Gavin's belated 8 month letter

Once again, I have to start a blog with excuses for why we're late! 

This time our excuses are:
1. I'm working at 3 track meets this week.  This means I roll in at about 7:15, suck up some Gavin love for about a half hour, and then collapse.  This also means that nothing is getting done around the house, because lets face it, taking care of a kid by yourself (poor Ry) is hard work!
2.  We had a quite busy, but fun, weekend.  We went to a party at my friend Alicia's house with about 8 other couples and 4 other babies.  It was much like a 3-ring circus, but it was a total blast.  The kids all entertained each other, and once the kids were asleep in their respective cribs and pack n plays, it was great to have some time to actually interact with other adults! 

But enough excuses.  Gavin turned 8 months old about a week and a half ago.  I did manage to write the letter on time, but we still haven't gotten around to his 8 month pics.  And for those keeping score, yes, we did completely miss the 7 month pics.  I feel like a horrible parent, but I know that its going to be near impossible to manage to take montly pics of Gillespie kid #2, so I console myself with the knowledge that I'll only get worse at this :)

Gavin has had a pretty good week.  He had a blast at Alicia's party seeing his friend Caleb and his new friends (isn't it funny how babies just suddenly have more friends because babies are born?! ) Eli and Reaghan.  Nothing makes Gavin happier than tons of people to watch and interact with.  He also really liked it when Jason kept calling him Carlos (like the baby from The Hangover).

Gavin also came to visit Mommy while I was working the track meet earlier this week.  Gavin loved that as well, again because there are tons of people to check out.  My students liked getting to meet him in person, and Gavin didn't even flinch at the starter gun (unlike my 8th graders who scream bloody murder every time it goes off).

We don't really have any new pics to post.  We've taken a lot of high def video this week of some Gav's routines...bathtime, bedtime, unsuccessfully trying to crawl.  But we do have some Easter pics from the grandparents.  And of course his 8 month letter.

Gavin hanging out with Grandpa

Gav really enjoyed trying to break the glass on this coffetable while practicing his standing skills

Looking cute but no crawling yet!

I'm 99% sure that Andy is trying to do a duck call to go along with the stuffed duck he is holding.  Which totally explains the look Gavin is giving to Uncle Andy.

A rare family pic with Uncle Andy and Aunt Shari.

Oops, I lied!  One new pic.  Ry was out of town and I thought he had to see how cute Gav was in this big boy outfit.  Gavin agreed.

And here is our 8 month letter:

Dear Gavin,

Today you are 8 months old! You’re probably tired of reading this in every letter we write to you, but you have changed so much since we wrote you last! You are continuing to grow into a big boy; you weigh 2o lbs 15.5 oz, and you are 29.5 inches long! You’re now in the 60th percentile for weight and the 90th percentile for height. You’re wearing 12 months clothing, and have started wearing shoes and accessories like hats and sunglasses. We even bought your first swimsuit in anticipation of lots of pool and beach visits this summer!

Since your six month letter you’ve also really expanded your palatte Gavin! At 6 months, you were barely eating oatmeal and rice cereal. Now you’re willing to try anything! You eat lots of different fruits and vegetables, plenty of meats, bread, cheerios, puff crackers (which you love to feed yourself), waffles, pasta, the list goes on and on! And you’re very good about trying new things. When we offer you a new food, you usually make a funny face while you’re trying it, but you almost always keep chewing and will go back for second and third bites. You are also just learning to use a sippy cup, after Mommy and Daddy tried several different brands. Who knew choosing a sippy cup would be such a big decision?

Gavin, you’ve also gotten a few more teeth to help with eating all that food! You now have 4 teeth that have broken through, the two front and two bottom middle teeth. And we think you have two more teeth coming in on the top. You’ve been such a great teether. You never really complain, you just chew and drool on anything you can find!

The way you play has changed too, Gavin. You play with Mommy and Daddy now, and we love being able to interact with you while you’re at play. Daddy taught you how to play catch, and you’re a pro at throwing the ball back to me or Daddy. It’s just as fun to watch you throw the ball back as it is to watch you clap for yourself when you do throw the ball!

You also love to invent games with Mommy and Daddy. One of your recent favorites is to have Mommy or Daddy hold you while you’re standing up. Then we count down “3, 2, 1” and on 1 we let go and you fall forwards or backwards and wait for us to catch you. You love to be a daredevil and throw safety out the window, and you giggle the whole time we play this game. It’s so fun to watch you take risks and try new things.

You’re also sooo close to crawling Gavin! You can get up on your knees and rock back and forth, but you haven’t quite achieved forward motion yet. You either flop back on your belly, or you end up scooting backwards! But even when you can’t crawl to reach a toy you want, you still find ways to get them. Just a few days ago, you wanted to get your rubber ducky but it was just out of reach. The kitchen chair, however, was within your grasp, and the duck was underneath of the chair. So you grabbed the leg of the chair and pulled that towards you, which dragged the duck along with it! Daddy and I were really impressed with your problem solving skills!

Gavin, you’re also taking baths in the regular tub now instead of your baby tub. You love splashing and thrashing about in there, and despite the added space, you still find ways to soak Mommy and Daddy. Now that you’re getting close to being on the move, you’re also starting to take baths more frequently, and it’s becoming part of your bedtime routine.

You also love to socialize with other babies and adults, Gav. In the past few months, you’ve been to lots of parties and social situations, and you always have a blast. You love to check out all the new people and figure them out. You also enjoy playing with other babies, especially your buddies Olivia and Caleb.

Gavin, you’re growing up so fast, and Daddy and I love having you in our lives. You’re not the snuggliest baby, so we cherish those few times when you let us hold and rock you for a few seconds, or lay your head on our chest for just a brief minute. We’re trying to remember that even as life flies by at a rushed pace, we want to stop and cherish all the little things you do as well. I know we’re both looking forward to the summer, when you’ll be home with us and we can go on lots of fun adventures together. Happy 8 months Gavin!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Outside!

