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.

Gavin and I had the life of Riley, and Riley had it good...

That's a quote from my grandpa Gallagher, and it fits my mood today pretty well.  Gavin and I enjoyed a lovely 11 weeks together, but now its time to go back to the real world of teaching and working.  I'll admit, in those first few sleepless weeks where Ryan and I had no idea what we were doing, I was ready to hand Gav off to anyone who would take him, and was counting the days til I went back to school so that I would have a break from this baby I didn't understand or know how to take care of. 

But now that Gavin, Ryan and I all function a little more smoothly as a family, I'm definitely bummed to have to give up the gift of being able to spend all day with him.  Sure, its still trying at times, and I am glad to go back to teaching so that I have a part of the day where I play a role other than "mom," but I will miss seeing this face all day:

haha, ok, maybe not that exact face, but for whatever reason, that picture makes me laugh every time I see it.  I always imagine Gavin saying something to the effect of "I do not approve of this degradation."  I'm of the opinion that Gavin has a very extensive vocabulary and just deems us not important enough to use it.

During our last week together, Gavin and I went on some more play dates, went to Andy & Shari's for Halloween brunch and the Iowa game, and handed out candy to the trick or treaters (we only had about 30 trick or treaters though...very strange.  I now have 6 giant bags of unopened candy.  That is not the post pregnancy diet I had planned)

Uncle Andy was starting to lose it, but given the way the Hawks played I don't blame him.

Gavin loves to stand, but hates tummy time (which helps him learn to roll over and crawl).  He thinks he should be able to walk already and gets annoyed when he can't do it.

Me and G.

This next picture is actually from last weekend but its so cute I had to post it.  My mom sent me this pic, which looks like Gavin is a drunk getting bounced out of the bar by Grandpa.

The other exciting thing that happened this week is that Gavin learned how to grab something he wants!  Gavin has been planning the attack on the toys hanging from his playmat for weeks now, and when they least expected it:

The Gav Man strikes!  Watch out brightly colored duck, you're next...

Boo! I mean woof!

Well its been another busy week!  This picture is of Gavin's halloween costume this year.  I originally wanted to dress him up as a monkey or lion, but I waited a little too long to buy his costume, so since my choices were lady bug, princess, or puppy dog, we went with puppy dog.  This is the only picture I managed to get of Gavin before he completely melted down.  Clearly, Gavin does not enjoy being humiliated just for his mother's enjoyment.

I would say the costume stayed on a grand total of 3 minutes. We'll try again next weekend when we give out candy to the trick or treaters!

Also, Gavin had his 2 month appointment last Monday (he'll be 10 weeks old tomorrow).  At the appointment, he weighed a healthy 15lbs 1 oz and is now 25 inches long!  Once again, he's off the charts for both height and weight.  He's officially wearing mostly 6-9 month clothes now, and I'm filling box after box of outfits that are now too small.  Maybe next time!

Gavin had a fun week playing at home with Mommy and running errands.  He is making more new noises (gurgles are the newest), blowing bubbles, and is getting ready to grab things, but isn't quite there yet.  He seems a bit distrustful of foreign objects.  He has to do a "test bat" a few times before he'll try to grab something with his clenched fist.  He's also learning cause and effect, and enjoys kicking the arch on his playmat and swinging at the rattle, since doing these two things make the most noise!

Gavin also got to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Mayner and Aunt Shari and Uncle Andy this week.  Below are a few pics from their visit:

And finally, below are just 2 cute pics of Gavin hanging out with his parents.  This next week will be a busy and sad week, as its my last week of maternity leave!  Its going to be difficult balancing out trying to get many things done before I head back to work with trying to spend as much time as I can with my favorite little guy!

Ok, I forgot I have to post one more picture.  Open up the picture below to full size to truly enjoy the look of pure joy and love that Gavin is giving to, you guessed it, the ceiling fan.  Where's the love for Mommy and Daddy buddy? :)

Gavin In Action

Here are some videos of Gavin's favorite new activities:

Gavin on His Playmat

Gavin and His Bears

Scooter Baby with Daddy

2 Months old!

Gavin is 2 months old today!  He has grown so much in the last month, and looks more like a baby and less like a blob :)

Here is Gavin smiling at Mommy...I like this picure :)

Gavin chillin with his teddy bear friend, Rufus.  No teddy bear gang signs in the pics this month.  Maybe Gavin and Rufus have cleaned up their act.

Below is our 2 month letter to Gavin:

Dear Gavin,

You’re 2 months old today! You’ve gone through so many changes in the last month, its hard to remember them all. Looking back on your 1 month letter, you seem like a totally different baby!

