"Well we know who the Christmas ham is..."

Gavin's 4 month appointment was on Monday, and when he weighed in at a whopping 18 lbs 3 oz, the title of this entry is what the nurse said!  I think its pretty appropriate since not only is Gavin our chunky monkey, but he really is a ham.  He is constantly smiling for girls at the mall, making people laugh, and showing off for himself in the mirror.  I wonder who he got that from....

Gavin has had an exciting few days!  Last week, Grandma Gillespie came up to do some shopping and spend some time with her favorite grandson :)  This gave Mommy and Daddy the chance to go to Wildfire for dinner to enjoy some chopped salad and adult conversation (although our conversations seem to always steer back to Gavin, no matter where the conversation started!) 

This weekend, Grandma Mayner came over to babysit so Mommy and Daddy could attend a few Christmas parties.  Gavin and Grandma had a fun time playing in his jumper and "dancing," and Mommy had a little too much fun at her parties and learned that hangovers and babies simply don't mix.  Suddenly I understand why its a universal truth that no one's mom drinks, and if she does have even one drink, shes already tipsy and hence an absolute blast to watch.

Gavin and I have also gotten to hang out for the last few days, because I'm currently enjoying the most wonderful time of year, winter break!  We've accomplished a lot in our days home together.  Gavin is starting to really enjoy his jumper, he is trying to sit on his own more, and he even rolled over for the first time!  I know I said in a blog when he was like a month old that he rolled over for the first time, but that must have been some lapse in gravity in our house, because it never happened since then. Therefore, I'm counting this week as the first time it officially happened.  Gavin seemed very pleased with himself for rolling over from his tummy to his back, but once he realized that it didn't get him any closer to the toy he wanted, he was over the whole accomplishment pretty quickly.

Also earlier this week, Gavin turned 4 months old!  It's also the time of year when back in 2008, we were just realizing that Gavin existed, although we didn't know if he was a boy or a girl, and we definitely didn't know what an awesome kid he would turn out to be.  Here are some shots from his 4 months shoot with his buddy/nemesis Rufus:

As always, these shoots start out friendly...

But soon Gavin and Rufus were locked into a staring battle.

And when Rufus blinked, Gavin went in for the attack!

Rufus tried to fight back, but Gavin attempts to land some low blows...

...and some biting for good measure.

Rufus is worn down by all of Gavin's dirty tactics.

And Gavin is thrilled to get the pin.

Gavin declares himself the winner, while Rufus slumps in defeat.

But the cops show up and break up the fight just as it is ending.

Their brush with the law makes the boys realize that all this fighting is silly and they are soon friends again.

Also, this week Gavin met Santa!  Santa really liked Gavin's green outfit, and Gavin did a great job of waiting in line for almost an hour to meet jolly old St. Nick.  From the look on his face, I think Gavin was too excited to remember to tell Santa what he wants for Christmas. Maybe next year!

And to conclude the world's longest blog entry ever, here is our 4 month letter to Gavin:

Dear Gavin,

As your Uncle CJ said when he wished you a happy 4 month birthday, 0.33 is the new 0.25! (It’s a math joke for your nerdy math teacher mom :)

What a great month it has been Gavin! Since your 3 month birthday you have celebrated Thanksgiving, met your great Grandma Gallagher, attended a few Christmas parties, gone holiday shopping with Mommy and Grandma M., and been baptized.

You also reached some major milestones. Now not only do you smile, but you laugh as well. There can’t possibly be a better sound in this world than your giggles and squeals. Whether it’s Mommy tickling your tummy or Daddy talking to you about baseball, your peals of laughter are constantly ringing through our home, and we love it!

Another milestone you can check off the to-do list is rolling over! Just this morning, you started out sitting up playing with your toys. You started to lean to the right, and plopped over on your tummy. But your “car” toy was too exciting to ignore, so in your attempts to see it better, you flopped right over on your back! You couldn’t see your car anymore, but boy were you pleased with yourself for figuring out how to start moving around on your own!

You’ve also started sleeping through the night more consistently now. And while this might not be a very exciting milestone for you, it’s thrilling for Mommy and Daddy!

