when I put him in the high chair and sees the bowl coming towards him! I tried puffs with him a couple weeks ago and he seemed to have a hard time with them - it kind of scared me as he was almost close to choking on them, so we're gonna hold off a bit on trying them again!

- Since the weather has been pretty nice in Ohio recently, we've been going on more walks and took Gavin to the park for his first time a few weeks ago. He LOVED, loved, loved it. I don't think I've ever seen him smile bigger or laugh harder than when he was on the swing. It brought tears to my eyes to see him so happy (I know, cheesy)! We've been back a few times since then, and actually purchased a swing for the tree in our backyard from our neighbor's garage sale. I love the convenience of being able to swing him in the backyard whenever I want!

- Gavin enjoyed his first visit from the Easter bunny this month. He got 2 books and a bell toy - the kid is obsessed with anything that makes noise!

We enjoyed a nice brunch at Lauren and Matt's in the afternoon and the kiddos had a good time playing in the water - it was a beautiful day!

Adalyn's friend Isla, Gavin and Adalyn :)

- One of my new favorite things? Holding my iPhone up to Gavin when he babbles and seeing what Siri thinks he just said :)

- We went to the zoo a few weeks ago for the annual MS walk my friend Kerry organizes. It was a lot of fun and Gavin was so well behaved the whole time!

"I've got my Sophie, let's do this walk!"

Matt & Gavin, James & Oliver - the boys and their mini me's!

Now that we have Gavin facing forward in the stroller, I think he likes to look around at everyone and take it all in. We almost lost Sophie during the walk (Gavin thought she belonged on the ground instead of in the stroller!), and some other parents found her on the ground and said "oh you wouldn't want to lose Sophie!", so they knew what a beloved toy it is! Since then I purchased these amazing straps from a babysteals.com purchase, and they have been pretty great! They keep Sophie secure in the stroller so I don't have to pick her up off the ground 948309843 times. :)

- Speaking of stroller, Gavin and I have gone on a couple of runs in the Britax. Gavin seems to enjoy it! I wasn't sure how this stroller would do with runs since it technically isn't a "jogging" stroller, and it does okay as long as you are on a steady surface. I can see why a jogging stroller would be worth the purchase, because it was a little wobbly at times and it would be nice to have a locking front wheel and hand brakes. I'm going to keep my eye out for one on Craigslist to hopefully purchase in the near future, since a decent brand new one is $300+.

- We had to visit the doctor (AGAIN!) 2 weeks ago for Gavin's persistent cough. It went away after antibiotics the last time (when he had his ear infection), then came just a week or two later. I called the doctor the morning he coughed so hard he threw up half his bottle, poor guy. :( They have him on a different antibiotic now and he seems to be doing much better. I guess it's better he builds up his immune system now, before he has to start school and take days off, right?!

- Gavin currently weighs 18 lbs, 7 ounces. His next checkup at the doctor is at 9 months!

Gavin 7 months

Alright, I'm going to say it again... Gavin just keeps getting cuter every month! But, it's true. His belly laughs are more frequent, his babbling has picked up and his smiles just continue to melt my heart!

- Okay, cue the trumpets.... Gavin is finally sleeping through the night! After some modified sleep training and lots of sleepless nights for mom and dad, he's going to bed fully awake for bedtime AND naps, and sleeps from 6:30pm - 6:00/6:30am without waking. He's taking 2-3 great naps during the day as well. Hooray! I think back to the 4 month sleep regression and how we spent what felt like an entire month of just trying to get Gavin to take a nap, and wonder how we made it through. We've got a pretty solid routine down for naps and bedtime and I think that helps a lot. He loves reading before bed.

I hope that as he gets older, his bedtime gets later, because this waking up at 6:00am on a Saturday thing is for the birds, I tell ya. Oh well, Gavin's morning nap on the weekends also = nap time for mommy and daddy :)

Oh hey, I just slept 12 hours!

- We started the month off with Gavin's first ear infection :( He goes to daycare with about 8 other kids so he's bound to get sick often and we've been ready for it. His illness started with congestion, which led to a cough which he just couldn't shake. I called the pediatrician after the cough lasted about 4 days (I have the pediatrician on speed dial...) and they told me to ride it out another 3-5 days. Two days later, he woke in the morning with a 102.5 degree fever, and fevers always make me worry, so Matt took off work and took him to the doctor.

At the doctor

His right ear was infected, my poor little guy! He was given amoxicillin, and between that, lots of Baby Vicks on his chest/feet and the cool mist humidifier continuously running in his bedroom, it cleared up within a week. I'm so glad he is feeling better!

- Gavin is doing SO well with solid food! We started with homemade brown rice cereal the first week. He wasn't a huge fan at first, but after the second try he quickly warmed up to the taste and concept of eating from a spoon.

So far we've also tried peas, squash, avocado and sweet potato. He's loved everything and is eating 2oz servings at a time, 3 times a day. I've been making everything at home in my food processor which has been a breeze so far and kind of fun! I just make it ahead of time and freeze it in these ice cube trays - then I pop out 2 servings and defrost them in the microwave when he's ready to eat.

Mmm, avocado!

I'm excited to keep trying new things with him - we are just moving slow with each food because I want to start new foods on the weekend (and give him at least 3 days to make sure he doesn't have allergies). Next on the list is bananas, peaches and green beans!

- Gavin loves rolling over when we do floor time, and he has started to move his little legs to practice how to crawl. I don't think he's close to crawling yet, but I can tell he will be there before we know it. We're going to start baby-proofing the house, which will include gluing foam bumpers on the fireplace and installing a cat door in the basement door (so Milo can get down, but Callie and Gavin can't!). We'll also need to cover outlets, secure some furniture and lock some drawers. I can't believe we are already at this stage!

