Bits and Pieces

So, I don't have the time or the energy to write a ton in this blog, but we have lots of cute new Gavin pics and videos to post, so I still wanted to write a new blog. Plus I'm already starting to feel sad about leaving Gavin for 4 days, even though I am pumped for Vegas! So I know I'll be stalking my own blog a lot while I'm gone, and I want new pics to look at :)

Earlier last week, we were blessed with a lot of beautiful days (before March decided to go out like a lion like it always does in Illinois). So Gavin, Ryan and I went on several walks. One day we came back home and played some hoops with Gavin.

Daddy showing Gavin that this outside thing isn't so bad

Gavin is confused...why would we set him for a dunk with no ball?

Daddy alley oops to Gavin, but Gav is too worried about his wardrobe malfunction to attempt the dunk.

I included this pic because its amazing to see how blue those eyes are now!

Wearing a big boy shirt. Apparently it is not cool to have 7 month olds in onesies, but I've never been a fashionista, so what do I know?

Gavin is getting really close to crawling! He can scoot himself backwards all over the place, but no forward motion yet.

Gavin still hates clothes. Could he be spitting up all over his clothes just to have an excuse to be naked? What a smart little guy...

More diapered cuteness

Gavin also enjoys banging the kitchen table like a dictator when he is done with his meal. In this case he was also using the spoon in his other hand to bang the side of his high chair. I think I'll find this cute for about 2 more days...

He really is the happiest of babies... this combines all his loves: Massive drooling, jumping in his jumper, and being tickled by Mommy's foot:

Our little drummer boy:

Spring!

Here in the Gillespie household (or at least Gavin and I), we are very excited that Spring and its friend the Sun have returned!  Gav and I were definitely suffering from cabin fever.  I can only hear the same version of Fisher Price's Twinkle Twinkle Little Star so many times without starting to lose a few brain cells.

So earlier this week, on one of the nicer days here in the northern burbs, I picked Gavin up from Miss Jeanne's and took him on his first walk in a very long time.  The last time Gavin went on a walk, he had to sit in his car seat inside his stroller, and was annoyed that he couldn't see very much, or move around.  Now, Gavin is big enough to sit in his stroller sans car seat, and while he enjoys the view, he's not sure what to do with the increased mobility.

Gavin huddled in the corner of his stroller, not sure about this "going on a walk" thing just yet.

Gav decides this might be ok after all.

Who needs fresh air when you can chew on the dirty blanket that just fell on the ground? (I swear, I only let him chew on the clean parts :)

Showing off those cute two front teeth

Gavin did really well on his walk.  I kept thinking during our walk how different things are now.  Back in the fall when we went on walks, it was like playing a game of Russian Roulette.  Dare I go one more block and risk being too far away from home when Gavin inevitably loses it and screams his head off?  I was terrified of having a screaming baby on my hands.  Now I know that its not the end of the world if Gav does cry, and I've learned a few Gavin calming tricks in my 7 months as a mommy.

This weekend has been interesting, since Ryan threw his back out Friday night when we were working out.  It was shocking to realize that a) we are VERY out of shape and b) we are OLD.  I had a similar realization at school this week when I realized the kids I'm teaching were born in 1996.  I was a freshman in high school in 1996...sigh.

Anyway, Ryan throwing his back out means he can't pick up 20 pound babies, so I've been on Gavin duty this weekend.  That coupled with the Illini being on the bubble for the NCAA tournament has made for a tense environment in our home this weekend.  But before Ryan threw his back out on Friday, he and Gav took some pretty cute pictures together.

Discussing the possible scenarios that put Illinois in the tournament?

Laughing at Mommy's suggestion that Iowa football is way better than Illinois basketball?

And finally, Gavin and I had some fun with the camera during our time together this weekend.

Belated 6 month letter

Once again I find that I'm taking too long to blog, and I realized today that although I wrote Gavin's 6 month letter 3 weeks ago, I never posted it!  When I re-read through the letter, it was amazing to realize how much Gavin has changed just in those 3 weeks.  But I didn't want to change the letter, because I want the letter to represent how he was at 6 months, even if I am bad at getting things done on time!

Before I post his letter though, we do have some new pics to post.  We have been horribly lazy about putting together his 6 month video.  But in all honesty, I knew this point was going to come.  Every month the Gavin vs. Rufus saga has gotten bigger and bigger, and now its such a production to put it all together.  We enjoy doing it, but we forget how much effort it takes to get these things done.  Maybe we'll start making it a semi-monthly thing :)

This picture is hilarious, so I had to include it, even though Gavin looks a little crazy!