It’s only a few days away from Christmas, and we’re so excited to share this holiday with you Gavin. Your stocking is hung on the fireplace, your presents from Mommy and Daddy are under the tree, and your Christmas CD is playing while you sleep. The most exciting part of this holiday for you is probably all the flashing lights and wrapping paper to play with. But for Mommy and Daddy, it’s the realization that Santa delivered the news of our most precious gift almost a year ago, and now you are here to enjoy the celebration of Jesus’ birth with us. Happy four months and Merry Christmas Gavin!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Santa Claus is coming to town

Its been a while since our last blog. We've been pretty wrapped up in the end of the year and the upcoming holidays, and don't have much to blog about just yet. But Gavin's 4 month "birthday" is this week, and Christmas is just around the corner, so we hope to have more interesting updates soon!

Until then, here are some pics to keep you current on Gavin's cuteness. We did a photo shoot this afternoon for our Christmas card (yea, by the time you get it, it will be more like a Happy New Year's card). Gavin was actually quite cooperative, considering he has been not that happy the last few days. We suspect he may be starting to teethe. Or maybe he's just not taking Daddy's threats about Santa's naughty list very seriously. It probably doesn't help that "Santa's" presents are all just sitting out in the family room for Gavin to see. Mommy is a little lazy like that.

Here's the out-takes from our photo shoot.  You'll have to wait patiently by your mailbox for the really cute pics!

Our happy little elf in front of the tree.

Gavin sporting his adult size Santa hat...finally a piece of clothing thats too big for him!

Naughty or nice?  You decide.

Tummy time isn't nearly as easy with a giant Santa hat on your head.

Gavin's best impersonation of the drunken mall Santa.

After a long photo shoot, Gavin is all settled in for a long winter's nap.

Christmas time is here...

Christmas is in full swing here in the Gillespie household! Our Christmas tree is up, the house is decorated inside and out, and Gavin's stocking is hung on the fireplace with care. Christmas is my favorite time of year, so I fully intend on spoiling Gavin this holiday season, and I'm sure Santa will be kind to him as well :) Although, at least this year, it looks like Gavin might be more interested in the wrapping paper than the actual presents!

Gavin has only recently started to interact with paper products, but he's already a big fan. We tried to take a birthday picture for Uncle CJ this week, just like we did for Uncle Kevin about a month ago. But this month, Gavin was very interested in the piece of paper wishing Uncle CJ a happy birthday, and tried his best to shove the entire thing in his mouth. So we ended up doing a birthday video of Gavin devouring CJ's birthday wish. That video is on Facebook, because I'm saving a super cute video for this blog!

Gavin had a busy weekend. He went shopping with me and Grandma Mayner on Saturday at Gurnee Mills. Gavin did a great job shopping, although he wasn't really interested in staying in his stroller where he can't see any of the action. So he spent a lot of time bjorning and flirting with the ladies.

Today, Gavin went to a Christmas party thrown by Miss Jeanne, his daycare provider. Gavin really enjoyed hanging out with his baby friends, and we liked meeting the other kids and their parents. Miss Jeanne threw a really great party, and gave Gavin some very thoughtful presents!

At first, Gavin was more interested in trying to eat the wrapping paper than he was with the actual presents.

But once we got home and assembled his present, Gavin decided to check out his new loot.

Gavin also used his new toy to show off one of his new tricks, sitting up on his own! Its not really sitting so much as it is leaning forward and propping himself up for a few seconds until he plops over one way or the other, but its still a start!

It took him a few minutes to decide, but finally Gavin agreed that Miss Jeanne picked out a pretty cool present.

Miss Jeanne also gave us a really neat present, a calendar with pictures of Gavin at daycare! She took so many great pictures, but here's a pic of the March pictures when Gavin was rocking a sweet mohawk.

Gavin didn't want to be a party pooper, but Miss Jeanne's party was during nap time, so this is what Gavin looked like after the short 5 minute drive home.

Even though it's just starting to feel like winter time, Daddy says pitchers and catchers report in just a few months. He and Gavin like to talk about all the fun they'll have in the spring. Gavin thinks this is a riot. The video below shows off Gavin's newest skill, laughing! He is still learning though, so right now it kind of sounds like someone stepping on a Canadian goose, but its still music to our ears!