- We've been able to get back into baby-wearing again. Gavin loved it as a newborn but started to fall out of love with it when he was more aware of his surroundings and he just didn't like to be facing my chest. Now that he can be facing out, he really likes being strapped in and keeping an eye on things!

Sometimes we spend all day in our pj's... don't judge

- He's learned how to really bounce in his exersaucer and he has a ball in it! He makes the cutest face when he's in there and likes to see our expression when he bounces. I finally figured out how to upload videos to the blog! :)

- Gavin got to meet his friends Carter and Will at a birthday party a few weeks ago. It was so cute to see Matt with his high school friends with all of their babies.

- I put Gavin in the top part of the grocery cart for the first time last weekend. He seemed to like it... but the trip was shortly before he was due for a nap so he was a little sleepy. I'm looking forward to having more space in the cart without the carseat leaving no room for food!

- The weather has started getting warmer which means more walks outside with Gavin and Callie!

- Gavin currently weighs 17 lbs, 13 oz

Gavin 6 months

Ummmmmm.... I have a 6 month old baby. What.the.heck. These past 6 months have been the hardest, most loving, exhausting, confusing, amazing, emotional, indescribable and fastest-yet-longest-at-the-same-time of my life! :)

First off, let's just talk about how my hormones have been a little crazy lately. One of my best friends, Mindy, just recently had a beautiful baby girl named Ella! It's crazy looking at photos of her and realizing how much Gavin has grown in just 6 months. I look at photos of Ella, all tiny and new and snuggly and sweet and I honestly already miss the newborn days! I was reading this blog post the other morning and I couldn't help but relate to how she's feeling. I recently packed away Gavin's newborn & 0-3 month clothes, and of course I cried. He's growing up so fast and I oogled over his newborn clothes, reminiscing of how tiny he was when we brought him home from the hospital.

- Every month just keeps getting better (and I'm starting to feel like a broken record). Gavin's personality just keeps blossoming and he's discovering more things around him. I love it! His recent discovery is pulling his hat off his head while in his carseat. I don't think he likes wearing a hat much, but it's been in the single digits here lately so he's just going to have to deal with it. I watched him pluck it right off his head the other night in the car and he fell asleep shortly after. Such a sweetie pie!

-We visited the pediatrician today and Gavin got 3 shots :( He's such a trooper though and hardly cried. He's 16 lbs, 11 oz (35%) and 28 inches long (can't remember the percentile for that one but it's around 80%!)

- Gavin's bedtime has gotten earlier every month, to the point where he is now getting ready for bed at 6pm! I really hate it, especially on the weeknights because I don't get home with him until 5:30pm so we don't have much time to play and snuggle. All the more reason to cherish the weekends! The good news is, he's sleeping 12-13 hours a night... but waking 1-2 times a night. His sleep is so inconsistent and I really haven't figured out if there is a pattern. We have a bedtime routine and always put him to bed at the first sign of sleepiness - we've even gotten to the point where we can put him to bed fully awake {hooray!!} and he falls asleep on his own. Some nights he'll sleep a 4 hour stretch, some nights he'll sleep a 10 hour stretch... I think he's just a hungry boy (he eats every time he wakes at night and goes right back to sleep) and he will take a bit longer to "sleep through the night". It's okay though, because oddly enough I sometimes enjoy the 4am feedings and snuggles. :)

- We've had lots of visits with the grandparents lately and it makes me so happy! I want Gavin to see his grandparents as often as possible, which isn't easy with them all living 2+hours away.

- Gavin's starting to sit up on his own, but only for a few seconds. We put him sort of like a tripod with his legs out and arms forward and he is able to balance himself pretty well!

- I remember Lauren telling me her and Matt had to move Adalyn's bath from the kitchen sink to the bathtub pretty early on because Matt taught Adalyn how to splash in the tub. Well, Gavin discovered this on his own so we've had to do the same! I can't get mad at him for getting me wet, though, because it's just so darn cute when he kicks his legs and flails his arms in the water. He seems to really enjoy bath time!

- We had some friends over a few weeks ago and my friend Erica brought her son Oliver. Gavin & Oliver were wearing similar outfits so we had to get a photo op :)

- I've started putting Gavin in the high chair to get him used to it and he really enjoys sitting in it and playing with toys.I decided to wait until 6 months to start solids just because I don't think he was ready yet, and it's recommended to wait that long by the AAP anyway. I discussed it with the pediatrician and we're going to start with rice cereal and then move onto vegetables. I'm kind of nervous - such a big step in the little guy's life! Wish us luck!

- I'm giving myself a little pat on the back for making it to 6 months with breastfeeding - it was not easy at first, and pumping 3 times a day at work is difficult. We are supplementing with about 7-9 ounces of formula a day, but I'm still producing enough to want to stick with it for as long as I can. My original goal was 6 months, so now I'd really like to make it a year. I really do enjoy breastfeeding, it's just pumping that I hate. I do not know how some women exclusively pump... I give them tons of credit!

- Gavin's current obsession is his tongue... he is almost always sticking it out! He also LOVES blowing raspberries. He appears to have started to "mimic" me when I do it.. or, maybe it's just a coincidence but either way it's adorable.

- Gavin has 2 bottom teeth coming in. I found them this morning and was so surprised - he has not been fussy at all and I expected some kind of warning that his teeth would be coming in! Fingers crossed he continues to be an "easy" teether with the rest of his teeth :)

The wiggle monster gets harder and harder to photograph each month!