Even though we haven't updated the Gavin v Rufus saga yet, we still wanted to take our 6 month pictures.  You might be able to spot Gavin's newest proof that he's a big boy...2 front teeth!

Evidence that the rough housing is all for show.  Gavin and Rufus are really the bestest of friends....or are they?

Gavin putting the beat down on one of his other furry friends.  Rufus earns a reprieve for today.

Gavin watching Daddy make funny faces above him.

Gavin loves to critique my pedicures.  He is quite fond of this color.  I'll have to ask him what colors are in for spring.

Gavin has also recently discovered his love of basketball, or more accurately, his love of the noises his basketball hoop makes.

Daddy is a little worried that Gavin enjoys eating the basektballs more than he enjoys dunking them.

And here is Gavin's very late 6 month letter:

Dear Gavin,

Happy half a year Gav! Today you are 6 months old, and so different from the baby we met in August. It’s hard to believe “Gavin baby” and the big boy we know and love today are the same person! When you were born you were 8 lbs 6 oz, and now you’re 19 pounds 10 oz! At birth you were 20.5 inches “tall”, now you measure in at 28.5 inches! On August 17th you had dark hair and blurry eyes, and now you’re a blonde-haired blue-eyed little boy who looks an awful lot like Daddy!

If this last month had a theme Gavin, it would be movement. You’ve learned and mastered a lot of new moves in the last month. Sitting is no problem for you now, and on that rare occasion when you do tumble over, it’s not a big deal anymore. You also love to roll over – but only one way! You can easily roll from your back to your tummy, but then you’re stumped as to how to get on your back again! Mommy and Daddy are trying to help you with this since your favorite time to roll over and get stuck is at about 2:30 am!

Your jumper has become your favorite toy this last month. Now when we walk into the toy room, if you even catch a glimpse of your jumper, you start to smile and giggle. And once you’re in the jumper you love to bounce and swing around.

Also, much to Daddy’s delight, you’ve started to “talk” in the last month or so. You say dadadada all the time, and sometimes throw a bababa or gagaga in there for fun. No mamama’s yet, but I’m sure you’re just saving the best for last, right Gavin? You also might be starting to understand our sign language. You can definitely make the sign for milk, but you use it in every situation except when you’re hungry!

We’ve tried to introduce you to “solid” foods like rice and oat cereal, but you haven’t been too interested. But in your defense, it doesn’t really look that appetizing, and you’ve been sick a lot this last month, so I don’t blame you for not wanting to eat something that looks like wall paper paste! But in the last day or two, it seems that you might be warming up to the oatmeal cereal! Maybe you’re on your way to becoming an eater!

You’ve also gotten so much better at going on outings since you were first born! Mommy no longer sprints though Target praying that you won’t pitch a fit, because you’re pretty happy to just see the sights. We even took you to the Chicago Auto Show, and you did such a great job! You happily hung out in your stroller (without your car seat, what a big boy!) and watched all the people and checked out a bunch of cars. And Mommy appreciated you yelping at everyone that got in my way when I was pushing your stroller; you’re such a good helper!

Gavin, it’s been an amazing journey so far. It is so wonderful to watch you grow into a little boy. Your world keeps getting bigger and bigger, and Daddy and I love being there when you discover new things and learn new “tricks.” We want you to grow up to be a strong, independent young man, but we still try to get a hug or a cuddle out of you when we can. Most importantly though, we just want to love and cherish you every day! Happy 6 months Gavin!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Gavin's Likes and Dislikes, the 6 month edition

So as promised, we have some Gavin blogs to catch up on.  The Gavin vs. Rufus 6 month chapter is still in the works, but hopefully this blog will keep the loyal Gavin fans happy until we can come to contract agreements with the two adversaries.

At 6 weeks old, I did a list of Gavin's likes and dislikes, which are just funny to me now since at 6 weeks, I don't know how I thought I could tell what Gavin liked.  Perhaps I was judging by the level of whining?  At any rate, I thought it would be appropriate to update that list at the 6 month milestone.  I'm sure I'll think these are just as funny on Gavin's first birthday.

Likes:

• The "Chew Chew Chew Your Food" song: Gavin has ventured into the world of solid foods, although not very willingly.  We started with rice cereal, and then oat cereal (see the Dislikes section), and Gavin was uninterested.  That is until Ryan made up the Chew Chew Chew Your Food song.  Gav finds this song hilarious, which gets him to open his mouth.  But the laughing gets him to spit pureed carrots all over your face, the floor, himself....

