I'm probably going to say this every month, but I truly cannot believe Gavin is another month older! I've survived the dreaded "
4th trimester" and this parenting thing is getting easier every week.
- Gavin just gets cuter every day of his life. He's cooing and babbling even more now, and he especially likes "talking" to us when he first wakes up in the morning and when I pick him up from daycare. He loves to tell me how his day went! :) We talk back to him too (even though we sound ridiculously silly, but hey that's what parenting is!) because we know it helps his development.
- He's getting so strong! He likes to "stand" while we hold him up and he's doing so well with lifting his head during tummy time. He tries to kick his little legs and Matt and I have a feeling he will be crawling before we know it! Tummy time is still a struggle - he usually only lasts 5 minutes before he gets fussy, so we try to break it up in small increments since he's supposed to be doing 15 minutes a day.
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| Callie likes to observe! |
- I started back to work on November 11th. That morning, I was getting ready for work and got Gavin all packed up and passed him off to Matt (he is dropping off at daycare in the mornings, I am picking up) and thought hey, I'm fine, I can do this... and then he looked up at me and gave me the biggest smile and started laughing and cooing... I lost it. A few minutes later, Matt helped me collect myself and I went off to work. The first few days back to work, I was so busy getting my desk together (we moved to a different floor while I was out on leave), getting re-acclimated and getting used to pumping 3 times a day that I didn't have much time to think about how much I was missing him. Luckily since we have him at an in-home daycare, his babysitter is wonderfully thoughtful and texted me a photo of Gavin on his first day {and continues to do so periodically!}. It made me feel so much better to see his smile and remember that he's in good hands! I've been back to work for 4 weeks now and it's getting easier every day. I miss him more than I had ever imagined, but I really do love my job so that helps... and I may or may not peek at videos and photos of him about 12 times a day at work. :)
-Gavin is sleeping in the crib full time. He slept an 8 hour stretch 3 times last week which was AMAZING! These past several days, though, he's gone back to sleeping 5-6 hours before waking back up. He's still too young for the
4 month sleep regression, so I'm not really sure why he's sleeping less. Two nights ago, he woke up around 2am and when I went into the nursery he was on his belly! Initially I panicked because he's still swaddled so I worried he could suffocate, but he seemed fine and then I realized
hey! Gavin rolled over, that's pretty awesome :) So last night I swaddled him with one arm out.
He slept just as he did the night before, and I was reassured knowing he could flip himself back over if he ended up on his belly again. Since he is rolling over, though, it's time to transition out of the swaddle. I've been worried about this because he sleeps soo well swaddled, so I did some research online and on the baby message boards and came across the
"magic sleep suit". It has rave reviews online, and moms swear it truly is magical. It's supposed to help babies transition from the swaddle, since they are so used to being nice and cozy and still have the startle reflex that wakes them back up. Needless to say, after reading all the reviews, I overnighted one from Amazon (thank you Prime for $4 one day shipping!) so we will be trying it out tonight. I'll report back on how it works!
- Callie loves Gavin. She's warmed up to him a lot these past few weeks and is always interested in what he's doing. She likes to lay next to him and sometimes brings toys to him - she's confused as to why he doesn't like to play fetch with her! Gavin likes to stare at Callie and smiles when he sees her. Milo is not as interested in Gavin, and I think the feeling is mutual. Haha! I'm glad Callie and Milo are behaving so well with him as every parent worries how the pets will react. I'm looking forward to watching him grow up and develop a loving relationship with his pets!
- This past month, we haven't really gotten out of the house much since I like to spend my weekends bonding with little man. It's really nice having Lauren and Matt in Columbus now, since they don't mind if we are at their house and Gavin has a crying fit. :) Plus, we like them a lot and time with them just helps solidify the love Adalyn and Gavin will have for each other {that we may or may not be forcing upon them.}
- Our friends James and Erica had their son Oliver on November 9th. We went to visit them the following weekend at home, and he is ADORABLE! It's amazing how tiny he seemed and how hard it was to imagine Gavin was that tiny just 2 months prior. We're so excited for them and look forward to him and Gavin being good friends :)
- Gavin's first Thanksgiving was a success. We drove up to Cleveland on Thursday morning and stayed at my parent's house for 2 nights. This was the longest Gavin had been in the car, so I rode in the back with him and he fell asleep after about 20 minutes in the car.
We spent the day at my aunt's house, and he behaved
wonderfully - he even took two naps while we were there! I'm so glad I came prepared with his Rock N Play and video monitor so we could put him down for a nap upstairs where it was quiet and socialize with family downstairs.
- I took advantage of Cyber Monday sales (that continued all week!) and decided to purchase a convertible car seat for Gavin. Let me tell you, this was probably the
toughest purchase I've ever made!! When I registered for his
infant seat, I really didn't think much about it because a) there was only one Britax seat to choose from and I knew this was one of the best infant seats out there, and b) I knew he'd only be in the seat for maybe 6-8 months. They are in the convertible seat for at least 3 years so it was a more important decision! Plus, I wasn't sure if I should buy one so soon as it would shorten the life of the seat (since they expire after 6-7 years and he can still stay in his infant seat another 3-5 months), but I couldn't pass up a deal. So, I stressed for two days doing a TON of research on different brands, finding out what seat works best with my car, etc... and decided on the
Britax Roundabout 55. Originally I wanted a seat with a higher weight capacity, but after a lot of research I realized most of the time kids grow out of the seat height-wise before they do weight-wise. I considered a few Graco seats and even a Diono, but ultimately it came down to budget, reviews, and the fact that we love our current Britax products so to stick with what we know and like. We'll have to get a second one eventually for Matt's car, but I'm glad that we can spread out the purchases so it doesn't hurt our wallet as much! :)
- I weighed Gavin today and he's 13 lbs 14 oz.
- We are so excited about Gavin's first Christmas. I know he has no idea what's going on, but I really love Christmas and had so much fun decorating the house and getting the tree set up. He loves the colorful lights on the tree! We are trying to find time to get his picture done with Santa in the next week or two. I really need to work on getting my shopping done and not procrastinate this year!
That's all I've got for you - hoping you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and I'll post again in January! :)
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