A month ago you were still sleeping in “Froggy” and only sleeping for about an hour and a half at a time. Now you sleep in your crib, and you sleep from about 8pm to 6am with usually just one wake up in between! Mommy and Daddy really love your new sleeping schedule 

Last month, you didn’t really “play” very much, and now you love to play when you wake up in the morning. You always have a big smile for Mommy when she walks in the room to get you, and you love to play with the bears mobile, or your new favorite toy, your playmat with the flashing, singing globe!

You’re also starting to figure out that you can bat at things within your reach, and you’re starting to grab things. In fact, just today Mommy noticed that you were checking out one of her fall decorations, so she moved you close enough to touch it, and you not only reached out and grabbed it, you tried to pick it up off the table and drop it on the floor!

This last month you’ve also visited a lot of new places. You’ve been to lots of restaurants with Mommy and Daddy, you went to Mommy’s school to visit her teacher friends, you’ve been on lots of playdates with Olivia and Caleb, and you even went to the farmers market! And soon you’ll be visiting another new place, daycare. Mommy is very sad to not be able to play with you all day, but she’s excited for you to meet other babies and have lots of new experiences.

You haven’t had your official 2 month doctor appointment yet, but you’re definitely still growing! Mommy and Daddy guess that you weigh about 15 pounds and are about 24 to 25 inches long! Although you may be a big boy, it sounds like Daddy was too. We checked his baby book when we visited Grandma and Grandpa Gillespie, and Daddy was almost 15 pounds when he was 2months old too. So don’t worry Gavin, you’re just your father’s son!

We’re looking forward to the next few months Gavin. You’re going to have many first holidays, you’ll be baptized, and you’ll reach lots of new milestones! Happy 2 month birthday little guy!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

And here's some pics from Gavin's playdate this week:

Guess who is the youngest baby in this picture...oh thats right, our "little guy" Gavin.

Lean on me, when you're not strong....

Aw, Gavin holding hands with his future girlfriend :)

A lucky guy

Notre Dame has touchdown Jesus, we have touchdown Gavin! All the football watching is already rubbing off on him. But really, this is Gavin hanging out during his shower in Geneseo while I opened up all the loot he got. Gavin received so many great presents and he's awfully lucky to have such loving family and friends!

Here is Gavin hanging out with Grandpa after the shower. Gavin is either smiling at the ceiling fan or Grandpa...given the picture below, its probably Grandpa.

And here is Gavin taking a nap with Grandpa after a long day of opening presents. Gavin likes when Grandpa tells him all about all the fun things they will do when Gavin is older like play baseball and go sledding.

And here is Gavin yesterday at his play date (aka Mommy sanity time). The cutie on the right is Gavin's friend Caleb, who believe it or not is actually 3 weeks older than Gavin! At this rate, Gavin might be wearing a real Bears jersey in his future! Also, this picture shows Gavin's fighter pose, which has become more popular in the past few days. I don't know why Gavin is always geared up for a fight, what baby would mess with this bruiser?

I had two really cute videos I wanted to post but its not working for some reason. I'll have to get my technology expert husband to help me when he gets home from work!

Get to know Gavin part II

Gavin has had a fun and busy week since our last post. This last weekend he got to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa Gillespie, Uncle Kevin, and Uncle Kyle and Aunt Allison. He was so excited to hang out with so many family members that he slept really well that night! And for about the last week or so, Gavin has actually had a night time "schedule!" And he is starting to sleep for more than 2 hours at a time! A predictable bed time and much more sleep has made Ryan and I much more pleasant people to be around these days :)

Gavin and I also went to a mommy and me class this week (its actually called "Surviving Motherhood" but I think that sounds a little extreme...we're not trying to live off the land and start a fire with two sticks here). There were TWO other Gavins at the class, and one of the "others" was even wearing the same shirt as original Gavin! But the class was a nice way for me to see that other moms go through the same things I do, and to confirm that Gavin might be the biggest 7 1/2 week old ever. Gavin could easily take down all the 3-4 month old kids I saw there...hmmm.

Today, Gavin and I went to my middle school so I could show him off to the staff (and I also got some free pizza at my Studio One's pizza party...it was Domino's, but still, free food is free food :). Gavin was such a good boy on his first day at school!

The "get to know Gavin" part of this blog is the list of nicknames below. I realized I left this out of last week's post, and anyone who knows Ryan and his brothers well knows that a good nickname is very important! Most of the Gillespie boys have nicknames that can't even be traced back to their origins, but thats what makes them great. Gavin's nicknames are pretty simple so far, but I'm sure he'll earn some wacky ones soon enough. So far Gavin goes by all of the following:

Gav

Gav-o

Gavvy

Gavitron

Gavinator

Gavination

And my personal favorite, Booger - I've definitely referred to Gavin as Booger in front of people who don't realize that its a term of endearment :)

Below is a video of how much Gavin loves his bath time. I didn't know there was audio so enjoy my super high baby voice...I had no idea that I'm such a baby talker!