• Music in general:  Gavin is a music fan, although his taste level could be questioned.  His favorites include Patty Cake, Itsy Bitsy Spider, any song Ryan makes up that involve the words poop or soup, and the Belly Button song (this is a real song, thanks to my friend Kristin for teaching me about it, it is sometimes the only thing that calms Gavin down!).  Gavin also enjoys when he and I dance to the music in my iTunes.  We have determined that he enjoys Dave Matthews Band, Bon Jovi, and Thriller, but is not a Justin Timberlake fan.
• On a side note, Gavin not only loves the song Thriller, but also the dance.  We had a staff talent show at work, and in order to practice my Thriller dance, I would put Gavin in the Bjorn and dance with him while facing a mirror.  He particularly likes the zombie part with the claw hands and high knees.
• Having things just a certain way:  Gavin is a man who knows what he wants.  There are many things that Gavin will only tolerate a certain way.  The baby laptop screen on one of his toys must be down, the book on the same toy must be turned to the dog and cat page, towers of blocks must be knocked over, and buckets and tubs must be empty of toys.  I can't imagine where Gavin got this slight OCD-like tendency :)  See the video in the other post for a good example of this!
• Hugs from Paige:  Paige is a little girl at Gavin's daycare that is almost 2 years old.  Paige loves to play with Gavin and always eagerly waits while I unbuckle Gavin from his car seat every morning.  She also loves to hug everyone goodbye when she leaves daycare, and since I usually arrive around the same time as Paige's mom, I get to witness the Paige "hugs."  Paige usually saves Gavin's hug for last, so he is in his car seat by the time she's done hugging everyone else she can find.  So she will come up to me and ask "hug Gavin?" and I'll tell her that yes, Gavin would love a hug.  Paige leans in, hovers over Gavin, and rubs her nose against Gavin's face ever so lightly.  It melts my heart every time.  And Gavin LOVES it.  He is usually a little whiny when he's in his car seat, but when Paige "hugs" him he is completely quiet and always has a big smile on his face. One of the many reasons we are blessed when it comes to Gavin's daycare.
• Mommy doing crunches:  9 months of pregnancy and eating donuts with abandon didn't do any favors to my abdominal region, and now that our trip to Vegas is 5 weeks away, I've been starting to do crunches whenever I can.  This usually means doing crunches while Gavin is busy hopping away in his jumper (another big like).  Without fail, once I start crunching Gavin will stop jumping and becomes engrossed in my workout.  Unfortunately for my self esteem, he finds my crunches hilarious and laughs and giggles the entire time.  Although I have to admit, my 6 month old mocking me is a great motivator and diet tool.
• The "I Love you Daddy" book: Part of Gavin's bedtime routine is for Ryan or I to read him a story while he's having his bottle.  Since he was first born, one of Gavin's favorites has been the I Love You Daddy book, which is about a Daddy Bear and Little Bear.  Daddy Bear helps Little Bear to do all sorts of things he didn't think he could do, and Little Bear always thinks to himself that he loves Daddy, but never says it.  Gavin always listens wide eyed (and usually stops drinking his bottle) when Ryan reads this story.  Part of the charm of the story is that Ryan does great Daddy and Little bear voices.  Now whenever we put Gavin down for a nap, if he's being a little fussy, Ryan does his Daddy Bear/Little Bear routine and Gavin giggles and laughs and then rolls over and goes to sleep.  Today he did the same, except at the end he looked at Ryan, said "dada" and then rolled over to sleep.  Sounds like I need to start reading those I Love Mommy books more often if I want Gav to say mama!

Dislikes:

• Rice and Oat "cereal": As we mentioned above, it takes some work to get Gavin to try solid foods.  Gavin's usual strategy with cereal is to let us put it in his mouth, but then just open his mouth back up and let it slowly drool out onto his chin.  The only thing we accomplished when giving Gavin cereal was more laundry for Mommy.  In Gavin's defense though, I tried some of his rice cereal, and you couldn't pay me to eat that slop.  Maybe Gavin just has a refined taste.
• Fast flowing milk:  You may be sensing a theme here.  I don't want to go so far as to brand Gavin as a "picky eater" just yet, but he certainly has a lot of preferences.  For those of you that haven't seen the giant wall of bottle nipples at Babies R Us, there are actually a lot of choices.  Babies start with a slow flow nipple, and on average, most babies move on to the medium flow at 3 months, and then to fast at 6 months.  Well,  we JUST got Gavin to switch to the medium flows about 2 weeks ago, and he's still not too happy about it.  Gavin drinks milk like a food critic drinks wine.  He takes a sip, swirls it around in his mouth for a while, and then finally swallows.  Then he stops, takes a little breather, and goes back in for another sip.  It can take him 45 minutes to finish a bottle sometimes.  He will make a great designated driver someday, but for now, his drinking habits are highly frustrating!
• Putting on shirts: I'd say that Gavin is just trying to be like his Uncle Bren by not wanting to wear shirts around the house, but I think the real reason Gavin doesn't like to put on his shirts is because he's like his mother.  I HATE having things close to my neck.  I can't wear turtlenecks because I feel like they're strangling me, and I will elbow you square in the eye if you even put your hands near my neck.  And sadly I think Gavin has inherited this trait from his Mommy.  When the shirt is all bundled around Gavin's head while we're trying to get his arms through the sleeves, Gavin is howling and whining, but the minute you pull the shirt down, he's completely fine again.  I'm still hoping Gavin inherited at least one flattering trait from me, instead of all my foibles!

• Being alone:  Unlike his father, Gavin doesn't really crave alone time.  Gavin will tolerate being "alone" (for example, he is in the jumper in the family room and I'm in the kitchen making a meal) for about 2 minutes, and then the whining begins*.  The whining slowly escalates until I poke my head back in the doorway and then he smiles at me and jumps again.  Its eerily like that Family Guy commercial where Stewie says "Mom, Mommy, Mama, Mom, Mommy, Lois, Mom..." forever and then finally Lois yells "What?!" and Stewie just smiles and says "Hi."
• *Ryan and I have figured out that Gavin's whining sounds an awful lot like the smoke monster on Lost.  I don't usually hear whispers just before hand, and I certainly don't get impaled by a giant rock afterwards, but its menacing just the same.

Combining two of Gavin's favorites: no shirt and spending time with Mommy.

Happy 6 months Gavin!!

Happy half a year Gav-o!  We love you very much buddy. 

I wanted to post on Gavin's actual 6 month "birthday" even though I'm not prepared yet.  But coming soon:

• Gavin and Rufus:  the saga continues
• 6 month letter to Gavin
• 6 month update: Gavin's likes and dislikes

Stay tuned!

I cannot go to school today said little Peggy Ann Mckay

The title of this blog is the first line of a Shel Silverstein poem called "Sick" that I memorized in the third grade, and it aptly describes the last week here in the Gillespie household. 

Last weekend, Gavin had a very exciting Saturday.  He went with me to a friend's baby shower and got to hang out with his buddies Olivia and Jack, all while being told what a cutie he is by my coworkers.  Then Daddy picked Gav up from the shower and drove him down to Uncle Kyle's for some boy bonding time.  But by Sunday morning, Gavin was starting to get sick, with a runny nose and a yucky sounding cough.  He still went to "school" on Monday, but when I went to pick him up that afternoon, he looked like he'd had a rough day, and sounded even worse.  So Tuesday Gavin took his first day off of school to go to the doctor with Ryan.  The doctor said its likely just a bad cold but decided to treat Gav as if he has bronchitis based on his breathing sounds and the fact that he hasn't had all his pneumonia shots yet.

The good news is, Gavin does seem to be getting better.  The bad news is, Gavin is on day 5 of a 10 day medication that gives him quite the tummy troubles.  After going through his original and back up outfits at school on Friday, Ryan had to bring over 2 more outfits to make sure he lasted through the day!  Our washer and dryer are pretty much running non stop at this point, and winning the "not wiping" game is becoming more and more crucial. (I'll save the explanation of the "not wiping" game for another day, but I think you get the gist of it!)

So obviously our blog writing has suffered due to a very busy week filled with lots of sniffles and coughs, and much less sleep.  But in spite of his cold, Gavin is for the most part a pretty happy baby.  He has become an expert sitter and hardly ever tumbles over anymore.  He loves to sit and play with his toys, as you'll see in the pics below.

Gavin has also become a sneaky roller.  I think Gavin wants us to believe that he can't really roll over, so he only does it when we're not looking.  You could watch this kid lay on his back for 20 minutes and nothing will happen, but look out the window for 5 seconds and when you look back, he'll be on his tummy, staring up at you with this look like, "what, I was like this when you set me down!"

