7 Months Old

Gavin turned 7 months old yesterday. We love him more every day and cherish every moment as his parents. Here is some information about Gavin this month:

• He is eating baby food (though he is not too fond of it!)
• He can entertain himself for longer periods of time
• He loves to make raspberry sounds
• He is starting to scoot backwards
• He is very loving and enjoys cuddling
• He laughs when we laugh
• He loves to play

Although we started baby food, Gavin was not thrilled about it. We began with green beans, as we wanted to start with vegetables. We did five days of green beans to test for allergies, but it was torture for Gav. After that, we tried each veggie for just one day, hoping for a better reaction, but no such luck. He even gagged when we switched to fruits and gave him bananas (which I personally thought were very tasty!). Hopefully he will acquire a taste for them over time. We just keep trying every night, even if he just takes a bite or two. Here is the reaction we got with the first green bean attempt:

He does great playing by himself now. Here are some shots taken today while he entertained himself:





He enjoys traveling now, which is great! On Tuesday, we went to watch Matt play softball. Unfortunately, it was cold and sprinkling, so we were the only fans in the stands. However, Gavin didn't mind and was a great little supporter for his Daddy:

6 Month Photo Shoot (and a rough 2009)

We finally got Gavin's 6 month pictures from JCPenney's. We are so pleased! He looks absolutely adorable! I'm excited to use my new Photoshop Elements software to play around with them. But here are a few of my favorites for now.

With Halloween quickly approaching, we purchased Gavin's very first costume. Of course I had to try it on him and he looked so cute!

Our little monkey

"I love my Aunt Evie!"

On another note - this has not really been the 2009 I was hoping for. Although it started off with the best experience of my life with Gavin's birth, it also included the worst experience of my life with my mom's passing. First, losing my mom makes all these special moments with Gavin bittersweet, because I just wish she was here to experience them with me. September 29 would have been my parents' 30-year anniversary, so my sisters and I went to dinner with my dad. Here is a picture of Gavin enjoying his fingers at the restaurant:

Another reason 2009 is not turning out as I had hoped, is because Matt's grandpa was recently diagnosed with cancer. We just returned home from visiting him in the hospital. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers because we want him home soon! Matt's brother and his wife were also there visiting Papaw with their two beautiful daughters. It was nice to get our first pictures of the three little ones together. They are just too cute!

The whole gang (minus Matt who was taking the picture) from left to right: Papaw, Gavin, me, Adia, Patty (Matt's mom), Mamaw, Kristin, Madison, Jonathan (Matt's brother)

Gavin and Papaw

Adorable babies!

Restful Nights

Ahhh...Gavin is back to sleeping through the night. It has been great once again. Hooray!! We are also working on getting him to go down for naps without a struggle again and it seems to be working. I just put him down for a nap because I knew he was tired and he tossed and turned until he was comfortable and then just drifted off to sleep. I was watching him on the video monitor and he didn't even make a sound. He just snuggled in and closed his eyes. Wow. He is such a good baby!

Attacking his rainforest

And lately, he is just so energetic and fun. He is definitely all-boy. He grunts and yells and makes all sorts of "boy" sounds. We also started introducing new toys to him and he loves to slam them around and be rough with his new playthings. Matt and I crack up at all the funny things he does. Now that he is sitting up on his own, he is all about being independent. He gets upset if we try to hold him up or help him balance - he wants to do it all by himself! This new stage is so much fun.

A big kiss from his buddy, Bocephus

He is still doing good eating cereal once a day. We tried twice a day, but he really wasn't interested. I think we'll try again soon, but just stick to once a day for now. I think it will be fun to introduce new foods to him, but I don't want to do it until he's ready.

Enjoying rice cereal

I really miss staying home with my sweet boy during the day, but Gavin's Aunt Evie is doing a wonderful job and has been great about taking pictures of him throughout the day and sending them to me via text message. Here are a few that she took recently:

Baby in a basket

"Ah! I'm scaaaarrred!!"

Although being away from him during the day is hard, I really cherish the moments we have together in the afternoon when I get home. Here are some shots I took while he was "flying" on my knees:

He is getting so big! I can't wait to pick up his 6 month pictures on Wednesday. I just bought Photoshop Elements so I could play around with some of his photos and I will have a great time with his new ones. I tinkered around with it the other night just to see what it could do and I had a lot of fun. Here are two of his 3 months pictures that I edited. Looking at these makes me realize just how fast he is growing up!

Sitting Up

Well I guess I spoke too soon on the last post. After returning to sleeping through the night, Gavin began waking up again. He woke up on Sunday night at 1:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. and wanted to stay up the second time. Luckily, since I have to be at work earlier than Matt, he offered to stay up with Gavin so I could go back to bed. Last night, Gavin woke up only once at about 3:00 a.m. Tonight, I was hoping he would sleep through again, but he just woke up already. I put him to bed about 8:30 p.m. and it's now about 10:00 p.m. We started giving him rice cereal twice a day this past weekend, which I thought would help him sleep better, but it seems to be doing the opposite. My boss suggested that he might be going through a growth spurt and is just hungrier and will fall back into a routine within a week or two. I am hoping she is right. Although the lack of sleep is wearing on me, being up with Gavin in the middle of the night just gives me precious time with my sweet boy. I love those moments, even though I'm exhausted the next morning!

"Are you looking at me?"

"Phew! Holding my head up is exhausting!"

"Is Mom still watching me??"

On Sunday Gavin reached another milestone by sitting up on his own! He wobbles a bit still, but can hold himself up for brief periods of time. We were so proud of him. He looked just like a little big guy sitting there on the floor all by himself. I know it's just a matter of time now before he starts crawling! I can't believe how fast he is growing. I remember my mom telling me that I will miss each phase as Gavin grows out of it, but I will cherish each new phase - and she was right!