Lots to be thankful for

Its been a busy but fun holiday weekend, and we certainly have so much to be thankful for on Gavin's first Thanksgiving.  Gavin spent his first Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa Mayner's house.  We didn't know it at the time, but Gavin was coming down with his first cold, so we didn't capture many pictures in between the fussing and sleeping, just this one of Gavin and Grandpa watching some football:

Gavin also met his great grandma Gallagher for the first time this weekend.  Here he is with great grandma and Ryan.  Gavin and Daddy decided to match for Thanksgiving :)

And here is Gavin with me and great grandma

We spent Black Friday avoiding the malls and the crazy women screaming and crying over the last cashmere sweater (that actually happened last year!).  Instead we decided to get our Christmas tree!  We thought that since its Gavin's first Christmas we would start the tradition of going to cut down our Christmas tree.  So we looked up Christmas tree farms in the area, we bundled up Gavin and we headed out on a half hour drive to the closest Christmas tree farm.

When we arrived, Ryan and I looked at each other and said "Where are the trees?"  But we decided to soldier on in the spirit of Christmas.  So we put Gavin in his huge snowsuit and bjorned him and headed out on our search for the perfect tree

The owner of the farm found us wandering around confused, and told us that we would have to hike along a trail to find the trees.  This "trail" was basically a half mile mudslide, and the trees at the end didn't look very promising, so we ended up taking a short video and then turning right around.  After two hours of driving all over Lake County, we ended up buying a tree out of a lot 10 minutes from our house, and Gavin slept through most of the tree picking process.  Oh well, maybe he'll muster up some more excitement next year!

That wasn't the end of Gavin's exciting weekend, he was also baptized today!  Luckily, most of Gavin's immediate family was able to make it (Gavin says hi Uncle Bren! He knows you would have loved to be there), and the mass and ceremony was really beautiful.  Gavin didn't cry at all when the water was poured over him, but we figured he wouldn't since he loves bath time so much!  And Gavin did pretty well during the mass, only a few moments of him deciding that what he had to say was more important than the homily.  Even Father Gene told Gavin that he did a great job.

After Gavin's baptism, we had a nice time back at our house celebrating Gavin's first day as a member of the Catholic faith.  Overall, a great weekend, one that made me sad to have to go back to work tomorrow!  But only 3 more weeks before Christmas break!  Below are some pictures of Gavin's baptism today:

Gavin with Mommy and Daddy

Gavin standing on the baptismal font.  He wanted to stand during the entire mass, which means Daddy got an hour long bicep workout

Gavin with his godparents, Uncle Kyle and Aunt Allison.  You can't really see his outfit that well, but it was a cross between a lounge singer and a waiter at a wedding reception. But secretly, I really loved it!  Good thing we had the baptism now...thats a 9-12 month outfit, and they don't come any bigger!

Gavin with Grandma and Grandpa Mayner.  He is barefoot because I started stripping him down during the homily before I realized he didn't need to just rock his diaper to be baptized. 

Gavin with Grandma and Grandpa Gillespie...look at that little tummy sticking out!  That shirt would not stay tucked in no matter how hard I tried.

Gavin and his cake...he seemed way too excited by all that sugar, even though you can't really tell in this picture. 

And here's the Gavinator hanging out with Uncle CJ.  Gavin was just about partied out at this point.  Hence my ability to get this blog done tonight, since he was completely passed out by 7!

3 months = 1/4 of a year = 0.25 of a year

My 8th graders sadly still don't understand how I just did that math in the title, but Gavin is now 3 months old!  He had his checkup earlier this week, and our future linebacker is up to 17 lbs 2 oz and 26 inches long.  He cried bloody murder through his whole appointment (Daddy tells me, I got to skip out on this one and unsuccessfully teach fractions), but then he smiled when he got his shot!  That was very nice of Gavin to make the nurse of doom's day who just has to give out shots all day.

Gavin was very serious for his pictures this month.  We think it has something to do with an ongoing beef Gavin has with Rufus.

Gavin looking tough (in a too tight 6-9 month onesie!)

Gavin giving Rufus the business

Rufus going down for the count, who wants a piece of Gavin now?

Mommy steps in to referee and all is forgiven

Besides beating up Rufus, Gavin also enjoys standing 24 hours a day.  What happened to our baby?