But as skilled as Gavin is rolling from his back to his tummy, he's not so proficient when it comes to doing the other 180 flip.  My theory is that he doesn't like flopping over like a sack of potatoes, because lets face it, rolling over when you're 6 months old and 20 pounds is not a graceful act.  This means that the new reason Gavin is waking up in the morning at 5am is because he's rolled over onto his stomach, decided against that decision, and is then unable to roll the other way.  I'm not sure if this is better or worse than last week's trick, when he would "Austin Powers" himself in his crib.  Which is Ryan's way of describing how Gavin would manage to wedge himself horizontally in his crib so that there was no room to move anymore.  Its awfully funny to watch Gav try to squrim his way out when he's wedged, but I don't know if there is anything more cute than seeing your son looking at your through the crib rails when you walk in the door.

The other new development in Gav's life this week is that his first tooth is starting to break through!  I just noticed it this afternoon when we were playing and he was chomping on yet another toy.  I'll be honest, I got a little teary eyed at the realization that my baby boy is becoming less of a baby very day.  Teeth are for big kids and I don't know if I'm ready for that yet.

Well, I've rambled enough for one post.  Hopefully life will be a little less eventful in the weeks to come and I can do a better job of blogging!  Here are some great pics that we've taken in the last week or so.  And Ryan's not here to make fun of me for posting a million pictures, so enjoy an unreasonable amount of Gavin cuteness :)

Here is Gavin showing off his prowess as a sitter.  As you can see, he is also a viking when it comes to drooling.

Gavin is a very studious player.  He likes to know every feature of a toy before really starting to play with it.  Gavin also likes to be in control of his toys, so the fact that this ball moves around on its own is very intriguing to Gav.

I would say a third of the pictures I take these days look like this.  I don't know how Gavin has outsmarted the delayed flash on my digital camera, but he now looks like a drunken sailor 33% of the time.

Gavin loves to be "naked," maybe just because its winter and being a summer baby, he doesn't really get the chance to rock his birthday suit very often.  No matter the reason, he makes for quite a cute sumo wrestler.

I forgot Gavin even had this outfit until I desperately searched for clothes after Gav had pooped through 2 outfits before 10 am this morning.  Who knew hoodies were so cute on babies?

This picture makes me want to find a way to squeeze his cheeks through the computer screen.

This picture would be about the time that Ryan would start harassing me for putting up so many pics, but I wanted to include this one because Gavin looks much less like a baby and a lot more like a little boy in this picture.

Daddy tickling the back of Gavin's neck.  I have a hard time remembering that I can't tickle Gavin all day just so that I can hear his adorable little giggles.

Gavin trying to get Daddy to stop watching Nascar.  I don't get it either Gavin!

I've got about 15 minutes to write this before Lost starts :)

So with conferences last week, and a fairly busy weekend, I've been slacking a bit on this blog.  And now its Tuesday and Lost is back, and I find my blog guilt is forcing me to write a blog as quickly as I can so I can figure out what the heck happened when Juliette blew up that bomb!

Since we wrote last, Gavin had his belated 5 month doctor's appointment.  He is now 19 lbs 6 oz, and 28 inches long.  Which is actually "on" the charts for the first time in a long time!  He's in the 90th percentile for length and 95th percentile for weigh.

The doctor's visit was interesting, because it seems as if Gavin has already figured that place out.  He gets a little uneasy when we walk into the examination room, and gets more worried as the clothes come off, and once he is set in the scale or on that tissue paper on the examination table, its all over.  There will apparently be no need to spell out S H O T, because he already knows what's coming.  As Ryan said, until Gav is old enough to eat lollipops, its going to be hard to convince this kid that the doctor's office is an ok place.

The good thing is, the "nurse of doom" who hands out shots all day is actually a very sweet lady (maybe I just think that because she always tells me how cute Gavin is).  She always tries to make Gavin smile after his shot, and does a great job of making the shot as easy as possible.

This weekend, we took Gavin with us to a friend's 30th birthday party up in the Milwaukee burbs.  There were lots of other babies and toddlers at the party, and Gavin was very excited to attend a social event with some new kids to interact with.  Eventually though, he got tired of making small talk so it was time for bed.  It was practically a baby slumber party, with 2 pack and plays and a tent full of toddlers, but Gav did a pretty good job of snoozing while the adults kept the party going.  Overall, it was a successful night out with the little guy!

We don't have a lot of new pictures to share, but here's a few recent ones that we've taken:

Here is Gavin trying his best to look tough, but its hard to get street cred with cheeks like that (and the doggy on his shirt isn't helping the cause either)

Gavin telling Daddy that Ace King really isn't the best hand to go all in on

Gavin LOVES his jumper lately.  He really loves to make as much noise as possible while in his jumper by bashing rattles and rings against the plastic, but its hard to capture that in a picture. 

Another picture of jumper joy