Ryan is in North Carolina for work most of this week, and Gavin and I are missing him a lot!  You never realize how much someone does until they aren't there to do all those things!  (Side note:  I am so glad it is not normally my chore to take the garbage out.  Although empyting the diaper pail is a great diet plan.  I may never be hungry again.)

Gavin seems to think that when Daddy is away, its time to break all the rules!  Gav started doing his test squeaks around 4:30 this morning, and at 5:00, it was full on war.  He did not appreciate me playing his projector for him while I showered, so the rest of the morning, he tried to ruin my outfits with spit up.  Somehow I managed to escape all his attacks unscathed!  I can not say the same for our carpet.

After the battle we had this morning, I fully expected a cranky guy when I picked Gav up after school today, and thats what I got.  So given the amazing weather we've been having lately (and my willingness to try anything to make Gav happy), I decided to take Gavin outside to play.

Gavin's experience with Outside has thus far been limited to stroller walks and being carried from the car to the inside of Target, so I wanted to expand his horizons.  I decided to "play" with Gavin in the backyard, which consisted of Gavin playing with his usual toys on a blanket in the middle of the grass.  Gav did however rock his new shades.  Gavin LOVES his sunglasses, and I mean, who wouldn't love shades with monkeys on the lenses?!

However, we may have to work on Gavin's love of Outside.  He was terrified of the grass!  He would reach out to test a few blades, but the minute his hand touched the grass, he pulled back like it was on fire!  But to Gavin's credit, despite his crippling fear of grass, he kept trying it again every few minutes to make sure the green monster was as horrifying as it was before.

Here are a few pics from our Outside adventure today:

Despite the gators saying "chomp" on Gavin's onesie, he looks like a businessman here with his shades and his cell phone.

"Mom, I make this look good!"

Gavin contemplating the terrifying green expanse

Going in for a test grab....

...and recoiling in horror!

Mommy and Gavin looking cool.

Lastly a quick thanks to both sets of granparents for sending us pics that I not so subtly hinted at wanting in the last blog post!  I would post them now, but the 4:30 am wake up has taken its toll.  More blogs to follow soon, including Gavin's 8 months entry!

Easter!

Happy Easter!  We had a great Easter and spring break, and now our little family is trying to adjust to the regular schedule again.  Only 8 weeks until 8th grade graduation, and trust me, I am counting the days (30 school days if you wanted to count down with me :)
On Easter day we headed out to Grandma and Grandpa Mayner's house for some breakfast and Easter egg dyeing.  Gavin spent half the time napping, so he missed out on his Uncle Andy and Aunt Shari's epic easter egg hunt battle.  Grandma took all the pics there, so maybe I'll have some copies to post later!

We came home later that afternoon and Gavin had a chance to check out the basket that the Easter Bunny left for him.  The Easter Bunny also hid some eggs for Gav, but Daddy had to help with finding those.

Gavin got some little board books, which he decided were delicious.  Some plastic easter eggs that he decided were not as delicious.  A Little Tykes playset that Mommy and Daddy played with more than he did, and a Thomas the Train that rolls when you pull it back.  Thomas was by far the hit of the Easter basket.  Gavin was enthralled with the train, and when he could catch it, he tried his best to kill the black magic that must be running this train by pounding it into the floor.  We only have high def video of this, so that may or may not make it on to the blog.

Gavin trying to determine which eggs taste the best.  I believe he decided orange was the best flavor...

Lately Gavin likes to try and ruin our pictures by making this crazy face every time, but the joke is on you Gav, you're still cute!

On this particular day, Gavin also wanted to just lay back and chill, man.

Just a cute pic of the Boog in his Easter outfit.  In addition to those cute bottom teeth, Gavin is also cutting his top two teeth as well!  Unfortunately, he inherited Mommy's large gap between those two teeth, sorry buddy!

I don't know why, but all day I kept thinking Gavin looked like a used car salesman.  He seems to be saying "Have I got a deal for you!"

Just a cute pic of our big boy!

Although you can't see it very well in this pic, I got bored towards then end of our Easter photo shoot and put half an egg on Gav's head.  He was not amused by this.  In fact, I think he was embarrassed of his Mom's nerdiness!

Although we don't really have any pics of spring break, we all had a great time!  Ry and I went to Vegas with a big group of friends, while Gavin stayed in Geneseo with Grandma and Grandpa Gillespie.  Ryan and I had a good time in Vegas (until he got deathly ill and missed out on the last day of our vacation! :(  While we were in Vegas....

Ryan pretended to be a casino employee...

Ryan and I danced the night away...

our friends got married and met Bob Saget at the wedding chapel....

and we met a dog that rides motorcycles.

Yup, it was a pretty typical weekend in Vegas!  While we were enjoying our vacation, Gavin was enjoying being the center of attention in Geneseo.  He got to spend a lot of time with most of his uncles, and even earned the new nickname Baron Von Turdmeister from Uncle Shane.  He spent a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa: going to church and flirting with the ladies, picking out some baby food at the grocery store, and hanging out at Hazelwood Homes, earning his keep. 

Coming home to the little Booger was great, since Ry and I missed him a bunch while we were in Vegas.  He was wearing a denim hat and overalls (I wish I had a picture of this, he looked like a little train conductor!), and when we walked in, Gavin started clapping and boucning up and down with a big smile on his face.  You can't ask for anything better than that!

We'll have to do another blog soon, because Gavin is growing by leaps and bounds these days, and every time we turn around, he's doing something new.  We're having a hard time keeping up with this big kid, but we're loving watching him grow!

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.