And here's our 3 month letter to Gavin:

Dear Gavin,

Three months ago today, you came into this world. It seems like so long ago and like it was yesterday all at the same time. Daddy and I can hardly believe that the little peanut that was born 3 months ago has turned into the big boy we see every day now!

This month you’ve done lots of new things. You’ve started to grab things that you want to hold or look at, and you’re getting better at it every day. You’re also starting to learn about new things by putting them in your mouth. Everything in our house is now covered in slobber! And tummy time is becoming less frustrating for you now that you can push up on your arms and hold your head up high to see what’s going on.

You also started daycare this month! Mommy went back to school, and was sad to have to give up our days of hanging out together, but you seem to really enjoy your days at “school.” Miss Jeanne really likes all your hugs and smiles, and all the other babies like playing with you too. You’re the youngest baby there, and you love to watch all the older kids crawl and walk and play. You even have a girlfriend who is always making sure that “Gavin baby” is happy :)

While we’re excited to see all these changes, and can’t wait to see you grow bigger and learn more, we’re sad too. Already you’re not our baby anymore. You’re not this tiny little boy that just sleeps in our arms and sighs. You’re not all curled up and scared of this big world. Now you’re looking at everything, grabbing whatever you can find, trying to stand in Mommy and Daddy’s arms, and pushing up on your tummy to see the world. Before we know it, you’re going to be rolling over and crawling and we’ll be struggling to keep up with you. We’re trying to enjoy every little second we have to hold you and kiss you now, because soon you’ll be “too big” for such things. But don’t worry Gavin, no matter how old you are, you always be our baby boy. Happy 3 months Gav!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Monkey see, monkey do

This week hasn't been very eventful, but since I've been blogging at least once a week since Gavin was born, I didn't want to stop now! 

This was my second week back at school, and Gavin's second week at daycare.  He still likes "school" as we call it, but Miss Jeanne has already noticed that Gavin likes to be held basically at all times.  So we're working on trying to show Gavin that its fun to play on his playmat or in his bouncer chair.  He's not a believer yet, and I'm probably not helping the situation.  I know that all too soon, Gavin will be squirming to get down and I won't be able to hold him nearly as much as I want.  So if he wants to be held now, he won't get much of a fight from me.

This weekend, Uncle Kyle and Aunt Allison came to visit their favorite nephew.  We watched Iowa almost win against Ohio State, and when Gavin realized that Mommy and Aunt Allison were sad about the Iowa loss, he decided to cheer us up with his new monkey hat. 

Baby clothes are a dangerous thing.  I used to have enough problems trying not to blow tons of money on clothes for myself, but now I have things like monkey hats that just call out to me.  I can't even imagine how deeply into debt we will plunge if I ever have a girl.

Gavin is also becoming more like Daddy every day.  Here he is relaxing on the couch, watching a Bears game and surfing the internet.

Also like Daddy, Gavin still really likes naps.  Even though now Gavin can face out in the Bjorn, he still has a hard time fighting off sleep when he's in there.

That's all for this week's blog.  Gavin turns 3 months on Tuesday, so if school isn't rocking my world this week (1st trimester ends Thursday, which means grades are due!), we'll post his 3 month pictures sometime this week.  Ryan and I are estimating that Gav weighs about 17 pounds and is 26-27 inches long...still a "bruiser" :)

Blog about the bog

It was such a nice day that we decided it was time for Gavin to have his first trip to the Volo Bog.  We had went there in the last few days of Erin's pregnancy to try and "start things" and thought it was a pretty cool place.  There's a half mile floating boardwalk through Illinois' only quaking bog with an open water center (yeah we grabbed a brochure).

Here's some pics from the trip.

Gavin "Bjorning" in the parking lot... not quite sure about this bog thing.

Gavin deciding this just might be okay... I mean there's frogs and dogs and logs in the bog.

The 1/2 mile boardwalk... much easier to walk with the baby on the outside.

Mommy and baby watching the geese and the beavers. (Daddy not getting them in the shot)

It's November and everythings dying.. Daddy thinks it makes it easier to see the bodies that obviously have been tossed in the bog throughout the summer.  Gavin really liked the splashing and the russle of the grass and leaves.

Gratuitous cute baby in a hat shot.

Family bog shot.

As the sun sets Gavin decides the bog is a pretty cool place.