We did Gavin's 6-month photo shoot at JCPenney's yesterday and were very pleased with the results. We get to pick up the CD in 10 days and I will post a few of my favorites then! :o)

6 Months Old!

Gavin is officially 6 months old! And boy did those 6 months fly by. He is such a good baby and I truly cherish every moment as his mommy.

Gavin reaching for a friend at a wedding

Gavin is such a little ham lately. He can be so silly at times that Matt and I just crack up! He started "growling" about a month ago and does it pretty often now. He will put a lot of effort into his growls - tense face, hands in fists, legs tight, feet flexed - it's really a big deal. Then he'll shout "Eeeeehhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!" and wait for Matt or I to shout it back to him. This can often go on for quite some time. He usually only does it with us, but he recently did it with my dad (his Grampa C) and it was pretty humorous. I managed to catch a good "growl" on video (please excuse us adults growling in the background!):

Gavin with Grampa

I want to start keeping track of new things Gavin can do each month, because someday I hope that he will want to look back at this and enjoy reading at what age he began doing things.

By one month:

• Had good neck control
• Very sweet and happy baby

By two months:

• Rolled over from tummy to back
• Began sleeping through the night
• Began smiling
• Favorite sounds include the vacuum cleaner and the blow dryer
• Began finding his voice

By three months:

• Could sit supported
• Followed objects with eyes

By four months:

• Began laughing out loud
• Would reach for objects

By five months:

• Could eat rice cereal
• Could grasp toys

By six months:

• Sleeping about 9 hours per night (Yes - he is sleeping through the night again after a brief rough patch!)
• Shows interest in toys and other objects
• Plays with mom and dad by "growling" and being silly
• Loves the bouncer
• Enjoys "tummy time"
• Likes to feel everything
• Turns head when name is called

I love you, Gav!!

Sleep Issues

Once again, it's about 10:00 p.m. and I am waiting for Matt to return from the side job. Yesterday, he didn't get home until almost 4 a.m.! Then, he left this morning shortly after 9 a.m. I don't know how he's doing it - I would be a walking zombie. While he was gone today, Gavin and I had more mommy/son time. It was so nice to be home with him again all day. I really cherish this time.

On another note - I'm wondering what is going on with Gavin's sleep lately. He has always been a great sleeper - sleeping through the night since 6 weeks. For the past few months he has been sleeping at least 9 hours a night. However, since I have returned to work, he hasn't been sleeping through the night. Last night, he woke up 2 or 3 times between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. and then woke up again about 4 a.m. after Matt got home. When I go get him, he's usually crying (which he didn't used to do when he would wake up) and he'll act like he's hungry, but then he'll latch on and go to sleep again. So I'm confused. He already woke up once tonight, about an hour after I put him down. I'm really hoping this isn't a trend, because he was doing so well. I just hope he sleeps through the rest of tonight...

Back to Work

Hanging out with Mommy

I started work on Tuesday, which is the reason for my lack of blogging. Returning to work has drained me of all energy, since I'm waking up at 5:00 a.m. instead of 7:00 a.m. I want to make sure I get in plenty of time to feed Gavin or pump if I have to, eat breakfast, and make it to work on time (something I have always struggled with). So far, I was able to do it, but when I return from work, I just want to spend time with Gavin and not on the computer. And, by the time Gav goes to bed, I'm ready for bed as well.

Finally enough hair for a mohawk!

Before I returned to work, while Matt was working a side-job, Gavin and I spent the day at my in-law's house. I think all the fun with Grandpa and Grandma S wore Gavin out! He fell asleep on the car ride home with his hand still clinging to his toy!

After my little tire mishap, my mom-in-law offered to take Gavin and I to Ikea a few days before I returned to work to pick up that darn headboard. Luckily, they still had some so we were able to get it, but I was quite discouraged by the lack of helpfulness from the Ikea employees. I even had to return something before I left the store since they sold it to me without all the hardware (it's a long story). Overall, I am excited to have the headboard, but my mom-in-law and I were not very impressed with the Ikea employees. We agreed that Gavin was the least fussy out of the three of us that day.

Happy to be going to Ikea (we had no idea what was in store for us...)

Since I have returned to work, my sister has been watching Gavin. She will come to our house everyday and stay until Matt or I return from work. She has been wonderful! The first day was a little rough for her and Gav, since it was new to both of them. But they have both adapted well and I am so thankful to have a great sister who is so good with Gavin. It helps ease my mind while I'm at work, knowing that he's in good hands.

Returning to work has not been easy, because I miss Gavin terribly and, since my mom and I worked for the same school district, being there makes me miss her even more. I am also still breastfeeding, so I have to pump at work, which is not fun! However, it is important to me and I want to continue doing it as long as I can. (Well, to an extent. I watched a YouTube video today about a mom who was still breastfeeing her 8-year-old daughter and it was very, very disturbing.) My original goal was 6 months, but I think I can go a little longer.

I'm going to try to create a new routine so that I will have time to blog regularly again because I really enjoy it. Right now, it's about 10 p.m. on Saturday and I am waiting for Matt to return home from his side-job. He left early this morning and is still working! He worked last night until almost 11 p.m. and tonight he says he will be even later. My poor husband!! He is such a wonderful husband and father. He is working this side job because the money is great and it will allow us to save up a little extra for Gavin's first Christmas. What a guy!

This is a picture I took of Gavin today during our first full mommy-son day together since I returned to work. He is absolutely precious and I love every moment with him!