Movin' and Groovin'

Gavin is definitely moving around a lot more now! He still has a weird crawling technique but it doesn't slow him down!

Gavin has been exploring different foods now and really likes fruit (of course). He has enjoyed prunes, plums, pears, and honeydew melon but didn't care for kiwi. He has also been eating butternut squash, quinoa, turkey lasagna, tuna casserole, salmon, zucchini and pasta. I have found a couple recipes online that use infant rice cereal (he wasn't a fan of the cereal by itself). I made pancakes and teething biscuits with the cereal. He really seems to enjoy the teething biscuits...until they get soggy and then he loses interest.

Not only can he now sit up on his own but on November 9th, he started kneeling while holding onto the side of his playpen. Then the very next morning he decided to stand! This fast progress led to our first visit to the ER! We still had the bassinet insert in the playpen because he hadn't been doing any of that stuff yet. So the very first time he stood up while holding onto something, he fell out of his playpen and onto the hard tile floor! I was on the other side of the kitchen island when it happened, so I saw him go over but didn't see exactly how he went down. When I got to him, he was on his back so I was concerned that he hit his head!! After comforting him and nursing him, he seemed to be just fine but I wanted to get him checked out just in case. By the time we got to the ER (we were taken back pretty quickly), he had developed a bump on his forehead above his right eye. So apparently he hit his forehead either on the way down or when he landed but still ended up on his back. I have no idea how he managed that. They checked him over, monitored his vitals, and kept us for about an hour to observe him. No injuries (other than the bump on his forehead). Luckily the fall was only about 2.5 feet but from my point of view it was far!!! As soon as we got home, I took that bassinet insert out of the playpen!!

 Enjoy the various photos!

Butternut squash & quinoa

Loves the spoon too!

Love the bucket hat!

And the baseball hat!

Sitting up with a little help

First time kneeling with assistance

Sleepy boy!

Next month we are going to Tokyo for Christmas! Carlton will be able to join us for our trip which will be great!! Gavin will have two stamps in his passport before he turns one!! I think the trip will be a shock temperature-wise but it will be so nice to have cold weather for a change. It will actually feel like Christmas for once!

Reunion and More!

This past Sunday, Carlton and I were able to attend a reunion for the What to Expect When You Are Expecting Luncheon that I attended last year when I was pregnant with Gavin. This is the first year they have held a reunion for the new parents. The author, Heidi Murkoff, was there to visit with each of the families and hang out. We got a couple pictures:

Reunion group photo

Heidi's husband Eric

 Gavin's new favorite game is to scoot/crawl across his rug to knock over the blocks we got for him. So we have been setting up half the blocks on one side and the other half about 4 feet away so that he gets more practice scooting around. 

We also got him a new high chair since the Bumbo is not working as well for feeding him. He can reach too far outside of it and grab stuff nearby. So now with the high chair we can keep him out of trouble!

In this video he is trying a piece of shrimp for the first time. At first he was just sucking off the sauce. I ended up cutting it into small pieces so he could actually eat some but he didn't seem to like the shrimp much...just the sauce!

I bought a Halloween costume for Gavin but we haven't made it to any events. Unfortunately most of them are in the evening around his bedtime, so we took a few pictures the other day before Carlton had to leave again.

Update on my ankle - really quick I had a biopsy on my ankle over a month ago now and the initial biopsy had suspicious skin cells (not melanoma). So the dermatologist had to go back in and remove more skin to make sure she got to healthy skin around the mole that was removed. So I had tend stitches in my ankle for about 2 weeks and now it is healing up! The morning after I had the stitches put in, I had to take the dogs for a walk and it was raining! So I had to wrap my leg in saran wrap to prevent the area from getting wet. That was super fun.

Healing nicely now

Seven Months!!

We have reached the 7 month mark! He is still not crawling but he does have his own version of scooting around. We rearranged the bedrooms, so that the spare bedroom is now Gavin's room. So now his area rug can stay on the floor without us rolling it up everyday to put it away to keep the dogs off of it. His crib is all set up and he has been taking naps in it since we got it in his room. He still sleeps in the bassinet at night because he is not sleeping through the night just yet. But he's getting closer!! Here are some pictures!

Daddy time!

New room set up!

Big boy in his crib

All smiles!

He loves the baby in the mirror!!

Taking the 7th month photos was definitely entertaining! He was all about going after the number and chewing on it! Here's a series of pics showing his determination.

Lil' dragon!

We got this cute dragon outfit from friends of my parents! 

  In this video you can see his scooting skills. He's having a great time exploring his world! I am totally okay with him not crawling yet. I am not looking forward to having him getting into everything at his level in the house!!

Daddy's Home!!

Carlton came home this past week after having his underway extended an extra couple of weeks (at the last minute). We are very happy to have him home although this first video does not show that! Ha! Gavin was sleepy and had been waiting on the pier for about 30 minutes in the heat, so he really didn't have much of a reaction.

Later when I had to go back and pick up Carlton to bring him home, Gavin reacted by crying and screaming!! Carlton sat in the back next to him and Gavin just cried and screamed non stop for a good ten minutes. Then about an hour after we got home he was fine and seemed to be remembering who Carlton was!

This is a video of Gavin trying a pear for the first time. Despite the faces he made, he loved it! He kept going back for more of it!

Ticklish thighs!

We have tried several different foods now and he really likes...the spoon! He loves holding it and chewing on it. Sometimes he will even eat what the spoon is holding! He makes faces for everything he has tried but he does seem to enjoy sweet potatoes and green beans. For non-purees he likes bananas and pears. He wasn't a fan of potatoes or pasta.

Airplane with Daddy!

Airplane with Mommy!

Playing around with the burp cloth

It was a long day of playing on the rug for Gavin and he could not keep his eyes open!! He ended up doing a face plant on Carlton's chest finally.

I can suck on my toes!

He can sit up when we put him in the sitting position but hasn't gotten there on his own yet. He sits very straight!!

Beets! Not a fan.

Made in Guam Baby!

Six Months Old!!

Gavin is still very active in his exersaucer

He is also chewing on anything he can get in his mouth!

He's working on his leg strength:

And he turned six months old on September 18th! At his 6 month pediatrician appointment, he was 17 pounds 5 ounces, 27 inches tall and doing great! He can roll front to back and then back again. He will sit for a few seconds if I sit him up but he has not gotten into the sitting position on his own yet.

I tried a hat on him that we got as a hand me down from my friend Jenn but it's still a little big on him!

I tried "real" food with Gavin just last week for the first time. I decided to start with pureed carrots. Christine was super sweet and sent me her Baby Beaba which I used to make a few different purees!! So we tried the carrots to see what Gavin would think:

We also attended our first birthday party that happened to be for a one year old and a pool party! So I had to get a rash guard for Gavin to keep his skin protected. He was not a fan of the pool this time though, I think the water was too cold for him.

I was finally able to go get a haircut this past week too!! I got two inches cut off and though it was styled by the hairdresser, it was pouring when I headed home. So the style was ruined and my hair got fluffy, but here's a picture anyway!

Top Heavy

This past week I had to take Gavin to the pediatrician because he had a rash all over his back. Thankfully it was nothing serious and cleared up in a few days. Since we were at the doctor's, they did his measurements and he is now in the 75th percentile for head circumference (17.1 inches) and height (26.8 inches), 50th percentile for weight at 16 pounds 14 ounces. So he is making progress with being able to roll from his back to his tummy and then back again. The doc said he will probably take a little longer to sit up on his own because his noggin is big right now! He's too top heavy to stay upright for long!!

We are using the Boppy pillow sometimes to practice sitting up - here is a progression of pics taken in about a ten second span. He smiles at me first, then is distracted by the phone taking pics, then is distracted by his toys nearby.

This is a very quick video of me tickling Gavin. Hard to hold the phone and record while also tickling him. Over the past few days he seems to have developed certain areas where he is ticklish now. He also anticipates being tickled which only adds to the fun!!

Last two pics for this post. Just thought it was so cute how he fell asleep clasping his hands together like this. And in the close-up you can see his eyelashes...they are so long! He definitely got those from his Daddy!!!

Progress!

Gavin has hit a milestone! Or at least I think it's a milestone. Just this past week, in fact on the day that Carlton left for an underway, Gavin rolled from his back to his tummy!! I didn't see it at first. He was in his playpen and I was on the other side of the island in our kitchen. I looked over and was seeing the top of his head rather than his face! I kept watching to see if he would do it again and he tried once but his arm got pinned underneath him. Then he tried again and made it!! I was able to get a video of it finally and sent it to Carlton so he was able to see it before the boat left!

Gavin has also been perfecting his foot in mouth technique and he is getting good at it!! Especially with his right leg.

He is definitely working the legs up to crawling but hasn't quite figured out how to move forward with them yet.

He is still enjoying his exersaucer and I think it's helping him to strengthen his legs. He really enjoys being in an upright position so he can see a lot more around him.

He also likes sitting in his Bumbo while in his playpen so he can still see us when we are in the kitchen.